Stephen Hester, the chief executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, has given an interview this weekend in which he stated his belief that the UK government will begin to sell down its 83% stake in Royal Bank of Scotland during 2011. This is the first time there has been any "official" comment regarding the stake although it is known that the UK government is looking to sell the stake at the first opportunity. So could this open Royal Bank of Scotland up to a potential bidder?
A survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers has increased concerns of fraud and criminal activity in the public sector as the UK government pushes ahead with significant budget cuts. Over 50% of those companies who responded to the survey confirmed that they were the victims of economic crime within the last 12 months and when you consider that the global average is around 30% this does not bode well for the future.
As news begins to leak into the press that the UK government will be pushing for up to 40% budget cuts in some government departments there is growing concern about the short to medium-term impact this will have on the UK economy. Despite the fact we have already been warned that cuts of 25% will be commonplace across the board, it looks as though the government may be about to take it one step further and some departments may see their budgets cut by up to 40%.
Despite the fact that the Labour Party is for many the reason why the UK economy is in such a dire state and why local government finances and national government finances have been stretched to the limit, the Party has launched a ferocious attack on George Osborne. Ed Balls is the latest of the Labour leadership contenders to step into the fray with a suggestion that the Conservative party is building up the crisis to allow long-term cost-cutting plans to be introduced under a cloud of taxpayer panic.
As the UK government looks to introduce a council tax freeze for the short to medium term, more and more councils around the UK will be forced to dip into their reserves which have been built over the years. It will be a surprise to many taxpayers in the UK to learn that such reserves do exist with many of them in the tens of millions and some of them in the hundreds of millions of pounds. So will this soften the blow for UK taxpayers?
Earlier this week it was revealed that the BBC is instigating a major revamp of its pension arrangements to try and reduce the £2 billion of liabilities currently affecting the funding of the scheme. There is also talk of pay reductions and other cost-saving measures which have now caught the eye of unions, who have been in talks with the BBC directors. Unfortunately, these talks appear to have stalled and the unions are said to be gauging the opinion of BBC workers to see if there is any appetite for industrial action.
There is mass disruption in the Greek public sector today which has affected transport, hospitals and emergency staff up and down the country. Yet again there is friction between the Greek public sector workforce and the Greek government as they attempt to push through massive budget cuts under the auspicious or the European Union financial bailout. Should we be concerned about the new disputes?
G20 leaders have today released a statement confirming they are looking to reduce the budget deficits of the world's richest nations by at least 50% over the next three years. This is exactly what investment markets are looking for but there is concern that we have seen promises like this before only to fall by the wayside. So can we believe what we are hearing today?
Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has today announced plans to attack the UK benefits system and in particular the £12.5 billion a year being paid out in incapacity benefit and employment support allowances. The Chancellor will seek to tighten up the regulations which often make it more attractive to remain in benefits than find employment although he has also mentioned that genuine cases will still attract the full support of the government.
G20 leaders have today backtracked a little on previous promises with a failure to agree on a global banking levy and a softening of the previous hard-line approach to increased capital requirements for banking operations around the world. Yet again it seems that after grabbing the headlines the substance behind the headlines is lacking and it looks as though the previous 2012 deadline for tighter capital requirements for banking operations around the world will fall by the wayside.
