Boris calls for better transport July 8, 2010 London mayor Boris Johnson yesterday called for an upgraded Tube and Crossrail, to boost the capital’s business. Speaking at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) yesterday he warned that cutting vital investment in London’s transport system would hurt London’s business and damage the UK economy. He said the government should protect vital improvements to the [...]
Back to 1926: Unions plan general strike July 5, 2010 THE prospect of the first general strike since 1926 reared its ugly head yesterday, after trade union leaders clubbed together to fight the toughest public spending cuts in a generation. Three unions – which represent train and bus drivers, prison officers, and civil servants – said they would support a general strike if the government [...]
London commuters face huge rise in tube fares, warns RMT July 5, 2010 TRANSPORT FOR LONDON (TfL) could hike passenger tube fares to “eye-watering” levels making the “travelling public pay through the nose”, RMT has warned. The trade union has said that TfL has not given it enough information over Olympic transport plans. London commuters will have to shoulder fare increases as TfL tries to “plug a £5bn [...]
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 [...]
CITY GOES RURAL IN A PASSION FOR SPEED July 4, 2010 CITY petrol-heads were out in force over the weekend, among 175,000 visitors to the Goodwood Festival of Speed at Goodwood House outside Chichester. Among the business visitors to the F1 racing event were Arnauld Bamberger of Cartier, Audi’s Peter Duffy, BlackRock’s James Charrington, and Alfa Romeo/Fiat Group’s Richard Gadeselli. They turned out to watch top [...]
London is in danger of losing its status as top business base June 30, 2010 LONDON is in danger of losing its standing as the premier place to do business, according to an influential survey published today. While four fifths of chief executives continue to rate the capital as a good or very good place to do business, this has fallen by six per cent in the past six months, [...]
TfL closes door on Tube Lines takeover June 27, 2010 BORIS JOHNSON, London’s Mayor, and Transport for London (TfL) have completed the takeover of Tube Lines. Under the agreement, TfL has purchased all of Tube Lines’ shares from Bechtel and Ferrovial’s Amey, for £310m and will now manage the ongoing work to the Northern, Jubilee and Piccadilly lines. Johnson said the deal will open a [...]
Two-day Tube strike starts June 23, 2010 LONDON Underground maintenance workers began a 48-hour strike at 7pm last night, after last-ditch legal action by employer Tube Lines failed. A High Court judge denied Tube Lines an injunction to stop the strike, despite arguments that the strike ballot was invalid. “We urge the RMT to pull back from taking this needless action which [...]
Sentance shatters consensus with call for rate rise June 23, 2010 A LONE dissenting voice in the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) this month urged for a hike in rates, the first time since August 2008 that such a call has been made. External MPC member Andrew Sentance, who has recently expressed disquiet about stubbornly high inflation in both MPC meetings and in the [...]
TUBE LINES STRIKE TO GO AHEAD June 22, 2010 MAINTENANCE workers on the underground will strike this evening after talks between rail union RMT and Tube Lines fell apart. The strike, which will be staged in two parts, is set to commence at 7pm and will last until Friday evening, with another strike planned between 14 and 16 July. Transport for London (TfL), which [...]