Britannia Radio

Since the job losses have been accelerating the figure by today 
cannot be far short of 2 million - possibly more.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx cs

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BBC ONLINE   17.12.08

Unemployment increases by 137,000

The number of people out of work rose by 137,000 to 1.86 million in 
the three months to October -the highest level since 1997.

This took the unemployment rate up to 6% and up from 5.8% previously, 
the Office for National Statistics said

People claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in November rose 75,700 to 1.07 
million - the largest rise since March 1991.

Several companies have announced big job cuts as the economic 
downturn begins to hit hard.

"It's obviously very, very weak. I think what's interesting is the 
scale of job losses this early in the cycle," said George Buckley, an 
economist at Deutsche Bank.
"Unemployment is normally a lagging indicator so to see so many job 
losses this early in the cycle is extremely worrying."

The pound hit another record low against the euro after the 
unemployment data underscored just how weak the UK economy is.

The number of people claiming unemployment benefit rose for a tenth 
consecutive month and climbed above the one million mark for the 
first time in eight years.

HSBC, Leyland and Spanish bank Santander, which runs Abbey, Alliance 
& Leicester and parts of Bradford & Bingley, are among the many firms 
to have announced job cuts in recent months

Blameless victims
The trades union umbrella body the TUC has predicted two million 
people will be out of work by Christmas, and says half a million 
people will be facing their second Christmas out of work.
It is calling for Jobseeker's Allowance to be raised from £60.50 to 
£75 a week.

"These people are not scroungers. They are blameless victims of a 
worldwide economic downturn and deserve to be treated as such," said 
TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber.  [Of course they are not 
scroungers but WHO will pay this extra allowance?  There are fewer 
left earning to pay the taxes to pay for this -cs]

Unions say people need more support to get back to work.
"As well as more support to get back into work, unemployed people 
need more immediate financial support to help them cope with life on 
the dole."

Managers are expected to be hit hard by job cuts, with the Management 
Consultancies Association forecasting up to 360,000 will lose their 
jobs by 2010.

The government is to unveil a new training scheme for the unemployed.

It has allocated £158m to help those who have been made redundant 
develop new skills.

The fund is supposed to make it easier for workers to get advice on 
training and support employers who want to improve the skills of 
their staff
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SKY NEWS   17.12.08
Labour MP Resigns Over Royal Mail
    [actually
A member of the Government has resigned over its plans for Royal Mail.
[Actually it should be “Junior Minister Resigns ---” -cs]

Labour MP Jim McGovern has quit as parliamentary private secretary to 
business minister Pat McFadden.
The Dundee West MP said: "I believe a PPS has to be fully supportive 
of proposals of the department which they serve.
"In this case, I do not support what looks to me like partial 
privatisation of the Royal Mail.
"In his statement Pat McFadden said he welcomed an expression of 
interest from the Dutch postal company TNT.

==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
=-=
The welcome for these New Labour plans from Old Labour MPs was about 
as friendly as the greeting a cheery postie gets from the teeth of a 
snarling pitbull.
Jon Craig, Boulton & Co.
==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

"For me, it simply beggars belief that we would employ the services 
of a company from abroad to tell the Royal Mail in this country where 
they are going wrong."

Sky's political correspondent Joey Jones said: "We knew there was a 
potential rebellion on the Labour backbenches because when the plans 
were discussed in the House of Commons and the House of Lords, there 
were rebels getting to their feet to say how unhappy they were at the 
suggestion that part of the Royal Mail could be sold off to a private 
company."

The Government wants to inject private capital into the postal 
service following the publication of a long-awaited report into its 
future which called for "radical" action.  [In fact the government is 
trying desperately to stop Royal Mail being sold outright to a 
foreign com pany to comply with EU rules.  But they don’t tell you 
that! - cs]
========================
HEADLINE NEWS   17.12.08
The Guardian
Warning of 3m jobless in UK as US slashes rates
Unemployment is likely to rise above 3 million in the current 
recession, the Bank of England's labour market expert, David 
Blanchflower, warns today

Financial Times
Opec agrees to record output cut
Crude price jumps almost $2

Bank minutes send sterling to record lows
Sterling fell to a record low against the euro and lost ground 
against the dollar after the minutes of the Bank of England’s 
December meeting raised expectations that it would follow the Federal 
Reserve and slash interest rates aggressively  [Early trading £1 = 
€1.09 or 91p =€1]

Telegraph
BAA to be forced to sell Gatwick and Stansted
BAA, the owner of Heathrow, will be forced to sell other airports as 
the regulator seek to break monopoly.