Posted Sunday, March 7 at 11:41 PM CST; Monday, March 8 at 12:41 AM EST, 0541 GMT.
Top stories in Monday morning’s London papers:
1) “Bomb blasts and grenade fire failed to deter millions of Iraqis from voting yesterday in an election crucial to the country’s fragile young democracy,” reports Oliver August from Baghdad for the Times. Reports indicate long queues at some polling stations, despite explosions that have killed at least 38 people. A credible outcome is crucial to the Obama administration’s plans to withdraw American troops later this year. Turnout appeared to be running between 50 and 60 percent, compared with 76 percent in 2005. Incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is regarded as the favorite, but he faces stiff competition from a number of candidates, including former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Statements of support for the Iraqi electorate were issued by both Obama and British foreign secretary David Miliband.
2) In the Guardian, political correspondent Andrew Sparrow reports that business secretary Lord Mandelson is keeping up the pressure on Conservative leader David Cameron in the ongoing controversy over the tax status of wealthy Tory donor Lord Ashcroft. In what Sparrow characterizes as “a highly personal attack,” Mandelson asserted that the affair demonstrates the “fundamental weakness” of Cameron, who supposedly is “too weak to pick a fight with his own party.” The controversy revolves around Ashcroft’s recent announcement that he has been a “non-dom,” and therefore has not paid UK tax on his foreign earnings, since being granted a peerage 10 years ago. “While there is little evidence so far that the affair is damaging the party in the polls, the Conservative leadership is desperate for the controversy to abate, anxious it is not being heard on other policies,” Sparrow remarks.
3) In the Telegraph, Andrew Gilligan reports on accusations that the Ministry of Defence is preparing to order a blackout of news from Afghanistan during the general election campaign. “British journalists and TV crews are to be banned from the Afghan front line once a date for the election has been set, while senior officers will be prohibited from making public speeches and talking to reporters,” Gilligan reports. The directive comes during a full-scale combat operation, and Gilligan reports that there is no precedent for such an exclusion, which will apply only to British and not foreign or local journalists. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox vowed that he would demand an explanation in Commons on Monday.
Posted Saturday, March 6 at 11:22 PM CST; Sunday, March 7 at 12:22 AM EST, 0522 GMT.
Top stories in Sunday morning’s London papers:
1) In the Sunday Telegraph, retail editor James Hall reports that civil servants and insiders in the retail industry have raised the possibility of imposing value-added tax (VAT) on groceries to help reduce the UK budget deficit. “The tax would be controversial as it would disproportionately affect poorer families, Hall notes. “Any move to impose it would be vehemently opposed by the UK’s large food retailers, who argue that it would be a ‘tax on living’.” As a result, talks on the proposed move are taking place strictly “under the radar.” Nevertheless, policymakers feel compelled to consider any proposal that might raise revenue and decrease borrowing. A supermarket CEO told the paper: “”My view is that it would be totally inappropriate. You are taxing what people have to eat to live..”
2) In the Sunday Times, Michael Smith reports on heavy losses suffered by British special forces in Afghanistan, with 80 members of the forces having been killed or crippled. “Serious injuries have left more than 70 unable to fight, while 12 have been killed. It means the forces have lost about a sixth of their full combat capacity,” Smith reports.”The high casualty rate is a result of both the scale of special forces operations in the past three years and the Taliban’s increasing use of roadside bombs.” The paper has learned that the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Squadron (SBS) have carried out “several hundred” operations against Taliban leaders since 2007, including “snatch” operations for the sake of gathering intelligence and more lethal “offensive actions.” Operations are ongoing, placing pressure on the forces’ reservists to meet manpower requirements. The high casualty rate is the result both of the scale of operations and of the enemy’s use of roadside explosives.
3) “Members of [former Prime Minister Tony] Blair’s inner circle suggest the former prime minister now feels he has been misled” over the granting of a peerage to wealthy Conservative donor Lord Ashcroft, the Observer reports. The Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, Lord Oakeshott, has written to cabinet secretary Sir Gus O’Donnell to insist on the need “to establish whether the Queen conferred a life peerage… under false pretences.” A source close to Blair told the paper that “[former Tory leader William] Hague told Tony that Ashcroft would pay huge amounts of tax…. That was the deal. That was what we all understood at the time.” Ashcroft has claimed that he agreed only to become a “long-term resident” of the UK rather than a “permanent resident.” Foreign Minister David Miliband asked yesterday: “Did [Hague] know then that change could allow Ashcroft to avoid ‘tens of millions a year in tax’? And if he didn’t know then, then surely he now feels misled by Ashcroft?”
