Protesters have gathered on the streets of Athens today as a 48-hour general strike commences, which will see the country come to a virtual standstill. Apart from the metro, no public transport is operating as many people opt to join the fourth general strike called this year by the country’s two largest unions. The general [...]
The Public and Commercial Services (PCS), which is Britain’s largest civil service union, has said 290,000 of its members will take strike action later this month, protesting against pension reforms. They will join hundreds of thousands of teachers, meaning around 750,000 public sector workers will strike at the end of the month. The co-ordinated action [...]
The Greek parliament has today approved its 2011 austerity budget, which includes further spending cuts and tax hikes. The budget, which is part of the condition of its bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is an attempt to trim the country’s deficit to 7.4% of GDP next year, down from [...]
Outgoing chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group, Eric Daniels, is calling on the Government to allow the bank to keep HBOS. The controversial takeover, which occurred at the height of the financial crisis, could be scrapped if a Government investigation establishes it has damaged competition. Final recommendations with regard to the takeover will be known [...]
Portugal came to a standstill today after its biggest strike in more than 20 years as workers protested against the Government’s austerity measures. The Government has introduced massive spending cuts and tax hikes, which are currently being pushed through parliament. They are aimed at bringing the budget deficit down to 4.6% next year, from the [...]
The group, Lloyds Action Now, has been holding protest meetings after the group claims their savings were wiped out following the Lloyds Banking Group’s merger with HBOS. Lloyds TSB’s controversial takeover of HBOS took place at the height of the financial crisis and the group was renamed Lloyds Banking Group. The shareholder group, which was [...]
Credit rating agency Moody’s has downgraded Spain’s credit rating today – just a day after unions held a general strike to protest against tough austerity measures. Like many other euro zone nations, Spain has introduced austerity measures, aimed at cutting its budget deficit, which is currently 11% of GDP. Spain aims to reduce the deficit [...]
It has been announced that the tough austerity measures introduced by the coalition Government are set to lead to industrial action following a trade union gathering in Manchester today. At the annual Trades Union Congress (TUC) meeting, union leaders urged delegates to “stand up and fight” against the massive spending cuts. The motion was supported [...]
The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) is faced with 100 activists at its headquarters, who are protesting against the bank’s role in financing oil industry developments which they believe could be harmful to the environment. The Camp for Climate Action (CCA) have set up marquees, eco-toilets and kitchens at the RBS’ Gogarburn site. Environmentalists have [...]
Greece’s two main unions have called a fresh general strike for July 8 to protest against tough austerity measures, introduced by the Government to trim the country’s budget deficit. Should the strike go ahead, it will be the country’s 6th since February. However, some of the protests have been violent. Last week’s strike saw seven [...]
Greece continues to rebel against tough austerity measures as the country embarked on its fifth general strike. Ferries, public transport and other state services came to a standstill to protest against Government plans to cut pension benefits and public servants’ pay. More than 15,000 people took to the streets in Athens and the northern city [...]
The French Government has announced the country’s retirement age will be lifted from 60 to 62 by 2018, as part of a sweeping overhaul to its pension system. The new measures are to be implemented to cut France’s pension costs and reduce public borrowing. However, the shake-up has met with public anger after tens of [...]
Moody’s credit rating agency has cut Greece’s credit rating to “junk” status from A3 to Ba1 but said the outlook is stable. Meanwhile, the agency also downgraded the country’s short-term issuer rating to not-prime from Prime-1. According to Moody’s, there was still “considerable uncertainty” surrounding the impact of tough austerity measures implemented to slash the [...]
Strikes were launched across Greece again today as workers protest against new austerity measures, which include deeper cuts in pensions and public servants’ pay, as well as a fresh hike in consumer taxes. The new austerity measures are being submitted in a draft bill to the Greek Parliament today, and will be voted on by [...]
Chairman of the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), Sir Philip Hampton, has admitted that bankers’ pay is too high. However, while conceding that bankers’ pay is “astonishingly high”, he said it is difficult to defend the gap between what most people earned and what some bank staff were paid. Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Sir [...]
Greek unions have today vowed to strike on Wednesday to protest against the Government’s austerity measures. Last week, Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, announced tough austerity measures to tackle the country’s spiralling debt. Measures include a public sector pay freeze, a hike in taxes and an increase to the retirement age. Spyros Papaspyros, president of [...]
