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BBC News | UK | World Edition

'Progress made' in Iceland talks
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:46:37 -0000
Significant progress has been made over frozen UK cash in failed Icelandic banks, say Treasury and Icelandic officials.
Retail tycoon in UK stores talks
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:46:26 -0000
Billionaire Sir Philip Green holds talks with officials in Iceland, which could lead to him buying several leading UK stores.
Scarlett mother faces Goa warning
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:11:51 -0000
The mother of murdered British teenager Scarlett Keeling is told to appear before authorities in Goa, India, over neglect claims.
Father's grief over flood deaths
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:42:45 -0000
A British man who lost his wife and one of his twin daughters in flash-floods in Spain describes the tragedy.
Car bomb hero in intensive care
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 12:43:04 -0000
Glasgow Airport car bomb hero John Smeaton is in intensive care after suffering a serious asthma attack.
Race on for Welsh Lib Dem leader
Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:03:55 -0000
Nominations open for the next leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats after Mike German's farewell speech to the party.

The Economist: Britain

Rescuing the banks: We have a plan
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
A big banking bail-out and a cut in interest rates may stave off the worst, but the economy will still suffer in coming yearsOVER the past year the British government has looked asleep at the switches as the credit crunch accelerated. No longer. On October 8th a far-reaching plan was revealed that for the first time addresses the full gravity of a crisis that now imperils both the banking system and the wider economy.Before the markets opened on Wednesday, the Treasury unveiled an historic bail-out of Britain’s beleaguered banks, including a capital injection of state money that amounts to partial nationalisation. Then at midday the Bank of England broke with its usual practice of announcing interest-rate decisions on Thursdays and nudging rates no more than a quarter-point. In a co-ordinated move with other central banks, including America’s Fed and the euro area’s ECB, it cut the base rate by half a percentage point, from 5.0% to 4.5% (see chart). ...
The Met's next police chief: The decision is… whose?
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
A spectacular coup by London’s mayor creates a constitutional pickleANOTHER Blair era is over. Three years and eight months into his job as head of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Ian Blair resigned on October 2nd after a hefty shove from London’s Conservative mayor, Boris Johnson. Despite presiding over “falling crime levels, virtually across the board”, as Mr Johnson himself put it, Sir Ian had long been a marked man. An ongoing contracts-for-cronies investigation and a squabble with the Black Police Association might have been survivable. But the killing in 2005 of Jean Charles de Menezes, an innocent man mistaken for a terrorist by police, made Sir Ian enemies among liberals, as well as among conservatives who already disliked his trumpeting of equal opportunities and other lefty notions. His eventual departure was therefore not surprising. The manner of it, however, turned out to be extraordinary.In theory, only the home secretary can hire and fire chief constables. Now Mr Johnson, who took office in May, appears to have usurped that power. After a meeting with the mayor, Sir Ian told reporters that, despite the support of the home secretary, “without the mayor’s backing I do not consider that I can continue in the job.” Cheekily, Mr Johnson went on to suggest that he should have equal say in appointing the next chief. (Likely candidates include Sir Paul Stephenson of the Met, Sir Hugh Orde of the Northern Ireland force and Bernard Hogan-Howe of Merseyside.) This was dismissed by Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, who is officially in charge. But everyone knows there is a new sheriff in town. Sir Norman Bettison, West Yorkshire’s top cop, ruled himself out of the running, blaming Sir Ian’s removal on “short-term political expediency”. ...
Energy markets: Losing their gloss
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
A liberalised market model is falling from favourBANKS may be the villains of the hour, but they have only recently stolen that mantle from energy companies. Earlier this year Ofgem, the energy watchdog, announced an investigation into allegations of collusion, after a series of stonking gas and electricity price increases. It published the results on October 6th, and although the regulator flagged up concerns (such as the difficulty of persuading poor customers to switch suppliers), its main conclusion was that the market is working well.For over a decade Britain’s energy market has been among the most liberalised in the world. At one end, firms compete to sell electricity and gas to customers; at the other, market forces determine investment in power stations and infrastructure. But despite Ofgem’s relatively clean bill of health, in some respects the market is not delivering the goods. ...
University finances: Feeling the pinch
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
A whopping pay rise for lecturers will cost students, in the endWHEN the government rammed through an increase in student fees in 2004, the extra cash was supposed to make good decades of university underfunding. Decrepit old buildings were to be replaced with swanky new ones and lecturers, finally, were to be paid enough to stop the best decamping to America. The following year the unions looked for some of the largesse, demanding a 23% pay rise. That was unrealistic, although they gave it their best shot with a disruptive boycott of exams in 2006. Eventually they accepted 10% over two years, to be followed in October 2008 by the higher of 2.5% or retail-price inflation. Now vice-chancellors are bracing themselves to stuff around 5% more into pay packets, if the RPI figures released on October 14th are as expected. That will hurt, for salaries already eat up nearly three-fifths of university budgets. Some vice-chancellors give warning of job cuts: Queen Margaret University, in Edinburgh, wants to shed 35 of its 500 staff; Southampton is reviewing staffing and as many as 400 of its 1,400 non-academic staff could go; Strathclyde is looking into the matter; and the Million+ group, which represents ex-polytechnics, says some of its members may postpone the rise. The body that represents university finance directors says that staff should expect low, or no, pay increases next year. ...
Qualifications: Some more equal than others
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
Bad omens for youngsters’ newest study option“THOSE figures won’t be available until Christmas,” says a spokesman for the schools department when asked how many pupils are studying for the “diploma”, the new, semi-academic, semi-vocational school qualification that premiered in the classroom in September. Over the past two years, as it became increasingly clear that few schools would be ready to teach it and hardly any pupils keen to take it, the number of diploma places on offer was cut from 50,000 to just 20,000. If take-up turns out to be lower than even this minuscule level, it would be embarrassing for the government—but perhaps a blessing for pupils. According to a report by the parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, published on October 7th, nearly half of the “consortia” (groups of schools and colleges collaborating to teach the diploma) had not yet checked whether they have suitable staff. A similar number had not talked to employers about the work experience that is part of the course. And although GBP590m has already been spent, the government did not know what the full cost of the diploma will be. ...
Marjorie Deane: Cheerio my deario
Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:48:13 -0000
Financial journalism loses one of its greatsAND what would Marjorie Deane, the backbone of The Economist’s financial coverage from 1947 to 1989, have made of all this? Up until a few weeks before her death at 94 on October 2nd, she was wont to greet visitors with, “What about this bank recapitalisation then? What does Paul Volcker think?”Marjorie was always on the story—sovereign-debt reschedulings, takeovers, hirings and firings. Less a financial philosopher than a real reporter, she knew the numbers, knew the gossip and knew everyone who mattered, not least the former chairman of America’s Federal Reserve. Bankers willingly opened their doors to her in the knowledge that they would be talking to someone almost as well-informed as they were themselves. She was trusted, respected and liked. ...

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