Economics
Miliband’s face off with the leading energy firms continued today … Lord Mandelson criticised the plans last night as taking the Labour Party back to an era in which the options for industrial policy were either state control or laissez-faire. (Front page of The Guardian and The Times). Ed Miliband has also effectively wiped £2billion off the value of leading energy firms as investors rushed to sell of shares in gas and electricity suppliers. (Front page of City AM)
Personal Finance
Figures from the Office for National Statistics reveal that half of women in Britain are still working when they reach the age of 60. In 1993 only 35.1% of women had a job when they reached the age of 60, demonstrating the impact that the rising pension age has had on a generation of women. (Pg 4, Daily Mail).
Also more stay-at-home mothers have gone back into employment in the last two years than in the previous 15 years combined, an official study suggests. This increase comes after changes to child tax benefits which led to the government being accused of forcing middle-class mothers back into work. (Front page of The Telegraph).
Property
Cuts to housing support will put England at risk of being a ‘knife-edge’ nation where people who lose their jobs will also see their homes under threat, Shelter has warned. Under the current system, renters who have not claimed housing benefit in the previous three years will have the full cost of their rent covered for up to 13 weeks if they become unemployed. But under universal credit a renter will only receive a standard amount toward their housing costs, a lot lower than the average private rent. (Pg 26, The Independent).
Recruitment
Lord Sugar failed to win back costs from Stella English (2010 winner of the Apprentice) who lost a constructive dismissal claim against him. Her claim was dismissed by an employment tribunal which said that case should never have been brought. Lord Sugar’s claim for costs was rejected by the tribunal judge who said that English “truly believed” she had a case (Everywhere).
Yesterday the Treasury said that it had lodged its objection to a new European law that caps bankers’ bonuses to the European Court of Justice. Apparently the new legislation would drive up salaries and would lead to banks finding alternative ways to boost pay, such as higher pensions. (Pg 47, The Times)…
…This news comes as one of the Conservatives’ most powerful and generous donors was at the centre of a political storm last night for his role in the Libor scandal. Icap, founded by former Tory treasurer Michael Spencer, has been fined a total of £55million on both sides of the Atlantic. (Front of The Independent).
The Wriglesworth Consultancy 