Industry News
2nd May 2008
Labour Slump Heavily in Local Elections
With all 159 Councils declared in England and Wales, the Labour Party has suffered it's worst local election results for 40 years, losing a massive 331 seats and control of nine Councils. The Conservatives have taken the spoils winning 256 additional seats and gaining 12 Councils. The Liberal Democrats gained 34 seats and one Council. Plaid Cymru are up by 33 seats. Prime Minister Brown said "It's clear to me that this has been a disappointing night, indeed a bad night for Labour". Deputy Leader Harriet Harman said "What we've got to do is be more focused on listening to people and more in touch".
1st May 2008
Bank of England Financial Stability Report Points Finger at Banks
The Bank of England has published its half-yearly Financial Stability Report, suggesting that the banks are being too cautious in their approach to the lending market, 'Prices in some credit markets are now likely to overstate the losses that will ultimately be felt by the financial system and the economy as a whole'.
30th April 2008
Competition Commission Publishes Grocery Market Report
The Competition Commission has published the final report in its inquiry into grocery retailing in the UK. Whilst UK grocery retailers are in many respects delivering a good deal for consumers, the report concludes that action is required to improve competition in local markets as well as in addressing the relationships between retailers and their suppliers.
30th April 2008
Commons Committee criticises 2012 Olympics organisers for being 'prepared to spend money like water'
The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee has published its Report into 'London 2012 Games: the next lap'. Whilst commending the progress achieved to date as working towards a realistic timetable, there are 'serious reservations' about costs. Specifically noting the Aquatics Centre, committee members are "alarmed" that this is now understood have excalated in cost to over four times the original forecast saying "In our opinion, the history of the Aquatics Centre shows a risible approach to cost control and that the Games organisers seem to be prepared to spend money like water".
Concerning the financial headline for the Olympics the report says "There is now a final figure for the budget for the Games: £9.325 billion, far higher than the estimated £3.4 billion at the time that the bid was submitted. Although it is not surprising that early assessments underestimated the final costs, such a radical revision of cost estimates has been damaging to confidence in the management of the overall programme. It has also exposed the Government and Games organisers to the charge that the initial bid was kept artificially low in order to win public support".
29th April 2008
Brown Admits Failure over 10p Tax Rate
Campaigning in the North-West of England ahead of this Thursday's local elections, the Prime Minister was yesterday asked if he was sorry about the removal of the 10p tax rate. Gordon Brown reportedly replied “Of course, because it’s unfortunate when things go wrong for people. We’ve tried to sort that out immediately over the last few days. But I do stress, as a result of the Budget, far more people are better off.”
29th April 2008
School Workforce Rises & Lower Pupil-Teacher Ratios
The Schools Minister Jim Knight welcomed provisional statistics published today that show the overall school workforce continuing to increase and the pupil-teacher ratio continuing to improve. The figures show 1,900 more full-time equivalent teachers, 13,100 teaching assistants and 5,100 other support staff in authority maintained schools, Academies and City Technology Colleges since last year. Pupil-teacher ratio has fallen in primaries from 21.8 pupils for every teacher to 21.6 and in secondary schools from 16.5 to 16.1. The two studies are available here and here
29th April 2008
Chancellor Unveils Business-Government Working Group on Tax Challanges
Speaking at a Chatham House conference on "New Financial Frontiers", the Chancellor Alistair Darling announced the creation of a new business-government forum on tax. The working group will investigate the long-term challenges facing the UK tax system, together with creating more certainty for multinational companies who face increased competitiveness in the global market-place. Read all about it
29th April 2008
Conservatives 14-point lead in Poll
A ComRes survey for The Independent newspaper gives the Conservative party a 14 point lead over Labour. The poll shows the Tories up two points from last month now on 40% and the Labour party down five points on 26%. The Liberal Democrats gain three points, moving to 20%.
25th April 2008
Chinese Government Talks with Dalai Lama Representative
The Chinese State media is reporting that the Government is due to announce a meeting with a representative of the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama. The meeting is expected to take place 'in the coming days'. Foreign Secretary David Miliband's statement said "Today's announcement by the Chinese Government that Chinese officials will meet representatives of the Dalai Lama in the coming days is positive. We, together with other members of the international community, have consistently called for dialogue between the Chinese Government and the Dalai Lama. I welcome today's announcement as the first step in that process".
25th April 2008
London Mayoral Candidate Halts Campaign
English Democrat London Mayoral candidate Matt O'Connor has reportedly pulled out of the race for the Capital's top job. O'Connor, founder of Fathers 4 Justice is understood to have quit his campaign due to a mix of poor election coverage for him and his party. His name will still appear on ballot papers.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63
.gif "The Enterprise Forum")
