Brown optimistic over UK economy

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has painted an optimistic prediction for the economy, saying it was “simply not true” that tough times are ahead.

Gordon Brown is optimistic about the UK’s economic growth

Mr Brown told the Daily Telegraph that the action the government had taken was bringing the economy around.

“We’ve said that the economy will grow by 1.5% next year and more people are moving towards our position,” he said.

Mr Brown’s assessment of the rate of recovery contrasts with the Treasury’s forecasts for annual growth of 1.25%.

And the IMF has made a prediction of 0.9%.

Mr Brown said: “If you have a growth policy for Britain, get unemployment down, get the economy moving forward, then Britain can have upgrowth,” he said.

“I think people have moved closer to our view that Britain is capable of coming back to growth at a higher rate next year than people were originally assuming, and higher rates in the future.”

Filed under: bbc, British Goverment, Conservatives, recession, bbc, business, consumer, downturn, Gordon Brown, Labour, Labout, optimistic over UK economy, Prime minister, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, recession, Tory, UK, UK economy, w recession

Will this new tax work or do we need stronger action

Why do we in Britain seem to find things difficult, so the government as created an authority called the FSA (Financial Services Authority), which in principal is a good idea, but they have not the power to in-force changes onto the banking sector. So a new tax is being developed to control the banks bonuses. Now the idea behind this tax is that

“tax on financial transactions in the City would cut banks’ profits, and thereby reduce the funds available for bonuses.” says Lord Turner

But unfortunately i believe that from passed behaviour from the banking sector that when the bank has less profits, all that will happen is this will get passed down to the shop floor. So the high up people within banks will take what their want which will just less for everyone else.

–  by recession2009

 

Lord Turner backs new banking tax

The boss of the UK’s financial watchdog has said he backs a new tax on banks as a means to prevent excess bonus payments in the industry.

Lord Turner made the comments in a roundtable discussion

 

Lord Turner, the chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), also said much of the activities of the City of London were “socially useless”.

The FSA said Lord Turner’s comments came in a roundtable discussion, and were “not setting out any new policy”.

The FSA does not have the power to introduce such a tax.

Filed under: banking sector, bbc, British Goverment, news, bank, banking sector, banks, bbc, bonsues, bonuses, britain, business, capitalism, consumer, downturn, FSA, Gordon Brown, in-force, news, recession, tax, UK, world, years

Should we pull the plug – Northern Rock makes hefty losses

“is it now time to let Northern Rock go, can we all continue to support the Bank with our own money. If this was a company then it would have gone into adminstration by know. Lets pull the plug on Northern Rock and let it close down – I know at lot of people will loss money but we can’t afford to support the bank / share holders any longer”

by N Blakeley – recession 2009

 

Northern Rock has reported a loss of £724.2m for the first six months of 2009, compared with a loss of £585.4m in the first half of last year.

The nationalised bank said that 3.92% of its mortgage loans were more than three months in arrears, well above the national average of 2.39%.

It currently owes the government £10.9bn, but is waiting for European regulatory clearance for more funding.

Northern Rock was nationalised in February 2008

It had to be bailed out by taxpayers in 2007, when its model of borrowing short-term funds from wholesale markets to lend to mortgage borrowers was hit by the credit crunch.

It reported impairment losses from loans and advances of £602.2m for the first six months of the year, compared with £191.6m for the same period the year before.

Filed under: banking sector, bbc, blog, economic depression, Internet, news, Newspapers, recession, banking sector, bbc, bonuses, borrowers, business, credit crunch, global recession, Gordon Brown, loss, mortgages, news, Northern, Northern Rock, recession, Rock, share holders, wholesale, world

We are in a recession, we have a labour goverment so that all strike

Cadbury workers ‘vote on strike’

