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Make Money Online And Work From Home
By Denise

Make money online and work from home to eliminate debt. With so many people over extended in debt why not start an online business? In your spare time you could be generating enough income to pay down many of your debts.

online and work from home to eliminate debt. With so many people over extended in debt why not start an online business? In your spare time you could be generating enough income to pay down many of your debts.

With almost every home having access to a personal computer and the internet it is easy to online and work from home. You could be earning income while you are spending time with your family, between hours during your college courses, or while you are retired and living on a fixed income. The options are endless at making money on the internet.

You could by blogging. Blogs are free to set up and easy to operate. You do not need to have knowledge in HTML or website design. Blogger is probably the easiest to get going.

Start a business about your passion. If you have something that you really are passionate about, you

could be earning money telling other people about your passion. You do not need to be an expert in any given subject, just passionate enough to want to learn more about it and share your knowledge as you learn.

There are so many recourses online to learn how to online and most of it is free. You do not need a lot of money to invest. You can start out selling other peoples products or with ads such as Adsense from Google. Many people make a living off of Adsense ads alone.

If blogging is not for you, you could on eBay. People are retiring from the money that they make on eBay. It is the largest auction site worldwide. You can start small from articles around your home and then grow into marketing other items as your eBay business grows. Your junk could be someone else's treasures. You may be surprised at what people are willing to buy.

There are so many other opportunities to online and work from home. You are only limited by your imagination. If you are looking to find something you can bet that many other people are looking for the same information. Why not right about what you find out and help other people get the same answers. There is money in researching for other people. Heck people are even willing to pay you to research and write articles for them.

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Will the government legislate against gambling? Don't bet on it
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/93939?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Will+the+government+legislate+against+gambling%3F+Don%27t+bet+on+it&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Gambling%2CPolitics%2CUK+news%2CSociety%2CBusiness%2CMoney&c5=Society+Weekly%2CPersonal+Finance%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Andrew+Sparrow&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142965&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Politics+blog&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2Fblog%2FPolitics+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Why is the government so reluctant to legislate against the gambling industry? Gerry Sutcliffe, the sports minister, today announced <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/jan/06/gambling-sports-levy-addiction" title="">plans to impose a statutory levy</a> on the industry to raise £5m a year (not an enormous sum) to fund measures to deal with the problem of gambling addiction. But if you read the small print of the <a href="http://www.culture.gov.uk/reference_library/media_releases/5723.aspx" title="">announcement</a>, you'll see that he's not committed to using compulsion.</p><p>Gaming firms already spend some money on anti-addiction initiatives on a voluntary basis and Sutcliffe is willing to give them one last chance to make the system work. "If the industry can agree the improved voluntary arrangements in the meantime, the door is not closed," he says.</p><p>Fair enough. Except, as the Liberal Democrats' culture spokesman, Don Foster, has pointed out, the government has been issuing warnings of this kind for more than five years. In November 2003, when the Gambling Act (which gives Sutcliffe the power to impose a levy) was still a draft bill, Tessa Jowell, the then-culture secretary, said she would rather not use that power, "but I won't flinch from doing so if I must".</p><p>Foster has found 12 instances of ministers issuing such threats to the gaming industry, including one from February last year when Andy Burnham (Sutcliffe's boss) said: "Unless the industry delivers a substantial increase in contributions by the end of this year and makes contributions in a timely fashion, I will seek the approval of the house for a statutory levy."</p><p>What is it with Labour and the gambling industry? Yesterday, Sam Coates in the Times reported that <a href="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/politics/article5447526.ece" title="">the Department for Culture is going to let gamblers bet more</a>, partly because the industry is finding "trading conditions very difficult in the present economic climate", yet today the industry has been given a final warning on addiction funding ? arguably for the 13th time. Foster brands the way ministers are dragging their feet a "disgrace". I asked him why he thought the government was so reluctant to legislate.</p><p><blockquote>There's been very extensive lobbying from the industry to prevent this happening ... You may say that £5m is peanuts. But, remember, there has only been one year, 2006-07, when the industry has coughed up the target that was set them. They are just not willing to do so.</blockquote></p><p>I've put a call in to the culture department asking them why they don't just commit themselves to legislation now, given all the warnings the gambling industry has already had. When I get a response, I'll put it up.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gambling">Gambling</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244645010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244645010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Can't pubs have a sale?
