Labour defends its spin doctor July 10, 2011 LABOUR has continued to back its PR adviser Tom Baldwin – dubbed “Labour’s Coulson” – amid claims by Tory peer Lord Ashcroft that he sanctioned so-called “blagging calls” to extract information about his party donations. A Labour party spokesman said: “Tom Baldwin did not appoint private investigators. Tom Baldwin was not involved in the appointment [...]
Cross words left by staff July 10, 2011 DESPITE News International ensuring loyal sub editors scoured the pages of the final News of the World for signs of protest from angry staff members, it appears they missed a series of hidden messages in the crossword. Answers featured were “disaster” and “menace”. Clues included “Woman stares wildly at calamity” and “We’re off for a [...]
Hacking scandal damages News Corp’s bid for BSkyB – but politicians also hit July 10, 2011 VOICE OF THE CITY RUPERT Murdoch’s attempt to buy the 61 per cent of BSkyB he doesn’t already own has been badly damaged by the hacking scandal, according to the City A.M./Politics Home Voice of the City panel. Over 29 per cent said the fresh allegations against the News of the World, resulting in the [...]
Huhne Bill to spark higher energy costs July 10, 2011 CHRIS Huhne, the energy secretary, is set to reveal the most radical reforms of Britain’s electricity market for two decades, in a move that will see household bills further increased in the coming years. The government will publish a white paper tomorrow designed to give utility companies the £110bn financial incentives needed to invest in [...]
AssetCo in fire sale talks with Bahrain’s Arcapita July 10, 2011 LONDON’S fire engine supplier AssetCo is in exclusive sale talks with Bahraini banking group Arcapita over a 2p-per-share offer, City A.M. has learned. AssetCo is racing against time to finalise a deal with Arcapita to fend off bankruptcy as it has accumulated debts of between £117 and £140m. It faces a court hearing today to [...]
Guy Hands looks to buy RBS aircraft finance wing July 10, 2011 GUY Hands is keen to swoop on Royal Bank of Scotland’s aircraft financing division with a £4bn bid. The financier wants to merge RBS Aviation Capital with Awas, the plane leasing firm owned by his investment fund Terra Firma. If he pulls off the acquisition, his jet hire business would be the third biggest in [...]
Green agenda is a big political risk July 10, 2011 Energy minister Chris Huhne engaged in a battle of words yesterday, dismissing claims that the UK could end up with energy prices “towards the highest in the EU” – as calculated by the Electricity Policy Research Group at Cambridge University. “Absolute nonsense” snapped Huhne, arguing that prices would eventually be lower if the UK moved [...]
Costs crunch at biscuit firm July 10, 2011 UNITED Biscuits UK saw its operating profits jump by 10.4 per cent to £218.5m last year, its latest accounts published on Companies House show. The increase in earnings came despite revenues growth of just one per cent to £1.06bn, with cost-savings driving the bulk of the earnings boost at the UK arm of the company [...]
City plays crucial role in stronger civil society July 10, 2011 ONE of my priorities as Lord Mayor is to strengthen the centuries-old tradition of working to improve the lives of others. The City has a crucial role to play in building a stronger civil society, especially as the Square Mile neighbours some of the poorest areas in Europe. Contrary to reports of bankers and their [...]
Coalition fails to achieve most competitive corporation tax rate July 10, 2011 THE government is set to fail in its bid to produce the most competitive corporate tax system in the G20, according to research from Oxford University released today. The UK currently has the ninth lowest corporation tax in the G20. This will improve to fifth if the coalition’s reforms are seen through, but only if [...]
