News digest 9 September 2011
The digest opens with the trail for the
tenth anniversary of 9/11 and the shocking abuse of an Iraqi by the
British army. There’s also a trail for next week’s TUC, and proof
that the cuts are not only not working, but remain ideological.
Osborne gets sight of the report on banking reform while jobs are
saved at RBS, but hard to find in Liverpool, it could be the end of
the line for Saab as Nissan celebrates 25 years, Morrison’s is on
the up, political funding looks to be cut, but there’s news that a
pint or two is good for you…
More war and systematic abuse
- Ahead of the tenth anniversary of 9/11 on Sunday many of the
papers report on how the world has changed over the last 10 years.
Former prime minister and chief warmonger Tony Blair is interviewed
in the Mirror (p10-11) and
Times (p9-11 - bet
the subs thought they were being clever with the choice of
pages) where he says the war is not over and calls for regime
change in Syria and also says the west should take action against
Iran if it pursues its nuclear ambitions, let’s hope no one listens
to him anymore. And someone who should have been heard was Iraqi
hotel worker Baha Mousa who died in Basra in September 2003 after
what was termed “deplorable, shocking and
shameful” abuse at the hands of the British Army; he
sustained 93 injuries over 36 hours of systematic abuse. Defence
secretary Liam Fox said: “There is no place in our
armed forces for the mistreatment of detainees.”
Fourteen soldiers mentioned in the report are still serving
(Mirror p6, Sun p15, Express p11, Mail p6, Times p3, Indie p1, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1, FT p4, Morning Star p1).
TUC trail – Action by up to
10 unions could be finalised at next week’s London TUC conference
according to PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka. TUC general
secretary Brenda Barber is interviewed in the Guardian (p31) while Unite will be
pushing for emergency action on the economy and the defence of
workers' rights. Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, said:
"Not content with knee-capping the economy, the
coalition is also mounting a sinister assault on workers'
rights. It is high time that a UK government supported
workers over big business, because failure to do so has brought
this country nothing but harm. Equally, we need to stop the
vandalism of our economy. This country did not vote for
joblessness, nor for the destruction of our services.
'No' to ideological cuts and 'Yes ' to a fairer, better
Britain will be the message government must heed."
(Mirror p6, Express p4, Mail p9, Guardian p1, Telegraph p1/b4, Morning Star p4, Unite
release)
Growth downgraded again – In
a damning verdict on the government’s economic policy the OECD
yesterday reduced the UK’s growth forecasts to just 0.075 per cent
by the end of the year and says there is a threat the economy could
go into reverse (Mirror p14,
Sun p2/44, Express p2, Mail p2/66, Times p4, Indie p31, Guardian p28, Telegraph p13/b1, FT p2, Morning Star p3).
Anti-state agenda for change
- Reform’s director Andrew Haldenby outlines his thoughts on unions
in the Telegraph (p24) as
a new report by his self-confessed ‘pro-market think tank’ claims
axing 400,000 public sector jobs was ‘easily manageable’. Unite
argues this is part of the anti-state agenda being orchestrated by
the government. Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail
said: ”Unfortunately, the rhetoric is turning into
reality with policies designed to break-up the national education
and health services. The continuing crude attack on public sector
pensions is part of this chorus. Such attacks will hit the
retirement incomes of much valued public servants, such as health
visitors, teachers, and paramedics.” (Sun p2, Express p4, Times p48, Telegraph p24, Unite
release).
To ringfence or not? – And is
Osborne expected to back the senior bankers or force them to
ringfence operations? The chancellor receives a copy of the Vickers
report into the banking sector today ahead of its publication on
Monday. The FT (p18-19) continues
its series on the future of banking looking at staffing levels and
the changes in particular in the investment banking sector, while
papers disagree on whether Osborne will back the changes or kick
them into touch (Mail
p19, Times p50,
Guardian p29, Telegraph b1).
Big Society bank sets out is
role – The FT (p4)
reports that the chief operating officer of the Big Society bank,
Caroline Mason, says it cannot fill the hole left by spending cuts,
but does aim to create a market for social investing that will draw
on a £3 billion pot it hopes to raise; the bank currently has £600
million promised. The bank will not take deposits and will only
lend wholesale.
