Merkel heralds historic victory September 22, 2013 ANGELA Merkel romped home to a major victory in yesterday’s German general election, according to exit polls last night. The incumbent chancellor begins her third consecutive term in power with an estimated 42 per cent of the vote – almost enough to give her an absolute majority, a level of support unheard of in a [...]
Miliband wants to make City firms pay more September 22, 2013 IN BRIGHTON ED MILIBAND yesterday announced he would force employers that recruit foreigners to take on extra UK apprentices – and said he wants to make City firms pay a higher minimum wage than those in other sectors of the economy. Under the Labour leader’s plan, every time a company hires a non-EU migrant worker [...]
Media groups seek improved service from BT Openreach September 22, 2013 BT OPENREACH, the infrastructure arm of the telecom giant used by BSkyB, TalkTalk and others to run their home phone and broadband offerings, has been labelled “consistently poor” by those who rely on the service. Ofcom, which is closing a consultation on BT Openreach’s performance on Wednesday, has been inundated with complaints from the industry. [...]
Ed Balls asks for audit of Labour spending plans September 22, 2013 ED BALLS yesterday asked the government’s budget watchdog to assess Labour’s spending plans – as the party hinted that it will shift the tax burden onto high earners if it wins the next election. The shadow chancellor has asked Robert Chote, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to audit all of the party's spending [...]
What Germany’s shock election results mean for UK politics September 22, 2013 RULES are there to be broken in politics, like in everything else. It is often said, when discussing the UK, that there is no way the Conservatives can increase their share of the vote at the next general election. By 2015, they will have been power-sharing for five years, and have presided over austerity as [...]
What the other papers say this morning – 23 September 2013 September 22, 2013 FINANCIAL TIMES Twitter seeks pre-IPO credit line Twitter is in discussions with banks about a new credit facility that could run into hundreds of millions of dollars, giving the internet company extra flexibility ahead of its initial public offering. High quality global journalism requires investment. Sources familiar with the discussions say that Twitter is in [...]
Watchdog: bad loans to blame for Co-op woes September 22, 2013 BAD LOANS from the Britannia Building Society are responsible for most of the Co-op Bank’s loan losses in the past year, and could get worse in future, a top Bank of England official insisted in a letter released today. Andrew Bailey, the head of the Prudential Regulation Authority, was hitting back at claims by the [...]
At least 68 dead in Kenya terror September 22, 2013 KENYA said last night its security forces were in control of most of the Nairobi shopping mall where at least 68 people were killed by Somali al Shabaab Islamists, but gunmen still appeared to be holding hostages as the siege entered its third day. Referring to an operation under way since early yesterday, following the [...]
Smaller parties squeezed out by Merkel’s win September 22, 2013 ANGELA Merkel’s coalition allies the Free Democrats (FPD) are set to be wiped out after the German public yesterday gave them less than five per cent of the vote. Under Germany’s system of proportional representation a party needs at least five per cent to gain any seats in parliament. The new eurosceptic party the Alternative [...]
New coalition could hit UK’s EU reform hope September 22, 2013 DAVID Cameron had hoped Angela Merkel would be a key ally in his bid to bring more powers from Brussels back to the UK, but analysts warned last night that plan could be hurt by the German election results. Although Merkel herself is firmly in position after a major victory, her coalition partners the economically [...]
