Carnage in India
The city of Mumbai (Bombay) was hit by a wave of terrorist attacks which killed 101 and injured 287. It was the eighth such attack to happen in India this year alone.
Once again, people of the world, through the power of television and pictures, have to see the horrific aftermath of such human-to-human savagery.
Woolworths RIP?
I’m so sorry to hear that the major high-street store Woolworths is in the hands of administrators. They have been the latest of high-profile casualties of the financial crisis.
When I was a kid, going into a Woolworths store was like an event for me, particularly when I go to buy the infamous Pick ‘N Mix sweets, and that I would normally go there every Easter to buy any selection of chocolate eggs. My family and I would also go there to buy a significant bulk of our Christmas presents. My local branch closed over two decades ago, but I still go to a store in a neighbouring area to see what they have. It would be very sad indeed if Woolworths is consigned to history.
Woolworths, RIP…..?
Virgin Media counts cost of its battle with Sky
Like the majority of cable subscribers, I was delighted that the basic Sky channels were back on Virgin Media’s station line-up. For over 18 months, Virgin had waged a futile battle against British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) over carriage fees to carry the basic channels.
Virgin had to finally settle because, since the rebranding from NTL:Telewest last year, they had been losing a substantial number of subscribers to Sky. That accelerated after Virgin removed channels like Sky One from their line-up. The company, like its predecessor, also had a reputation for poor customer service, which may get worse after they recently announced the sacking of around 2200 jobs. Despite spending millions of pounds in advertising on TV and in the cinema, Virgin is still losing money, and is said to be causing a headache for part-owner Richard Branson.
If things go on like this, then Branson should do the decent thing…. and pull the plug.
Deeper in the Red…..
The Chancellor Alistair Darling plans to put the country into deeper recession over the proposals set out in his Pre-Budget Report.
Here are some of the main points:
- The government forecasts that borrowing will go up to £78billion, up from a projected £43billion.
- £3billion will be brought forward for major repair and infrastructure maintainance projects. However, the government plans to make £5billion worth of efficiency savings by 2011.
- There will be a temporary cut in Value Added Tax (VAT) from 17 and a half per cent to 15 percent from Next Monday until the end of 2009.
- A new 45p income tax rate will be introduced in April 2011 for those earning £150,000 a year or more. A temporary £120 rebate to help those who lost out when the 10p rate was abolished, will be raised to £145 from April 2009, and made permanent.
- The state pension will rise by only six pounds for singles (£124 to £130), and by only nine pounds (£189 to £198) for couples.
- Fuel and excise duty will see changes in rates for new cars in April 2009, but will be phased in for older cars.
When all this sets in, the majority of people in Britain will lose out. These measures at a time of falling revenues will put the country’s finances deeper in the red. It’s a ’spend now, pay later’ budget report…. except that whichever political party wins at the next general election will have to deal with today’s recklessness in the future.
Anger as Baby P councillors cling on to their jobs
Senior Haringey councillors criticised for their role in the death of Baby P clung on to their jobs last night, after a motion calling for them to resign was removed from the council meeting’s agenda.
Read the full shocking story from the London Evening Standard.
There is one word that I can give to describe the situation…… scandalous!
BNP activists details ‘leaked’ to the public
This is a complete non-story. What is worse, this or the fact that the government has been responsible for several high-profile breaches of personal security in the past year?
Anyway, should it be a crime to be a member of the BNP?
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London
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