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/60912?ns=guardian&pageName=Life+and+style%3A+Can%27t+pubs+have+a+sale%3F&ch=Life+and+style&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Life+and+style%2CFood+and+drink+%28Life+and+style%29%2CMoney&c5=Personal+Finance%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFood+and+Drink&c6=Will+Beckett&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142948&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Life+and+style&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Word+of+Mouth+blog&h2=GU%2FLife+and+style%2Fblog%2FWord+of+Mouth+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>The Independent today <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/tesco-in-probe-over-cutprice-drink-offer-1228128.html">chose to splash</a> with what at first glance seems to be a tired old story about Tesco "facing two official investigations over claims that it deliberately advertised cut-price alcohol as 'bait' to lure bargain-hunters". Yes, and I suspect Peter Stringfellow deliberately used naked women as 'bait' to lure folk willing to spend absurd amounts of money on a glass of flat Moet. </p><p>The twist on the story, which begs the question as to why this made it to their front page, is not that this in any way promotes irresponsible drinking (selling alcohol at a loss in huge volumes for people to go and drink unsupervised), rather that they might not have had enough stock to justify the promotion. </p><p><br />This has long been held up as a huge issue for the pub community ? <a href="http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/content/view/7061/316/">we are</a> accused of promoting irresponsible drinking all the time; supermarkets are not. Which idea seems more sensible? Encouraging people to buy a case of beer below cost to drink at home (I'm not suggesting that everyone canes a whole case of beer in one go, but, being realistic about this, often that's the aim of buying a cheap case) or buying the same product at a slight profit in a pub environment where there are trained staff who will refuse to serve you if you drink too much? There's no doubt in my mind that the latter is a far more responsible pattern of drinking, yet pubs, rather than supermarkets, bear the brunt of the media's anger (is this due to their respective advertising budgets, I wonder). </p><p>Witness the furore around JD Wetherspoon recently offering <a href="http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/leisure/article5435780.ece">pints of beer for 99p</a>. I don't think there can be any argument about the potential dangers of alcohol ? last year the health minister Dawn Primarolo said that around a quarter of the population drink to a harmful level and that alcohol-related illness costs the NHS £2.7bn a year. But is this really irresponsible when compared to the big supermarkets?</p><p>A lot of noise has been made about what Wetherspoon have been discounting ? in this case bottles of San Miguel and pints of John Smith (neither brewers are backing the move), and this, say some, is evidence of a fairly responsible attitude. Many older punters yesterday welcomed the move saying they wouldn't drink more but would now be able to enjoy a cheaper pint of beer in the company of other people. Surely this is a more responsible type of discount than, say, reducing the price of spirits? Does it makes any difference what they are discounting?</p><p>My take on the story is that pubs are learning a lesson from the supermarkets here: that where some products are discounted down to almost cost price money is made from associated sales. Plenty of people will be buying food in Wetherspoons or have friends with them who drink something different. </p><p>The Guardian recently <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/03/one-pound-pub-lunch-deals">ran a story on the Four Crosses Inn</a> near Cannock, Staffordshire, which is selling meals for a pound and has seen business increase tenfold ? it is obviously trying to make up for what seems like an insane discount from people buying drinks. Is that the future for pubs and bars? Are pubs as entitled as any other business to attempt this kind of 'sale' on their products? </p><p>My own feelings are that the country would benefit from a clear law on acceptable selling prices for alcohol, but until this comes in many pubs will continue to make these kinds of move to protect their very fragile businesses.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/foodanddrink">Food & drink</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Lifeandstyle&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244673010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Lifeandstyle&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244673010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
David Cameron calls for league tables to improve UK prisons