Business Secretary Lord Peter Mandelson said he was “disappointed” that Kraft could not guarantee that Cadbury’s confectionery brands will continue to be managed in the UK. Mandelson met with Kraft chief executive, Irene Rosenfeld, last night after Cadbury shareholders voted in favour of the £11.5 billion ($18.9 billion) takeover deal from the US food giant. [...]
Cadbury shareholders have today voted in favour of the £11.5 billion ($18.9 billion) takeover deal from US giant, Kraft Foods. Today’s vote brings an end to Kraft’s five-month battle to take control of the 186-year-old British confectioner. Cadbury said it had received valid acceptances of the offer from shareholders representing 71.7% of the company. Commenting [...]
Workers at British confectioner Cadbury are to stage a protest today in Bournville, Birmingham in a bid to urge shareholders to reject the takeover offer from US food giant, Kraft. Kraft, which is renowned for brands such as Kenco coffee and Oreo biscuits, made an offer of £11.7 billion last week which 186-year-old Cadbury agreed [...]
The announcement that US car giant General Motors (GM) abandoned plans to sell a majority stake in its European car business Opel, including its UK brand Vauxhall, has led to a protest by thousands of the 25,000 workers at Opel’s four factories. In March, GM announced plans to offload Vauxhall and sister company, Germany-based Opel, [...]
M&S Money launches 3% cash ISA
M&S Money has launched an Advantage Cash ISA paying 3 per cent, and which allows transfers in from other ISAs. It can be opened with a minimum deposit of £100 lump sum followed by minimum monthly deposits of £25. The 3% rate is variable, but there is no short-term bonus so the return won’t plummet [...]
Google suspends UK Compare Mortgages site
Google has closed its UK mortgage comparison site which it launched in July last year, after it proved to be less popular than expected. Mortgage comparison sites are designed to allow visitors to compare mortgages quickly and easily without having to visit each lender’s individual site. Google was competing with several well-established comparison sites, including [...]
AA launches ‘black-box’ policy for young drivers
The AA is launching an innovative car insurance policy called Drivesafe which could help younger drivers save up to £850 a year. Younger drivers already pay substantially higher premiums than other motorists and these costs are increasing. A new study by Confused.com suggests insurance costs for younger driver have gone up by 5.7 per cent [...]
ATOL scheme updated to protect online bookers
ATOL, a financial protection scheme managed by the Civil Aviation Authority, is being extended to protect up to six million more holidays a year. The scheme ensures that holiday makers do not lose out financially if a travel company collapses, and that they are not stranded abroad. An increase in the number of holidays booked [...]
Home repossessions lowest for four years
The number of UK homes repossessed fell to 36,200 in 2011, significantly below the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ forecast of 40,000, and lower than 2010 when 37,100 homes were repossessed. With interest rates remaining low and lenders adopting a sympathetic attitude to customers in financial difficulty, repossessions fell to their lowest level since 2007. However, [...]
Monthly pay lasting just 17 days
Workers are running out of money just 17 days after receiving their monthly pay, according to new research by the Halifax bank. This means that the average UK worker spends half the month worrying about money. The study, based on the responses of more than 2,000 adults, found that 10 per cent of workers start [...]
Women disadvantaged by auto-enrolment changes
Government proposals to increase the auto-enrolment threshold to £10,000 could put 1.8 million women at risk of missing out on a pension, the TUC has warned. Under the auto-enrolment scheme, which will be phased in from October, private sector employers will automatically enrol workers between the age of 22 years and the state pension age, [...]
Emergency household repairs company Homeserve is taking longer than expected to get back on track after its operations were suspended last October. The company expected customer numbers to fall by 5% this year but it has increased this estimate to 8% and announced the loss of 200 jobs. It estimates that renewal revenue in 2013 [...]
Sale rumoured for Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks
There is growing speculation that National Australia Bank (NAB) may sell Yorkshire Bank and Clydesdale Bank after the Australian parent company announced a strategic review of the two banks’ operations. The Australian economy is performing well and NAB reported strong profits for the final quarter of 2011 but with the UK economy at a virtual [...]
More women experiencing debt difficulties
Women in Debt, which offers female-focused debt advice, has warned that the number of UK women facing serious debt has grown significantly over recent years. The organisation believes that more women will need advice on solving debt problems in the future because they are building up an unsustainable level of indebtedness. Women in Debt’s director, [...]
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