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FEBRUARY 2009
Gordon Brown Furious Over Sarkozy VAT attack
TOP GEAR' SORRY FOR BROWN JIBE
LONDON - Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown was left fuming on February 6 after French President Nicolas Sarkozy denounced his flagship VAT-cutting plan and gave a picture of a Britain where industry was finished and the banks lay "close to ruin."
Sarkozy's comments are a political gift to David Cameron, the opposition Conservative leader, and deal a blow to Brown's efforts to cement a common European position on how to fight the recession ahead of a G20 summit of world leaders in London in April.
The French president told a domestic television audience he would not be following Brown in cutting VAT temporarily by 2.5 per cent, claiming the policy was having "absolutely no impact."
Brown's officials telephoned Sarkozy's office to complain, but were unimpressed with the explanation. A spokesman said the Flysee had insisted "these remarks were not meant as a critique of UK economic policy - which is nice."
The £12.5 billion (018.4 billion, EU14.3 billion) VAT cut was the centrepiece of Brown's fiscal stimulus in November, but has been criticised by politicians in other European countries who face pressure to follow suit.
George Osborne, shadow chancellor, said, "We said at the time Brown's VAT cut would be an expensive failure and that view is now echoed not just by British retailers, but by foreign governments, including France, Germany and Holland."
Sarkozy's comments about Britain reflected a popular belief in France that Britain is a shrivelled industrial
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Gordon Brown is shown with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the EU's Jose Manuel Barroso outside 10 Downing Street, on December 8,2008.
power brought to its knees by a failing banking system.
The president, who describes himself as an anglophile and friend of Gordon Brown, declared that Britain "doesn't have any industry left" and that the country's banks were exposed and "close to ruin."
He said the VAT cut had been a flop, "Consumption in England has not only not picked up - it has continued to fall."
The British prime minister's team turned their fire back across the English Channel at France and its president.
One Brown aide pointed out that manufacturing comprised 14 percent of Britain's output, compared with 16 percent in France.
"They seemed a bit surprised at the Flysee when we told them that."
Sarkozy also claimed that financial services made up 15 percent of British gross domestic product, when the statistics show they make up eight to nine percent.
The British government says the VAT cut is intended to sustain demand throughout 2009 and that it is too early to judge its success, although it claims retail sales in December rose.
In his interview Sarkozy tried to defend his own FU26 billion stimulus package - focused almost entirely on investment.
But the French president also adjusted his own policy to head off domestic criticism, promising at least a further FU1.4 billion for social measures this year, the prospect of tax cuts for families on low to middle incomes and the scrapping of a local business tax, costing up to FU8 billion a year.
There is growing irritation in Paris about Brown's reluctance to consult with his FU counterparts and coordinate bank support measures and stimulus plans.
Sarkozy hinted at the lack of cooperation, saying, "Co-ordination is absolutely indispensable."
LONDON - BBC Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson issued an apology on February 6 after he called Prime Minister Gordon Brown a "one-eyed Scottish idiot" at a live press conference in Australia.
The highly paid and outspoken presenter drew criticism from a leading charity and Scottish MPs after making the comments in Sydney where he is promoting Top Gear Live, a stage version of the international hit TV show.
"In the heat of the moment I made a remark about the Prime Minister's personal appearance for which, upon reflection, I apologise," he said in a statement.
The furore comes just days after the corporation axed the daughter of former prime minister Margaret Thatcher from a show after she referred off-air to a tennis player as a "golliwog."
Clarkson was comparing Brown to Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's handling of the deepening financial crisis when he made the comments.
"He genuinely looked terrified. The poor man, he's actually seen the books," Clarkson said about Rudd in clips of the press conference that were widely broadcast in British media.
"(In the UK) we've got this one-eyed Scottish idiot. He keeps telling us everything's fine and he's saved the world and we know he's lying, but he's smooth at telling us."
Brown lost his sight in one eye after
UK NEWS ROUND-UP
Recent Weather in Britain
It has been the coldest winter in Scotland since 1996-97 and in early February parts of Britain had the heaviest falls of snow for nearly two decades, as easterly winds blew in from Russia.
It had the biggest impact on the south-east of England, partly because they are not geared to heavy falls of snow. Scotland didn't escape though, with the Highlands, eastern Scotland and the Borders having an appreciable fall.