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/78798?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+David+Cameron+calls+for+league+tables+to+improve+UK+prisons&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CInterest+rates+%28Money%29%2CHouse+prices+%28Money%29%2CPolitics%2CBusiness%2CMoney%2CUK+news%2CPrisons+and+probation+%28Society%29%2CCriminal+justice+%28politics%29%2CUS+economy+%28Business%29&c5=Personal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCommunities+Society%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates%2CUS+Economy&c6=Helen+Carter&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142822&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=David+Cameron&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FDavid+Cameron" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>David Cameron said today that he would introduce league tables for prisons to cut reoffending rates with an increased emphasis on rehabilitation and follow-up care after release.</p><p>The Tory leader also indicated that he was against the government's "Titan prisons", which he thought were a "bad idea".</p><p>"The idea that big is beautiful with prisons is wrong," he told 20 handpicked members of the public in Manchester, in a session led by Channel M television presenter Andy Crane.</p><p>"I have spent some time in prison ? purely in a professional capacity ? at Wandsworth prison and was profoundly depressed by the size and impersonality," Cameron said. "I asked the governor what percentage offend when they leave prison and he couldn't tell me.</p><p>"The system is not designed that way; it is just designed to put them in prison and hold them there, locked in cells for up to 23 hours a day, and then let them out. Every other public service is paid for by result."</p><p>Cameron said there was a need to incentivise prisons. "Are you saying league tables for prisons?" asked Crane. "Yes," Cameron replied.</p><p>Edward Garnier, the shadow justice minister, said: "Prisons should be places where people can be contained humanely, rehabilitated and taught to read and write, and get off drugs. This is most unlikely to be achieved in enormous Titan prisons.</p><p>"Jack Straw [the justice secretary] insisted that the design for three Titan prisons was predominantly based on cheapness rather than value for money and also that they should be designed to accommodate more than 2,500 prisoners. They are designed for overcrowding before they dig the first foundations; that to us is ridiculous.</p><p>"Experience suggests to us these large prisons are dangerous and inefficient. We suggest prisons become part of prison rehabilitation trusts similar to hospital trusts. In charge of each trust will be a highly skilled and experienced person and his job is not simply to lock up prisoners but take real and active interest of rehabilitation of offenders and promote reduction in reoffending."</p><p>Such a duty would be rewarded on the basis of the lowest reoffending rate, Garnier added.</p><p>Earlier, at a meeting at the Lowry arts centre in nearby Salford, 60 business people gathered with Cameron at his inaugural Get Britain Working Forum, which will tour the country.</p><p>A chartered surveyor told him that the government's VAT cut was a "damp squib" and suggested the housing market needed to get going as the engine of the economy. Mortgages were being advertised, but were only available to first-time buyers with a 35% deposit, and he suggested emulating an Australian scheme in which taxpayers fund first-time buyers' deposit.</p><p>"It seems to me the most important thing is to get banks lending again to businesses," Cameron said. "Businesses large, medium and small are all writing to me saying effectively the same thing: my credit line has been withdrawn, my overdraft facility has been taken away ? I'm having to lay people off."</p><p>The Tory leader said that government borrowing was a reason why sterling had fallen and said he was a firm believer in floating exchange rates, as he was in the Treasury during the exchange rate mechanism debacle of the 1990s.</p><p>"I see no circumstances in which joining the euro would be a good thing because I want us to set our own interest rates. We just need a government that puts fiscal responsibility at the heart of what it does." He made it clear that when he is prime minister "we will keep the pound".</p><p>Yesterday, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/jan/06/david-cameron-conservatives-economic-policy" title="">Cameron offered tax breaks worth a total of £5bn to millions of pensioners and savers</a>. The Tories have also promised a £50bn loan guarantee scheme with the government "standing behind" loans to firms.</p><p>At the later session in Manchester, the Tory leader contradicted Eric Pickles, the shadow minister for communities and local government, over the abolition of regional development agencies, saying that councils in north-west England "may come together and keep the Northwest Development Agency, but in other parts of the country, like the south-east, the councils may say no".</p><p>There was only one sour note struck at the forum, when a retired man asked a question on the basis that "every immigrant who comes to this country gets benefits and the benefit system is totally abused". An audible intake of breath could be heard from other members of the audience who clearly disagreed with his view.</p><p>Cameron answered a different question and said immigrants came here to work and that he would target instead the 2.6 million people claiming incapacity benefit.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interestrates">Interest rates</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/prisonsandprobation">Prisons and probation</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/justice">Criminal justice</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/useconomy">US economy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244780010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244780010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Food labelling: Benn seeks more transparency on packaging
