THE PESSIMIST May 25, 2009 WHILE the UK economy may have passed the absolute low point of this recession, any recovery is likely to be built on pretty fragile foundations. The key message from previous cycles is that, whatever their shape, full recoveries from UK recessions tend to take a long time. Even in the V-shaped downturn of the late [...]
AN ABUNDANCE OF GLITTER FOR THE ASIAN WOMEN OF ACHIEVEMENT May 21, 2009 LONDON’s most successful Asian ladies were out in force on Wednesday night for perhaps the sparkliest evening of the year, the Asian Women of Achievement Awards, in association with Lloyds TSB. The star-studded guest list included Prince Charles and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, as well as BBC Dragon James Caan, MP Tessa Jowell, Lib Dem [...]
OUT THIS WEEKEND PREVIEWS May 21, 2009 FILMTORMENTED Britain’s answer to the current vogue for teen slasher flicks. EVERLASTING MOMENTS Acclaimed Swedish period drama about a female photographer. THE GIRL CUT IN TWO The latest quirky film from French auteur director Claude Chabrol. DVDTHE READER Kate Winslet on Oscar-winning form as a former Nazi prison guard. SEVEN POUNDS Apallingly mawkish melodrama with [...]
REALITY CHECK AS UK DEFICIT SOARS May 21, 2009 TENTATIVE signs of a recovery in the UK economy were dramatically overshadowed yesterday when credit ratings agency S&P downgraded its outlook on UK debt and the scale of the crisis in the public finances was laid bare. S&P lowered its outlook on the UK’s prized AAA credit rating to “negative” from “stable”, giving a one [...]
A million jobs to go May 21, 2009 ONE million more people will lose their jobs before unemployment peaks in the UK, Bank of England monetary policy committee member David Blanchflower said yesterday. The economist forecast 100,000 jobs to go each month before the end of the year, warning of a “lost generation” unless the government moves to prevent job losses. Blanchflower is [...]
Ford slams state loans May 21, 2009 THE head of Ford in Europe yesterday struck out against the German government’s decision to offer a €1.5bn (£1.3bn) bridge loan to GM’s Opel division. John Fleming warned that the loan would give Ford’s US rival a competitive edge, adding that he was worried by the French states’ €6.8bn loan to PSA Peugeot Citro&1057;n and Renault.
A catastrophe made in Downing Street May 21, 2009 WE are moving ever closer to the day of reckoning. As if another set of dreadful public finance figures yesterday wasn’t enough, the markets were also rattled by S&P’s decision to cut the outlook for the UK’s sovereign credit rating from stable to negative. Years of fiscal profligacy during the boom years are finally catching [...]
Q & A : WHAT DOES S&P’S DECISION MEAN FOR THE UK May 21, 2009 Q. WHAT EXACTLY HAS STANDARD & POOR’S DONE?A. It has downgraded its rating on Britain’s AAA rating, to “negative” from “stable”. Q. WHAT IS MEANT BY AN OUTLOOK DEFINITION?A. An S&P rating outlook assesses the potential direction in which a rating will move over the next six months to two years. “Negative” means it may [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 21, 2009 FINANCIAL TIMESCORUS CHIEF SCRAMBLES TO RESCUE FACTORY DEALCorus chief Kirby Adamsm who took over at the Anglo-Dutch steelmaker last month, faces both the worst fall in steel demand for 60 years and a battle to salvage an agreement to sell the group’s Teesside plant to Marcegaglia. It has emerged that Marcegaglia is having second thoughts [...]
Barclays weighs up bid for BGI May 21, 2009 Talks between Barclays and private equity house BC Partners over a counter-bid for exchange-traded funds unit iShares are said to have cooled, after the bank entered talks to sell its entire Barclays Global Investors (BGI) division. Barclays was looking to attract new bids for iShares to trump the £3bn offer it received from CVC Partners. [...]