Lunchtime news Friday 14th September 2007

The Liberal Democrats are backing a zero-carbon Britain. In an announcement made on the opening day of the conference, the Lib-Dems have positioned themselves as the first political party to ‘tackle global emissions from every part of our economy: from transport, electricity generation, housing, offices and factories’. Among the proposals, the Lib-Dems plan to include a ban on all petrol cars by 2040, eradication of nuclear power, replacing council tax with a local income tax, encouraging green mortgages, building a high speed rail network, charging lorries to use roads, and maintaining airport levels at their present level. They are also planning to tackle poverty by reforming the tax credit systems and increasing child benefit by £5 per family per week.

The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) which is being wound up this month after nearly 30 years, has made a plea to the government to root out inequality and encourage active civic participation by people from all backgrounds, otherwise Britain will remain a place of ‘inequality, exclusion and isolation’. Its legacy, due to be delivered tomorrow in a report ’A Lot Done, A Lot To Do, Our Vision for an Integrated Britain’, includes recommendations for greater discussion on identity and citizenship in schools, an emphasis to rid prisons of institutional discrimination and funding mechanisms for local authorities undergoing rapid population changes. The CRE believes that segregation – residential, social and in the workplace – is growing, and political and religious extremism is on the rise.

According to information commissioned by the Trades Union Congress, (TUC), migrants already live in sub-standard, dirty and cramped accommodation, provided for by their employer. The research discovered that living in employer’s accommodation makes it difficult to refuse to work extra hours. Conditions in rural areas were worse as there were few alternatives in accommodation. Migrants complained that they were being moved from one place to another and of ‘hot bedding’ when people were only given access to accommodation in shifts. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber compared the use of migrant labour to slavery and called for legal action to be taken against employers who exploited migrants.

Although the Chancellor assured customers that their money was safe and provided a cash injection of funds for the beleaguered Northern Rock, panic withdrawals have lead to nearly £2 billion pounds being withdrawn from accounts since Thursday’s announcement. Yesterday, the bank’s share prices plunged nearly 40 per cent. But Northern Rock wasn’t the only one feeling the credit pinch - Alliance and Leicester denied rumours that it too had asked the Bank of England for an emergency credit line, and saw its share prices drop by 31.3 per cent before rallying slightly. Property stock and housebuilders were also hard hit – British Land was down 5.3 per cent, while Barratt Developments lost 7.3 per cent. The Bank of England also promised a £4.4 billion injection into the money market to bring down overnight lending rates back down to 5.8 per cent from their 6-year high.