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UK car sales 30.5% lower in March
- By T C
- Published 04/6/2009
The number of new UK registrations in March was 313,912, down from 451,642 the year before, said the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The SMMT said the drop was particularly disappointing, given that March is when new car registrations come out.
The government needs to do more to boost confidence, SMMT chief executive Paul Everitt said.
Scrappage schemes
He repeated his call for a car scrappage scheme, in which motorists would be paid for trading in their old cars and buying new ones.
"[It] will provide the incentive needed and the evidence is clear that schemes already implemented across Europe do work to increase demand," he said.
"The UK is the only major European market not to implement a scheme."
Scrappage incentives introduced elsewhere in Europe have boosted sales.
While sales have been falling in the UK, new car registrations in Germany rose 40% in March and in France increased by almost 10%. Both countries have recently adopted scrappage schemes.
However, the UK government has so far rejected the idea, saying it was not sure that it would offer value for money.
The figures came on the day that MOT charges increased, from £53.10 to £54.00 for cars.
The cost of a replacement driving licence, compulsory every 10 years, increased from £17.50 to £20.
Key month
The motor industry has been suffering from the economic slowdown and a global slump in demand.
The March market highlights the scale of the slowdown, the SMMT said.
In the 10 years since the switch to the twice-yearly plate change, March has typically accounted for 17.9% of annual registrations.
Sales for March fell 4.9% more than the SMMT expected, taking the total number of sales for the last 12 months to 1.93 million units.
The SMMT now believes volumes could slide below 1.7m for the whole of 2009.
Rise in 'minis'
A total of 480,358 cars were sold in the first three months of the year, down from 683,349 in the same period of 2008.
Sales of new cars fell in all sectors with the exception of the smallest cars, known as the mini segment.
Sales of the smallest cars rose 84% in March, following the arrival of new models over the last 12 months.
The Ford Fiesta was the best-selling car for the fifth month in a row.
BBC News
Ice bridge ruptures in Antarctic
- By T C
- Published 04/5/2009
An ice bridge linking a shelf of ice the size of Jamaica to an island in Antarctica has snapped.
Scientists suggest the collapse could mean that the Wilkins Ice Shelf is on the brink of breaking away, and that it provides evidence of global warming.
The shelf has been retreating since the 1990s, but scientists say this is the first time it has lost one of the connections that keep it in place.
It broke off at the thinnest point of the 40-km (25-mile) strip of ice.
A European Space Agency satellite picture shows newly-created ice-bergs floating in the sea on the western side of the Antarctic peninsula, which juts up from the continent towards South America's southern tip.
"It's amazing how the ice has ruptured," David Vaughan, a glaciologist with the British Antarctic Survey, was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.
"Two days ago it was intact. We've waited a long time to see this."
While the break-up will have no impact on sea level, it heightens concerns over the impact of climate change on this part of Antarctica.
They say the , which juts out into the Southern Ocean towards the tip of South America, has experienced unprecedented warming over the last 50 years.
Several ice shelves have retreated in the past 30 years - six of them collapsing completely.
Hoon caught up in new claims row
- By T C
- Published 04/5/2009
Geoff Hoon has become embroiled in the row about MPs' expenses over allowances he claimed for his constituency home, while letting out his London flat.
Meanwhile, he was living in a rent-free Whitehall apartment that came with his former job as defence secretary.
Mr Hoon, who is now transport mnister, has defended the expenses claims, saying they were within the rules.
The Tories say they would ban ministers living in grace-and-favour residences from claiming second home allowances.
Writing in the Mail on Sunday Conservative leader David Cameron said the problems in the expenses system were shared by all parties.
"We are all implicated and we must all find a solution," he said.
MPs needed expenses, but there had to be more transparency, he said. He added that if elected the party would end the policy allowing ministers with free homes to claim for a second, which he said had "no justification".
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suggested scrapping the controversial second home payment for all MPs, in a shake-up of allowances.
Mr Hoon lived in an Admiralty House residence for three-and-a-half years until June 2006, while the property registered with Commons authorities as his main home was let to a private tenant.
He claimed allowances for the running of his constituency house in Derby by designating that as his second home.
Admiralty House, built originally as a home for the First Lord of the Admiralty, contains three apartments which are maintained by the departments whose ministers have use of them.