Cadbury’s produces some of the UK’s best known chocolate bars Cadbury workers begin voting on possible strike action on Saturday, according to the union Unite. Ballot papers consulting on action will begin to arrive at the homes of workers at the UK’s best-known chocolate maker, it said. Unite claims that Cadbury is breaking a long-standing pay deal with workers at its Bourneville, Chirk, Marlbrook and Somerdale plants. About 1,300 people work across the sites, the union said. The ballot will run to 18 August, it added. sourced from THE BBC Postal staff set to strike again The union has warned a national strike could take place Industrial action at the Royal Mail is set to escalate with strike action scheduled for three days next week, the BBC has learned. The strike action on 25, 27 and 28 July comes on top of Friday’s one-day walkout by 12,000 Royal Mail employees. The escalating action is in defence of workers who, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) say, are being unduly pressured by Royal Mail managers. The Royal Mail has accused the union of standing in the way of modernisation. ‘Illogical cuts’ Union members in London and other selected regions are to down tools in the dispute over job cuts and working conditions. This could result in no deliveries of mail on Saturday 25 July, and no work at Royal Mail’s London distribution centres on 27 and 28 July, says BBC business correspondent Joe Lynam. The CWU has accused Royal Mail managers of trying to “break the union for good” and accused them of “illogical and arbitrary” job cuts. Deputy General Secretary of the CWU, Dave Ward, said his union recognised that the Royal Mail is “facing huge problems” but said that it had a very different view of what modernisation is needed. The vision that Royal Mail has put to workers involves “endless job cuts, hugely damaging cuts to the service and continuous cuts in our members’ pay, pensions and conditions,” he said. Paul Tolhurst at the Royal Mail countered that with “mail volumes falling and our profits under huge pressure, there is no real opportunity for us to stop [making] the changes.” “Particularly,” he added, “as these changes we are trying to put in were agreed with [the union] in 2007.” Earlier on Friday, about 400 employees marched on Westminster to deliver letters of protest to the Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. Sell off The Royal Mail is suffering from a big drop in demand for letters as more and more people use the internet to communicate. The government announced last month that it was delaying controversial plans to sell a stake in the postal service to a private company. It maintains that the partial sell off of Royal Mail is required as part of measures to tackle the company’s finances – in particular a pensions deficit said to be near £8bn. Lord Mandelson has said the company cannot survive without the sale. The Royal Mail employs more than 150,000 people in the UK, most of whom are represented by the CWU. sourced from THE BBC

Filed under: bbc, blog, down turn, recession, Recession starts Friday 23rd January, Wild cat strikes, all about grub, allaboutgrub, britain, business, chocolate, downturn, eating, Gordon Brown, post, post office, recession, shops, Strikes, Supermarkets, supply, support, wild, wildcat strikes

the list

MPs’ expenses:

Full list of MPs investigated by the Telegraph

All of the MPs named by the Telegraph’s investigation into how politicians –

from Gordon Brown’s Cabinet to backbenchers of all parties –

exploited the system of parliamentary allowances to subsidise their lifestyles and multiple homes.

The Houses of Parliament in Westminster:

MPs’ expenses:

PA MPs’ expenses investigation in depth

Gerry Adams and four other Sinn Fein MPs claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though they refuse to attend Parliament

Adam Afriyle has not made any claims on his second home allowance

Douglas Alexander spent more than £30,000 doing up his constituency home – which then suffered damage in a house fire.

Michael Ancram put the cost of having his swimming pool boiler serviced on his parliamentary allowances. He has agreed to repay the money

James Arbuthnot claimed from the public finances for cleaning his swimming pool at a country residence. He has agreed to repay the money

Hilary Armstrong was told that allowing the Labour Party to pay for and run a computer at her taxpayer-funded home could make her “politically vulnerable”

Ian Austin split a claim for stamp duty on buying his second home in London into two payments and tried to claim it back over two financial years.

John Austin claimed more than £10,000 for redecorating his London flat, which was 11 miles from his main home, before selling it for a profit.

Vera Baird claimed the cost of Christmas tree decorations

Ed Balls and wife Yvette Cooper “flipped” the designation of their second home to three different properties within two years

Norman Baker asked if he could claim for a bicycle and a computer so he could listen to music and email family and friends

Greg Barker made a £320,000 profit selling a flat the taxpayer had helped pay for. He has agreed to repay £10,000.

Margaret Beckett made a £600 claim for hanging baskets and pot plants

Hilary Benn claimed only £42,113 on his second homes allowance in four years

Richard Benyon did not claim on his second homes allowance in 2007/08

Sir Paul Beresford, who works up to three days a week as a dentist, designated his west London property, which includes his surgery, as his second home on his parliamentary allowances

Liz Blackman went on last-minute shopping sprees before the end of each financial year, in an apparent attempt to make sure she claimed as close to maximum expenses as possible

Tony Blair re-mortgaged his constituency home and claimed almost a third of the interest around the time he was buying another property in London

Hazel Blears did not pay capital gains tax on a property she sold despite having told the Commons authorities it was her second home. She has since agreed to paid the tax but denied any wrongdoing.