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/65006?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+Food+firms+urged+to+make+sources+clearer&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Consumer+affairs+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CFood+and+drink+%28Life+and+style%29%2CLife+and+style%2CEnvironment%2CUK+news%2CHilary+Benn%2CAgriculture+%28Science%29&c5=Environment+Conservation%2CPersonal+Finance%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CEthical+Living%2CFood+and+Drink&c6=James+Meikle&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142862&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=Consumer+affairs&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FMoney%2FConsumer+affairs" width="1" height="1" /></div><p><strong></strong>Food companies and supermarkets must be more honest about where their food comes from, the environment secretary, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/hilarybenn" title="">Hilary Benn</a>, said today.</p><p>Benn said firms should state clearly on labels the country of origin for their prime ingredients ? instead of where products were last significantly processed ? so consumers can make a more informed choice about what they buy and eat.</p><p>The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/dec/09/irish-pork-dioxins-food-scare" title="">scare over dioxins in Irish pork</a> last month revealed problems in identifying which products were affected and demonstrated why better labelling was needed, he told the Oxford farming conference.</p><p>Talks have begun at <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/eu" title="">European Union</a> level about changing labelling rules so consumers know where animals used even in processed foods are born, reared and slaughtered, but these could take two years to implement.</p><p>Benn appealed to the UK food industry to take the initiative, saying "the EU moves a lot slower than consumer demand does. Processors and retailers could get ahead here by voluntarily introducing country of origin labelling. I intend to meet them to discuss how this can happen."</p><p>He said people were thinking more about the quality, nutritional value and environmental impact of the food they ate. "When you buy a car you know its service history. When you buy a house you get a detailed survey. So why do we accept knowing so much less about what we are putting in our bodies? Well, I say, we shouldn't."</p><p>Present EU rules can obscure where food really came from. "A pork pie made in Britain from Danish pork can legitimately be labelled as a British pork pie," Benn said. "That's a nonsense and it needs to change."</p><p>The <a href="http://www.fdf.org.uk/" title="">Food and Drink Federation</a>, the industry trade body, gave a cool response to Benn's calls, saying there were already regulations to protect consumers from being misled. Helen Munday, its director of food safety and science, said it supported food companies who wanted voluntarily to put country of origin labelling on products but suggested there was a big difference between primary foods, where the country of origin was a bigger issue for consumers, and generic products such as meat pies, pizzas and lasagnes, which used a number of ingredients from a range of suppliers.</p><p>In the case of processed foods she said: "We don't think country of origin labelling is necessary, unless its absence would mislead consumers. Creating different labels to reflect the changing origin of the ingredients used to cook such complex products would be a bureaucratic nightmare ? and one that would add further, unnecessary costs to our sector at a difficult time for all our food producers."</p><p>Benn's speech also touched on the role of British farmers. He said: "I want British agriculture to produce as much food as possible. No ifs, no buts."</p><p>He also appealed to farmers to produce more homegrown fruit and vegetables. "In 2007, the UK was 11% self-sufficient in fruit, 58% in vegetables and 79% in potatoes ? the result of people buying what they want. With the skills and ingenuity we have in agriculture and horticulture we could produce more fruit and vegetables here in the UK. The market is there, so what's holding us back? If there is demand then production should follow. So the answer is to buy more British and eat more British."</p><p>Currently the UK is 60% self-sufficient in all foods and about 75% self-sufficient in foods that can be produced in this country.</p><p>Benn insisted there would still be rules to protect soil, habitats, landscape and "the very climate on which all of these depend", but supported farmers in their <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/04/european-union-pesticides-carrot-crops" title="">concerns over new EU pesticides regulations</a> which are likely to be approved next week despite UK opposition.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/consumeraffairs">Consumer affairs</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/foodanddrink">Food & drink</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/hilarybenn">Hilary Benn</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/agriculture">Agriculture</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244848010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244848010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Gambling levy to be forced on gaming firms