Mr Hoon said he went live there on security advice.
He told the Mail on Sunday: "I was told unless I went into secure premises I would have to have round-the-clock police protection at my home in London and that that would cost the taxpayer a great deal more."
He reportedly said he did "not accept" that he was profiting from the situation.
Ministers investigated
Liberal Democrat MP Norman Baker, who once used freedom of information laws to probe parliamentary expenses, said ministers who got free properties as part of their job should not expect to get a further property from the taxpayer.
"It's quite clearly an improper use of taxpayers' money and it is not sufficient for Geoff Hoon to say he was within the rules. Being within the rules and behaving ethically are not the same thing, unfortunately."
This weekend Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said her marriage is "strong" despite revelations she claimed expenses for adult films watched by her husband.
Ms Smith is also being investigated by the parliamentary commissioner for standards over her decision to claim at least £116,000 in second-home allowances for her family home.
Meanwhile she stated her main residence - the one at which she spends most time - as her sister's home in London, where she rents a room.
Employment Minister Tony McNulty is also being investigated after it recently transpired that, until January, the MP had claimed up to £14,000 a year since 2001/2, for a home in his Harrow East constituency where his parents live.
The Committee on Standards in Public Life has said it will bring forward a wider inquiry into MPs' expenses, with a report due towards the end of the year.
Runaway scooter carries off woman
- By T C
- Published 04/4/2009
An 87-year-old Cornish woman was rescued by police five miles from home when her mobility scooter sped off out of control.
Eileen Bishop, from Perranporth, and her husband Anthony were on their way to church when, he said, she "disappeared off the radar".
Officers later found her heading along the A3075 towards Newquay.
A police community support officer (PCSO) rode the scooter back and said it appeared to be working correctly.
'Full tilt'
Mr Bishop said the incident began when he and his wife set off for St Michael's church.
He said the scooter, which "hadn't been going that well", was set to three-quarters speed.
"Suddenly she passed me at full tilt," Mr Bishop said.
"I shouted after her but she is a bit deaf. I couldn't chase her as I've had a triple heart bypass.
"She just disappeared off the radar."
Mr Bishop said he and a neighbour searched for his wife and then went to the police station to report her missing.
"I was just about in tears," he said.
Officers found Mrs Bishop after a motorist reported a mobility scooter "swerving" across the road near Pendown Cross, five miles away.
Mrs Bishop said she was not sure how she got separated from her husband.
"I just lost him. I was half asleep to tell you the truth," she explained.
It took PCSO Michael Ginnelly an hour to drive the scooter back to Perranporth.
"I think Mrs Bishop just gripped the controls and went too fast and held on for dear life," he told BBC News.
Obama hails 'historic' G20 summit
- By T C
- Published 04/3/2009
Leaders pledged new spending and tougher financial regulations, in what the US leader called an unprecedented set of actions to ease the crisis.
He now heads to Strasbourg for talks with the French and German leaders, before a Nato summit begins.
Security is extremely tight in the city, with tens of thousands of troops and police deployed.
On Thursday police clashed with protesters, firing tear gas and rubber bullets to stop a crowd getting to the city centre.
Masked protesters smashed bus shelters and set fire to rubbish bins. French news agency AFP reported around 100 arrests.
Nato talks
Speaking at a news conference in London late on Thursday, Mr Obama said that the G20 leaders had agreed "unprecedented steps to restore growth and prevent a crisis like this from happening again".
They pledged a total of $1.1 trillion (£681bn) in funding to tackle the crisis, including $750bn to the International Monetary Fund, $250bn to boost global trade and $100bn for international development banks to lend to the poorest countries.
Leaders also agreed to introduce tougher financial regulations and sanctions against secretive tax havens.
"This was the day the world came together to fight back against global recession," said Gordon Brown, the host of the summit.
Representatives from the developing world welcomed the outcome.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told the BBC's Newsnight programme that rich countries had engaged with emerging nations on "equal terms" to achieve a good result.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy - who had threatened to walk out of the meeting if it did not yield concrete gains - said that the conclusions were "more than we could have hoped for".
He will meet Mr Obama for one-to-one talks on Friday, after which the US leader will cross into Germany for a meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Then the focus will turn to Nato and the 60th anniversary summit that is being hosted jointly by France and Germany.
