News digest 7 September 2011
The digest starts with more gloom for the
economy at home and abroad, a rising bill for the riots and the
threat to the NHS and agency workers’ rights remains, Murdoch could
be recalled while parliament will also hear from the Bombardier
workers today, car sales accelerate as do directors’ pensions and
as an ex-politician is under pressure over expenses, the Lib Dems
confirm that Clegg is the problem, what took them so
long?
Growth forecasts cut by
George – In perhaps the only cut that chancellor George
Osborne doesn’t salivate over, the chancellor was yesterday forced
to admit that Britain’s stalled economy could take years to emerge
from recession and that his own forecasts for growth will be cut.
Osborne still rules out any Plan B even though Britain’s record is
the third worst in the European Union as only Romania and Portugal
grew more slowly in the past year (Mirror p10, Sun p2, Mail p2, Indie p11, Guardian p1/8-9, Telegraph b1, FT p3).
Swiss franc devalues – And
the Swiss National Bank stunned the markets as it set a ceiling for
the Swiss franc against the euro in a desperate attempt to curb the
rise of the currency. The move - discussed with the European
Central Bank – caught traders on the hop and led to a rise in the
euro, but may herald the start of global currency wars as countries
like Japan follow suit and try to weaken their own currencies. At
the same time European markets hit a two year low over fears of
recession, a new banking crisis and political paralysis (Sun p44, Express p50, Mail p64, Times p45, Indie p41, Guardian p24, Telegraph b1, FT p1/6).
Italian general strike brings country
to standstill – Some three million workers came out to
protest over Rome’s austerity package which will see some £40
billion of cuts and an increase in VAT. Even though prime minister
Berlusconi attempted to block the proposal a three per cent wealth
tax on incomes over €500,000 was also proposed (Sun p2, Mail p12, Times p37, Telegraph b3, FT p9, Morning Star p7).
Scrap 50p tax rate – Back in
the UK and the FT (p1) reports 20
high profile economists instead argue the government should cut the
50p rate of tax to boost growth.
Riots bill escalates – A
number of the papers look at the ongoing cost of the riots with the
bill estimated to be as high as £140 million. In London Boris is
considering asking officers on sick leave to come in to allow
officers back on the streets – so much for his promise to properly
increase police - while the cause of the riots continues to be
debated (Mirror p20,
Sun p21, Mail p10, Times p19, Indie p16, Guardian p13, Telegraph p10, FT p4, Morning Star p4).
NHS warning – From the bill
for riots to the third reading of the health and social care bill
starts medical leaders - including the British Medical Association,
the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of GPs -
demanded the Tories rethink the ‘damaging’ health reforms. Some of
the papers focus on the Nadine Dorries amendment on abortion
advice, but this time tomorrow the NHS as we know it will start to
change beyond repair (Mirror
p6, Express p13, Mail p12, Telegraph p2, FT p4, Morning Star p5).
Agency workers’ rights under the
microscope – And prime minister David Cameron is still
trying to push to weaken agency workers’ rights. The FT (p2) reports Cameron speaking to the
Commons liaison committee where he vowed to tackle them if a new
treaty to strengthen governance of the eurozone was put forward.
However the Mirror (p10)
reports business secretary Vince Cable has told Downing Street to
stop meddling and argued he would not be altering the directive. Is
Cameron playing politics and trying to appease his
Eurosceptic Tory right wing or does he really want to
restrict workers’ rights? (Guardian p1, Morning Star p4)
Murdoch to be recalled – And
talking of committees many of the papers report that James Murdoch
looks likely to be recalled by parliament over how much was really
known about hacking at the News of the World (Mirror p9, Sun p4, Express p2, Mail p4, Times p24, Indie p26, Guardian p16, Telegraph p7, Morning Star p3).
Bombardier case to be
outlined – And today sees workers from Bombardier journey
down to London to address the transport select committee and call
on call on prime minister David Cameron to save Britain's last
train maker (FT p4, Unite
release).
Alstom in talks with SFO over bribery
claims – The Times (p43) reports a senior
figure from the French transport giant is believed to have held
talks with the head of the SFO to try to resolve the allegations
that Alstom bribed foreign officials.
easyJet’s extra aircraft hits average
load - From trains to planes and the Mirror (p40) and Mail (p65) report that although
easyJet saw a 6.5 per cent rise in passenger numbers the addition
of new planes saw last month’s load factor dip to 92.9 per cent
last month.
Big society buses – An unpaid
bus driver scheme on the Isle of Wight has come under criticism as
it could see professional drivers face even more pressure from
part-timers willing to work for free and the ‘fun’ of driving a
bus. The Southern Vectis service, run by Go-Ahead, has 25
volunteers driving routes that were hit by cuts to concessions for
bus fares (Times p39,
Morning Star
p4).
Rolls-Royce in drive for
engineers – The Times (p43) says the engine
maker is looking to encourage its staff to become school governors
to promote science and engineering in schools.
Cars sales motor ahead – New
car sales increased by 7.3 per cent last month as dealers reduced
prices to clear stocks before the new 61 plate was launched this
month, the Ford Fiesta was the top seller, followed by the Vauxhall
Corsa and Ford Focus while the Mini had a good month with sales
soaring by 86 per cent (Mirror p40, Express p50, Times p46, Indie p44, Telegraph b5).
Carlyle group to float –
Private equity firm gearing up for float on US stock exchange
(Times p49, Indie p46, Guardian p23, Telegraph b4, FT p19).
Business at odds over bank
reforms – Ahead of the publication of the Vickers report
on Monday the FT (p3) reports that
business groups are at odds over the timing of the expected bank
reforms.
Directors looking forward to
retirement – While the rest of us work ever longer TUC
research has shown that the average pension for a FTSE director is
now 23 times that of the average worker for their company; so much
for being all in this together (Mirror p10, Sun p9, Indie p42, Guardian p23, Morning Star p2).
Moran looking at court – And
a Labour MP that repeatedly flipped her second home has been
charged with fraudulently claiming £60,000. Margaret Moran - one of
the few remaining politicians being investigated over the expenses
scandal – faces 21 charges (Mirror p22, Sun p6, Express p4, Mail p4, Times p24, Indie p26, Guardian p16, Telegraph p7, FT p, Morning Star p3).
E-petitions on hold - And
still with parliament the Mirror (p20) reports online
petitions demanding Commons debates on ending benefits for rioters
and publishing official papers on the Hillsborough tragedy seem to
have been kicked into touch as the committee which draws up the
timetable for votes says it does not know how the new system is
supposed to work even though the petitions surpassed the required
100,000 mark.
Calamity Clegg – And finally
the Indie (p10) has got
hold of a Lib Dem report into the AV referendum. It has blamed the
debacle for the Lib Dems squarely at the feet of Nick Clegg and
also argues that Lib Dem achievements in government have not been
communicated; that’s probably because there haven’t been any…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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