More Gurkha soldiers to lose jobs in British Army

Kathmandu, Nepal (AHN) – Hundreds of Nepalese Gurkha soldiers are expected to lose their jobs in the British army in the defense ministry’s latest round of reduction in military strength.

“As part of further work on defense restructuring the British Army has announced today (17 January 2012) the arrangements for a second phase of Army redundancies,” a statement released by the British Embassy in Kathmandu said.

Around 400 Gurkhas are expected to be made redundant out of the 2,900 positions to be cut.

The Brigade of Gurkhas in the British Army has 3,740 soldiers. They have been the part of the British army for almost 200 years.

The defense review, which was published in 2010, demanded 7,000 job losses, but that figure more than doubled last year as the Ministry of Defense struggled to contain its ballooning budget. The ministry argues that the Gurkha brigade has grown too big in recent years, and is bound to face further cuts.

Opponents of the reduction say the soldiers, who are recruited from Nepal, are an easy target. A “Save the Gurkha” petition has been launched by the same group that fought successfully for the Gurkhas to have the same rights as other soldiers.

The Brigade of Gurkhas has been growing in size since modernization in 2007, which also allowed them to serve for 22 years instead of 15.

According to the British media, around 140 Gurkhas lost their jobs in the first wave of defense cuts last year.

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British budget favors motorists over oil firms

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Chancellor George Osborne is favoring motorists over oil firms in the 2011 national budget. Osborne announced a one-pence reduction per liter in fuel duty and postponement of a five-pence planned hike in fuel duty in April.

To further help British motorists cope with the soaring cost of petrol, partly because of the ongoing political crisis in the Middle East and North Africa, the chancellor said a fuel price stabilizer will be put in place to keep pump prices lower.

The one-pence cut in fuel duty will be funded by a $3 billion (GBP 2 billion) windfall levy on North Sea oil companies. With these measures, Osborne said the coalition government will place fuel in the tank of the British economy.

However, with these populist measures, Osborne admitted the budget would result in a lower growth rate forecast of 1.7 percent from the previous 2.1 percent outlook and create 200,000 fewer jobs. For 2012, the forecast was also downgraded to a 2.5 percent growth rate from 2.6 percent projection.

The chancellor also said the budget would:

• Fund a reduction in corporation tax larger than the planned 2 percent cut
• Hike the number of apprentices
• Assist first-time homebuyers
• Raise personal tax-free allowance by $945 (GBP 630) to $12,157.50 (GBP 8,105) beginning next April, and
• Cut tax bills by $72 (GBP 48) average yearly in real terms.

The Labour Party criticized the downgrade of the growth forecast as proof that the coalition government’s austerity measures were hurting the British economy.

Osborne said that 2010′s emergency budget aimed to rescue Britain’s finances and pay for mistakes of the past, while the 2011 budget targets reform of the national economy to ensure growth and job creation in the future.

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British Labour Party pushes for no VAT hike on fuel

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – The British Labour Party added Monday to the growing pressure on Chancellor George Osborne to stop a scheduled increase in the value added tax (WAT) on fuel to help motorists cope with rising gasoline prices.

The planned rise in VAT on fuel would add another 3 pence per liter to fuel prices which has reached at least $1.95 (GBP 1.30) per liter.

Labour leaders Ed Miliband and Ed Balls said the issue should be brought to a vote in the Commons on Wednesday.

Balls, the Labor Shadow Chancellor, said he will table a motion for ministers to cut VAT on fuel back to 17.5 percent.

To make up for the reversal of the planned VAT increase on fuel which would cost the Treasury $1.05 billion (GBP 700 million),

Labour proposed that the coalition government stimulate the U.K. economy through plans that could create 115,000 jobs in the budget. Labour also pushed for the reimposition of bank bonus tax, which is expected to generate $5.25 billion (GBP 3.5 billion).

Labour warned that if the VAT increase on fuel duty would push through and hikes in National Insurance rates, working parents earning $67,500 (GBP 45,000) could be worse off by up to $2,100 (GBP 1,400) a year.

According to a survey, 80 percent of Britons said cancellation by the coalition government of a planned 1 percent hike in fuel duty would not be sufficient to help motorists.

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British libraries’ most borrowed books of 2010 | Book Club Club

British readers seem to have a growing appetite for crime, reports John Dugdale at the Guardian .

According to data released by Public Lending Right, of the 100 most borrowed titles of 2010, almost two-thirds are crime novels or thrillers — including all top 10 — and others (such as Stephenie Meyer’s crime-laden vampire romances) are in related genres. The British Library, the national library of the United Kingdom

The rankings show gory thrillers by north American writers such as Patricia Cornwell, Michael Connelly, Tess Gerritsen, Karin Slaughter and Kathy Reichs — and gritty Brits such as Lee Child, Val McDermid and Martina Cole — are undeniably in the ascendancy. James Patterson’s thrillers held a whopping 12 of the top 100 slots.