Posted Friday, March 5 at 11:20 PM CST; Saturday, March 6 at 12:20 AM EST, 0520 GMT.
Top stories in Saturday morning’s London papers:
1) In the Guardian, political editor Patrick Wintour reports on Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s much-anticipated appearance before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. He described the decision to war as “”the right decision for the right reasons … everything that [former Prime Minister Tony] Blair did during this period, he did properly.” During his four hours of testimony, Brown rejected criticisms that his funding decisions had left the armed forces with inadequate equipment. “The one fundamental truth … [was]that every requirement made to us by military commanders was answered; no request was ever turned down,” he insisted. In comments aimed at former American Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, Brown offered: “”I never subscribed to what you might call the neo-conservative proposition: that somehow, at the barrel of a gun, overnight liberty or democracy could be conjured up.” Wintour comments: “Brown’s decision to ally himself with Blair’s war, if not the American neo-cons’ conduct, may lose him support from those that believed he privately opposed the war, but his aides reckoned he would be more damaged if he tried to distance himself from a war he funded .”
2) In the Independent, Paul Vallely reports that major charitable organizations have objected to a BBC World Service report that claimed that money raised for Ethiopian famine victims in 1985 was diverted to weapons purchases. A group of agencies including Oxfam, the Red Cross, Unicef, Christian Aid and Save the Children have filed an official complaint against the report by the service’s Africa editor, Martin Plaut, which they claim creates a “false and dangerously misleading impression.” The paper cites a passage from a draft of a letter written by the agencies: “”There is not in fact a shred of credible evidence that this happened. There is overwhelming evidence that tens of thousands and even millions were saved by these efforts, which were in fact spurred by reporting by the BBC.” Antipoverty campaigner Sir Bob Geldof complained that “the BBC has undermined the faith of ordinary people across the world in the effectiveness of giving to people in their hour of need. It is a disgrace.”
3) The Financial Times reports that the FTSE 100 index has reached its highest level since the onset of the financial crisis in September 2008. In Friday trading, the benchmark ended up 1.3% for the day at 5599.76. Blue-chip stock prices have appreciated 60% since the index bottomed out a year ago. Investors appear to have concluded that the falling value of sterling has enhanced the value of UK companies’ overseas operations, despite the uncertain political and economic situation at home. Analyst Adrian Cattley of Citigroup told the paper: “It makes the UK a place to come shopping, from European tourists on Oxford Street all the way to buying into stocks.”
Posted Thursday, March 4 at 11:41 PM CST; Friday, March 5 at 12:41 AM EST, 0541 GMT.
Top stories in Friday morning’s London papers:
1) The Guardian reports new charges of “systematic tax avoidance” against Tory donor Lord Ashcroft. The peer arranged a large opinion survey intended to help the Tories in marginal seats. The costs of approximately £250,000 were paid by one of Ashcroft’s companies in Belize, enabling him to avoid paying VAT. Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable remarked: “This is quite serious…. How far were the Conservatives aware that Ashcroft did not pay VAT, as would have been incurred by any normal polling activity?” The paper estimates that up to £40,000 in tax payments may have been avoided.
2) The Independent reports on the results of a YouGov survey commissioned by Channel 4 News, which finds that the Conservatives have lost much of their advantage in marginal constituencies. In 60 such marginals, the Tories’ lead has slipped from seven to two percentage points over the past year. The results will continue to further speculation about the possibility of a hung parliament, as suggested by a recent nationwide survey by the same organization that found the Conservatives with a lead of no more than 2%. The story mentions the results of an investigation conducted by the paper last week which “found the Tories spent £6m over two years in the marginal battlegrounds, in most cases far outspending Labour and the Liberal Democrats.”
3) The Times reports that Prime Minister Gordon Brown, on the eve of his appearance before the Chilcot inquiry, has been accused of underfunding the Army during his tenure as Chancellor, thereby contributing to the loss of soldiers’ lives in Iraq and Afghanistan. General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, who served as chief of defence staff from 1997 to 2001, told the paper: “Not fully funding the Army in the way they had asked . . . undoubtedly cost the lives of soldiers. He should be asked why he was so unsympathetic towards defence and so sympathetic to other departments.” The Prime Minister already has come under pressure from families of servicemen lost on the front lines, who attribute the deaths of their loved ones to the use of lightly armored Land Rover vehicles.
