Cameron pledges radical reforms August 15, 2011 DAVID Cameron will today pledge a sweeping review of the UK’s approach to social policy in the wake of last week’s devastating riots. The prime minister will use a speech this morning to announce a “social fightback” to match last week’s security operation. He will pledge to “review every aspect of our work to mend [...]
Speculation hots up over eurobonds August 15, 2011 ITALIAN politicians stepped up pressure for closer fiscal union across the Eurozone over the weekend, as a report emerged that German ministers were considering caving in on demands for eurobonds. Speaking ahead of a crucial Franco-German summit this week, Italian economy minister Giulio Tremonti said: “We would not have arrived where we are if we [...]
BP to offload North Sea rig August 15, 2011 BP is set to continue the trend of oil and gas firms exiting North Sea assets with the sale of its minority stake in the Shearwater field. Sources close to the deal told City A.M. the 27.5 per cent stake in the Shell-run gas field could net BP more than £150m. GDF Suez is also [...]
Cameron’s police and euro blunders August 14, 2011 EVERY so often, a confluence of events forces a country to choose a new direction. Britain is at such a crossroads: we need radical reform in virtually all areas of domestic policy as well as new trading relationships and security alliances internationally. The riots and the crisis in the Eurozone ought to serve as catalysts [...]
Rail fees to soar in January August 14, 2011 TRANSPORT campaigners have warned train fares will rise by four times the rate of inflation come January thanks to government plans. Transport secretary Philip Hammond will cut the £5bn annual train subsidy and has upped the amount rail operators can increase their fares from RPI plus one to RPI plus three. The plans will see [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 14, 2011 FINANCIAL TIMES FEARS RAISED AS “LACK OF CAUTION” FUELS COMMERCIAL PROPERTY VALUES Commercial real estate values have been spurred by a “lack of caution” on the back of an “astonishing” rebound in lending to the sector, according to one of the largest global fund managers. LaSalle Investment e, which manages $45bn (£27bn) of real estate [...]
Rebels in Libya breakthrough August 14, 2011 Libyan rebels raised their flag over a strategic town near Tripoli yesterday after their most dramatic advance in months cut off Muammar Gaddafi’s capital from its main link to the outside world. The swift advance on the town of Zawiyah, about 50 km (30 miles) west of Tripoli, will deal a psychological blow to Gaddafi’s [...]
Merkel party hit by scandal August 14, 2011 German chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats suffered a setback last night when a regional leader was forced to resign over his affair with a 16-year-old girl. Christian von Boetticher announced he was stepping down as chairman of the CDU in Schleswig-Holstein state, in a further blow to Merkel’s conservatives. Boetticher had been the designated [...]
World Bank chief hits out at politicians August 14, 2011 POLITICIANS in Europe and the US must wake up to the severe loss of market confidence in their economic leadership, the head of the World Bank said last night in Australia. Recent events “have pushed us into a new danger zone,” Robert Zoellick (pictured) warned, arguing that substantial reforms to government spending commitments are required. [...]
Berlusconi faces criticism over Italian austerity plan August 14, 2011 ITALY’S second austerity package in less than a month met with a chorus of criticism a day after becoming law, with the largest union federation threatening a general strike over the “injustice” of the measures. President Giorgio Napolitano on Saturday signed the emergency decree introducing sweeping austerity measures to cut the fiscal deficit by some [...]
