Top Stories:
Guardian – Is this the week that Labour lost the next election? Defeatism grips party ahead of April G20 summit as raft of polls show big Tory lead. A strange, funereal mood hung over the meeting of the parliamentary Labour party. It was not just that the Guardian/ICM poll had just put the Tories back into a 12-point lead or that Alistair Darling, the chancellor, used the gathering to give a typically unvarnished account of the state of the recession. It was the appearance last Monday of Neil Kinnock, Michael Foot and Jack Jones, the former general secretary of the Transport and General Workers Union. As one jaundiced Labour MP put it: “We had the party leader that had taken us to two election defeats, the party leader that gained the lowest share of the vote at an election since 1918 and the union leader that created the winter of discontent and 18 years of Tory rule. It was surreal given what was going on in the real world. Only Labour glories in its defeats.”
ITN – Gordon Brown has delivered a plea for Britons to remain optimistic in the face of the financial crisis. Despite forecasts that the UK will experience the worst downturn out of the major developed nations, the Prime Minister urged against “talking the country down” as he attends the World Economic Forum in Davos. But he also gave a stark warning that failure at April’s G20 summit in London could have disastrous consequences. “I am absolutely confident about Britain’s future. I have utter confidence in our ability to come through this,” he said
Sky – As the Government calls in mediators to help end a dispute over foreign labourers on construction projects, there were threats that workers at a major nuclear plant would join wildcat strikes. Thousands of workers staged a mass walkout yesterday, angry at a decision to bring in hundreds of Italian and Portuguese contractors to work on a new £200m plant at the Lindsey oil refinery in North Lincolnshire. And on Monday almost 1,000 employees at the Sellafield nuclear plant will meet to decide whether to take industrial action.
Mail – Britain was facing the calm before the storm today as it braced itself for the big freeze. Sunshine is forecast to accompany chilly winds from the east before a cold snap hits the country in earnest tomorrow and Siberian winds will bring up to two inches of snow to the UK in the next few days. The latest cold snap will take hold tomorrow afternoon and leave much of the UK covered until the middle of next week, forecasters say. The return of wintry storms – combined with bitter gales – is likely to bring parts of the transport network grinding to a halt.
Business:
Times – More than 20,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) will go bankrupt before the Government’s scheme to boost lending to them takes full effect, a leading business body has warned. The Federation of Small Businesses said that 110 SMEs a day would fail this year, with a loss of 150,000 jobs, despite the Government launching a £20 billion scheme this month to boost their access to finance. It has been cut dramatically by the banks during the credit crisis, forcing many businesses into difficulties.
Scotsman – Photographic retailer Jessops has reported full-year losses of almost £50 million after the digital camera market slowed down for the first time in “many years”. The deficit for the year to 30 September reflected heavy write-downs following a review of cash-flows. Prior to one-off items, Jessops posted losses of £19.1m, against £9.3m in its previous financial year. Like-for-like sales fell by 6.5 per cent in the year, although promotional activity helped Jessops to a 3.8 per cent rise in the past eight weeks.
Also In The News:
BBC – Google’s search service has been hit by technical problems, with users unable to access search results. For a period on Saturday, all search results were flagged as potentially harmful, with users warned that the site “may harm your computer”. Users who clicked on their preferred search result were advised to pick another one. Google attributed the fault to human error and said most users were affected for about 40 minutes.
Independent – Plenty of uppity Oxbridge undergraduates like to boast about their academic records but none can match that of one particular new student. Ali Moeen Nawazish, a charming 18-year-old from Pakistan with delicately accented English, is in the first year of his degree in computer science at the University of Cambridge. To get there he undertook 23 A-levels in a single year, shattering the previous world record of a mere 13. And his massive workload did not mean Mr Nawazish could barely scrape through his 24 chosen subjects. He received A grades in physics, biology, human biology, mathematics, pure mathematics, further mathematics, computing, marine sciences, applied information and communication technology, thinking skills, Urdu language, Urdu literature, general paper (international), geography, applied geography, sociology, psychology, business studies, travel and tourism, and critical thinking. He also secured A grades in two AS-levels, general studies and English language, which equal one A-level.
Telegraph – A sports club in Bristol has been forced to remove the word “boys” from its name after councillors ruled that it was sexist. Broad Plain Boys’ Club, which has gone under the name since 1894, faced the loss of funding unless it could show it was inclusive, so submitted an alteration. The sports club, which does now have girl members, has changed the name to Broad Plain Working With Young People Group. Club leader Dennis Stinchcombe MBE, 53, who ran the group for 33 years, said the rebranding was “a tragedy”.
Sun – Gerry and Kate McCann will tomorrow hold a party to celebrate the twins’ fourth birthday — with presents from missing sister Madeleine. The couple have invited a number of friends and family to their home for a low-key celebration for Sean and Amelie. The McCanns are determined to make the day special for Sean and Amelie — including giving them presents from Madeleine, who they have not seen for more than 21 months. A friend said: “Kate and Gerry have always tried to keep things as normal as possible for the twins.
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