Coalition says 40 per cent cuts unlikely July 4, 2010 THE government yesterday tried to soothe fears over the biggest spending cuts in a generation, after the chancellor asked departments to draw up plans to slash their budgets by a staggering 40 per cent. George Osborne has asked the cabinet to prepare a package of cuts that would be implemented if their departmental budget were [...]
Minister discusses strikes clampdown July 4, 2010 TRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond was reported last night to have held discussions with Mayor of London Boris Johnson about ways the coalition government may be able to avert a winter of discontent. The two men are said to have examined proposals drawn up by the employers’ organisation the CBI to declare a strike illegal unless [...]
Government targets civil service redundancies to slash spending July 4, 2010 CIVIL service “golden goodbyes” would be cut drastically in the government’s latest plan to axe spending. In a move to reduce the cost of laying off hundreds of thousands of state employees, new caps on redundancy are set to be introduced within weeks. But last night the plan drew furious opposition from unions, who said [...]
M&S readies for investor anger on pay July 4, 2010 A STRONG set of first-quarter figures from retail bellwether Marks and Spencer this week looks set to be overshadowed by animosity at the firm’s annual shareholder meeting, with investors set to clash with executives over the eternally thorny issue of pay. Sir Stuart Rose will officially hand over the chief executive’s reins to ex-Morrisons man [...]
Marks and Spencer July 4, 2010 FITTINGLY for a general retailer, Marks and Spencer’s first quarter results on Wednesday will be something of a mixed bag. Analysts are expecting food sales to be up by around 1.5 per cent, with sales of clothes and general merchandise up by 3.7 per cent. But it’s worth remembering that the comparatives are pretty forgiving: [...]
Stress tests due 23 July July 4, 2010 FRENCH finance minister Christine Lagarde confirmed yesterday that the results of stress tests on European banks will be published on 23 July, in an attempt to boost confidence in the sector’s ability to weather further economic and regulatory shocks. The scope of the tests has recently been widened to cover around 100 of Europe’s banks, [...]
RBS plans to take first steps towards privatisation in 2011 July 4, 2010 ROYAL Bank of Scotland aims to put the conditions in place for the government to start selling its 83 per cent stake in the bank next year, chief executive Stephen Hester revealed at the weekend. Hester told German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that the sale “will not be conducted in one go”. But he added: [...]
Trichet insists austerity drives will not dampen Euro growth July 4, 2010 EUROPEAN Central Bank president Jean-Claude Trichet yesterday moved to quell concerns that Europe is facing another period of recession and renewed his support for reforms and deficit cuts to boost confidence. “(For) growth, you must strengthen confidence, and that means having budgetary policies that are balanced and sustainable,” Trichet said. State austerity drives and deficit [...]
Fears grow of dip: Deloitte July 4, 2010 CONFIDENCE among City finance chiefs began to wane again over the second quarter of the year as market volatility, global fiscal tightening measures and the sovereign debt crisis weighed heavily on sentiment. Chief financial officers now predict around a 38 per cent chance of a “double dip” recession on average, a significant jump on the [...]
Market strategists warn of further FTSE pain to come July 4, 2010 MARKET experts at the weekend issued dire warnings of a further downward trend in the FTSE, which was hammered last week on the back of a slew of weak economic data and continuing worries over fiscal tightening and the eurozone debt crisis. The FTSE 100 index closed on Friday at 4,838 – a fall of [...]