Crispin Blunt told to stop claiming Commons allowance on his home because his children live there

Tim Boswell claimed only £22,230 on his second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008

Ben Bradshaw used his allowance to pay the mortgage interest on a flat he owned jointly with his boyfriend

Tom Brake did not claim on his second home allowance between 2004-8

Kevin Brennan had a £450 television delivered to his family home in Cardiff even though he reclaimed the money back on his London second home allowance

James Brokenshire claimed just £368 on his second homes allowance in 2007/8 and nothing in the preceding three years

Gordon Brown’s house swap let the PM claim thousands

Nick Brown claimed £18,800, without receipts, in expenses for food over four years amid total expenses of £87,000

Chris Bryant changed second home twice in two years to claim £20,000

Andy Burnham had an eight-month battle with the fees office after making a single expenses claim for more than £16,500

Paul Burstow doesn’t claim for a second home although he is entitled to

Alistair Burt claimed £1,000 too much in expenses for his rent, but was allowed to keep the money.

Dawn Butler, the Labour whip, over-claimed £2,600 in rent on her constituency home.

Stephen Byers claimed more than £125,000 for repairs and maintenance at a London flat owned outright by his partner, where he lives rent-free

Vince Cable forgoes the second home allowance, but asked whether he could claim backdated payments of the London supplement instead

David Cameron limited his claims to mortgage interest payments and utility bills. He will repay the only maintenance bill he claimed – £600 for the removal of wisteria

Menzies Campbell hired a top interior designer to refurbish his small flat in central London at taxpayers’ expense. He will repay the £1,490.66 cost of an interior designer

Ronnie Campbell claimed a total of £87,729 for furniture for his London flat

Ben Chapman deliberately over-claimed for interest on the mortgage of his London house by about £15,000 with the approval of the fees office, documents seen by the Telegraph suggest. He is facing possible suspension from the PLP

David Chaytor admits claiming almost £13,000 in interest payments for a mortgage that he had already repaid. He has been suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Part

 James Clappison owns 24 houses but billed more than £100,000, including thousands for gardening and redecoration

Kenneth Clarke managed to avoid paying the full rate of council tax on either of his two homes by effectively claiming that neither is his main residence. He has agreed to pay the full rate in future but defended his past behaviour.

Nick Clegg claimed the maximum allowed under his parliamentary second home allowance

David Clelland claimed for the cost of “buying out” his partner’s £45,000 stake in his London flat

Geoffrey Clifton-Brown “flipped” his second home designation from London to his Gloucestershire home, before buying a £2,750,000 house.

Harry Cohen claimed thousands of pounds for redecorating his second home before selling it and charging taxpayers £12,000 in stamp duty and fees on a new property

Michael Connarty sold some of the contents of his London home to

Jim Devine, a close colleague, before charging the taxpayer thousands of pounds for goods delivered to addresses in Scotland.

Yvette Cooper and husband Ed Balls “flipped” the designation of their second home to three different properties within two years

Stephen Crabb claimed his “main home” was a room in another MP’s flat, after buying a new house for his family at taxpayers’ expense

Tam Dalyell attempted to claim £18,000 for bookcases two months before he retired as an MP

Alistair Darling’s stamp duty was paid by the public

Ed Davey did not claim on his second home allowance between 2004-8

Ian Davidson paid £5,500 to a family friend to renovate his flat and then took him shooting with members of the House of Lords

David Davis spent more than £10,000 of taxpayers’ money on home improvements in four years, including a new £5,700 portico at his home in Yorkshire.

Jim Devine bought Michael Connarty’s furniture on expenses

Pat Doherty and four other Sinn Fein MPs claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Alan Duncan spent thousands from his allowance on gardening, including repairs to his lawnmower. He has agreed to repay £5,000

Philip Dunne has not made any claims on his second home allowance since 2005/06

Angela Eagle claimed just £155 a month mortgage interest on her second home for a period and even underclaimed for council tax

Maria Eagle claimed thousands of pounds on refurbishing a bathroom at one of her flats just months before switching her designated second home to a property with a higher mortgage

Natascha Engel went on a shopping spree within months of being elected, spending thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ cash

Lynne Featherstone did not claim on her second homes allowance in between 2004 and 2008

Frank Field claimed just £44,338 on his second home allowance between 2004-8

Caroline Flint claimed £14,000 for fees for new flat

Barbara Follett used £25,000 of taxpayers’ money to pay for private security patrols at her home

Andrew George used parliamentary expenses for a London flat used by his student daughter. He also claimed hundreds of pounds for hotel stays with his wife. He has said he will repay £20 for a hotel breakfast

Michelle Gildernew and four other Sinn Fein MPs claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Cheryl Gillan bought dog food using her allowance but agreed to pay it back after being contacted by the Telegraph

Julia Goldsworthy spent thousands of pounds on expensive furniture just days before the deadline for using up parliamentary allowances. She has promised to pay back £1,005 for a leather rocking chair

Helen Goodman claimed for a week’s stay in a cottage in her constituency over a bank holiday

Michael Gove spent thousands on his London home before “flipping” his Commons allowance to another address. He has agreed to repay £7,000

Chris Grayling claimed for a London flat even though his constituency home is only 17 miles from the House of Commons. He has agreed to stop doing so

James Gray successfully claimed £2,000 for the future redecoration of his “second home” on the day that he moved out.

