WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING
FINANCIAL TIMES
FRANCIS MAUDE TACKLES CIVIL SERVICE PAY-OFFS
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, attempted to force the hand of civil service unions yesterday as he laid emergency legislation to slash their redundancy terms while offering negotiations on a new severance deal. With up to 100,000 civil service jobs likely to go during the next few years as most departments’ spending is cut by 25 per cent, a bill laid before parliament yesterday reduces their redundancy terms.
FRANCE AND GERMANY SEEK TO MEND RIFT
Wolfgang Schäuble, Germany’s finance minister, will attend a full French cabinet meeting next week in a push to forge a common French and German front on proposals for eurozone governance. In a series of meetings in Paris, Schäuble will attempt to reconcile differences between France and Germany on a number of issues.
ITALY PREPARES TO PASS AUSTERITY PACKAGE
Italy’s Senate is today expected to approve the centre-right government’s controversial €25bn austerity package, with Silvio Berlusconi resorting to a vote of confidence to ram through his cuts in the face of considerable dissent from within his own coalition.
CROWN ESTATE TO RETURN A £211M SURPLUS
The Crown Estate is to return a £211m surplus to the Treasury, raised from the sovereign’s hereditary property holdings, which includes land across London and the UK. The Crown Estate will reveal today that the capital value of its holdings has increased 10.4 per cent to £6.6bn in the year to March, leading to a surplus of £210.7m in the period.
THE TIMES
EUROPE WARNS OBAMA: THIS RELATIONSHIP IS NOT WORKING
Europe’s disappointment with Barack Obama’s presidency is laid bare today as the EU’s most senior figure calls for a dramatic effort to revive transatlantic relations. The President of the European Commission told The Times that the new era at the White House was in danger of becoming a “missed opportunity” for Europe.
BBC SECRECY OVER HIDDEN EXECUTIVES COSTING £10M A YEAR
The BBC is spending nearly £10m a year employing highly paid executives on “hidden” contracts that are not included in its £1bn wage bill. The corporation has admitted that in the past year it hired 139 staff as commercial contractors, with 29 earning six-figure fees, but will will not reveal their names or job titles.
The Daily Telegraph
CHARITY TAX RELIEF BREAKS £1BN BARRIER
According to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), the total value of Gift Aid donations in the year to April 2005 was £2.82bn but that had risen to £4.57bn by last year. Because the ‘Gift Aid’ box enable them to reclaim basic rate tax relief from HMRC, the tax authorities made total charitable donations of just over £1bn last year.
CO-OPERATIVE TO ACCEPT CONTACTLESS PAYMENT FROM NEXT YEAR
Supermarket shoppers will from next year be able to pay for their groceries by Oyster-style payment cards. The Co-operative will accept so-called “contactless payment” cards, similar to the Oyster cards used by commuters on the London Underground. Customers will not need to sign, or enter any PIN security code – they will merely have to touch their cards on a reader.
WALL STREET JOURNAL
COAL-TRADE LOSSES STING JP MORGAN CHASE & CO
J.P. Morgan Chase is expected to report a healthy second-quarter profit today. But one result the bank would rather not talk about is its bad trade on coal. Commodities trader Chan Bhima lost $130m in revenue while wagering on a decline of European coal prices, according to people familiar with the matter.
ALPHA GROUP SEEN SEEKING OK TO ESTABLISH DARK LIQUIDITY POOL
Alpha Group, Canada’s biggest alternative-trading system, is soon expected to announce that it will seek approval from securities regulators to set up a so-called dark liquidity pool in its ongoing efforts to woo trading volumes from TMX Group, Canada’s main stock-market operator, according to people familiar with the matter.