The data suggests, says Dugdale, that library users “are less keen on Euro-crime, less responsive to the stimulus of TV or film adaptations, and not fond of lengthy, heavy tomes. What they want instead are American or American-style murder stories that are quick reads.”

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British PM threatens fresh sanctions for Iran

Doha, Qatar (AHN) – British Prime Minister David Cameron, on a trip to the Middle East, has urged Iran to stop its ambitious nuclear weapons program or face fresh sanctions.

Expressing grave concerns on Iran’s nuclear program, Cameron said that the Islamic nation is becoming a “pariah” state and vowed to vigorously work to force the government to change its course.

On a stop in Qatar, Cameron said that Iran would remain a grave concern to the international community because of its intention to acquire nuclear weapons. “They are already suffering from international sanctions, their economy is weak and vulnerable and the regime only survives by cracking down on its political opposition. On its current path, Iran is set to become an international pariah state with no friends, no money, nowhere to go,” the British leader said.

Amid growing international concerns, the United Nations has imposed a fourth round of sanctions last year over Iran’s defiance to stop uranium enrichment on its soil-a move, Western nations believe, is aimed at developing a nuclear bomb under civilian cover. However, Iran vehemently denies the allegations and claims that its nuclear program is to meet the country’s growing energy demands.

While Cameron doesn’t find anything wrong in Britain selling weapons to Arab leaders-a statement he made during his Kuwait visit–he said the international community did not want a nuclear arms race. In Kuwait, he justified his decision to bring eight arms manufacturers on his Gulf tour. “A properly regulated trade in defense is nothing we should be ashamed of. The fact that there are British defense companies on this visit – BAE, Thales and others – is perfectly right in this regard,” he said.

Turning his attention to political reforms in the Gulf, Cameron threatened that Middle Eastern nations could lose the European Union’s funding. Cameron’s aide said that the EU grants 2.4 billion euros annually to Middle East nations to promote democracy, adding that the its Neighborhood Policy funding had “completely failed.”

He added that the time had come to “turn off this tap” of aid. The official said, “On all the big things you would expect the EU to stand up for, there has been very little progress. At the same time we continue to pour money into Egypt and other countries of the region. We can’t be in this position, where we are using our taxpayers’ money, other member states’ taxpayers’ money… when we are not getting anything in return.”

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British banks reined in

The four main UK banks have agreed to pay lower bonuses, more taxes and increase lending to businesses after weeks of talks with the government.

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British supermarkets to create 32,000 jobs in 2011

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – While High Street retailers report disappointing Christmas sales, supermarkets raked it in during the 2010 yearend holiday.

This year appears to be another banner year for the grocery retailing sector as Britain’s largest supermarkets announced Monday the creation of at least 32,000 jobs as the grocers open more outlets.

Largest supermarket chain Tesco will hire more 9,000 workers as it opens 292 stores this year, while second largest chain Asda will add 184 more outlets and employ 7,500 people, partly because of Asda’s buy-in of Netto, Morrisons will open 19 more stores and create 3,000 more jobs, and Waitrose 39 more outlets.

Sainsbury’s said it will create 6,500 jobs in 2011, part of the 20,000 target the third largest British supermarket chain has set in the next three years as it expands operations in the north, Scotland and Wales.

The new jobs will add to the 2.9 million people already employed by the British retail industry, which is equivalent to 11 percent of the country’s labor force.

The opening spree indicates the resilience of the grocery retailing sector, which is growing at a yearly rate of 3.1 percent and expects to be worth $270 billion (GBP 180 billion) by 2015, according to an industry expert.

However, the new jobs could not make up for the 330,000 public sector jobs to be lost this year because of the austerity measures put in place by the coalition government.

Another sector expected to take a blow in offering employment opportunities is the finance sector. According to a Chamber of British Industries and PricewaterhouseCoopers survey released Monday 30,000 jobs were lost from October to December 2010. It is the fastest pace of job losses in the sector in 17 years.

Another 15,000 workers in the finance sector are expected to become jobless this quarter adding to the 970,000 who have lost work since the onset of the global financial crisis. Just prior to the crisis, employment in the finance sector in Britain hit 1.1 million, but went down below the 1 million mark at the start of 2010 and had not recovered since then.

Despite the sector’s recovery mode, businesses were still laying-off staff to maintain profitability.

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Survey: 20 Percent Of British Employers Fear Wave Of Labor Strikes

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – A survey by human resources firm Croner Consultancy said 20 percent of British employers are wary a new wave of strikes would hit the country in the next six months. The fear is compounded by an admission by over 50 percent of 301 HR managers that they lack experience in dealing with industrial action.

