Gordon Brown and Nick Clegg told to repay excessive expenses claims October 12, 2009 GORDON Brown was yesterday told to hand back over £12,400 in parliamentary expenses after making excessive claims for cleaning, gardening and decorating. Downing Street confirmed that Sir Thomas Legg, who is auditing MPs’ claims, had written to Brown ordering him to return £12,415. Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg was also censured by Legg for claiming [...]
Government must tighten finances by an extra 26bn October 12, 2009 THE government could balance its books by the year 2015/6 via additional fiscal tightening measures equivalent to £26bn in the next three years, a report by PricewaterhouseCoopers will claim today. The report will say the government has a responsibility to put the public finances back on a sustainable footing by 2015/6, two years ahead of [...]
Decline in marketing spend eases October 12, 2009 THE rate of decline in marketing spend eased sharply in the third quarter of the year, as optimism increased among marketing professionals, according to new research. The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising/BDO Bellwether Report showed that UK companies’ spending on advertising fell for the eighth quarter in succession in the period, but the reduction in [...]
FTSEcloses at one-year high as energy and mining rally October 12, 2009 RALLYING energy stocks and miners, spurred by firmer commodity prices and growing optimism on the corporate outlook and global economy, helped the top share index to its highest close in over a year yesterday. Global equity markets were given a shot in the arm by forecast-beating results from Philips ahead of earnings from other major [...]
S&P 500 puts in its sixth rise in a row October 12, 2009 THE S&P 500 index of the biggest US companies managed a sixth consecutive day of gains to end at its closing high for the year as energy shares rose alongside the price of oil. But the market lost some strength in the afternoon and the Dow and Nasdaq ended little changed as investors opted to [...]
RBS APPEASES TAXPAYING PUBLIC BY BRINGING OUT ARTISTIC GEMS October 12, 2009 AFTER being lambasted in recent months by angry taxpayers-cum-stakeholders baying for blood, it appears that the Royal Bank of Scotland is finally about to give something back. The bank – which is thought to own the largest collection of corporate art in Britain, with over 2,200 pieces – is in talks with museums and collectors [...]
ITV LOSES ITS X-FACTOR October 12, 2009 ITV’s epic search for new leadership hit a fresh low yesterday after Sir Michael Bishop ruled himself out of the running for chairman. And chief operating officer John Cresswell – who was yesterday appointed interim chief executive – said he would leave as soon as the role was filled permanently, ending ITV’s best chance of [...]
BBA warns on capital rules October 12, 2009 THE Financial Services Authority (FSA) must produce a cost estimate and a timetable for the tightening of capital requirements on banks or risk damaging the UK economy, British Bankers’ Association (BBA) chief executive Angela Knight will warn today. In a speech at the BBA’s conference on compliance and regulation, Knight will say that banks already [...]
Expenses scandal latest blow for sterling October 12, 2009 IT was no coincidence that sterling fell yet again yesterday as the expenses scandal flared up once more. The revelation that Gordon Brown is having to reimburse £12,400 – and many other MPs from all parties will have to pay back some of their expenses – can mean only one thing: Britain’s political establishment is [...]
JJBSports in rights issue October 12, 2009 JJB Sports yesterday revealed it was storming ahead with its £100m rights issue after shareholders were satisfied that rumours surrounding the financial dealings of its chairman Sir David Jones were unfounded. The ailing sportswear chain, which teetered on the brink of collapse earlier this year, said that it would issue 400m new shares at the [...]
