Ryanair boss considers increasing staff bonus to tackle excess baggage ‘scourge'
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Spectator
5 hours ago
- Spectator
Letters: Don't blame Andrew Bailey
The Bank's breakdown Sir: Your cover story with its attack on Andrew Bailey ('Broke Britain', 19 July) tells only half of the grisly story. All the major central banks had a sort of collective nervous breakdown during the Covid crisis, but none of the others lost its mind quite like the Bank of England. The banks printed money by buying in their country's sovereign debt, at high prices. Most concentrated on short-dated stocks, where the potential capital loss from rising interest rates was smallest. The Bank bought in long-dated debt at prices which looked like madness to some of us at the time. These stocks are now being sold back into the market at a massive capital loss. One example: in May 2020 it bought gilts repayable in 2061 at a price of £101. It has recently been selling them back into the market at prices as low as £28. Christopher Mahon of Columbia Threadneedle Investments has been shouting about this. By its own earlier calculations, the Bank estimated that total losses from this process would add up to a scarcely believable £115 billion. The sluggish fall in interest rates recently means that is almost certainly an underestimate. It amounts to incompetence and stupidity on a massive scale. No wonder the Bank is hoping nobody is listening. Neil Collins London SW10 Don't blame Bailey Sir: Michael Simmons is wrong to criticise Sajid Javid's appointment of Andrew Bailey to the governorship of the Bank of England. After the tenure of the narcissistic and overtly political Mark Carney, a solid and boring functionary was what he thought the Bank needed in order for it to regain its place as an independent central bank. An event as huge and disruptive as Covid-19 – and the government's reaction of promising enormous unfunded subsidies to all and sundry – could not be foreseen. Global indebtedness following Covid was not created by the Bank of England. Bailey was under the influence of domestic politics on one hand and peer pressure from abroad on the other. True, he might not have been the best of choices, but to place so much of the blame on him and on the Old Lady is disingenuous and unhelpful. Anthony D.M. Peters Great Rollright, Oxon The rest is slander Sir: No one loves reading an outrageous claim in the pages of The Spectator more than I do, and so I commend you for employing Dominic Sandbrook to peddle an entire host of them (Historian's notebook, 19 July). I don't know which was more entertaining: his insistence that Britain should have stabbed our gallant Gallic ally in the back in 1914, or the braggadocio with which he boasted of being able to hold his own in an Irish pub. One calumny, however, cannot be allowed to pass: his suggestion that my regrettable inability to join him on his Dublin pub crawl was due to any lack of stamina on my part. I will not go into details, it being poor form for those engaged in top-secret charitable work to boast of their good deeds; suffice to say that – had circumstances only been different – I would have relished the chance to join Paul Rouse in drinking Dominic under the table. Tom Holland London SW2 Pas un saucisson Sir: Even if we white male novelists make it into print ('Who'll publish my toxic book?', 19 July), we struggle for space in the literary pages of national newspapers. My new novel NUNC! (a corker, by the way) was published by Little, Brown. The Tablet and Church Times raved about it. The Mail ran an enthusiastic paragraph. The Times seemed to like it. But from the rest: pas un saucisson. Literary editors are under pressure to commission clickbait arguments. That is easier with non-fiction. The country would be saner if it read more fiction, but madness is better for the bottom line. Quentin Letts How Caple, Herefordshire Cobblers unite Sir: Reading the Barometer piece about 'grandly named trade unions' (19 July) I was reminded that the first trade union I joined (in 1965, at the edge of 15, while working weekends at a slipper factory in Blackburn) was the 'Rossendale Union of Boot, Shoe and Slipper Operatives': RUBSSO. It only had about 3,000 members and later was merged into the even more grand National Union of Knitwear, Footwear and Apparel Trades (KFAT) – itself subsequently merged in the early 2000s into the boringly named 'Community Union'. James Kay Birkenhead, Merseyside Rhodes rage Sir: A.N. Wilson, in his overheated review of The Colonialist: The Vision of Cecil Rhodes by W.K. Storey, makes at least one