Britain’s healthcare system is on the critical list – why are medical unions in denial? January 25, 2012 IT REALLY is time public sector unions stopped taking the lazy option. And those representing the medical profession, above all, should be showing the rest of their comrades leadership – for decisions made over the nation’s healthcare are a matter of life and death. Yet the doctors’ union is threatening to strike over the current [...]
The music stops for UK breaks on bankruptcies January 25, 2012 THE singer Kenny Rogers once sang “you’ve got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away, know when to run”. While Rogers was singing about a gambler, he could just as easily have been singing about the Irish people’s attitude to their bankruptcy regime. Increasingly the people [...]
There isn’t any debate: Voters want openness January 25, 2012 THIS bar stool observation from a stranger on Monday evening may well have nailed it. “I’d like to see Mitt Romney as my president, but I’d love to see Newt Gingrich debate Barack Obama.” Gingrich has something the Republican base values – combativeness, as well as a veneer of near-invincibility on the stage before a [...]
RAPID RESPONSES January 25, 2012 Reduce naked risk Jamie Whyte’s proposal for amending bankers’ pay structure [Strippers can show us bankers’ just rewards, yesterday] is certainly worth consideration but needs further refinement. In Whyte’s model the bank is still subject to losing large amounts of capital at the hands of its trader, whereas Stringfellow faces no such capital risk with [...]
Bury bonds in tax-efficient Isas to avoid digging deep January 25, 2012 HIDDEN among the carnage following the implosion of Lehman Brothers in 2008 lay an opportunity to profit from corporate bonds. And for those who weren’t busy stocking up on water, guns and canned food, corporate bond funds have proved an invaluable hedge against volatile and broadly weak equity returns and inflation’s creeping decimation of their [...]
How we’ll waste our time this year January 25, 2012 SONY PLAYSTATION VITA Expected: 24 February Price: £280 with 3G Sony’s long-awaited portable console is almost upon us. We now know it features both a touch-screen (expected) and an innovative touch-sensitive rear (similar to the one that failed to materialise on the iPhone 4), meaning you can control the system with swipes of your finger [...]
Please wake me up when Apple does something wrong January 25, 2012 Bouncing a ball against a wall is fun. Doing it a hundred times is still fun. But bouncing the same ball against the same wall for years on end can get a little repetitive. Finding creative ways to dress up the words “Apple,” “record” and “profits” is like bouncing that ball. For a long time [...]
Redknapp told cops: I pay my tax and don’t fiddle anything January 24, 2012 Tottenham manager threatened to sue reporter for bungs claim Court told Redknapp feigned ignorance over offshore account TOTTENHAM manager Harry Redknapp threatened to “sue the bollocks off” a reporter who suggested payments he received into an offshore account that remained undeclared to the taxman for six years were “bungs”, a court heard yesterday. Redknapp, who [...]
Time for KP to show he’s a team player January 24, 2012 TALK of guarding against complacency dominated the build-up to last week’s first Test but the manner of England’s defeat suggested they fell into the very trap they were desperate to avoid. The senior batsmen have all scored prolifically enough over the last two years for us to label last week’s debacle in Dubai a freak [...]
Strauss set to face his biggest test January 24, 2012 ENGLAND captain Andrew Strauss admits protecting his side’s No1 Test ranking and turning the current series against Pakistan on its head represents one of the toughest challenges of his tenure. A miserable 10-wicket defeat in Dubai means England have no margin for error in the two remaining Tests. Strauss, who inherited the Test captaincy from [...]
