Stelios set to launch battle with easyJet May 16, 2010 A BITTER dispute between Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou and budget airline easyJet escalated over the weekend after it emerged that the easyGroup owner plans to campaign shareholders to join his revolt against the airline’s fleet expansion plans. Haji-Ioannou is meeting this week with some of the airline’s largest shareholders, including Schroders, Standard Life and Capital Research, [...]
Soaring petrol prices to push up CPI inflation May 16, 2010 DRAMATIC rises in the price of petrol are expected to push the rate of inflation further above the Bank of England’s two per cent target when the official figures are released today. The price of unleaded fuel has jumped nearly 11 per cent since the start of the year, with diesel up 10 per cent, [...]
Senior civil servants to lose bonuses May 16, 2010 THE GOVERNMENT is planning to scrap bonuses for over 2,000 senior civil servants and NHS managers, as it gears up for a crackdown on public sector pay. David Cameron said the bonus pot for senior civil servants and NHS managers would be slashed by two thirds this year, lobbing £15m off the public sector wage [...]
David Cameron gears up for rebellion over fixed-term rule May 16, 2010 DAVID Cameron yesterday defended proposals to introduce a fixed-term five-year parliament that could only be dissolved if 55 per cent of MPs vote in favour, despite growing dissent among backbenchers that think the plans are undemocratic. The Prime Minister confirmed that both parties would whip their MPs and peers to support the legislation, paving the way [...]
Ed Miliband admits government failings as he launches campaign May 16, 2010 ED MILIBAND, the former climate change secretary, has admitted that Labour lost its way in government and became “caretakers” instead of “idealists”. Launching his leadership campaign with an impressive speech at the Fabian Society, he also conceded that the party had failed to face up to the concerns that trouble its traditional voters, such as [...]
ACTIVISTS BACK CLEGG May 16, 2010 LIBERAL DEMOCRAT activists yesterday voted overwhelmingly in favour of Nick Clegg’s decision to take the party into coalition government with the Tories, despite unease among some senior figures. Yesterday, former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy, credited with winning the party new voters in the 2005 general election, revealed that he refused to back the Liberal-Conservative coalition.
Tories prepare the ground for spending cuts May 16, 2010 MOST governments leave behind an unwieldy in-tray, but Labour has laced the departments of Whitehall with landmines. That was the assessment of David Willets, the universities and science minister, upon finding that Lord Mandelson had announced large cuts to the universities budget without deciding where the axe would fall. Elsewhere, Tory spinners talk of a [...]
Osborne’s top team recruited to the Treasury May 16, 2010 GEORGE Osborne has put the finishing touches to his team at the Treasury, ahead of an emergency Budget on 30 June. Mark Hoban, MP for Fareham, is the new financial secretary to the Treasury, with specific responsibility for the City and financial services industry. He is joined by MP for Putney Justine Greening, who takes [...]
BA faced with triple dose of misfortune May 16, 2010 WILLIE WALSH, British Airways (BA) chief executive, is facing a trio of threats to the airline’s business during the same week it is expected to report over £600m in losses for the 2009 financial year. According to analysts, BA will report before tax losses of £613m when it publishes its 2009 financial results at the [...]
Waddell trades named in stock drop mystery May 16, 2010 WADDELL & REED Financial, a brokerage and mutual-fund firm, has been named as the mystery trader that sold a large amount of futures contracts during the 6 May stockmarket slide. Without identifying the firm, Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman Gary Gensler said the trading was one of many factors that contributed to the Dow Jones [...]
