AV campaign faces defeat May 4, 2011 THE CAMPAIGN to swap Britain’s first past the post electoral system for the alternative vote (AV) appeared to be heading for a crushing defeat last night. Almost 70 per cent of voters said they planned to vote against a change to AV in today’s referendum, according to an ICM poll for the Guardian. Support for [...]
Osborne’s great North Sea blunder May 4, 2011 IT is now clear that George Osborne’s biggest error in his Budget was his savage raid on North Sea oil and gas firms. The additional tax on the sector was hiked from 20 to 32 per cent. Some fields, which pay petroleum revenue tax as well as corporation tax, face a marginal tax rate of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 4, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES BREWER’S FINANCE CHIEF TO RETIRE SABMiller is ushering in a new era after Malcolm Wyman, who has served as chief financial officer for the past decade, announced plans to retire at the annual meeting in July. My Wyman, 64, will be replaced by James Wilson, finance director for European operations. Mr Wilson, 51, [...]
Mexico stocks up on gold bullion May 4, 2011 Mexico has bought nearly 100 metric tonnes of gold since January, becoming the latest emerging market nation to turn to bullion as the dollar continues to falter. It had holdings of about 6.9 tonnes prior to its spending spree, data compiled by the International Monetary Fund shows. The purchase is worth about $4.6bn (£2.8bn) at [...]
Dunkin’ Donuts reveals IPO plan May 4, 2011 The private equity owner of Dunkin’ Donuts, the global coffee and food chain, is seeking to raise $400m (£242m) in an initial public offering (IPO) in the United States this year. Dunkin’ Brands, the parent company held by Bain Capital, the Carlyle Group and Thomas H Lee Partners, would use the proceeds of the float [...]
CITY VIEWS: HOW WILL YOU VOTE ON AV TODAY? May 4, 2011 DAVID CONWAY | BW “I’ll be voting No. The vote is only going ahead because of the Lib Dems’ self serving pre-election deal anyway.” RICHARD CLARKE | ARISTA INSURANCE “I’ll be voting No. The system we have has worked for donkey’s years and changing it won’t do the country any good.” AGRIS SIMNIS | FDM [...]
Gruesome bin Laden picture to stay secret May 4, 2011 PRESIDENT Barack Obama has decided not release a picture of Osama bin Laden’s body, as further details of his final moments emerge. The gruesome photographs of the al Qaeda leader, reportedly taken in an aircraft hangar in Afghanistan, are said to show an open gun shot wound to his head, part of his skull missing [...]
House prices to fall for five years, warns thinktank May 4, 2011 REAL house prices could drop by a fifth over the next five years, a leading economic forecaster warned today. Despite prices falling since the credit crunch, houses remain overvalued by around ten per cent, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) claimed. Additional regulations on banks could knock a further ten per cent [...]
Tube strikes to cause two weeks of commuter chaos May 4, 2011 LONDON commuters are facing two weeks of abject misery after the firebrand Tube union announced a wave of strikes, called over the sacking of two drivers. The RMT yesterday said its drivers would stage three walkouts lasting between nine and 24 hours from Monday 16 May to 20 May, followed by a further three walkouts [...]
Portugal debt fears remain May 4, 2011 PORTUGAL was forced to offer higher rates to sell short-term debt yesterday despite confirmation of a €78bn (£70.1bn) bailout deal, underlining continued anxiety that the country will be pushed into a debt restructuring. Portugal raised €1.1bn at an auction of three-month Treasury bills at an average yield of 4.65 per cent, higher than the 4.05 [...]
