Aug222017

Sue Hayman response to Ford’s scrappage scheme announcement

Labour

Sue
Hayman MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs,
responding to Ford’s scrappage scheme announcement,
said:

“This is
welcome news from Ford who are to be congratulated for their initiative and
innovation with this scheme. 

“Not only
do schemes like these help to tackle the air pollution crisis in the UK, they
also help to boost the car industry and our economy.

“However,
action from individual manufacturers won’t make up for a lack of leadership
from the Government on air quality. 

“With
nearly 40 million people living in areas with illegal levels of air pollution,
a joined up, strategic approach across the country is urgently needed.”

Aug222017

Informants to get more cash rewards over food, drugs scandals

East Asia

Chinese authorities announced Tuesday a raise in cash rewards for whistleblowers who report on food safety, drugs, cosmetics, health products, and medical equipment.

The China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA) and the Ministry of Finance stated that a single tip-off will be rewarded with up to 500,000 yuan (about 75,000 U.S. dollars) instead of the previous limit of 300,000 yuan.

The regulation also states that informants who are insiders in the product’s development, manufacture, sales or applications could be rewarded with extra cash on top of the new limit.

It also states clearly that the identities of informants should be strictly protected. Anonymous reporters will get a code from food and drug supervisors as a way to claim rewards.

Food safety, long a headache for Chinese customers, poses a severe challenge for quality watchdogs due to the vast amount of food on sale and the limited number of supervisory staff.

Aug222017

UK repays a little debt in July

John Redwood MP

The UK borrowing figures are coming out better than the Office of Budget Responsibility and some other forecasters have been suggesting. In July we had the first July surplus since 2002, at £0.2bn. This leaves borrowing at £22.8bn for the year to date. It seems likely the government will borrow less than the OBR forecast of £58.3 bn for the year as a whole.

The main reason given for a better performance was the increase in self assessment income tax receipts. Total revenues were up 3.4% whilst spending was up by 1.6%. The total stock of official debt stays at £1758 bn or 87.5% of GDP. The effective stock of debt is £1323 bn or 65.8% of GDP, as the state has bought in £435bn of the debt and now owes itself this money.