News digest 8 June 2011
Southampton’s workers are still out on the
streets so don’t forget to contribute to the strike fund, elsewhere
the other main news of the day is the NHS U-turn, which is rapidly
followed by one on prison sentences, there’s a vote of no
confidence in the education minister, jobs growth is down while
inflation and fuel prices are on the up again, but one city exec
gets a pay cut, while a rethink is urged on selling off more of
Lloyds’ branch network and the new financial watchdog is called
into question before it has held its first formal meeting…
Southampton action
continues – Workers have been taking lawful industrial
action since late May in protest at their employer's insistence
that 4,300 council employees sign new, inferior contracts by July
11th - or lose their jobs. The latest has seen Unite urges
Hampshire police to investigate ‘bandwagon' leaflets attacking
council workers, Unite regional secretary John Rowse said:
"Our concern is that this leaflet is deliberately
designed to cause division between the service users of the city
and the workforce. Its purpose is not to inform the people of
Southampton but to poison them against a solution being negotiated
between the workers and their employers.” (Unite
release). Don’t forget to donate to the
Unite strike fund for Southampton city council workers.
NHS pledge – Prime minister
David Cameron unveils his changes to the proposed NHS bill to try
and win over wavering Lib Dems as he announces his five pledges and
his appeal of ‘trust me’. However many Tory backbenchers are
furious at the concessions, and Labour leader Ed Miliband said
Cameron was the first prime minister to have to make a pledge to
protect the NHS against his own policies. Almost all papers agree
that Cameron has made another U-turn, but the question is has he
done enough to assail all the concerns or will the NHS ‘reforms’
continue to dog the Con-Dem coalition? (Mirror p15, Sun p2, Express p5, Mail p8, Times p14-15, Indie p12, Guardian p12-13, Telegraph p10, FT p2, Morning Star p1, Unite
release)
Care crisis II – As Andrew
Dilnot – who was brought in to reform England’s crumbling care
system - says pensioners should sell their homes to pay for care,
the UK’s second largest care provider, Four Seasons, reveals it has
debts of £700 million, although the company claims it is in a
robust position and will be able to pay off its debt mountain, and
presumably pay big bonuses to its bosses (Mirror p15, Sun p41, Mail p6, Guardian p8, FT p2, Morning Star p2).
Clarke told to shelve shorter jail
plans – And in another U-turn the Times (p1) reports that Cameron
summoned the justice secretary to a one-to-one meeting in Downing
Street to tell him to go back to the drawing board over plans to
offer a 50 per cent discount for early guilty pleas.
No confidence in education
minister – And after describing the government’s higher
education reforms as “reckless, incoherent and incompetent” top
academics at Oxford University passed a vote of no confidence in
universities minister David Willets (Mirror p15, Guardian p4, FT p4).
Deceleration in jobs market –
Hiring of staff has risen at the slowest rate for seven months
according to a survey from KPMG, and although there are signs of
confidence in some sectors there is a rising total of black spots
including Hackney in London which has 24 people competing for each
vacancy, Ayrshire in Scotland has 31 people chasing every job and
the worst area is Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales where almost 33
people are competing for each job (Mirror p21, Sun p41, Mail p65, Indie p38, FT p3).
Houses prices drop – The
Halifax reports that house prices have fallen by 4.2 per cent over
the past year (Mirror p40,
Mail p6, Times p36, Guardian p27, Telegraph b5).
Acceleration in inflation –
As Scottish Power announces a 19 per cent rise in gas prices almost
all the papers report on the squeeze on ordinary people’s incomes
as food inflation hits 4.9 per cent ahead of the MPC meeting
tomorrow which is expected to keep interest rates on hold (Mirror p6, Sun p10, Express p1, Mail p1, Times p3, Indie p9, Guardian p2, Telegraph p1, FT p3).
Oil prices pumped – And the
Guardian (p26) and
Telegraph (b1) report
that with oil prices rising OPEC meets today to decide whether to
relieve pressure by upping production.
Priced off planes – IATA
chief warns that ordinary UK holidaymakers could be priced off
aeroplanes as a combination of higher fuel prices and tax rises
adds up to £150 per person to flights (Express p2, Indie p33).
BA settles air cargo case –
Class action over price fixing settled with payment of £54.6
million (Sun p41, Express p50, Mail p67, Times p35, Guardian p26, Telegraph b5, FT p18).
King’s pay cut – Head of
Sainsbury’s sees a reduction in pay to just £3.2 million as high
street retailer misses targets, he earned over £8 million the
previous year. The company has also cut bonuses payments to
ordinary staff by 25 per cent even though profits rose to £665
million (Mirror p40,
Express p51, Mail p66, Times p41, Indie p33, Guardian p26, Telegraph b2, FT p18).
Lloyds sale rethink urged –
Still on the high street and the FT (p20) reports that the government is
urging the Independent Commission on Banking to rethink its
recommendation for Lloyds to force the bank to sell substantially
more than the 600 branches agreed with European authorities.
Plans for financial watchdog in
disarray – And finally the Guardian (p24) reports that MPs
and peers have raised concerns over the new body that is supposed
to keep watch for financial irregularities. The ‘Financial Policy
Committee’ has yet to hold its first formal meeting, but the
treasury select committee has asked for its membership to be
widened to include more external members and also for more
independence from the Bank of England, the FPC’s first formal
meeting will be on 16 June…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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