Business news live: Eurozone recession draws nearer as German private sector shrinks for first time since 2013

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Car makers on the Continent warned today that a no-deal Brexit put millions of jobs and billions of euros in revenue at risk (reuters)

The prospect of the eurozone falling into recession is looming larger after a further sign of deep problems in Germany, Europe's largest economy.

Survey data suggests Germany's private sector shrank in September for the first time since 2013, when the eurozone was still dealing with the fallout from a sovereign debt crisis.

Car makers on the Continent warned today that a no-deal Brexit put millions of jobs and billions of euros in revenue at risk.

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• Labour pledges 32-hour working week

[23 September 2019 13:06 · ben.chapman]

Labour pledges 32-hour working week

The UK would move from being one of Europe's most overworked nations to being one with the most leisure time, under plans unveiled by shadow chancellor John McDonnell.

He told the Labour Party conference that, if elected, his party would reduce the average full-time working week to 32 hours with no loss of pay within a decade.

A new Working Time Commission would be handed the power to recommend increases in annual statutory leave requirements while a Real Living Wage of at least £10 an hour would be introduced.

“We should work to live, not live to work,” Mr McDonnell said.

Labour would also restore powers to trade unions "on day one", he added.

The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock has the full story:

 Labour commits to 32-hour working week within a decade

[23 September 2019 13:13 · ben.chapman]

Labour’s embrace of Universal Basic Services “can renew social contract”, say academics

Labour's latest plans for the economy show a clear commitment to enhancing the living standards of millions in an increasingly insecure economic climate," say a group of experts at the Institute for Global Prosperity at University College London.

The academics and economists praised John McDonnell's pledges to massively expand the provision of social housing free bus travel, meal provision for those most at risk of food insecurity and basic phone and internet access.

They said the cost of the policy - around £42bn - could be entirely funded through changes to the Personal Allowance on income tax.

Professor Henrietta Moore, Director of the UCL Institute for Global Prosperity, said:

Adopting the Institute for Global Prosperity’s vision for Universal Basic Services as policy represents a major step forward in renewing the social contract in the UK. It shows a clear commitment to enhancing the living standards of millions in an increasingly insecure economic climate.

Our ideas around UBS were developed in response to the changing realities of the modern economy. The livelihoods and life chances of millions of people are coming under increasing threat from rising costs for housing, food and other essentials. At the same time, too many are faced with insecure work, low pay and the prospect that their jobs and whole industries could disappear due to automation and technological change. Simply carrying on as we have before will not alter these trends.

UBS provides an affordable way for us to meet these challenges, providing an enhanced safety net that can simultaneously provide the foundations for full participation in our economy and stem the rampant inequality that’s eating away at our society. To operate effectively, we have outlined how it must go hand-in-hand with democratic accountability at local level. UBS must be an expression of our shared social needs, with communities themselves in control.

[23 September 2019 13:31 · ben.chapman]

Labour's idea of introducing a shorter working week a fair amount of support.

Arguments against a four day, 32-hour week were similar to those used against cutting hours to a mere 60 per week in the 19th century:

 

 

YouGov polling shows a majority of the public back the idea:

[23 September 2019 14:17 · ben.chapman]

Billions of euros in revenues supporting millions of jobs are at risk from the “seismic” impact of a no-deal Brexit, Europe’s car makers have said.

As the UK hurtles towards the 31 October Brexit deadline with little sign of a new deal, bodies representing the industry united to issue a joint plea to avert a no-deal. Such an outcome, they said, would have an “immediate and devastating” impact on one of the continent’s most successful sectors and employer for 13.8 million people across the EU.

“The UK’s departure from the EU without a deal would trigger a seismic shift in trading conditions, with billions of euros of tariffs threatening to impact consumer choice and affordability on both sides of the Channel,” a group of 21 national trade associations, along with a number of Europe-wide bodies, wrote in a statement today.

No-deal Brexit will have 'seismic' effect on millions of car industry jobs, say manufacturers

[23 September 2019 15:15 · ben.chapman]

Thomas Cook is no more – what now for its 21,000 staff?

The collapse of Thomas Cook has left over 150,000 holidaymakers currently abroad facing a premature end to their holiday. For hundreds of thousands of others, who were yet to travel with the company, the only remaining option is to claim their money back. 

But for Thomas Cook’s 21,000 employees, the end of the line for Britain’s oldest travel firm means something much worse: the loss of their jobs. That is usually the outcome of the type of the insolvency procedure used to wind up the company – a compulsory liquidation.

“Generally on a compulsory liquidation, with some exceptions, staff unfortunately lose their jobs as the business quickly ceases trading,” explains Emma Shipp, partner at law firm Hewitsons. 

Business and economics editor Olesya Dmitracova has the full story:

What now for Thomas Cook's 21,000 staff

[23 September 2019 16:38 · ben.chapman]

Carlos Ghosn agrees US settlement over $140m of income hidden from shareholders

Former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has agreed to pay the US financial watchdog $1m to settle charges of concealing $140m of income he was set to receive in retirement.

Ghosn and former Nissan director Greg Kelly, along with other Nissan subordinates, engaged in a scheme to hide Ghosn's income, the Securities and Exchange Committee said.

Each year, Ghosn fixed a total amount of compensation for himself, with a certain amount paid and disclosed and an additional amount that was unpaid and undisclosed.

"Investors are entitled to know how, and how much, a company compensates its top executives. Ghosn and Kelly went to great lengths to conceal this information from investors and the market," said Stephanie Avakian, co-director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.

"Simply put, Nissan's disclosures about Ghosn's compensation were false," said Steven Peikin, Co-Director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement.  "Through these disclosures, Nissan advanced Ghosn and Kelly's deceptions and misled investors, including US investors."