Over the past few months, several sectors such as the air and rail transport workers, firefighters and recently media have been restive and resulted in paralyzing strikes. The latest strike was Friday’s journalists strike at British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).

The bulk of the strikes were over issues such as salaries, work patterns and pensions.

Unions such as those in British Airways, British Rail, London Tube and BBC successfully pushed through with their job walk-offs and paralyzed operations of their companies. The only one averted was the firefighters’ strike on Bonfire Night, pending an agreement to settle the work hours dispute between the firemen and management.

In the last 12 months up to August 2010, about 298,000 workers joined strikes throughout U.K. The number is almost twice the 151,000 employees who struck the year before, according to data from the Office for National Statistics.

The industrial situation has worsened with the coalition government’s austerity measures which will result to job losses in the public and private sectors by the thousands.

The BBC strike, however, also gave freelance journalists an opportunity to shine. One such media personality is news presenter Gavin Grey, who took over the duties of BBC Breakfast presenters Bill Turnbull, Sian Williams and Susanna Reid. Another one is Emma Crosby, who read the lunchtime news on Sunday.

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British Households Suffering From Fuel Poverty Hit 4.5 Million

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – More Britons are expected to shiver this coming winter as the number of households considered as suffering from fuel poverty has doubled in five years.

According to a report released Thursday by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, the number of UK households that spent 10 percent or more of their income to keep the house warm enough to survive rose to 4.5 million in 2008. It is up from four million in 2007 and two million in 2003.

The average fuel bill has gone up to more than $1,500 (1,000 pounds) a year, while the British coalition government is mulling cuts to fuel subsidies for elder Britons and amid warnings of the early onset of winter in Britain.

The department explained the jump to a 45 percent increase in energy bills in 2008.

Although the number of such households had slightly decreased to 4.1 million because of energy companies reducing their charges, the figure is still double that of 2003 However, energy companies predicted the number of fuel poor households would fall further as people improve the insulation on their homes.

On Wednesday, the Treasury indicated the government could no longer afford to shoulder the $37.50 (25 pounds) emergency cold weather payments and would slash it to $12.75 (8.50 pounds). The government makes the emergency cold weather payments to Britons on pension credit or income support when the average temperature in an area dips to freezing level or below for seven straight days.

However, Prime Minister David Cameron said he would intervene to stop the planned cut in emergency cold weather payments.

The government also plans to hike the qualifying age for winter fuel payments to 66 from 60 years old and reduce the payment by $75 (50 pounds) for new recipients and $150 (100 pounds) for the oldest recipients. Over 12 million senior Britons receive the winter fuel payments yearly.

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British Airways, Union Attempt To Avert Cabin Crew Strike

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Airways and the Unite trade union held another round of talks on Friday in a bid to avert a cabin crew strike. The discussion was hosted by Acas, the conciliation service.

Unite is on the verge of holding another strike ballot over the disciplinary action imposed by BA on more than 100 stewards and stewardesses and the removal of travel perks of 6,700 flight attendants who joined 22 days of strike this year.

The trade union offered new peace proposals to British Airways British Airways, in turn, offered to restore the travel privileges that provide the cabin crew up to 90 percent discount on tickets, but minus the seniority status the cabin crew used to enjoy.

Because of their long history of disagreements over many labor issues, both sides are not discounting the possibility that the latest round of talks could still fail.

Unite projects a walk out could take place during the Christmas holidays, while BA insists job walk-offs would only affect the air carrier’s Heathrow’s- short-haul trips.

BA claimed that the 22 days of strike in March, May and June did not paralyze its operations, but the airline’s income from passenger fare went down 2.9 percent. It translated into a 3.1 percent decline in economy class travel and 1.4 percent drop in first and business class travels.

BA explained the decrease in passenger traffic to reduction of services to popular destinations such as Hong Kong.

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Cable Hits British Banks, Plans Another Bonus Tax

Liverpool, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British Business Secretary Vince Cable launched a war against British banks on Wednesday amid reports of huge bonuses that financial institution executives are expected to receive this year.

In a speech at the Liberal Democrat conference, Cable hit the banks for making sure their employees are adequately remunerated, but failing to lend more to small businesses. Because of reports of more bonuses for bank executives, the LibDems are planning to reintroduce a bonus tax on bankers on top of the one-time 50 percent tax levied by the Labor-led government this year.

The one-time tax raised more than $4.5 billion (3 billion pounds) for the British government, higher by $825 million (550 million pounds) than expectation.

Cable accused the banks of malpractices that damage the wider British economy. He said that while Britain is in favor of a free market economy, proper regulations are needed because capitalism if left on its own will create monopolies that work against consumer interests.

Britain will soon launch consultations on takeover and executive pay to give ordinary shareholders a boost as a foil to decisions made in boardrooms favoring executive interests over stockholders.