assertion that is factually wrong (Books, 19 July). Concentration camps were not, as Wilson states, 'that British invention'. The term was first used by the Spanish army in 1868 during the Ten Years War in Cuba. Even earlier examples can be traced to the USA for the internment of the Cherokee. What Wilson also seems to ignore is that Rhodes was a man of his time, not some uniquely evil colonialist. Dr Brian Austin West Kirby, Wirral Restoring Bishop Auckland Sir: Charles Moore describes the wonderful rejuvenation of the Bishop's Palace and Castle at Bishop Auckland by Jonathan Ruffer (Notes, 19 July). During the visit of the Rectory Society last week, I too was able to see the buildings, the Zurbarans, the huge walled garden planted with vegetables and flowers. It is an amazing achievement by Ruffer and his wife Jane. Now he has an even bigger project, which is to rejuvenate the town centre, with its fine Market Square and many empty shops and cafés. I wish him every success. Cessa Moore Hereford
BreakingNews.ie
10 hours ago
- BreakingNews.ie
Michael O'Leary criticised for ‘drive-by commentary' on Dublin metro
Ryanair chief executive Michael O'Leary has been criticised for his 'insulting' comments on a metro for Dublin, which he called a 'waste' of taxpayer money. The 18.8km rail line, most of which will be underground, is to run from north of Swords to Charlemont in the south of Dublin city centre. Advertisement Various metro projects for the capital have been proposed in recent decades, but none have proceeded to the building stage. On Tuesday, the Government announced that the MetroLink project would get a €2 billion boost in funding as part of the national development plan, in what Taoiseach Micheál Martin said was 'a very definitive commitment to the metro'. While Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe indicated the latest estimated cost for the MetroLink was €11 billion, Mr O'Leary claimed it would cost €20 billion, 'so about a billion a kilometre'. 'Dublin Airport doesn't need it, Dublin Airport passengers won't use it – they're already well-served by buses,' he told RTÉ Radio on Wednesday, while claiming that less than a third of the airport's passengers use buses. Advertisement He said that while the tube in London runs from Heathrow and through 'all of London', the Metro will only serve a section of Dublin city's residents – around 100,000 people, he claimed. 'Here's the madness of this. This thing is going to start at Stephen's Green in the morning. If you want to get to our first wave of departures, which leave at about 6.30 in the morning, you need to be at the airport at 5.30am. 'Are you seriously going to drive into the centre of Stephen's Green, where there's no car parking, to get this metro to get to Dublin Airport for 5.30 in the morning? No, you're not. 'Let me give you the alternative scenario: for €100 million, this year we could buy 400 buses, and 400 buses would provide exactly the same capacity as this metro from Dublin Airport, in through Ballymun, in through Drumcondra, on bus lanes that already exist.' Advertisement He claimed the plan had not been properly costed and hit out at the Government's handling of public finances. 'This Government wasted €330,000 on a bike shed, imagine what they do with an 18-kilometre underground train from an airport?' Micheál Martin announced two billion euro funding for the metro project (Phil Noble/PA) He also criticised comments by Mr Martin, who said the Irish capital will not be sustainable without a metro. 'Does he not understand that the buses actually will all be electrified by the end of this decade, which will actually be greener than light rail?' Advertisement Labour TD Duncan Smith said Mr O'Leary's criticisms of public infrastructure were as sure 'as night follows day'. 'Dubliners are stuck in daily gridlock. MetroLink is their best chance at affordable, reliable transport that serves communities, not corporate profits. 'As a consistent advocate for MetroLink in Swords, I find it insulting to hear this kind of drive-by commentary from someone who clearly doesn't rely on public transport to get to work. 'Dublin deserves better than a transport plan from a billionaire whose only experience with buses is when he is pretending to be one.' Advertisement When asked about his endorsement of Enterprise Minister Peter Burke and junior minister Robert Troy during the general election campaign, Mr O'Leary claimed 'they're not in government' and criticised Mr Martin again. 'I endorsed Peter Burke, who actually topped the poll despite the criticism. I also endorsed Robert Troy – and they're not the government.'