John Gummer’s gardening, including the removal of moles from his lawn, cost the taxpayer £9,000

Mike Hall claimed thousands of pounds in expenses for the cost of cleaners, cleaning products and laundry bills for his London home

Fabian Hamilton declared his mother’s London house as his main residence while over-charging the taxpayer by thousands of pounds for a mortgage on his family home in Leeds

Nick Harvey had to be reminded twice by parliamentary officials to submit receipts with his expenses claims

Alan Haselhurst charged the taxpayer almost £12,000 for gardening bills at his farmhouse in Essex, his expenses claims show.

David Heathcoat-Amory’s gardener used hundreds of sacks of horse manure and the MP submitted the receipts to Parliament

Nick Herbert charged taxpayers more than £10,000 for stamp duty and fees when he and his partner bought a home together in his constituency

Douglas Hogg included with his expenses claims the cost of having the moat cleared, piano tuned and stable lights fixed at his country manor house. He has agreed to repay £2,200 for the moat clearing

Geoff Hoon established a property empire worth £1.7 million after claiming taxpayer-funded expenses for at least two properties. He also did not pay capital gains tax on the sale of his London home in 2006.

Phil Hope spent more than £10,000 in one year refurbishing a small London flat. He has promised to pay back £41,000 to the taxpayer

Kelvin Hopkins claims just a fraction of the available second-home allowance by taking the train to Westminster from his home town

David Howarth has not made any claims on his second home allowance since 2004/05

Chris Huhne regularly submits receipts for bus tickets and groceries including pints of milk, fluffy dusters, lavatory rolls and chocolate HobNobs. He has promised to pay back £119 for a trouser press

Glenda Jackson did not claim on her second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008

Stewart Jackson claimed more than £66,000 for his family home, including hundreds of pounds on refurbishing his swimming pool. He has agreed to repay the costs associated with his pool

Brian Jenkins claims little or no mortgage interest for his property in London

Alan Johnson claimed just £43,596 for his second home in 2004-8

Diana Johnson claimed nearly £1,000 to cover the cost of hiring an architect for a decorating project at her second home

Helen Jones claimed £87,647 in second home allowances for her London flat between 2004 and 2008

Gerald Kaufman charged the taxpayer £1,851 for a rug he imported from a New York antiques centre and tried to claim £8,865 for a television

Alan and Ann Keen claimed almost £40,000 a year on a central London flat although their family home was less than 10 miles away

Ruth Kelly has claimed more than £31,000 to redecorate and furnish her designated second home in the past five years. She claimed thousands of pounds in expenses to pay for damage caused to her home by flooding, although at the time she had a building insurance policy.

Fraser Kemp made repeat purchases of household items over the space of several weeks.

Julie Kirkbride’s husband Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron’s aide after it emerged that the two MPs were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

Greg Knight, an MP with a collection of classic cars, claimed £2,600 in expenses for repair work on the driveway at his designated second home

Susan Kramer did not claim on her second home allowance between 2004-8

Andrew Lansley spent more than £4,000 of taxpayers’ money renovating his country home months before he sold it. He will repay £2,600 of decorating fees

Oliver Letwin repaired a pipe beneath his tennis court using taxpayers’ money. He has agreed to repay the money

Julian Lewis attempted to claim £6,000 in expenses for a wooden floor at his second home

Ian Lucas made £45,000 profit when he sold a London flat on which he had claimed second home expenses

Lord Mandelson faces questions over the timing of his house claim which came after he had announced he would step down

Andrew Mackay resigned as David Cameron’s aide after it emerged that he and his wife Julie Kirkbride were making claims that meant they effectively had no main home but two second homes, both funded with public money.

David Maclean spent thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money renovating a farmhouse before selling it for £750,000.

Angus MacNeil, the MP whose police complaint triggered the cash-for-peerages inquiry, tried to charge the taxpayer for his drinks bills, a chocolate bar and hundreds of pounds of “petty cash”.

