AT A GLANCE | HOW TO BEAT THE STRIKE – DISRUPTION STARTS THIS EVENING November 1, 2010 TUBE Disruption is likely to most journeys, but London Underground will run as many trains and keep as many stations open as possible. Check www.tfl.gov.uk for the latest situation on your line and at your station before you travel. Volunteers will be on hand at key stations to give alternative travel options and otherwise assist [...]
Labour pulls ahead in polls November 1, 2010 The Labour party has pulled ahead of the Conservative party for the first time in three years, according to the latest ComRes opinion poll. The party is now on 37 per cent, two points ahead of the Conservatives. The most recent survey shows the party picked up three points from the previous poll taken just [...]
Phones 4U up for sale November 1, 2010 Deutsche Bank is believed to have drawn up a shortlist of bidders for a sale of phone company Phones 4U, including private equity giant Blackstone Group and BC Partners. The company, founded by John Caudwell in 1987 and sold in 2006 to Providence Equity Partners and Doughty Hanson for £1.5bn, could now be sold for [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING November 1, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES LEASE FEARS FOR OFFSHORE WIND FARMS Wind farm operators building offshore risk having their leases terminated without compensation if oil and gas companies decide they need the seabed plot for exploration, drilling or pipelines. Industry executives are warning that the lease terms, issued by the Queen’s Crown Estate, could threaten the funding of [...]
Serco makes humiliating rebate U-turn November 1, 2010 SERCO, the FTSE 100 outsourcing firm, was forced into a grovelling apology yesterday for demanding money back from suppliers, despite promising the government it would not do so. In September Serco financial director Andrew Jenner wrote to the company’s 193 biggest suppliers saying that “like the government, we are looking to determine who our real [...]
Yields on Irish and Portuguese bonds jump after bailout plans November 1, 2010 BORROWING costs for Dublin and Lisbon jumped yesterday after investors were spooked by EU plans to force bondholders to share in the pain in the event of another sovereign debt crisis. Last week, EU leaders signed up to German chancellor Angela Merkel’s plan to deal with any repeat of Greece’s debt crisis, which stipulates that bondholders must [...]
ENRON MAN APPEALS November 1, 2010 A THREE-JUDGE panel yesterday heard an appeal by imprisoned former Enron chief executive Jeffrey Skilling that could result in his freedom, a new trial or a reduced sentence. The appeal is Skilling’s latest chance to reduce his 24-year prison sentence after being convicted over one of the biggest fraud cases of the last decade.
AIB kicks off search for chief executive November 1, 2010 Allied Irish Banks (AIB) has put the sale of its British businesses on hold after failing to get any decent bids, its new chairman said yesterday, meaning the government may have to take an even larger share in the lender. Dublin is already set to take a stake of over 90 per cent in AIB [...]
Irish ruling paves way for €73bn of loan purchases November 1, 2010 THE Irish High Court has slapped down a challenge by property developer Paddy McKillen, paving the way for Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) to continue buying billions of euros worth of loans from distressed banks. Lawyers for McKillen, who owns a string of luxury hotels including Dublin’s Clarence Hotel and London’s Claridge’s, had argued [...]
Republicans set to win in US elections November 1, 2010 DEMOCRATS are widely forecast to lose control of the House of Representatives today as Americans go to the polls in the US midterm elections, but President Barack Obama’s party could hang on in the Senate. Polls put the Republican lead at between six and 15 per cent, with Democrats especially vulnerable in the south. The [...]