Bank U-turn – Still in the
banking sector and up to 940 jobs could be saved after government
backed RBS announced that it had reprieved three sites that had
been threatened with closure. David Fleming, Unite national
officer, said: “Unite is extremely pleased that the
Royal Bank of Scotland has listened to the concerns of staff and
reversed its planned site closures. This news is a significant
boost to the RBS workforce in Norwich, Nottingham and Liverpool
after many months of uncertainty.” (Mirror p58, Guardian p30, Morning Star p2, Unite
release)
No work for third of homes –
And talking of Liverpool the Sun (p14) highlights the plight of
hunting for a job in some of the big cities with nearly a third of
households in Liverpool where no one has a job, Nottingham and
Glasgow are the next hardest hit. Sadly the Express (p9) uses it as an excuse
to say that an army of scroungers are ripping of the benefits
system. It’s left to the Mirror (p35) which continues its Get
Britain Working campaign which is helping hundreds of people find
work every day as it tours the country.
Time for toll roads – The
Times (p47) and
Guardian (p28) say that
business chiefs have called on the government to let the private
sector build toll roads to kick-start the economy as the CBI says
the government should give the private sector the freedom to build
major infrastructure projects, although knowing this government
they’ll probably give the work to foreign bidders.
End of the line for Saab –
Swedish court refuses to grant company bankruptcy protection,
workers have not been paid since production stopped last spring;
the company owes suppliers some €150 million (Express p78, Times p47, Guardian p29, Telegraph b4, FT p22, Morning Star p)
Celebrating 25 years of Nissan in the
north east – The FT (p3)
reports better news for the Sunderland UK base of the Japanese
carmaker Nissan which yesterday celebrated 25 years of operations.
From a £50 million investment employing 430 people the operation
now employs 5,000 and following some $3.3 billion is now able to
produce over 400,000 cars every year.
Challenging Fujitsu in the north
west – However not so good news for Japanese IT giant
Fujitsu where coordinated strike action will see 1,000 workers walk
out over a below inflation pay offer and the employer’s failure to
implement previous pay agreements (Morning Star p3, Unite
release).
Challenging the elusive MP –
The Middlesbrough MP Sir Stuart Bell hits back over claims that he
is lazy - although the Mirror (p6) notes that he has made
just 12 speeches in the Commons this year - saying he scrapped his
surgeries after being attacked so he only holds meetings by
appointment. Quentin Letts in the Mail (p12) delves more deeply
into his background.
West Lothian question to be looked
into – The right of Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs
to vote in Westminster is to be looked into by a panel of
‘non-partisan’ experts on the constitution, law and parliament in
an effort to block a private member’s bill (Guardian p14, Telegraph p12, FT p4).
Lib Dem rebels plan new NHS bill
attack – The Guardian (p11) reports that some
Liberal Democrat MPs are planning a fresh move against the
government’s health reforms at the party’s annual conference in
Birmingham with Lady Williams and former MP Evan Harris planning on
tabling a motion demanding more changes to the bill, why not just
aim to get the changes scrapped?
Party funding gap to be set
low – The Indie (p16) says political
parties face a £10,000 cap on donations, although this is to be
compensated by a big rise in state funding. The Committee on
Standards in Public Life report into funding wants small donations
to be the key, but Labour faces a headache over union funding as
little, local donations could become the norm.
Sainsbury’s local service –
The Telegraph (b3)
reports that the high street supermarket is to open its 400th Local
shop in Wolverhampton this morning.
Morrison’s on the up – And
another supermarket chain has reported a 2.2 per cent rise in sales
and has gained 400,000 extra customers. The company is benefiting
from people being more careful shoppers and buying more basic
ingredients to make their own meals and is looking to expand online
sales. The company does however say that consumer confidence is
‘almost at lowest ever’ which may hit profit expectations (Mirror p58, Express p78, Mail p66, Indie p34, Guardian p30, Telegraph b3, FT p20).
SABMiller bid almost settled
– Brewer looks finally set to launch formal £6.2 billion bid for
Foster’s, although the bid remains below what the Foster’s board
expects (Express p78,
Mail p66, Times p55, Telegraph b5, FT p23).
Enjoy a pint or two – Finally
the Mirror (p20) has some
good news for drinkers after scientists confirmed that booze can
make you healthy, apparently 14 pints can be good for you, although
not all in one go obviously…
Edited by Mik Sabiers
The Unite news digest
will be taking a short break while the editor heads off to join the
election campaign trail in Berlin and will return in just under two
weeks
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