Only Glasgow and the west escaped, with just a light covering. But in the Borders on February 3, all 74 schools in the region closed and Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports cancelled more than 130 flights.
Some long-distance inbound flights to London's Heathrow airport (which was closed for much of February 2) were being diverted to Prestwick in Ayrshire (400 miles from London). Motorways were badly affected too, including the M74 route from Glasgow to England.
Woolworths Stores Close
All Woolworth stores in Britain closed by the end of December as a result of the UK company going into administration with debts amounting to £385 million.
It was nearly 100 years ago that American F.W. Woolworth opened his first UK store. The brand became a well known sight in many towns and cities.
The Woolworths Group in the UK separated from its American parent in 1982. Across the UK, the 807
JEREMY CLARKSON
an accident playing rubgy as a teenager.
Scottish politicians condemned Clarkson's comments and charity the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) branded them "offensive."
"Any suggestion that equates disability with incompetence is totally unacceptable," Lesley-Anne Alexander, the RNIB's chief executive, said in a statement.
Gordon Banks, Scottish Labour MP for Ochil and South Perthshire, said the remarks were "unforgivable."
Clarkson is no stranger to controversy. In December he was cleared by the media watchdog after hundreds of viewers complained about comments he made about lorry drivers murdering prostitutes.
BBC Presenter Axed For Golliwog TV Slur
oudets began major clearance sales offering "up to 50 percent off to get rid of all stock before they closed down.
A number of the premises in good locations are likely to be taken over by other retailers, who will not want either stock or fitments. The loss of Woolworths is the most high-profile High Street casualty of the present economic downturn - so far.
Record Losses for Royal Bank of Scotland
The Royal Bank of Scotland has revealed that it is now estimating bad debts and write-downs on the value of past acquisitions which could leave it making losses of £28 billion in 2008.
That's the highest in UK corporate history and nearly double that of the current record holder, mobile phone company Vodaphone's £15 billion loss in 2006.
The bank's HQ in Edinburgh also admitted that more credit write-downs "seem certain" but could not say how much or when.
Shares in Royal Bank of Scotland slumped in January to just 12p. On the same date last year the shares were valued at 366p. The bank will be about 70 percent Government owned after the Treasury agreed to replace £5 billion of preference shares with new ordinary shares.
The taxpayer is already sitting on paper losses of more than £12 billion on its existing 58 percent stake in the group.
LONDON - Carol Thatcher was axed as a BBC presenter on February 3 after she referred to a tennis player as a "golliwog."
The daughter of the former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher made the remark after filming The One Show during a conversation with presenter Adrian Chiles and guest Jo Brand.
The remark was made during a conversation about the Australian Open tennis tournament, in reference to a player who is believed to be Gael Monfils.
Show insiders said that Chiles was left "outraged" by the comment and he and comic Brand immediately challenged I'm A Celebrity winner Thatcher about it.
The pair also complained to show executives - as did production staff who later heard about the incident -and it is understood that Thatcher was approached the following day by the show's executive producer.
But she only apologised under pressure days later and dismissed the comment as an "off-the-cuff remark made in jest."
It is thought Thatcher said that he A BBC spokesman said, "We will no looked like the golliwog from the longer be working with Carol Robinsons jam jars in front of Thatcher on The One Show." several people.
Five Scottish 'Ghost Towns' Predicted
Business research company Experian has forecast that five Scottish towns will be blighted by widespread retail shop closures as the credit crunch bites harder.
Clydebank, Kirkintilloch, Rutherglen, Cumbernauld and Kilmarnock are expected to suffer the biggest fallout and become "ghost towns" as they already have empty premises on their main shopping streets and are most reliant on chain stores that have folded in recent months.
The Scottish Retail Consortium also fears that, unlike previous
recessions, Scodand would not buck the slump as so many of the country's high streets now have UK-wide chain stores.
High streets and shopping centres that relied on foot traffic from now-defunct chains such as Woolworths, Dolcis and Stead & Simpson were particularly vulnerable.
It is expected that smaller retail destinations will be worst affected. On a brighter note, some high-street giants, includingDebenhams, John Lewis, Next and Co-op reported better than expected results over the Christmas period.