Posted Wednesday, March 3 at 11:49 PM CST; Thursday, March 4 at 12:49 AM EST, 0549 GMT.
Top stories in Thursday morning’s London papers:
1) The Guardian reports on former Tory leader William Hague’s admission in a BBC Radio 4 interview that he has known “for a few months” of billionaire donor Lord Ashcroft’s “non-dom” status, under which the peer paid taxes only on his British income. The admission drew fire from foreign secretary David Miliband: “Lord Ashcroft has failed to come clean with the leaders of the Conservative party…. And now tax has not been paid, and instead it has been given to the Conservative party for the general election fund.” The situation may be contributing to division within the Conservative party. “Members of David Cameron’s circle believe Hague has mishandled the issue,” the paper reports.
2) In the Times, defence editor Deborah Haynes reports that Prime Minister Gordon Brown may face a difficult situation tomorrow when he goes before the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war. Families of troops killed in Iraq want the panel to confront Brown over cuts in funding for British forces. “They want answers because no one in Government has ever explained why the Snatch Land Rover was not replaced in Iraq and Afghanistan once it became clear that it was vulnerable to roadside bombs,” Haynes reports. A lawyer representing the relatives told the paper: “There can be no confidence that lessons will be learnt from the armoured vehicle debacle unless there is a public inquiry.” The Snatch Land Rover has proven to be vulnerable to the improvised explosive devices (IEDs) employed by insurgents in Afghanistan and Iraq. 36 British servicemen and one servicewoman have been killed in the vehicles.
3) The Financial Times reports that the Greek government is prepared to seek assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) if its partners in Europe decline to help extricate the country from financial crisis, now that it has announced further austerity measures. Prime Minister George Papandreou will be visiting Berlin, Paris and Washington in coming days in an attempt to drum up support. His government may face political unrest in the aftermath of its announcement of a pensions freeze, new taxes, and pay cuts for public-sector workers. The austerity package is the country’s third in three months. The ongoing crisis has shaken global financial markets and prompted fears that global economic recovery may be undermined.
Posted Tuesday, March 2 at 11:34 PM CST; Wednesday, March 3 at 12:34 AM EST, 0534 GMT.
Top stories in Wednesday morning’s London papers:
1) In the Independent, political editor Andrew Grice reports on the agreement among the three main parties for a series of televised debates involving Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his counterparts David Cameron and Nick Clegg in the run-up to the pending general election. Assuming that the election will be called for 6 May, dates of 15, 22, and 28 April have been penciled in tentatively for the debates. They will be rotated among broadcasters ITV1, Sky News and BBC1, and the subject matter for each will be limited to domestic, foreign, and economic issues respectively. A demographically balanced audience of about 200 will be selected for each debate. Discussions are underway over debates involving other frontbenchers, such as Chancellor Alistair Darling, Conservative shadow chancellor George Osborne, and Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman Vince Cable.
2) The Times reports that senior Conservatives are concerned about revelations concerning wealthy donor Lord Ashcroft’s tax avoidance and “non-dom” status. “The party’s deputy chairman shocked colleagues when he revealed that he had not paid tax on his overseas fortune since becoming a member of the House of Lords a decade ago,” the paper reports. Emerging reports have challenged the peer’s claim that he had negotiated a deal with the Government over its tax status, and party leader David Cameron, as well as former leader William Hague, face questions about their knowledge of Lord Ashcroft’s status. Cameron, for his part, remarked: “People now know what his tax status is. This has been resolved. The horse is dead and should no longer be flogged.”
3) The Financial Times reports that shares in UK insurer Prudential have dropped almost 20 percent since the firm’s agreement to take over troubled American firm AIG’s Asian insurance business. “Hedge funds betting against the stock were blamed by some in the market for the drop in the shares, while others said investors were growing increasingly nervous about the stock and currency market risks over the next two months,” the paper reports. The deal would double the size of Pru and transform it into a predominantly Asian business. Skeptics speculated that the firm may have left itself open to a takeover bid if its share price continues to fall before the deal is completed. “The deal is incredibly dilutive and the financing unbelievable. It may be bold and audacious in the very long term but in the short term there is $35.5bn of execution risk,” said one of the company’s biggest investors.