Fiona MacTaggart claimed just £3,392 on her second homes allowance in 2007/08

Shahid Malik claimed £66,000 on his second property while paying less than £100 a week for his main house. He has resigned as justice minister pending an investigation

Judy Mallaber rarely claims for food

John Maples declared a private members’ club as his main home to the parliamentary authorities. He claimed the maximum second home allowance on his family house while apparently not having a “main” property to maintain

Bob Marshall-Andrews claimed £118,000 for expenses at his second home, including stereo equipment, extensive redecoration and a pair of Kenyan carpets.

Rob Marris claimed just £11,973 on his second homes allowance in 2007/08

Gordon Marsdon claimed just £9,739 on his second homes allowance in 2007/08

Michael Martin used taxpayers’ money to pay for chauffeur-driven cars to his local job centre and Celtic’s football ground

Francis Maude claimed almost £35,000 in two years for mortgage interest payments on a London flat when he owned a house just a few hundred yards away. He has agreed to stop claiming for a second home

Theresa May claimed just £4,288 on her second home allowance in 2007/08

Tommy McAvoy claimed £86,565 in second home allowances between 2004 and 2008 for his flat in Westminster

Steve McCabe over-claimed on his mortgage by £4,059 during the course of two years

Sarah McCarthy-Fry tried to claim a pair of £100 hair straighteners on her parliamentary expenses.

Ian McCartney spent £16,000 furnishing and decorating his designated second home but paid the money back two years later

Martin McGuinness and four other Sinn Fein MPs claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Patrick McLoughlin, the senior MP asked by David Cameron to scrutinise Tory expenses, claimed £3,000 for new windows at his second home.

Michael Meacher claimed just £32,825 on his second homes allowance between 2004-8

David Miliband’s spending was queried by his gardener

Ed Miliband claimed just £7,670 on his second home allowance in 2007/08 Ann Milton did not make any claims on her second home allowance in 2007/08

Austin Mitchell claimed for security shutters, ginger crinkle biscuits and the cost of reupholstering his sofa. He has offered to donate his old sofa coverings to make amends

Madeleine Moon spent thousands in furniture shops near her Welsh constituency house and claimed the money back on her London designated second home allowance

Margaret Moran switched the address of her second home, allowing her to claim £22,500 to fix a dry rot problem. She has agreed to repay the money while insisting she acted within the rules. She could face an investigation for allegedly using Commons stationery to keep neighbours away from her fourth property in Spain. She also billed the taxpayer for nearly £4,000 in legal fees in settling a dispute with one of her staff and faces a challenge at the next general election from Esther Rantzen .

Elliot Morley claimed parliamentary expenses of more than £16,000 for a mortgage which had already been paid off

George Mudie claimed £62,000 in expenses for his London flat in four years, while having a mortgage of just £26,000.

Chris Mullin, a former minister, watches a 30-year-old black and white television at his second home and claims the £45 cost of the licence on his expenses

Conor Murphy and four other Sinn Fein MPs claimed more than £500,000 over five years even though the

Sinn Fein MPs refuse to attend Parliament

Paul Murphy had a new plumbing system installed at taxpayers’ expense because the water in the old one was “too hot”

Lembit Opik had to pay £2,499 for a 42-inch plasma television after purchasing it while Parliament was dissolved

George Osborne was rebuked by the Commons authorities for using public money to fund his “political” website. He also claimed money for a chauffeur-driven car which he has agreed to repay

John Prescott claimed for two lavatory seats in two years James Purnell avoided paying capital gains tax on the sale of his London flat after claiming expenses for accountancy advice

John Redwood has admitted being paid twice after submitting an identical £3,000 decorating bill on his second home allowance

Alan Reid claimed more than £1,500 on his parliamentary expenses for staying in hotels and bed-and-breakfasts near his home

John Reid used his allowance to pay for slotted spoons, an ironing board and a glittery loo seat

Angus Robertson successfully appealed to the fees office when they turned down his claim for a £400 home cinema system

Geoffrey Robinson has not made any claims on his second home allowance since 2004/05

Peter and Iris Robinson both claimed expenses based on the same £1,223 bill when they submitted their parliamentary claims in 2007

David Ruffley claimed for new furniture and fittings after “flipping” his second home from London to a new flat in his constituency

Joan Ryan spent thousands of pounds on repairs and decorations at her constituency home before switching her designated second home to a London property

Alex Salmond claimed £400 per month for food when the Commons was not even sitting

Martin Salter has not made any claims on his second home allowance since 2004/05

Grant Shapps claimed just £7,269 on his second homes allowance in 2007/08

Jim Sheridan used his allowances to reclaim the cost of a 42-inch plasma TV, leather bed and hundreds of pounds worth of furniture.