Leaders will gather for a working dinner in the German city of Baden Baden on Friday night before the main talks on Saturday.
The US president is expected to use the opportunity to build support for his new strategy for Afghanistan.
More troops are needed certainly, says the BBC's diplomatic correspondent Jonathan Marcus, but above all the Americans want to see their allies stumping up a good deal more money and more training teams to build Afghanistan's own security forces.
BBC News
G20 leaders close to global deal
- By T C
- Published 04/2/2009
The International Monetary Fund, which helps struggling economies, is set to get up to $500bn (£340bn) more funding.
There may also be a deal to "name and shame" countries that breach free-trade rules, BBC business editor Robert Peston reports from the G20 summit.
There will be measures to open up tax havens. Tighter regulation of banking and bankers' pay is also expected.
"The [regulatory] system needs to be more intrusive and ask more questions," UK Chancellor Alistair Darling told BBC News.
Significantly, leaders will also agree changes that will in effect create $250bn of new money to stimulate the global economy.
They will substantially increase the currency reserves of poorer countries by expanding the so-called special drawing rights the IMF makes available to economies in trouble.
Disagreements
Earlier, UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson told the BBC there were still some issues to iron out.
"[Disagreements] persisted overnight," Lord Mandelson told the BBC News channel, particularly over levels of funding for the IMF, regulation of tax havens and measures to boost global trade.
It is understood that Gordon Brown wants to go further than some other leaders on these matters.
"Our Prime Minister is excessively ambitious in what he wants out of this summit," UK Business Secretary Lord Mandelson said. "A good thing too, because there's absolutely no point in people just coming here and rehearsing old arguments restating old commitments."
Key measures
Leaders started the day with a working breakfast. They took their seats at 1045 BST to begin what one minister described as "lively discussions".
Before they began, they assembled for a team photo. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper missed it when he was pulled aside by an aide. When the photo was re-taken, however, the Italian Prime Minister, Silvio Berlusconi, was absent.
Different drafts of the final communique are circulating at the summit, reflecting differing proposals on a number of issues.
The leaders of the world's largest economies are expected to announce measures in the following key areas:
• IMF boost: $500bn of additional money will be loaned to the International Monetary Fund, the emergency lender for countries in financial trouble, in addition to the $250bn already pledged. Its resources have been depleted in recent months by having to help a number of Eastern European nations
• Tax havens: Treasury minister Stephen Timms says the G20 have agreed to impose sanctions on tax havens that refuse to sign up to OECD rules to fight money laundering and tax evasion, although discussions are continuing over whether unco-operative havens will be named and shamed
• Global trade: There will be about $250bn committed to boost international trade, UK Chancellor Alistair Darling confirmed. The figure will include national efforts already announced
• Fiscal stimulus: No new money will be pledged. However, leaders are expected to pledge to do whatever it takes to boost their own economies and emphasise that - globally - $2 trillion is already being spent to tackle the global recession
• Protectionism: There will be a commitment to naming and shaming countries that breach free trade rules
• Financial regulation: Tighter limits on the financial system are expected, including the activities of hedge funds, which are currently unregulated investment funds
• Bankers: There may also be measures to clamp down on bankers' pay.
Senior EU officials, however, have told the BBC's Joe Lynam that there is concern that there will not be as much emphasis on bankers' pay and bonuses as they had hoped.
An agreement in general terms stating that there should be no reward for failure is expected, but fixed terms and conditions may be much harder to agree, EU officials have told our correspondent.
Protesters gathered outside the summit, but in smaller numbers than Wednesday's demonstrations in London's financial district where one man died and 90 people were arrested.
Several hundred staged "noisy but calm" protests near the Excel centre representing groups including the Stop the War Coalition and CND, the BBC's Ben Brown said.
A small group of protesters gathered earlier at the London Stock Exchange, but have since dispersed.
Further protests at G20 summit
In the run-up to the summit, the main differences have been between France and Germany, who are pushing for stricter regulation of the financial system, and the UK and US, who think extra government spending would do more to ease the crisis.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy had threatened to walk out of the meeting if the G20 did not come up with concrete results, making it clear he was unhappy with the draft agreement.
'Balancing act'
The head of the IMF, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, told the BBC that in addition to increasing funding for his organisation, he thought dealing with banks' toxic assets - which caused the world's credit markets to freeze up - must be a priority.
