M&S sales fall flat as it fails to carve a fashion identity July 10, 2012 THE RETAILER famous for £10 meals and the Per Una brand has stumbled. In this age of austerity, it may come as little surprise that a firm like M&S is falling short. But in reporting its weakest quarterly figures for seven years, its challenges run far deeper. Although M&S’s food sales grew by 2.9 per [...]
Should the government consider removing state benefits from wealthier pensioners? July 10, 2012 YES Alex Burghart The pinch on public spending is, very likely, going to have to get tighter. When it does, the government will need to ask itself some searching questions. Questions like, does Lord Sugar really need £200 for his heating bills this winter? Could Sir Bruce Forsyth afford his own TV licence? Would Lord [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 10, 2012 Top level failure [Re: Osborne and Tucker have both been damaged by Libor row, yesterday] I’m staggered that both Paul Tucker and Bob Diamond didn’t take notes of their telephone conversations, or indeed have them recorded. Under Financial Services Authority regulations, many of us have to. We’d get fined or disbarred if we didn’t. Quentin [...]
The Bank of Dave: How one man is challenging the high street giants July 9, 2012 IT’S only 240 miles from Burnley to the City of London, but sometimes it feels like it’s a completely different world. Unlike the skyscrapers of the City, my “bank” is based on a high street in Burnley. And it used to be a florist’s shop. That’s just one of the things that makes my little [...]
Barclays isn’t the only one engaged in the manipulation of interest rates July 9, 2012 IT HAS recently emerged that a UK bank has been manipulating a key interest rate. The only disappointment I have is that people are wasting so much energy on the wrong bank and the wrong interest rate. The Bank of England has far more influence over the banking system than Barclays – it is, after [...]
Regime defectors are the best hope for peace in Syria July 9, 2012 THE ONGOING conflict in Syria is an acute counterweight to the optimism unleashed by the Arab Spring. Gloomy forecasts of this protracted conflict, not to mention all too frequent pictures of brutally massacred civilians, are creating an ever-growing scrapbook of the chaotic descent of the Syrian nation into endless civil war. Syria’s President Bashar al [...]
Should MPs vote in favour of the proposed reforms to the House of Lords later today? July 9, 2012 YES Peter Facey The House of Lords Reform Bill is a major step forward for democracy, but it’s clear the government needs to be more flexible if it is going to get it through the Commons. Unlock Democracy has proposed several changes. In our view the government needs to review its policy of 15-year non-renewable [...]
RAPID RESPONSES July 9, 2012 Banking on choice [Re: Why it must be made much easier to switch bank accounts, yesterday] It should certainly be made easier for customers to change bank accounts. But such a policy will only be worthwhile if it’s combined with measures that encourage banks to differentiate their offering. Transparent pricing structures would be a good [...]
MF Global’s bankruptcy highlights perilous faults in UK finance rules July 8, 2012 LESSONS have been learned” is today’s platitude of choice. It was used to account for the failings that led to the collapse of Lehman Brothers – an event that was meant to change everything. So it was with disbelief that I heard from a group of MF Global clients. MF Global was a derivatives broker [...]
Hollande is at risk of slaying France’s golden tax geese July 8, 2012 PRESIDENT François Hollande is only just settling into the Elysée, but ripples of unrest towards his tax policies are already being felt, both in France and further afield. The headline figure is the proposed 75 per cent rate of income tax, which will apply to income of over €1m (£793,000) a year. This will be [...]