Darling set for offshore crackdown March 22, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling will use tomorrow’s Budget to step up the government’s crackdown on offshore tax evasion by doubling the maximum penalty. Treasury sources said that the chancellor thinks he can protect £1bn of revenue by increasing the penalty to 200 per cent of tax owed. The measures are tougher than the ones announced in the [...]
IoD demands spending cuts March 22, 2010 ALISTAIR Darling should learn a lesson from Labour’s first Budget in 1997 and announce “spending reductions which are faster and deeper than expected by financial markets”, according to the Institute of Directors (IoD). The group, which represents UK directors from a range of businesses, also want Darling to provide a credible long-term plan to reduce [...]
Credit is becoming easier to obtain March 22, 2010 THIS column has been quite gloomy about Britain’s prospects in recent months, and will be even more so for the remainder of this Budget week. So here is a positive story for a change: it is clear that credit is becoming steadily more available, albeit at a higher price than in the bad old days. [...]
Labour suspends MPs March 22, 2010 THREE senior Labour MPs were suspended from the party last night over allegations of swaying policy for cash. Chief whip Nick Brown took the decision after Stephen Byers, Patricia Hewitt and Geoff Hoon were caught discussing the possibility of working for what they thought was an American lobbying firm. The “cash-for-lobby” incident has been an [...]
Ford and Geely close to Volvo deal March 22, 2010 US carmaker Ford will sign a deal to sell its Volvo cars business to China’s carmaker Zhejiang Geely within days, sources close to the deal said last night. The Chinese carmaker will pay $1.8bn (£1.2bn) for Volvo, while a further $750m of working capital is being raised to develop the Swedish brand, famous for its [...]
Tories see lead cut by 3 points March 22, 2010 The Conservative lead in the upcoming general election has dropped by three points to four per cent, according to theYouGov/Sun daily poll. The Tories are on 36 per cent (down two per cent), Labour are on 32 per cent (up one per cent) and the Liberal Democrats are on 20 per cent (up one per [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 22, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES MOD TALLIES COST OF CUTTING PROJECTS The Ministry of Defence has instructed its equipment managers to calculate the cost of cancelling all individual programmes in the latest sign of the budget squeeze it faces. The directive, issued in the past two weeks, underlines that no programme, even if under contract with industry, is [...]
Pru boss sets off on second charm effort March 22, 2010 PRUDENTIAL kicked off a second round of meetings with its largest UK investors yesterday, in a move to smooth ruffled feathers after shareholders opened fire on the insurer last week. Chief executive Tidjane Thiam met with a number of fund managers in London to cement their support for Prudential’s $35.5bn (£23.5bn) buyout of American International [...]
Babcock set to bag VT Group with higher bid March 22, 2010 ENGINEERING support firm Babcock International completed its long pursuit of sector rival VT Group with an offer worth £1.33bn last night. Sources told City A.M. that VT would formally recommend the 735p-a-share offer this morning. Babcock is understood to have raised its offer, made up of cash plus 0.701 Babcock shares per VT share, after [...]
SAMCAM: NEW MAM March 22, 2010 David Cameron’s wife Samantha is expecting a baby due in September. The Camerons also have a four-year-old son Arthur and a six-year-old daughter Nancy, and suffered heartbreak last year when their disabled son Ivan died, aged six. Cameron has described his wife as his “secret weapon” in the general election. Picture: REUTERS