Businessman, Entrepreneur, Mentor, Philanthropist
I have to say I was somewhat puzzled to read that Labour is urging City firms to ‘shake-up’ and calling for major shareholders to have a bigger say in appointing company boards. I previously ran a large PLC and now advise and work with companies both in the UK and the USA, and I have yet to meet one which does not take corporate governance very seriously.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport last week announced that it now estimates 23,700 security staff will be required at Olympic and Paralympic venues next summer – more than double the original estimate of 10,000. Up to 13,500 of these will be military personnel (with some 5,000 troops supporting the police, up to 7,500 providing venue security and 1,000 will providing logistical support).
On the week before Christmas I took time out to watch two very different, but equally inspiring programmes. The first was The Sun Military Awards. This programme highlighted just some of the outstanding bravery our men and women of the Armed Forces do on behalf of all of us every day.
Last week we heard that yet again the prison population had hit an all-time high at 88,179, unemployment amongst the young is growing with UK unemployment rising by 129,000 in the three months to September to 2.62 million, and youth unemployment rose above a million.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP, delivered his Autumn Statement to Parliament yesterday (29 November 2011 – full details of the statement are available on the Treasury website).
It is unbelievable almost to think that it is day 137 of the Mid Staffs inquiry into care at the ailing Mid Staffordshire Hospital and still new evidence is coming to light. Beginning with a legal argument, the Care Quality Commission (CQC) today started the proceedings by claiming that new evidence from two whistle blowers is not within the inquiry’s terms of reference. Whatever happened to the truth and the victims in all of this? One could argue that this defensive approach is what led to the issues in the first place.
No American president has ever won a second term in office when unemployment is greater than 7.1% across the States. It currently sits at nearly 10%.
Last week’s AV results at 2 to 1 against was a victory for common sense. Our electoral system has served us well for centuries and is a vital part of our democracy which was first established by Oliver Cromwell. It ensures decisive government and has got us through wars and great depressions, and is a model very much admired and copied around the world.
The recent quarter’s figures for GDP growth were abysmal, with an overall growth of 0.4%. Manufacturing showed only a 0.1% growth. This is against a background of an extremely poor matching period last year and last quarter 2010 GDP figures showing a contraction.
30 years ago, manufacturing as a percentage of the UK’s gross domestic product was 30%. It has subsequently diminished in that time to around 15% of GDP – or in today’s money, around £3200 billion.