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/8231?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Gambling+levy+to+be+forced+on+gaming+firms&ch=Politics&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Politics%2CGambling%2CUK+news%2CBusiness%2CMoney%2CSociety&c5=Society+Weekly%2CPersonal+Finance%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Andrew+Sparrow&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142858&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=Gambling&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FGambling" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Gambling companies may have to pay a compulsory £5m-a-year levy because of their "very disappointing" failure to fully fund treatment for gambling addicts, the government said today.</p><p>Publishing a consultation paper, sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe said the money would be used to fund helplines and treatment centres for gambling addicts, as well as to pay for research.</p><p>Sutcliffe said the government was resorting to a compulsory levy because gaming firms were failing to fund this sort of treatment on a voluntary basis. The industry has three months to draft an acceptable voluntary scheme or the government will quickly impose its alternative.</p><p>"We have put the protection of vulnerable people at the heart of the Gambling Act and that remains our priority," he said.</p><p>"We must ensure that organisations working to prevent and treat problem gambling are given the financial security they need to carry out the important work they do."</p><p>Gaming operators have been contributing to treatment programmes voluntarily since 2002 under an arrangement administered by the Responsibility in Gambling Trust.</p><p>The Gambling Commission said in 2007 that a compulsory levy should be imposed in 2009 if the industry failed to meet set funding targets. For the past two years the money has been provided only very late in the financial year, and for 2008-09 the fund is still about £1.2m short of its current £4.5m target. In 2009-10 the funding target will rise to £5m.</p><p>"Gambling operators have a responsibility to help fund [research, education and treatment] and it is very disappointing that the industry has so far failed to agree improved voluntary arrangements to do this," said Sutcliffe. He was still willing to accept a voluntary arrangement, provided the gambling industry proposed an acceptable scheme. Otherwise, following the end of the consultation in March, the government will impose a statutory levy. The terms of the Gambling Act mean ministers can do this simply, using secondary legislation.</p><p>Under the draft proposals, firms running betting shops, casinos, bingo halls and other gambling outlets would pay an annual flat fee, depending on the type of premises run and the volume of gambling offered. The smallest bookmakers and family entertainment centres would not have to contribute.</p><p>The Liberal Democrats said the government should have acted sooner. Don Foster, the party's culture spokesman, said the government first threatened to impose a statutory levy in 2003. "The delay in providing proper gambling addiction services in this country has been a disgrace. Ministers have repeatedly turned a blind eye to the problems their reforms have caused while continuing their hell-bent pursuit of the gambling tax bonanza," he said.</p><p>"While some parts of the industry have paid up, the vast majority have shown a complete disregard for their responsibility to fund problem gambling services. Today's announcement is only a small step forward. We now need the government to recognise that gambling addiction is a health problem and ensure all local health authorities develop strategies to deal with it."</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/gambling">Gambling</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244881010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244881010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Mortgage lenders can't hide the obvious - the housing market is in freefall
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/54016?ns=guardian&pageName=Business%3A+Mortgage+lenders+can%27t+hide+the+obvious+-+the+housing+market+is+in+freefall&ch=Business&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Housing+market+%28Business%29%2CHouse+prices+%28Money%29%2CFirst-time+buyers%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CMortgages+%28Money%29%2CBusiness%2CMoney&c5=Personal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Ashley+Seager&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142846&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Business&c12=Housing+market&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FBusiness%2FHousing+market" width="1" height="1" /></div><p></p><p>You have to hand it to the Nationwide, and, indeed, the Halifax.</p><p>Both lenders, in producing their monthly reports showing prices fell more than 2% in a single month in December, are saying that things are not as bad as they look.</p><p>The pace of decline is steadying, they argue, rather than accelerating. The <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/06/house-prices-fall-in-december" title="">Nationwide said this morning argued that the three-month on three-month fall was "only" 4.2%</a>. That may be true but it would still give you an annualised fall of 17%.