The great west coast mainline gamble
If Sir Richard Branson is right about First’s “unsustainable” west coast mainline bid, then this Department of Transport decision is a gamble way in to the future for a new fat controller and for the government.
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Pakistani authorities arrest a Muslim cleric on allegations of framing a Christian girl who was arrested under the country’s controversial anti-blasphemy law, according to police officials.
Chancellor George Osborne knocks back a suggestion from Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg that the country’s wealthiest should be contributing more to the UK’s fiscal turn-around.
If Sir Richard Branson is right about First’s “unsustainable” west coast mainline bid, then this Department of Transport decision is a gamble way in to the future for a new fat controller and for the government.
Judo competitors are among those collecting the first gold medals today while behind the scenes officials scamble to avoid another diplomatic incident – this time with Saudi Arabia over a hijab ban.
There were various disgraces in the way the banks treated consumer and businesses with contempt over purchase insurance and interest rate swaps. But the Libor scandal seemed to be a quite incredible.
Today’s cache of Paul tucker emails released by the Bank of England puts the Libor scandal in a rather different context. The big picture here: the post-07 Libor “scandal” is the tree. The concerning financial health of Barclays Bank in October 2998 is the woods. The now Deputy Governor of the Bank of England is shown to be exchanging emails about Barclays’ financial position from a full week before the famous conversation that some have depicted as a Labour plot to illegally to manipulate Libor.
On a day when it’s pretty clear that the authorities asserted dominion over our banking system, I was invited atop the Canary Wharf tower that houses Barclays to speak to its now un-resigned executive chairman Marcus Agius. He is not prone to lengthy answers, but I think much of what he does and does not say is rather telling.
Spain seems to have played hardball and won some concessions. The medium term changes to strategic thinking are happening right now. And they will have a profound impact here.
I see five types of euro-related blackmail going on that will determine Greece’s fate in the eurozone. What might be called “Drachmail”.
Greece sets the date for fresh elections next month and will form a caretaker government, after talks aimed at forming a coalition failed.
Voters enraged with austerity measures are preparing to vote again in June as Greece’s president looks set to fail in his eleventh hour bid to cobble together a coalition government.
In the end, it wasn’t marginal. This morning GDP figures show Britain clearly back in recession, the dreaded double dip, with GDP in key one at -0.2 per cent.
“I am not in, as the chancellor of the exchequer, a daily opinion poll contest and a daily popularity contest. I will tell you what I am engaged in. A daily contest with the rest of the world to make Britain competitive to bring jobs to Britain.”
“The chancellor is adamant that this is not a further back-door bailout of the eurozone.”
Today’s figures show an unexpected welcome fall in unemployment, youth unemployment, and a small rise in the claimant count – over the next few months C4 News will continue telling the story of jobs in Britain with a series of reports for the Channel 4 Jobs Report (#c4jobs).