News digest 9 August 2011
The digest remains dominated by the unrest
in London, but the markets are also in turmoil while retail is also
under pressure. As cheques see a slow death, more airlines
introduce credit card charges, but a Bombardier file is withheld.
As petrol prices drop the Mini races ahead, Unilever goes off
Chicken Tonight while Foster’s goes flat. Finally as Barclays could
be leaving the UK, and Britain could debate coming out of Europe,
you would be better off learning German…
Mob rule – There’s a third
night of unrest on London’s streets as riots break out across the
capital, more homes and business are burned as looters look to take
all they can with no regard for human life. Even with increased
police numbers in the capital the unrest spreads forcing Cameron to
finally end his holiday and return to London. Unite London regional
secretary Peter Kavanagh said: "We are getting growing
reports of bus drivers being caught in the middle of the unrest
breaking out across London. We are extremely concerned for the
safety of these workers and their passengers.” Unite
went on to call for a consistent, cross capital response, although
Boris Johnson does not arrive back until later today. Outside
London there was also disorder in Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds,
Liverpool and Nottingham. Over 400 people are in custody and three
people are being questioned on suspicion of attempted murder of a
police officer. After the emergency meeting this morning Cameron
condemned the violence, announced all police leave is cancelled and
a recall of parliament, but answered no questions (Mirror p1/4-7, Sun p1/4-7, Express p1/4-7, Mail p1-9, Times p1-7, Indie p1-6, Guardian p1-7, Telegraph p1-6, FT p1/2, Morning Star p1, Unite
release).
Market meltdown – And the
unrest remains in the markets with even more wiped off shares
across the globe yesterday. Some £46 billion was wiped off UK
shares although sentiment is more positive as the European central
bank has helped Italian and Spanish bond rates dip after spending
billions on government bonds. China has taken the US to task over
it debt, while Osborne is still using the contagion as an argument
that his cuts are working (Mirror p8, Sun p11, Express p2/63, Mail p10/58, Times p10-11, Indie p8-9/27, Guardian p12-13/22-23, Telegraph b1, FT p1/3-5, Morning Star p7).
High street woes – Spending
squeeze on the high street as the British Retail Consortium said
retail takings edged up just 0.6 per cent last month, online sales
fared even worse as the squeeze hits spending even with prices
being slashed (Mirror p48,
Mail p58, Times p32, Indie p28, Telegraph b3, FT p3).
Negative equity multiplies –
The Mail (p19) reports
the number of people trapped in homes worth less than they paid for
them has ballooned to 830,000 according to the Council of Mortgage
lenders.
Flog homes to pay bills – The
Express (p1) splashes with
news that soaring bills and the poor level of pensions is forcing
hard up pensioners to sell their homes in order to unlock cash.
Slow death for cheques – The
Mirror (p48) and Express (p19) say that even though
banks dropped their deadline to phase out cheques Age UK says the
end of the cheque guarantee scheme will lead to a slow death as
businesses increasingly refuse to accept cheques.
Third of law centres to close
– The Indie (p12)
reports the Law Centres Federation has said the squeeze on the
legal aid budget and town halls is expected to lead to one in three
law centres closing.
New News International deal –
The Indie (p10) also
reports former News of the World staff are believed to have been
offered ‘early leaver’ packages worth tens of thousands of pounds
even though they were promised work within the organisation, the
paper claims some were offered jobs in Bulgaria and even Siberia,
yes really.
More plane fees – Talking of
foreign climes and the Guardian (p25) reports that Swiss
and Lufthansa are to start charging customers for using debit and
credit cards just weeks after the Office of Fair Trading called for
an end to the practice.
Bombardier file withheld -
From planes to trains and Bombardier remains in the headlines as
the Mirror (p20) reports the
government has refused to explain how it wasted £15 million on
consultants for the Bombardier deal after a Freedom of Information
request was rejected because it would cost more than £600. The
paper also reports that Unite’s Tony Woodley - who is at the Derby
site today - will tell workers that “Unite will fight
tooth and nail to get the decision reversed” and
“there is still everything to play for”
(Unite
release).
Petrol price dips – Some good
news for motorists as petrol prices have fallen as three of the
four supermarket chains lower prices (Express p31, Mail p11, Indie p28).
Mini motors ahead – BMW is
heading for as record year after its sales hit a high last month
and in the year to date deliveries are up 17.9 per cent. The Mini
is a star with a 27 per cent rise (Mirror p48, Times p38).
Gold glistens – And the
Telegraph (b5) and
FT (p1) say gold remains the star
performer on the commodities exchanges. The price per ounce of gold
broke the $1,700 barrier yesterday; traders expect the price to
exceed $2,000 by the end of the year.
Copper corruption? – The
Times (p31) reports
Eurasia Natural Resources Corporation has hired investigators amid
claims of financial irregularities at its Kazakh
operations.
Pay pressure – The Mail (p61) says that the City is
revolting, but it’s not just on the streets, instead shareholders
are increasingly challenging companies over lavish executive pay
saying chief executives should focus on business rather than
rewards.
Docklands deal – Final tower
to be constructed at Canary Wharf adding 500,000 square feet of
office space, the space has already been let to the European
Medicines Agency when the tower opens in 2014 (Sun p39, Times p37, Indie p31, Guardian p25 , Telegraph b5, FT p14).
Unilever deal – Company sells
UK sauces business including Chicken Tonight and Ragu to Symingtons
for an estimated £30 million, it will retain the brands in the rest
of the world (Express p63,
Times p35, Indie p32, Telegraph b3).
Foster’s unsettled – The
Times (p35) reports the
drinks company is coming under pressure to start stalks with
predator SABMiller as its shares fell below the level offered by
rival in June.
Gin sold – The Sun (p39) and Mail (p59) report that one of
Britain’s oldest brands is going global after bosses at gin
distillery Greenall’s bought the company from parent company De
Vere.
Barclays off? – The FT (p13) reports the chief executive of
Barclays, Bob Diamond, has renewed speculation over the bank’s
future in the UK as he continues to challenge the possibility of
‘ringfencing’ investment capital operations from customer
deposits.
Britain out
– Talking of exits the Mail (p18) reports that West
Midlands UKIP MEP Nikki Sinclaire claims to have gathered enough
supporters to trigger a debate on Britain’s withdrawal from the
European Union as she has pledges from 100,000 people.
Learn German to get ahead –
The Mirror (p2) and Telegraph (p13) report that if
you want to get ahead then learn German as Brits who speak German
are most in demand by businesses needing foreign language skills.
My flight to Berlin’s booked although the Morning Star (p6) reports
that workers at the city’s Tegel airport are on strike today over
demands for improved pay and working conditions, solidarität
genossen…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
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