"I am worried about how the balance sheets are going to be cleared up, this cleansing of the balance sheet is the problem we really need to address now."
Leaders will release the final communiqué, which outlines their agreement, at about 1530 BST.
"This is by no means the end of the process," BBC chief economics correspondent Hugh Pym warns. "The G20 will need to meet again."
He says the leaders will have a difficult balancing act in presenting the final agreements later on Thursday.
There will have to be a bit of pragmatism over what can and cannot be achieved, our correspondent says, but they must also convey a sense that they really have a vision as to how they can bring economies through this recession.
The recession has worsened since G20 leaders met last November in Washington.
Both the IMF and the World Bank expect the world economy to shrink for the first time in decades this year.
Reporting from from the Excel Centre, BBC business correspondent John Moylan said the summit would be judged a success if the global recession became a short, sharp shock, rather than a very long downturn.
The G20 group of nations is made up of the world's most powerful economies, accounting for 90% of the world's economic output, 80% of world trade and two-thirds of the world's population.
BBC News
Public is backing economic reform
- By T C
- Published 03/31/2009
More than 70% of people in 29 countries think major changes are needed in the way the global economy is run.
Nearly two thirds - 62% - of the public say the downturn has negatively affected them, and half say the downturn will last more than two years.
There is also broad support for reform of domestic economic policy.
The survey was conducted by GlobeScan along with the University of Maryland.
Slightly smaller majorities support global economic reform in the G20 countries, 15 of which were included in the BBC survey.
In G20 countries, 65% support major changes to the global economic system, and 62% support domestic reforms, compared with 68% who support domestic reforms in the sample as a whole.
The findings suggest that the public will be prepared to back plans if agreed at the London summit for global economic co-ordination.
But the poll suggested that in four countries - Russia, Japan, Mexico and India - which are all in the G20, there is not majority support for major changes to the international economic order.
What kind of change?
The poll did not ask what sort of changes in the global economy the public wanted, but another poll carried out in the UK suggested that a high priority would be a global stimulus package that created jobs.
However, support for global reform in the BBC poll among countries seems to be related to earlier scepticism about the benefits of globalisation - which was highest in European countries like Spain, Portugal, France and Germany when last polled in 2008.
However, both the US and UK, which had previously been less sceptical about globalisation, now have larger majorities in favour of change. But the US was notable for being one of the few countries where there was greater support for domestic economic change than international economic reform.
Developing countries, which had been more divided on the benefits of globalisation, were also more split on the need for international economic reform.
There were very large majorities wanting change in some of the poorest developing countries, such as Kenya and the Philippines, while some of the emerging market countries that had benefited from the global boom, such as India, Nigeria and Russia, were less keen on reform.
Who is hit hardest?
There is also evidence from the poll that the global downturn has hit developing countries hardest.
Over half of those in Kenya, Egypt, the Philippines and Turkey say that they have been affected "a great deal" by the downturn, and about 40% in Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana.
In contrast, only 3% of Germans say they have been hit "a great deal", and only 26% a fair amount.
The US has the largest number - 32% - of any rich country's citizens saying they have been as badly affected.
But people are more concerned about rising food prices than the downturn.
They are still of greatest concern in developing countries, with large majorities in Kenya, Egypt and the Philippines saying they are being affected "a great deal", even since the surge in global commodity prices has fallen back.
Overall, two in five people in the survey report that a shortage of credit for mortgages and other loans has personally affected them, with one in five saying it has affected them a great deal.
Again, the shortage of credit seems to be having a bigger effect on families in developing countries, while 29% in the US, 19% in the UK and 16% in Germany say it has personally affected them or their families.
BBC News
Canada uncovers cyber spy network
- By T C
- Published 03/29/2009
An electronic spy network, based mainly in China, has infiltrated computers from government offices around the world, Canadian researchers say.
They said the network had infiltrated 1,295 computers in 103 countries.
They included computers belonging to foreign ministries and embassies and those linked with the Dalai Lama - Tibet's spiritual leader.
Researchers say they have no conclusive evidence China's government was behind, Beijing has also denied involvement.
Researchers from the Information Warfare Monitor (IWM) were acting on a request from the Tibetan spiritual leader's office to check whether the computers of his Tibetan exile network had been infiltrated.
