SPORTS DIRECT AND TO THE POINT

02 NEWS WEDNESDAY 8 JUNE 2016
CITYAM.COM
FLOODY HELL Storms led to flash flooding, leaving cars outside
Wallington station submerged in two metres of water
THE CITY VIEW
Airports and houses:
Both stuck in the mud
IT WAS a Wednesday, like today, nearly a year ago – 1 July 2015.
Greece was gearing up for a historic referendum that many
predicted would see the debt-riddled country crash out of the
Eurozone. Andy Burnham was still favourite to become Labour’s
new leader. Rumours were beginning to circulate that Leicester City
would appoint Italian veteran Claudio Ranieri as its new manager.
Infamously, the decision was widely criticised and even mocked.
It was also the day that Sir Howard Davies published his
commission’s long-awaited report into airport expansion, which
unanimously backed a third runway at Heathrow. Business groups
welcomed the clarity and urged the government to move forward
with a decision.
But any progress was delayed first by the summer break, and then
conference season – and then we waited even longer, assured of a
response by the end of the year. Come December, that promise
proved hollow, as the decision was kicked back to this summer.
Naturally, the referendum has also kept it on the backburner. So
will we see any real progress before MPs depart again for their
summer hols? Not likely.
“The government is continuing to consider all three shortlisted
options and the [Davies] Commission’s evidence,” a spokesperson
said yesterday. The latest stage in this drawn-out examination will
“conclude by the summer”, we are assured. If we get a verdict
(which MPs must then fight over), it will be in the autumn at the
earliest – but don’t hold your breath.
Another unwelcome example of Britain’s sclerotic approach to
infrastructure was provided by Sadiq Khan’s deputy mayor for
housing, James Murray, yesterday. During his campaign for City
Hall, Khan said that 50,000 new homes should be built in London
per year. But his supposed determination to hit the target has
already been downgraded to a distant aspiration. Murray revealed
that nothing will be done until more consultations are carried out,
which could take another couple of years. The 50,000 figure is now
merely something “which we want to move [towards] over the
coming years”. Khan has a worryingly managerialistic attitude to
construction in the capital. He has already bemoaned the
“uncontrolled” conversion of some offices into flats, and pledged
that any future conversions will have to be “carefully managed”.
London may be associated with free markets in certain areas of life,
but when it comes to creaking infrastructure, it remains very much
in the hands of our bureaucrats and politicians.
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STORMY weather in London yesterday led to flash flooding in the south of the capital, causing travel disruption in the area. The
London Fire Brigade was called out to attend a number of flooding and lightning strike incidents in Mitcham and Croydon. The
fire brigade was also called out when a tree in Wallington was set alight by a lightning strike.
Cameron admits the UK
could survive outside EU
MARK SANDS
@mksands
DAVID Cameron last night conceded
the UK could survive outside the EU,
but maintained the country would be
bolstered by retaining its membership,
in an evening which also saw the
Prime Minister come under pressure
on immigration.
Cameron was grilled by members
of the public in the latest
round of EU referendum campaign
TV debates, taking the
stage after Ukip leader Nigel
Farage was forced to defend
himself against claims of
anti-immigrant sentiment.
The Prime Minister
conceded the UK
would not be crushed
by a vote to leave.
“We can certainly
survive, I think the
question is how do we thrive,” he
said.
And on relations with Scotland
Cameron also revealed he worries
“about a second Scottish referendum
if we vote to leave”.
However, he faced the greatest pressure
on immigration, with the ITV
studio audience left audibly groaning
by his refusal to predict reductions
in net migration from changes to
migrant benefits brought about
by his renegotiation with the EU.
One small business owner accused
the Prime Minister of being
“humiliated” by the EU over migration
reform, and Cameron
also faced pressure from
individuals over the
availability of housing
and GPs.
Nonetheless, the Prime
Nigel Farage was attacked
over migration claims
Minister maintained that these issues
would be worsened by the economic
consequences of a vote to leave.
“If we want to build houses, invest in
the health service, or get good schools
for our children we need to safeguard
our economy,” he said.
Cameron’s grilling came after
Farage faced the voters in a session
that saw the Ukip leader fighting
claims about scaremongering and
racism following recent comments
about British women being at risk of
sex attacks from migrants if the UK
opts to remain.
“It is a tiddly little issue as far as I’m
concerned in this election campaign,”
he said, denying that his stance was
anti-immigrant.
“If you’ve got a qualification and you
come from India or parts of Africa,
then it’s very difficult to get into this
country.”
“I take a view that is strongly pro-
Commonwealth,” he said.
LFB
FINANCIAL TIMES THE TIMES THE DAILY TELEGRAPH THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MCDONALD’S SECRET DEALS
WITH GRAND DUCHY
The disclosure of McDonald’s secret
exchanges with the Grand Duchy, made
public yesterday by the European
Commission, provides a glimpse into
the kind of tax treaty arbitrage that has
helped US multinationals stash away
more than $2 trillion (£1.37 trillion) of
untaxed profits since the 1990s.
CHAPPELL’S BANK DROPPED
OUT OVER PENSION ISSUE
The investment bankers working with
the ex-bankrupt whose consortium
bought BHS for £1 dropped him in the
run-up to the deal after they discovered
the troubled department store’s new
owner would be saddled with its
WHAT THE
OTHER
PAPERS SAY
THIS
MORNING
pension liabilities. Retail tycoon Sir
Philip Green sold the chain to Retail
Acquisitions, which was led by Dominic
Chappell, who had no retail experience,
in 2015.
BRITISH BISCUITS GET SET
TO TAKE ON THE WORLD
United Biscuits, maker of McVitie’s
Digestives, is being restructured to
become part of a larger global snack
and confectionery conglomerate before
an expected flotation in London by
2020. The UK’s biggest biscuit maker is
to become a key part of a new Turkishowned
entity called Pladis that also
owns Godiva Chocolates and DeMet’s
Candy, which makes Flipz pretzels.
BNP SUCKED INTO HSBC
MONEY LAUNDERING PROBE
Spanish police yesterday visited the
offices of BNP Paribas Espana in con nect -
ion with disclosures of money laundering
at HSBC’s Swiss private bank.
CITIGROUP MISLED HANDS’
TERRA FIRMA, COURT TOLD
The private equity tycoon Guy Hands reopened
old wounds from the financial
crisis at the High Court yesterday, begin -
ning a new claim against Citigroup for
more than £1.5bn over his calamitous
buyout of the record label EMI.
DIESEL TAXES COULD BE
HIKED TO CUT SMOG
Diesel drivers will be hit by tax rises in
order to cut air pollution, the Transport
Secretary suggested last night. Patrick
McLoughlin said hiking fuel duty or lowemission
taxes “is something the
Chancellor will need to look at” in order
to reduce toxic levels of nitrogen oxide
and prevent deaths in cities.
ITALY SAYS NO EMISSIONS
WRONGDOING IN FIATS
Italian government tests of diesel
vehicles from various manufacturers
show that only Volkswagen cars have
so-called defeat devices designed to
dupe emissions tests, said Italian
infrastructure and transportation
minister Graziano Delrio.
PRODUCTIVITY AND WAGES
PUT PRESSURE ON FIRMS
US companies are facing a toxic
combination of dismal productivity
growth, accelerating wages and
sluggish demand, raising the risk they
will slow hiring, cut spending further
and weaken an already-fragile
economy.