British bank regulators estimate major British banks will make $42 billion (28 billion pounds) in profits this year.

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British Industry Protests Immigration Caps For Skilled Workers

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British business leaders are complaining about the government’s immigration cap for workers because it limits their ability to hire people who have skills they cannot find locally.

Because of the restrictions, work visas issued for high-skilled non-European Union migrants from June 2010 to April 2011 will have an allocation of 24,100, which is down by 1,300 visas compared to the previous year.

Leading the call for changes in the immigration policy is General Electric. GE National Executive for North Europe Mark Elborne blamed the policy for failure to hire a stem cell research expert from India and gas turbine engineers from outside the European Union.

Elborne claimed the immigration policy also makes the U.K. a less attractive investment option amid the global battle for capital. He added that GE, which is into different business interests such as energy, aviation, technology, health, media and finance, has global customers and a global supply chain, so he sees no reason why the government should not allow the company to go global in hiring workers as Britain faces a talent shortage, ironically amid high unemployment rates.

Other than GE, British banks have complained that because of the visa restrictions they could employ just six non-EU nationals.

GE’s call has the support of at least one British official. Business Secretary Vince Cable went against the coalition government’s stand and aired his support to ease the country’s immigration policy. Industry leaders support Cable’s stand.

The spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron said the government is designing a permanent cap to ensure the country attracts the brightest and best talents in the world, but denied the current policy is causing a major damage to the British economy.

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Report: British Public Servants Paid More Than Private Counterparts

London, England, United Kingdom (AHN) – British public employees earn more than their private counterparts according to the latest report of the Office for National Statistics, the difference was $74 ($111) a week.

For all British workers, the average weekly pay was $733.50 (489 pounds). However, private sector employees averaged $697.50 (465 pounds), while public servants averaged $808.50 (539 pounds).

However, if other benefits are included, total rewards of public workers is larger by $204 (163 pounds).

The report was released amid threats from the Trades Union Congress for strikes, which could progress into civil disobedience to protest cuts in public spending, which is expected to lead to the loss of 600,000 public sector jobs.

The disparity in pay has led the Institute of Economic Affairs to question the TUC’s call for civil unrest. Mark Littlewood, the director general of the think tank, pointed out cuts on public sector pay should not be equated with an attack on the poor, but on the privileged public worker.

But the agency found that for employees with pensions, the private sector offered better overall remuneration.

The exceptions to this are women with low pay, young employees, workers in sales and customer services and people employed in small firms.

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British Columbia Cuts Deficit Forecast By $355 Million

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Because of the improvement in British Columbia’s economy, Vancouver reduced its deficit forecast by $355 million. With the cut, BC’s forecast budget gap is down to $1.4 billion from $1.7 billion as of the second quarter of 2010.

According to BC Finance Minister Colin Hansen, who released the budget update Tuesday, the improved economy is reflected in corporate income tax expected to up to $674 million, harmonized sales tax collection to $35 million, and tobacco and fuel taxes $91 million.

For the same period, personal income tax revenue is anticipated to dip to $120 million and natural gas revenues to $166 million.

If the economic improvement of the province continues, the deficit is expected to be reduced to $810 million next year, $130 million in 2013 and return to a surplus of $490 million by 2014.

Despite the growth, Hansen said in a statement, “Significant volatility still exists in the American and global markets. We need to maintain fiscal discipline and build on the competitive tax environment we’ve created to ensure our economy continues to improve.”

While announcing the province’s fiscal forecast, Hansen also used the opportunity to apologize to residents for the way BC introduced the HST. However, he said this error should not influence British Columbians when they vote in the referendum on the HST next year.

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British Columbia Cuts Deficit Forecast By $355 Million

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada (AHN) – Because of the improvement in British Columbia’s economy, Vancouver reduced its deficit forecast by $355 million. With the cut, BC’s forecast budget gap is down to $1.4 billion from $1.7 billion as of the second quarter of 2010.

According to BC Finance Minister Colin Hansen, who released the budget update Tuesday, the improved economy is reflected in corporate income tax expected to up to $674 million, harmonized sales tax collection to $35 million, and tobacco and fuel taxes $91 million.

For the same period, personal income tax revenue is anticipated to dip to $120 million and natural gas revenues to $166 million.

If the economic improvement of the province continues, the deficit is expected to be reduced to $810 million next year, $130 million in 2013 and return to a surplus of $490 million by 2014.

Despite the growth, Hansen said in a statement, “Significant volatility still exists in the American and global markets. We need to maintain fiscal discipline and build on the competitive tax environment we’ve created to ensure our economy continues to improve.”

While announcing the province’s fiscal forecast, Hansen also used the opportunity to apologize to residents for the way BC introduced the HST. However, he said this error should not influence British Columbians when they vote in the referendum on the HST next year.

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