Clare Short claimed thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money to which she was not entitled within months of standing down as a Cabinet minister

Michael Spicer claimed for work on his helipad and received thousands of pounds for gardening bills.

Anthony Steen claimed £87,000 on country mansion with 500 trees. He has announced he will step down at the next election

Jack Straw only paid half the amount of council tax that he claimed on his parliamentary allowances over four years but later rectified the over-claim

Jo Swinson included receipts for eyeliner, a “tooth flosser” and 29p dusters with her parliamentary expenses claims

Robert Syms claimed more than £2,000 worth of furniture on expenses for his designated second home in London, but had it all delivered to his parents’ address in

Wiltshire Sarah Teather did not claim on her second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008

Don Touhig spent thousands of pounds redecorating his constituency home before “flipping” his allowance to a flat in London

Kitty Ussher asked the Commons authorities to fund extensive refurbishment of her Victorian family home

Ed Vaizey had £2,000 worth of furniture delivered to his London home when he was claiming his Commons allowance on a second home in Oxfordshire.

Keith Vaz claimed £75,500 for a second flat near Parliament even though he already lived just 12 miles from Westminster

Sir Peter Viggers included with his expense claims the £1,645 cost of a floating duck house in the garden pond at his Hampshire home. He has announced he will step down at the next election

Theresa Villiers claimed almost £16,000 in stamp duty and professional fees on expenses when she bought a London flat, even though she already had a house in the capital. She has agreed to stop claiming the second home allowance

Claire Ward, the MP responsible for keeping the Queen informed about Parliament, submitted monthly expense claims for hundreds of pounds of “petty cash” while claiming maximum allowances

Tom Watson and Iain Wright spent £100,000 of taxpayers’ money on the London flat they once shared

Steve Webb sold his London flat and bought another nearby, while the taxpayer picked up an £8,400 bill for stamp duty

Shaun Woodward received £100,000 to help pay mortgage

Bill Wiggin claimed interest payments for a property which had no mortgage

David Willetts, the Conservatives’ choice for skills minister, needed help changing light bulbs. He has agreed to repay the bill

Alan Williams claimed just £5,221 on his second homes allowance in 2007/08

Phil Willis spent thousands of pounds of public funds on mortgage interest payments, redecoration and furnishings for a flat where his daughter now lives.

David Winnick claimed just £36,354 on his second homes allowance between 2004-8

Sir Nicholas Winterton and his wife Ann claimed more than £80,000 for a London flat owned by a trust controlled by their children

Ann Widdecombe claimed just £858 on her second home allowance in 2007/08

Rob Wilson did not claim on his second homes allowance between 2004 and 2008

Phil Woolas submitted receipts including comics, nappies and women’s clothing as part of his claims for food Iain Wright and

Tom Watson spent £100,000 of taxpayers’ money on the London flat they once shared

Derek Wyatt billed 75p for scotch eggs

Richard Younger-Ross spent £1,235 on four mirrors and bought ‘Don Juan’ bookcase

sourced from The Telegraph

Filed under: recession, The Telegraph, britain, Gordon Brown, goverment expences, mps expenses, recession, the list

Recession

rom recession in more than a decade and a half. One yardstick is at least two quarters of negative economic growth – and Britain has not had even one three-month period of falling output since 1992.

This unbroken record has allowed Gordon Brown to boast that the economy is enjoying its longest spell of sustained growth since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, although reliable quarterly data has only been available for around half a century.

Some economists believe this definition of recession is flawed, since an economy would not be in recession if it contracted by 5% in the first quarter, expanded by 0.1% in each of the following two quarters and then contracted again by 5% in the fourth quarter.

It would, however, be deemed to be in recession if it grew by 5% in each of the first and fourth quarters but contracted by 0.1% in each of the second and third quarters. An alternative – and tougher definition – is a full calendar year of negative output.

Given the UK economy has grown on average by 2.5% over many decades, it is rare for gross domestic product (GDP) to fall on an annual basis. There have been only five such years since the end of the second world war: 1974, 1975, 1980, 1981 and 1991.

The United States has its own method of assessing recession, with the National Bureau of Economic Research’s business cycle-dating committee making a judgment.

