City chaos as RMT strikes over salaries June 10, 2009 PANDEMONIUM hit the streets of London yesterday, after the Royal Maritime and Transport (RMT) union continued its 48-hour tube strike, which began at 7pm on Tuesday. Roads heaved under long traffic jams as thousands of commuters struggled to get around the capital without using the underground. Nervous novice cyclists wove in and out of traffic, [...]
HOW HAVE THE STRIKES HIT LONDON? June 10, 2009 COLIN STANBRIDGE LONDON CHAMBER OF COMMERCE“This strike is the last thing the London economy needs during a recession. Two-thirds of companies in the capital have frozen staff pay this year, yet the RMT is demanding more money for less work. Their position is unrealistic and untenable. Ending the strike 24 hours early will halve the [...]
RECESSION OVER FOR BATTERED BRITAIN June 10, 2009 A TOP think-tank yesterday called an end to the bitter recession that has been crippling Britain, in a move that was welcomed across the City last night. The National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said output grew 0.1 per cent in May and 0.2 per cent in April. Martin Weale, its director, said [...]
City braced for further disruption June 10, 2009 LONDON is set for another round of travel chaos today, as London Underground (LU) and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union refused to budge on a dispute over pay. LU said last night they were “almost waiting at the table” for RMT to enter talks, while the union said it was the employer who [...]
US firms face votes on pay June 10, 2009 US TREASURY secretary Timothy Geithner has promised new laws to force listed firms to put the pay packages of top executives to shareholder votes, although the results will not be binding. Geithner said shareholder-owned firms will have to hold “say on pay” votes over pay packages, following the public fury over so-called “fat cat” bonuses [...]
Both parties will cut public spending June 10, 2009 ANY future government faces one of three option: either continue racking up a crippling budget deficit; or put taxes up until the pips squeaks and anybody with any sense leaves the country; or cut spending. We simply cannot go on with budget deficits of £100bn-£200bn a year for the next decade, which is what we [...]
Setanta pair hanging on June 10, 2009 SETANTA founders Michael O’Rourke and Leonard Ryan were last night locked in talks to salvage their moribund sports channel. The duo were determined to launch one last audacious bid to save their pay-TV venture by raising the funds to buy out investors Goldman Sachs and Doughty Hanson – who have refused to plough more money [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 10, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMES RIKSBANK BORROWS €3BN FROM ECBThe European Central Bank (ECB) stepped in yesterday to help avert a Baltic financial crisis by lending €3bn (£2.6bn) to the central bank in Sweden, whose banks dominate the region’s financial sector. The ECB move signalled the Frankfurt institution’s willingness to shore up official European help for countries such [...]
UKFI in bond plan for bank stakes June 10, 2009 The government is mulling an early exit from its £70bn stakes in bailed-out RBS and Lloyds Banking Group before their share prices recover, by selling off “exchangeable bonds” in the groups. UK Financial Investments has discussed creating the complex instruments to allow an early sale of the stakes at a premium to their still-depressed share [...]
Citigroup defends tax benefit June 10, 2009 Bailed-out US banking giant Citigroup last night brought in a mechanism to deter investors from owning over 5 per cent of its stock. It is designed to protect a $43bn (£26bn) tax break it receives if under 50 per cent of its shareholders own over 5 per cent. The move came as it launched its [...]