Unemployment forecast brings warning for George Osborne

Link to the article: The Guardian

CIPD says pressing on with austerity measures would depress economy and lead to real-term wage cuts

Unemployment was yesterday predicted to rise by 200,000 to 2.7m by the end of 2011, adding to pressure on the chancellor, George Osborne, to delay the most severe cuts in public spending since the second world war.

The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) warned in its annual employment barometer that the proportion of people out of work will hit 9% after widespread job losses in both public and private sectors. The human resources managers' professional body said pressing on with austerity measures would depress the economy and force employers to restrict pay rises, leading to a real-term cut in wages during the year.

Meccano toys - now Made in France, again

Link to the article: BBC News

If you have been buying toys for children this Christmas, chances are they were made in China.

But one toy company has decided to buck the trend and to repatriate production back from China to Europe.

And the company is not any old name: the construction kit maker Meccano has been around since the end of the 19th century and is now based in France.

Hugh Schofield reports.

Meccano revives French production

Banks used to have 'a social purpose'

Link to the article: The Today Programme (BBC Radio 4)

The Queen's bank, Coutts & Co, is one of the oldest banks in the world.

Adam Shaw spoke to its chief executive Michael Morley about the role of banks in society.

Vince Cable: I Have Declared War on Mr Murdoch

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

The Coalition has "bent over backwards" to keep Vince Cable in Government despite his comments that he had "declared war on Murdoch" over News Corp's deal to take over BSkyB, writes Gary Gibbon.

BAA boss refuses bonus over snow

Link to the article: BBC News

As thousands of passengers are still camped out at Heathrow, much anger is turning towards the company responsible for running the airport, BAA.

The airport operator has faced criticism ranging from being too slow to get Heathrow back up and running - the snow stopped on Saturday but one of its two runways only reopened on Tuesday evening - to a lack of information to customers, to not enough investment in dealing with snow and ice.

BAA boss denies Heathrow is under-prepared

Link to the article: BBC 5 Live Radio

The Chief Executive of BAA, which operates Heathrow, has refuted allegations that the airport has not invested in enough snow clearing equipment.

Unemployment Rises to 2.5 Million

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

Two and a half million people are now unemployed while the number of young people out of work soars to one of its highest levels in another bad blow to Britain's delicate economy, writes Faisal Islam.


New figures out today show unemployment rose by 35,000 in the third quarter of the year - taking experts by surprise and raising the threat that Britain, like the United States, could be heading into a "jobless recovery".

Almost one in five young people aged 16-24 are now out of work - while more than a million women are now jobless - the highest total for more than 20 years.

Around the country, the worse hit regions were Yorkshire, Northern Ireland and the North East - while the Midlands saw the single biggest rise in unemployment.

Price Rise in Food and Clothes Blamed for Inflation Increase

Link to the article: Channel 4 News

A record surge in food and clothing costs has driven up inflation for November, as Gary Gibbon writes that parts of the government are still looking at the potential for a "double-dip" recession.


The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) went up to 3.3 per cent last month, from 3.2 per cent in October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The increase was driven by a 1.6 per cent rise in the cost of food and non-alcoholic drinks and a 2 per cent increase in clothing and footwear costs, which are the highest increases for both sectors in an October to November period since records began. The price of furniture and household equipment also rose.

China sets policy to rein in inflation

Link to the article: Financial Times

By Geoff Dyer in Beijing and Patti Waldmeir in Shanghai

China will step up efforts to fight inflation next year after prices rose more than 5 per cent in November, according to a statement released after an annual economic policy meeting in Beijing.

The 5.1 per cent rise in the consumer price index in November was higher than expected, and up from 4.4 per cent in October. It is also well above the government’s 3 per cent inflation target and will increase pressure on the authorities to raise interest rates and further rein in the huge monetary stimulus of the past two years.

What did banks do? It's not clear. What do they pay? They can't say. Why did they fail? It's a secret

Link to the article: The Guardian
The banking collapse is a tale of opacity and confusion. Now even the public report into RBS's collapse is confidential. We need transparency in banking, and we need it now.

By Andrew Clark

Fred the Shred could be at liberty to drive another bank into oblivion. Sir Fred Goodwin, the former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, has escaped any regulatory penalty over the near collapse of the once mighty Caledonian institution. To universal frustration, the nation's financial watchdog won't tell us why.

Editor-At-Large: If women have it all now, they can thank my generation

Link to the article: The Independent

By Janet Street-Porter

Last week, the long struggle for equal pay reached a historic turning point. The latest statistics show that, on average, a woman in her twenties will earn 2.1 per cent more than a man of the same age. It's taken so long, and so much hard work.

Proof that a business based on happiness can change the world

Link to the article: The Independent

Twenty years ago, a young entrepreneur set up a travel company that aimed to do far more than turn a profit. Despite the recent recession, it's never been more successful. Mary Novakovich meets its founder.

Bruce Poon Tip was already on his fourth business when he launched Gap Adventures 20 years ago at the age of 23, with the help of two credit cards and some savings.

The Canadian's entrepreneurial streak first showed itself in his paper round as a 12-year-old, before he started to breed rabbits a year later. "It wasn't just breeding rabbits. You make it sound so cheap," he says in a mock-wounded tone. "I imported the first set of Dutch dwarf rabbits into Canada. I sold only the females and offered stud services for the males. I knew people would breed their own males eventually. Until then, I controlled the product."

Sean O'Grady: Population rise gives India the edge over one-child China

Link to the article: The Independent

One of the more disturbing realities facing the nation this festive season is that the cuts aren't just for Christmas – they're for life.

Face it. Your local library will never reopen; VAT will stick at 20 per cent for ages; higher tuition fees are here to stay. Indeed, I would guess that they could quite conceivably go beyond £9,000 a year, in a second coalition, or Conservative, term equipped with a bigger parliamentary majority.

Complete marketisation of fees might not be practicable, on the grounds, for example that the nation would be left with no doctors if it cost students hundreds of thousands to train. But there is plenty of room for the more rewarding courses (in salary terms) to grow still more expensive. Before any students get ready to push unpleasant parcels through my letterbox, I must stress that I'm not advocating this policy, merely pointing it out. Sadly, even if the parties promise to cap them at that level, who would believe them? Short of the NUS fielding its own candidates in student strongholds, I don't know how they could be guaranteed as reliable allies in Parliament. Even then, it would need young people to remember to register to vote. Pretty hopeless, really.

Ten dead as H1N1 flu returns to Britain

Link to the article: Reuters

(Reuters) - The H1N1 swine flu virus which swept the globe last year has returned to Britain with 10 people dying in the last six weeks, health officials said on Saturday.

Case Study 3: How Pernod Ricard has tackled the challenge of gathering and using data from over 70 subsidiaries around the world

Link to the podcast: FT

Case study 3: How Pernod Ricard has tackled the challenge of gathering and using data from over 70 subsidiaries around the world.