The NBER defines recession as “a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in real GDP, real income, employment, industrial production and wholesale-retail sales”. It has not given a definitive ruling on whether the United States is technically in recession now, but analysts believe that it will give its verdict soon.

sourced from The Guardian

Filed under: down turn, news, recession, The Guardian, USA, downturn, economic, GDP, Gordon Brown, recession, UK economy, United States, wholesale-retail sales

Brown under siege as Congress caps bankers' bonuses

A dramatic vote on Capitol Hill is set to bring major change to Wall Street’s risk culture as cash incentives for executives, brokers and traders are limited to a third of their salaries. Gaby Hinsliff, Zoe Wood and Paul Harris report on the implications for Britain.

Gordon Brown was under rising pressure to clamp down on the City’s bonus culture last night after the US Congress agreed to drastic curbs capping senior bankers’ bonuses at a third of their salary.

The measures, which are expected to be signed into law by President Barack Obama (Barack Obama page on the Guardin website) this week, would apply to dozens of staff at American banks bailed out by the taxpayer and could cost Wall Street’s wealthiest millions. Cash bonuses would be banned in favour of long-term share options, with the restrictions extending beyond a handful of top executives to senior brokers and traders.

read full article from The Gardian

Filed under: Newspapers, The Guardian, USA, bankers' bonuses, banking sector, banks, Barack Obama, Billion $, bonuses, britain, Brown, Congress, Gordon Brown, Obama, USA

Updated: Should we help the banks

Click here to see video of Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown says the government will do ‘everything it takes’ to support the economy

Gordon Brown video

The Guardian’s economics editor, Larry Elliott, assesses the government’s latest banking bail-out

We I’m in two minds regarding this, I know that we really don’t have any choice but I think the banks the should not only loan to business but also loan to the their customers.

Why should we keep or money in banks, their have wasted / loss billions of pounds in bad deals and investments – so why are we having to help out these private companies.

I don’t fully understand but if we loss the banks to who economy would crash, but why use tax payers money. The issue I feel the most strongly about is what is the bank doing with this money, and who is it helping.  Is this securing peoples own investments, shares and pensions.

Now I privately rent my flat and I use public transport, so these actions taken by the Government – reducing vat and lowering interest rates has not benefited me at all. Transport cost have in increased by up to 10%, rent has not reduced like peoples mortgages. In the present economic situation you are not really able to ask for a pay rise, because if you have a job you are luck.

When the banks were offering 5 times and 100% mortgages, I was unsure because of the finical commitment. But what I feel is the people that over mortgages them self’s either knowingly or accidental have been bald out by the government. But people like me who was not sure I could commit to the monthly re payments is know stuck, because the deposits are so high I can’t afford to pay my rent, bills and save for a deposit.

I know that this money to the banks is intended to go towards business, but maybe reduce tax on people earning below £25,000 per years, because this will give people money in their pockets to spend in the high street.

Bank shares in free fall despite bail-out

Bank shares plummeted today amid concerns that the latest government package to stabilise banks and encourage lending would not solve the deepening economic crisis.

Royal Bank of Scotland was the biggest faller in the FTSE 100 share index, its price collapsing by more than 66%, to 11.6p, after it warned ofthe largest loss in British corporate history of up to £28bn and its chief executive, Stephen Hester, admitted that full-scale nationalisation of the bank had been considered.

The taxpayer already owns 58% of RBS but this will soon rise to 68% when £5bn of preference shares owned by the government are converted into ordinary shares.

The first day of dealing in shares of the newly created Lloyds Banking Group resulted in a 34% drop to 65p. The bank, which now has more branches than any of its rivals, issued a trading statement insisting that Lloyds TSB had been trading “satisfactorily”, while HBOS, which it rescued in a deal brokered by Gordon Brown, had not suffered any “significant change” in its trading position.

Unlike RBS, Lloyds TSB is not asking the government to convert the preference shares it owns in the combined bank into ordinary shares, which means the taxpayers’ stake is staying at 44%.

Eric Daniels, the chief executive of Lloyds, said the bank was “continuing its ongoing constructive dialogue” with the government about the wide range of measures announced today. Among them is a plan to sell insurance to banks to help them cap the losses on loans that have turned sour in the credit crunch.

HSBC, the only bank listed on the stockmarket not to have raised any fresh funds, insisted it would not need to use the government insurance scheme.

“HSBC has not sought capital support from the UK government and cannot envisage circumstances where such action would be necessary,” the bank said. “HSBC has long been one of the world’s most strongly capitalised banks and is committed to maintaining this position.”

Shares in HSBC closed down 6.5% at 501p amid persistent talk that it would need to raise funds, which has been widely predicted since analysts at Morgan Stanley said last week that the bank may need as a much as £20bn of extra funds.

Barclays shares – which lost a quarter of their value in a frenzied hour of trading on Friday – recovered many of their losses early on but closed down another 10%, at 88p.

