I recreated all my favourite TV tropes, from crawling through pipes to being two kids in a trenchcoat
Boris warns of fuel strike emergency March 29, 2012 BORIS Johnson has warned the government is not taking the escalating fuel crisis seriously enough, City A.M. has learned, and has instructed London officials to start planning for an emergency. In a letter to communities secretary Eric Pickles, seen by City A.M., the Mayor of London said the UK was facing a “potential fuel emergency” [...]
Economists reject OECD’s gloomy GDP predictions March 29, 2012 THE UK is now in recession with January to March set to mark a second quarter of economic contraction for the UK, the influential OECD group predicted yesterday, as a survey out today revealed consumer confidence fell again in March. However other economists cast doubt on the OECD’s gloomy claim, pointing to healthy business survey [...]
An incompetent government hit by a Spring of Discontent March 29, 2012 WHAT a shambles. The police and fire services are shutting petrol stations to prevent riots in parts of the country; Stansted’s baggage controllers are striking over Easter; Britain’s nuclear energy programme is in chaos after E.ON and Npower ditched plans to build new reactors, fuelling fears the lights could go out in a decade’s time; [...]
Eurozone ups bailout fund in bid to reassure March 29, 2012 EUROZONE finance ministers will today increase the size of their bond bailout fund in a bid to reassure markets that investments in the region are secure. A draft agreement, prepared for today’s meeting in Copenhagen, reveals a plan to boost the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) safety net to €700bn and pledge an extra €240bn [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING March 29, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES KWOK BROS ARRESTED BY HK WATCHDOG The billionaire brothers who run Hong Kong’s largest property company were arrested yesterday in connection with a corruption investigation that has stunned the territory’s tight-knit business community. HARSH M&A LANDSCAPE HITS BANKS Investment banks face the prospect of another disappointing year as companies put off dealmaking, depressing [...]
Fraud costs UK £73bn a year March 29, 2012 The cost of fraud to the UK economy will hit £73bn a year in 2012, according to a report from a watchdog. The National Fraud Authority estimates that every UK adult will be £1,441 worse off because of fraud. Fraud in the private sector accounts for more than half the total with estimated losses of £45.5bn. The [...]
Lords reject EU transaction tax March 29, 2012 Britain must veto European Union plans to tax financial transactions as they are flawed and would likely prompt banks to relocate, according to a house of Lords report due to be published today. The bloc’s executive European Commission has proposed a tax on derivative, stock and bond trades to raise up to €57bn from 2014 [...]
RIM in freefall as BlackBerry profits crumble March 29, 2012 BLACKBERRY maker Research in Motion (RIM) last night announced a 25 per cent drop in revenues that pushed it into the red and signalled yet another boardroom shake–up. The firm said it made a $125m (£78m) loss in the fourth quarter, a result that came in beneath already low expectations. Shares in the firm dropped [...]
Government accused over fuel fear March 29, 2012 THE GOVERNMENT was accused of being “totally irresponsible” yesterday, after its response to the threatened strike by tanker drivers stoked a run on petrol supplies. Although 2,000 truckers have voted to strike for better pay and conditions no dates for any action have yet been set and they must give seven days’ notice before any walkout. But [...]
Treasury: we were unprepared to deal with the financial crisis March 29, 2012 THE TREASURY was severely unprepared and ill-equipped to deal with the financial crisis, according to a damning internal report it published yesterday. The core government department was too reliant on inexperienced staff – who had an average age of 32 – and appeared to be working under the assumption that a financial crash was not [...]