The report comes at the end of a 10-month investigation by IWM, which comprises researchers from Ottawa-based think tank SecDev Group and the University of Toronto's Munk Centre for International Studies.
The researchers said hackers were apparently able to take control of computers belonging to several foreign ministries and embassies across the world using malicious software, or malware.
"We uncovered real-time evidence of malware that had penetrated Tibetan computer systems, extracting sensitive documents from the private office of the Dalai Lama," investigator Greg Walton was quoted by the Associated Press news agency as saying.
They say they believe the system, which they called GhostNet, was focused on governments in Asia.
UK retail sales stall in February
- By T C
- Published 03/26/2009
Retail sales growth almost stalled in February as consumers cut back on spending, official figures show.
Sales growth slowed to 0.4% last month when compared with February 2008.
This was the smallest increase since September 1995, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Analysts had the sales growth to slow to 2.5%, after a 3.6% rise in January.
High Street chain Next and others say price cuts have not attracted shoppers.
Snowfall
The heavy snowfall in February, as well the worsening economic climate, hit companies already hurt by the deterioration in shopping last year.
Retail sales have so far held up much better than many analysts had expected as other parts of the economy have declined.
On a monthly basis, retail sales fell 1.9% from January, more than the decline of 0.4% that had been predicted.
Sales rose 0.7% in January from December, but textile, clothing and footwear stores reported that sales fell by 3.7%.
Other figures released this week showed that although the amount of money consumers are spending is still rising, some retailers are struggling to make profits:
• On Thursday, home improvements retailer Kingfisher said sales in the UK declined by 2.6% to £4.3bn as it closed its subsidiary Trade Depot
• Next said revenue and profits declined and that it expected sales to be negative for 2009
• Swedish retailer H&M, which has stores on many UK High Streets, reported a 12.6% fall in quarterly profit, blaming currency swings and lower sales
• On Wednesday, the owner of the Zara fashion chain said its profits barely changed during 2008.
Supermarkets
"February's sharp drop in the official measure of retail sales ends the recent puzzlingly strong run of figures and supports the message from the more timely surveys that High Street spending growth is back on a downward trend," said Vicky Redwood, an economist at Capital Economics.
While High Street retailers are reporting weaker profits and cutting back expansion, supermarkets have announced better-than-expected results.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury's on Wednesday reported that same-store sales increased in the first three months of the year, boosted by its range of cheaper "basics" products.
That followed rival Morrisons, which reported a 7% increase in annual pre-tax profits, and Waitrose, which saw sales touch £4bn for the first time.
The ONS said in Thursday's release that sales at food stores were 4.9% higher for the three months to February than in the same period last year.
Russia announces rearmament plan
- By T C
- Published 03/18/2009
Mr Medvedev said the primary task would be to "increase the combat readiness of [Russia's] forces, first of all our strategic nuclear forces".
Explaining the move, he cited concerns over Nato expansion near Russia's borders and regional conflicts.
Last year, the Kremlin set out plans to increase spending on Russia's armed forces over the next two years.
Russia will spend nearly $140bn (£94.5bn) on buying arms up until 2011.
Higher oil revenues in recent years have allowed the Kremlin to increase the military budget, analysts say. But prices have averaged $40 a barrel in 2009 compared with $100 last year.
Outdated equipment
In his first address to a defence ministry meeting in his capacity as supreme commander, Mr Medvedev said considerable sums are being channelled towards developing and purchasing modern military equipment.
"Despite the financial problems we have to cope with today, the size of these sums has remained virtually the same as planned."
Analysts say the brief war in Georgia exposed problems with outdated equipment and practices within Russia's armed forces and led to calls for military modernisation.
President Medvedev's remarks also appear significant for what they say about the diplomatic game between Moscow and the new administration in the United States, says the BBC's James Rodgers in Moscow.
Both sides are looking for a solution to issues - such as US missile defence plans in Europe - which bitterly divided the Kremlin and the White House during the Bush administration. Neither, though, seems willing simply to abandon previously-held positions, our correspondent adds.
The Russian Security Council is currently developing a new military doctrine which is expected to reflect current and forthcoming international developments, including any changes Nato may set out this year, missile defence deployments and WMD proliferation.
"The Security Council will approve Russia's national security strategy until 2020 in the near future," President Medvedev said.
BBC News