To participate in the government’s insurance scheme, Barclays would need to sell preference shares to the government or find cash to cover the cost of the guarantee. John Varley, the bank’s chief executive, is thought to be determined not to sell such shares to the government, even though they would not appear on the bank’s shareholder register.

The bank has yet to decide whether to participate in the insurance scheme. Varley said he welcomed the range of announcements today. “The government has worked hard to construct practical and extensive measures to help the UK economy,” he said. “The programme is made up of a number of important initiatives in the areas of capital ratios, funding and asset protection.”

He added that Barclays would work with the tripartite authorities – the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority – over the coming days “to understand the detail of the programme and to determine how it can be used to best effect on behalf of customers, shareholders and the wider economy”.

RBS expects to use the scheme and Hester admitted today that he expected the bank to be “guinea pig”. He admitted total nationalisation of RBS had been discussed with the government. “It was discussed as something we all wish to avoid,” he said.

Bruce Packard, banks analyst at the stockbroker Evolution, said: “These share price movements tell you that the government has gone around and said the bank bail-out in October hasn’t worked and if they hadn’t done that I don’t think we’d be in this position.

“I’m a banks analyst and I don’t want to criticise the government. They did the right thing in the second half of October but I’m not sure they’re doing the right thing now.” He has a price target for RBS shares of 18p

sourced from The Guardian

UK banking plan faces criticism

The government’s latest plan to counter the economic downturn by encouraging lending has been criticised, and sent banks’ shares tumbling.

Opposition MPs argued that the government’s measures were inadequate and too many details remained unknown.

Meanwhile Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the move, which centres on state insurance for banks, was essential to help protect jobs.

Business leaders have raised concerns over how much the plan will cost.

The latest government package is the second major set of measures to encourage banks to lend to individuals and businesses, as credit remains scarce or expensive to obtain.

The news sent banking shares down sharply, with Royal Bank of Scotland closing down 67%.

The bank’s warning that it could see record losses for 2008 compounded worries about the state of the finance sector.

‘Turbulent times’

But the prime minister said that without the new schemes, jobs may have been “needlessly” lost at healthy firms struggling to gain access to necessary funding.

“Good businesses must have access to credit,” said the prime minister.

“It is because of this that we are taking the action to expand lending.”

Shadow chancellor George Osborne said the details of Monday’s package remained a “mystery”.

Mr Osborne added that the prime minister “hasn’t saved this economy and he hasn’t even saved the British banks yet”.

Liberal Democrat treasury spokesman Vince Cable said the government’s latest plans were inadequate, urging instead for the whole banking sector to be nationalised.

“The government must bite the bullet on the public ownership and control of the banks to ensure that lending is maintained to sound companies who can keep the economy ticking over in these turbulent times,” he said.

What we’ve said is ‘you’ve got to lend about £6bn more to businesses and to people’ and the RBS Group have agreed to that Chancellor Alistair Darling

The long list of policies includes a scheme to offer insurance against banks losing more money from the bad debts that started the credit crunch.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England is to be able to buy assets direct from firms.

The government would not reveal how much the latest plan would cost the taxpayer.

Four key points

Here are the key points of the government’s latest announcement:

• Banks will be able to take up government insurance against their expected bad debts

• The Bank of England will be able to buy up to £50bn worth of assets in companies in all sectors of the economy

• Northern Rock has been given extra time to repay its loans from the government

• The government is increasing its stake in RBS to nearly 70% from 58%. RBS also said it was set to report a huge loss for 2008, with asset write-downs of up to £20bn.

Insurance plans

Under the insurance scheme, banks will agree with the government the amount they expect to lose from particular debt.

The Treasury will then sell insurance against about 90% of the institutions’ additional losses from the debt.

Chancellor Alistair Darling told the BBC that banks taking out the insurance would have to make “very specific legally binding agreements to lend more money”.

Under the Bank of England’s new role, it will be able to buy up to £50bn of high quality assets, such as bonds and loans, directly from companies

Northern Rock extension

There have also been changes to the terms of previous bank rescues.

The government has given Northern Rock longer to repay its loans from the government.

There was concern that the timetable for repaying the loans was forcing Northern Rock to reduce its mortgage lending too quickly.

Separately, RBS said it had agreed with the Treasury to swap the £5bn of preference shares the government holds for new ordinary shares, increasing the government’s stake from 58% to nearly 70%.

The swap will reduce RBS’s annual payments to the government as preference shares have a higher guaranteed rate of return than ordinary shares.

sourced from The BBC

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