Posted Monday, March 1 at 11:09 PM CST; Tuesday, March 2 at 12:09 AM EST, 0509 GMT.
Top stories in Tuesday morning’s London papers:
1) The Guardian reports on the admission by billionaire Tory donor Lord Ashcroft that he is a “non-dom” who does not pay tax in Britain. The paper reports that the admission implies that Ashcroft had reneged on a promise to then-Tory leader William Hague in 2000 to become a UK resident in return for a peerage. Labour politicians seized upon the admission, but Conservative leader David Cameron stipulated: “I have always taken the view that someone’s tax status is a matter between them and the Revenue and I’ve answered that question many times, but I’m delighted that Lord Ashcroft has made these statements and has answered these questions, so I think that now we can get on with the election.” A spokesman for Ashcroft insisted that the peer “has never broken a promise and he has never gone back on an undertaking.” For its part, the Guardian reported that the Tory central office had refused to answer questions about what knowledge Cameron and Hague might have had about Ashcroft’s financial arrangements.
2) In the Telegraph, political correspondent James Kirkup reports on a fall in the value of the British currency on Monday, with the possibility of a hung parliament looming. “Sterling fell by almost 3 cents, ending the day below $1.50 for the first time in nearly a year amid fears that Britain will be left with a weak government unable to cut spending and balance the budget,” Kirkup reports. The decline comes in the wake of survey results showing the Conservatives’ lead has slipped to as little as two percentage points. Audrey Childe-Freeman of New York bank Brown Brothers Harriman remarked: “The risk of a hung parliament is increasing. You will need a government with a strong majority to push ahead with reforms that the UK needs.”
3) Asian sovereign wealth funds are lining up to support the purchase of the Asian subsidiary of troubled American firm AIG by British insurer Prudential, the Financial Times reports. “The participation of sovereign funds in the acquisition of AIA would also entail a transfer of money from state-backed Asian investors to US taxpayers, who stand to get $25bn from AIG once the deal is completed,” the paper remarks. Reportedly, sovereign funds from China and Singapore are in talks over provision of support for a share sale by Prudential. The deal would elevate Prudential into a major insurer in the Asian market and allow AIG to repay some of the $80bn it owes to American authorities.
Posted Sunday, February 28 at 11:33 PM CST; Monday, March 1 at 12:33 AM EST, 0533 GMT.
Top stories in Monday morning’s London papers:
1) Party leader David Cameron spoke to the Conservative spring forum in Brighton on Sunday, as certainty about a general-election victory over the governing Labor Party appeared to be slipping away. Deputy political letter Nigel Morris reports in the Independent that “dismay is growing in senior opposition ranks over the rapid evaporation of their previously handsome opinion-poll lead over Labour. They fear Mr Cameron faces a right-wing backlash if he fails to lead the party to victory in the contest expected on 6 May.” In his remarks, Cameron conceded that voters “want to know what sort of party we are. They want to know what we stand for, they want to know the changes we will make and the difference those changes will make. And they want to know some things about me. Are you really up for it? Are you really going to make a difference?… They don’t hand general election victories and governments on a plate to people in this country, and quite right too.”
2) Germany and France are concerned over looming British domination of EU foreign-policy making under the newly appointed High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Lady Catherine Ashton, reports Ian Traynor in the Guardian. The paper has seen a confidential document from the German foreign ministry which describes Britain as aspiring to an “excessive” and “over-proportionate” role. Both Berlin and Paris appear anxious over their influence within the European External Action Service (EEAS), the new diplomatic corps and foreign-policy apparatus for the EU. “With Ashton coming under increasing attack across the EU for what is seen as weak and lacklustre performance as the EU’s first foreign and security policy chief, Berlin and Paris fear they are being out-manoeuvred in the tussle for the posts which will shape the new regime,” reports Traynor.
3) Troubled American insurance group AIG may be on the verge of selling its Asian subsidiary AIA to British insurer Prudential, the Financial Times reports. The sale, priced at $35 billion in cash and securities, would transform Prudential “into the dominant foreign group in the region and the insurance equivalent of a Standard Chartered or HSBC. A deal would more than double the size of Prudential and mean that its business would be dominated by Asian sales and profits,” the paper reports. With American government agencies holding an 80% share in AIG after repeated bailouts, the U.S. Treasury and New York Federal Reserve will receive the first $16 billion from any sale. The FT suggests that Prudential shareholders may be uneasy over the secondary share sale, equal to or greater than the British firm’s market value, that may be required to complete the deal.
