Industry News
3rd September 2008
Glenrothes Candidates Line Up
All the main party candidates have been selected for the upcoming Glenrothes By-Election. The headteacher, Lindsay Roy, will seek to defend the 10,664 majority for Labour, while the SNP runs with the leader of Fife Council, Peter Grant. The Conservative candidate is campaign manager Maurice Golden, and businessman Harry Wills lines up for the Liberal Democrats. The election will take place due to the death MP John MacDougall after illness. Favoured dates for the contest are understood to be 30 October or 6 November.
3rd September 2008
Kids starting Year 7 to be first to stay at school until age 17
Year 7 children starting at school this term should be the first set of school-goers legally to be required to stay in education until they are 17 years old. The Education and Skills Bill contains measures designed to encourage higher levels of skill and qualification post-16. The Government proposals plan that all 17 year olds by 2013 and all 18 year olds by 2015 will be taking part in a form of education or training. Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families said “I want to see a situation where every single young person has a range of interesting, exciting and challenging options ahead of them at every stage of their education, so that they never feel tempted to drop out or give up. This year will see some of the biggest steps towards this goal yet”.
3rd September 2008
First Minister Sets Out Scottish Legislative Agenda - and Confirms Independence Referendum Bill Plans for 2010
First Minister Alex Salmond has set out the Scottish Government's plans for the year ahead. Three of the 15 planned bills are to focus on the environment and include the Scottish Climate Change Bill. Others proposals include the Council Tax Abolition Bill which will instead seek to levy a Scotland-wide 3p income tax , and the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill. Only one Bill on flood risk management has been carried over into this session. Salmond also confirmed the manifesto commitment on independence saying "Our aim to introduce a Referendum Bill on Scottish independence is widely known. So I am delighted to reaffirm for this Chamber our intention to introduce that Bill in 2010". Read Alex Salmond's speech at Holyrood containing all the details.
2nd September 2008
Stamp Duty Suspension Move
The Chancellor of the Exchequer is to suspend stamp duty on residential properties costing less than £175,000. The suspension will take effect from tomorrow and is set to last for 12 months. The move from Alistair Darling effectively sees the lowest 1% stamp duty threshold raised from £125,000 and forms part of a cross-Departmental package from the Government aimed at tackling the ongoing housing situation. Communities Secretary Hazel Blears has announced further measures to help first time buyers struggling to get onto the property ladder through a shared equity scheme and free loans system. Blears said "This Government is committed to practical action to help those most affected by the current state of the housing market. We are working to make sure everyone struggling to pay the mortgage gets support and advice. We are giving a leg-up to first-time buyers keen to own a place of their own. And by bringing forward our investment in social housing, we are both getting more decent, affordable housing ready for people to live in sooner, and helping the house building industry weather tough times".
2nd September 2008
Extraordinary Council of Ministers: Russia should not isolate itself from EU
Presidency Conclusions from the extraordinary Council of Ministers meeting noted that the EU is "convinced that it is in Russia's own interest not to isolate itself from Europe" and the EU "strongly condemns Russia's unilateral decision to recognise the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia". The EU has postponed planned meetings leading up to the EU-Russia Partnership Agreement "until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August".
2nd September 2008
Bleak OECD Outlook on UK Economic Situation
The OECD interim assessment 'What is the economic outlook for OECD countries?' indicates the UK is heading for a recession to the end of this year through GDP growth forecasts. The paper from Jorgen Elmeskov, the Acting Head of the OECD's Economics Departmen also noted that "In Europe, downturns in prices and construction activity appear to be spreading beyond Denmark, Ireland, Spain and the United Kingdom, with sharply lower transaction volumes likely a precursor of downturns elsewhere".
1st September 2008
Conservatives Crticise Darling over Economic Crisis
Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has said that Alistair Darling has "let the cat out of the bag" by admitting the UK is facing its worst economic crisis in 60 years. Speaking with The Guardian, the Chancellor said that Britain was facing "arguably the worst" economic downturn in 60 years that will be "more profound and long-lasting" than people had expected. Osbourne stressed Darling had finally told the truth about "the mess" that ten years of a Labour government has left the British economy in.
1st September 2008
EU Extraordinary Council Discusses Georgia Situation
French President Nicholas Sarkozy has called together EU Heads of State and Government for an extraordinary European Council meeting in Brussels to discuss the conflict between Georgia and Russia over the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Writing in The Observer, Gordon Brown said "No one wants a new Cold War or the encirclement of Russia. But when I spoke to President Medvedev yesterday, I told him to expect a determined European response".
1st September 2008
Burnham Launches School Sport Coaching & Competition Plans
Speaking at the UK School Games in Bath, Culture Secretary Andy Burnham has set out his ambition to offer coaching and competition for all by 2012. This forms part of plans that will see young people offered five hours of sport per week. Burnham said: "The UK School Games are the pinnacle of the school sport system and shows how a culture of competition and excellence has been reintroduced to our schools. Since Beijing it is has become widely acknowledged both here and abroad that we now have a world class system for developing medal winners. But rivals like Australia are not just looking at our elite sport system anymore. Outside Britain they are now also acknowledging the giant leaps we have made in school sport. Despite these improvements, it still feels like some people are stuck in a time warp when it comes to their perceptions of school sport in this country. It's not the eighties any more. School playing fields aren't being sold off left, right and centre. PE is not being abandoned from the timetable and competition is no longer a dirty word. In fact there has been a dramatic and unparalleled transformation of school sport that emulates the transformation of elite sport in Britain".
13th August 2008
PubAffairs Cricket: PubAffairs vs The NAO, 13 August 2008
PubAffairs win the battle but not quite the war
Match report By Tony Cox: Part-time wicketkeeper, roving journalist and consultant at Linstock Communications
And so the curtain comes down on the inaugural Westminster Cricket League - possibly the last major tournament not to sell its soul to Coca Cola, Gillette or the like. More money has poured into twenty twenty cricket than Robert Mugabe's swiss bank account and I have no doubt the sponsors will be queuing up over the winter after this barnstorming season.
And so to the league winners - the NAO. Despite going down to a ruthless performance from PubAffairs in the final match they topped the league and celebrated their title with post match champagne...Download the full match report below
PubAffairs vs NAO Match Report 13August08.pdf
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