Fast news

What they don't say

TENS OF thousands of low paid council workers, NHS workers, teachers, etc, face the sack as part of a 500,000+ jobs cull during the next five years as the next government slashes public spending to curb the Ł167 billion budget deficit. This black hole in public finances was massively increased by the Labour government's multi-billion bailout of the failed banking system.

The health service could bear the brunt of the cuts, despite party leaders Gordon Brown and David Cameron pledging to protect frontline services.

The jobs warning comes from a report by the Chartered Institute for Personnel and Development. John Philpott, its chief economic adviser, said a 10% reduction in the 5.8 million core public sector workforce is probable, "dwarfing anything implicit in the election manifestos".

Oversubscribed

AND WITH youth unemployment hovering around one million, British Gas has received more than 65,000 applications for 600 gas fitter apprenticeships. Such is the high overall level of unemployment, some of the applicants were aged over 50.

Under the scheme an apprentice is paid Ł5,000 a year (under Ł100 a week) to repair boilers and radiators.

One-in-five young people are currently unemployed of whom more than 100,000 are recent graduates with another 300,000 graduates expected to enter the jobs market.

Safe investment

THE GLOBAL investment bank Goldman Sachs has been charged in the US with fraud after investors lost $1 billion (Ł650 million) in the sub-prime mortgage led financial crash. The civil lawsuit follows the bank's recent announcement that it would be paying out $5.3 billion from a pay and bonus pool to its managers.

Also charged is Fabrice Tourre, the British-based Goldman banker who earned Ł1.5 million a year. He is accused of creating sub-prime mortgage investment deals devised to fail. US investigators claim Goldman Sachs lied to investors - which included the bailed out Royal Bank of Scotland group - to make the mortgages sound like a safer deal.

Meanwhile, billionaire hedge fund manager, Paulson and Co - which paid $15 million to Goldman for selling this 'financial product' - made $1 billion betting on the stock market that the investments would fail.

Tamil refugees

Tamil refugees aboard a tiny boat held in Merak port, Indonesia, since 11 October 2009, have been forcefully transferred to a detention centre in Tanjung Pinang, a small Indonesian island.

They were fleeing a brutal war in Sri Lanka and have suffered immensely in the last seven months. The Indonesian authorities have still not allowed their refugee applications to be processed and have reneged on the agreement made with refugees prior to the transfer.

Tamil Solidarity - campaigning for their rights - has called for protests. Please read more details on www.socialistworld.net and register your protest against the inhuman treatment of these refugees.

Why not click here to join the Socialist Party, or click here to donate to the Socialist Party.

In The Socialist 21 April 2010:

Stop these savage cuts: support the socialist alternative