Foreign truckers will be forced to pay to use roads in Britain September 17, 2012 FOREIGN truckers will be forced to pay to use British roads, under plans confirmed by the new transport secretary yesterday. Patrick McLoughlin said the measure is designed to redress the balance for UK hauliers, who must pay levies to drive through Europe. He told Sky News yesterday that “our companies are charged when they drive [...]
Boris: It must be harder to strike September 17, 2012 BORIS Johnson yesterday launched a hard-hitting attack on the power of trade unions in a move that revived suggestions that he is positioning himself to run for leadership of the Conservative party. Setting out his proposals to combat hard-line union activism, the Mayor of London called for a clampdown on the ability of organised labour [...]
Huge iPhone sales set to boost Apple September 17, 2012 APPLE shares are in sight of a new record high of $700 this week, after early demand for the new iPhone 5 proved far greater than expected. Purchases made over the weekend were accompanied by a warning that delivery would take up to three weeks to arrive, after the initial batch of devices sold out [...]
Sweden fears bank union will hit its top institution September 17, 2012 SWEDEN became the latest country to oppose EU banking union plans over the weekend, joining Germany in rejecting parts of the latest plan to centralise power in the Eurozone. The move could scupper the European Commission’s plans – it had hoped the new setup would be in place by the end of this year, an [...]
Welcome to the New Normal: Pay can go down as well as up September 17, 2012 WE in the West are not used to getting poorer. Ever since the industrial revolution put to an end to millennia of stagnation, and barring catastrophes such as world wars, or short recessions, a belief in perpetual progress and ever rising incomes has become a defining characteristic of the psyche of all developed nations. Yet [...]
Major claims economy is on road to recovery September 16, 2012 FORMER Prime Minister John Major said yesterday that the economy is showing “green shoots” of recovery and that the worst of the recession is over. “Recovery begins from the darkest moment. I’m not certain, but I think we have passed the darkest moment,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr Show. Major cited increased employment, improved [...]
Enthusiasm for more public spending low September 16, 2012 SUPPORT for increased government spending remained low in 2011 as the country began to slip into double-dip recession, despite an increase compared with 2010, new research revealed today. Only 36 per cent of respondents to the 29th British Social Attitudes survey said they supported increased government spending – if it meant higher taxes – up [...]
What the other papers say this morning September 16, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES CCB eyes $16bn European bank move One of China’s biggest lenders plans to make the country’s largest foreign bank purchase to date and has set its sights on potential targets in Europe. China Construction Bank, the second-ranked Chinese lender by assets after Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, could spend as much as [...]
PwC picks up the pace with record revenue September 16, 2012 PROFESSIONAL services giant PwC said today its annual revenues have risen 6.5 per cent to a record £2.6bn, in a return to strength following several years of sluggish growth. Overall profits for its UK, Channel Islands and Middle East operations jumped 10.8 per cent to £727m in the year to 30 June. The results came [...]
The figures reveal exactly what the big in Big Four really means September 16, 2012 RECORD revenues ought to be nothing but a good thing, but in PwC’s case it will also underline existing concerns, in the context of the Competition Commission [CC] taking an interest in whether the Big Four are too dominant in the audit marketplace. An appreciation of why can be seen in survey results published by [...]