The Guardian
12 hours ago
- The Guardian
EU prepares €100bn no-deal plan to match Trump's threat of 30% tariffs
The EU has threatened to impose nearly €100bn (£87bn) worth of tariffs on US imports ranging from bourbon whiskey to Boeing aircraft in one fell swoop if Donald Trump does not agree a trade deal by the end of next week. The European Commission said on Wednesday it planned to combine two previously prepared lists of US goods to be included in any retaliatory moves against the US president's border taxes. If Brussels follows through on the threat, it would mean tariffs would be imposed on US imports to the EU from the the first €21bn list, which includespoultry and alcohol, as well as the more recent list of €72bn of goods, which features cars and planes. If agreed by EU member states, through a vote expected in the coming days, the €93bn of counter-tariffs could be imposed from 7 August. 'The EU's primary focus is on achieving a negotiated outcome with the US,' said Olof Gill, a trade spokesperson for the European Commission, adding that it would 'continue in parallel to prepare for all outcomes'. To make countermeasures 'clearer, simpler and stronger we will merge lists 1 and 2 into a single list', he said. The EU trade commissioner, Maroš Šefčovič, was due to talk to the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, before a briefing to EU ambassadors on Wednesday afternoon. Diplomats say the mood is hardening in Brussels after the US president rejected an agreement in principle 10 days ago, while at the same time upping the ante by threatening 30% blanket tariffs from 1 August in the event of no deal. Germany, which has publicly pushed for a quick deal to end the crippling 27.5% tariffs on its car industry, is now increasingly minded to use the anti-coercion instrument (ACI) – an EU regulation considered its 'nuclear deterrent' against economic coercion. The ACI would enable the EU to retaliate with an arsenal of measures including tariffs, as well as a potential ban on US services – which would hit the tech sector hard – but it could take up to a year to implement. Both Germany and France spoke about the ACI at a meeting of ambassadors last Friday. 'It was certainly a shift in rhetoric, but it is not clear whether they would be advocating pressing the actual button,' said one diplomat in Brussels. After Wednesday's meeting an EU diplomat cautioned that the number of countries 'saying we should start the actual procedure now for using the ACI is very low' and did not include Germany. 'Paris is more of the line 'we should trigger this thing now' and Berlin is in no rush to trigger it but wants the behind-the-scenes preparations to be ongoing,' they said. The European car industry has been particularly affected by the tariffs. Stellantis, the owner of Jeep and Vauxhall, this week said Trump's tariffs have cost it €300m and Volvo reported a sharp decline in second-quarter operation. The French president, Emmanuel Macron, has long argued that the EU needs to be prepared to retaliate and counter Trump's threats in a tougher fashion. Sign up to This is Europe The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans – from identity to economics to the environment after newsletter promotion Tobias Gehrke, senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations thinktank, said the EU had missed an opportunity by not warning that it would use the ACI after a trade ministers summit early last week, two days after Trump sent it a letter threatening 30% tariffs. 'There is a sense that the bloc has fumbled its hand, despite holding decent cards,' he said. 'The EU should have immediately retaliated against US tariffs. While the mantra 'negotiate from a position of strength' was oft-repeated in speeches, any associated actions never materialised.' He said the only way to break the impasse would be a face-to-face meeting between Trump – who will be in Scotland this weekend – and Macron, the German chancellor, Friedrich Merz, and the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni. The latest EU move comes before a summit with China on Thursday between the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the EU council, António Costa, and China's president, Xi Jinping. China maintains a dominant position in the trade relationship – its trade surplus for the first six months of 2025 stood at €143bn, up 20% year on year, with exports of hybrid electrical cars tripling from January to May. These do not attract the punitive tariffs introduced in 2023 by the EU. Electric car imports dropped 32% for the same period. At the same time, China's restriction on rare earths is hitting the German car industry, which needs magnets for window and boot opening mechanisms.