Posted Saturday, February 27 at 11:35 PM CST; Sunday, February 28 at 12:35 AM EST, 0535 GMT.
Top stories in Sunday morning’s London papers:
1) A YouGov survey finds that Labour trails the Conservatives by only two percentage points with a general election approaching, the Sunday Times reports. The Conservatives draw the support of 37% of respondents, with Labour on 35% and the Liberal Democrats on 17%. The governing party increased its standing by two percentage points from the previous week, with the Tories suffering a decline of the same amount. The survey projects that Labour would win 317 seats, nine short of a majority, with the opposition party winning only 263. “The poll result presents [Tory leader David Cameron] with one of the greatest challenges of his leadership today as he makes the keynote speech to his party’s spring forum,” the Sunday Times comments.
2) The Observer publishes more extracts from the new book by its reporter Andrew Rawnsley, scheduled for publication Monday, and the paper’s political editor, Toby Helm, summarizes today’s selections. The excerpt includes an “explosive account” of a distraught Prime Minister Tony Blair in the aftermath of the Iraq war, claiming that Blair “descended into such a deep depression … that he told Gordon Brown and John Prescott he would quit No 10 the following summer – only to renege on the pledge within months…. Blair was haunted and tormented by the deepening chaos and bloodshed in Iraq at the same time as being worn down by the constant psychological warfare being waged by Brown, his next-door neighbour in Downing Street, who was increasingly desperate to take his job.” Blair supposedly suffered a “dark period” from November 2003 until the spring of 2004, but then “gradually recovered his self-belief and decided to fight on. The volte-face caused Brown’s frustration to turn to rage.”
3) In the Sunday Telegraph, Andrew Gilligan reports on the results of a six-month investigation by the paper, in association with the Channel 4 investigative documentary programme Dispatches, into efforts by the Islamic Forum of Europe (IFE) to infiltrate the Labour Party. Environment Minister Jim Fitzpatrick told the paper that “the IFE had become, in effect, a secret party within Labour and other political parties… [and] had infiltrated and ‘corrupted’ his party in east London in the same way that the far-Left Militant Tendency did in the 1980s.” In the course of the investigation by undercover reporters, “IFE leaders were recorded expressing opposition to democracy, support for sharia law or mocking black people. The IFE organised meetings with extremists, including Taliban allies, a man named by the US government as an ‘unindicted co-conspirator’ in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, and a man under investigation by the FBI for his links to the September 11 attacks.”
Posted Friday, February 26 at 11:36 PM CST; Saturday, February 27 at 12:36 AM EST, 0536 GMT.
Top stories in Saturday morning’s London papers:
1) The Guardian reports on nervousness in the Conservative camp as the party gathers in Brighton for its annual conference, the last before a looming general election. In a report denied by a Conservative spokesman, the paper claims that party leader David Cameron has established a task force to prepare for a hung parliament. Meanwhile, as opinion polls show the Tories’ advantage to be narrowing, an unidentified shadow cabinet minister asked, “Are we just making the odd mistake, or is there a deeper problem?” Reportedly, in the event of a hung parliament, the Conservatives are contemplating a plan to put forward an emergency budget within 50 days of the election, daring Labour to vote against it and trigger another poll.
2) British banks have been reporting their 2009 earnings, and the results were somewhat dire for Lloyds Banking Group, the Financial Times reports. Lloyds is reporting a loss of £6.3 billion, and furthermore it is writing off a total of £42 billion through the end of this year due to poor assets acquired through its takeover of HBOS. “The combined £42bn of charges dwarfs the £8bn purchase price for HBOS, damaging Lloyds’ long-held reputation for prudence following one of the most toxic bank takeovers in history,” the FT comments. Competitors Barclays and RBS have in the past 10 days reported results that beat market expectations.
3) In the Times, media correspondent Patrick Foster reports growing resistance to anticipated cutbacks on the part of the BBC. Reports on Friday suggested that the corporation was on the verge of publishing proposals to cut back on its operations. “The BBC, making the cuts as part of an attempt to avoid interference from a potential future Conservative government, is now understood to have brought forward the launch of the strategy document to next week,” reports Foster. Broadcasting unions have threatened industrial action over anticipated losses of up to 600 jobs. The possible closing of alternative-music channel Radio 6 drew objections from the music industry, which claims that the station is important for the development of new acts.