</p><p>Its monthly figure of 2.5% would give you an annualised figure of 30% while <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/06/house-prices-fall-in-december" title="">the Halifax's December figure of 2.2% down, reported last Friday</a>, gives you an annualised pace of tumble of around 26%.</p><p>The truth is you can take your pick but nothing changes the picture that the housing market is in free fall and has considerably further to go given the scarcity of mortgage finance, particularly for first-time buyers, and given the idea that people don't want to buy now when they think they can buy cheaper in year's time.</p><p>Quite how far house prices will fall is anyone's guess. Prices are down now about a fifth from the peak in autumn 2007. Add in inflation over that period of 5-6% and you have a real-term fall of about a quarter.</p><p>Some optimists say that the big recent interest rate cuts and the fact that prices have fallen a lot mean we are now quite close to the bottom. Others argue, more realistically, that we are only half way through this process, given that unemployment is rising so strongly, and that prices will probably shed 50% in real terms by the time the market stabilises next year or in 2011.</p><p>For now auction prices offer a good indication that prices have further to fall. They are down about 35% or more from the peak. Auctions are interesting because they represent actual cash sales taking place where mortgage finance is not necessary.</p><p>Some argue that they do not represent the wider market since many of the sellers are "distressed" in the sense that they have to sell at almost any price. But they nevertheless provide a clue as to what realistic buyers are prepared to pay for properties and therefore how much further the wider market will have to fall before it clears.</p><p>Elsewhere today, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/06/recession-economics" title="">the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply's monthly survey of the dominant services sector was awful</a> and close to November's record low. You could argue that the lack of a further drop shows the sector is beginning to stabilise but that is a brave call.</p><p>This economy is getting worse at an alarming pace and needs all the help it can get. A majority of City pundits thinks that the Bank of England will cut rates by half a point this week to an all-time low of 1.5%. But that same majority has spent much of the past 12 months getting the economy spectacularly wrong. The Bank is much more likely to cut by a full point to 1% on Thursday.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/firsttimebuyers">First-time buyers</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/mortgages">Mortgages</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244942010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Business&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244942010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Builders tempt homebuyers with 'no bills' offer
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/8200?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+Builders+tempt+homebuyers+with+%27no+bills%27+offer&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Property%2CHousehold+bills%2CEnergy+bills%2CMoney%2CConstruction+industry+%28Business%29%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CUK+news&c5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CEnergy%2CEthical+Living%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Lisa+Bachelor&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142815&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=Property&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FMoney%2FProperty" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Homebuyers are being offered 18 months of free gas, electricity and water bills in what is likely to be the first of many bribes offered by desperate housebuilders this year.</p><p></p><p>Barratt Homes and its subsidiary David Wilson are offering to supply homebuyers with gas, electricity and water free of charge, and pay their council tax bills, until the summer of 2010 on developments in Lincolnshire and Derbyshire.</p><p></p><p>The average household's annual gas and electricity bill is £1,293, according to uSwitch.com, though good insulation in a new-build property means this is usually lower for those households. The average annual water bill is £330.</p><p></p><p>"Paying utility bills is one of the biggest variables in most household's disposable income," said James Poynor, sales director at Barratt North Midlands. "When gas and electricity prices are as high as they are now everyone feels the strain."</p><p></p><p>Meanwhile, Notting Hill London, the private housing division of the Notting Hill Housing Group, is offering to kit new flats out with a bed, sofa, wardrobe, table and chairs and other essential furniture on some apartments in one of its gated residential developments in north London.</p><p></p><p>The bribes are not the first that desperate developers have offered in a bid to attract buyers - in September Barratt's rival Persimmon made <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/sep/27/property.mortgages.barratt" title="">a similar offer to pay buyers' household bills</a> and in the summer a consortium of housebuilders in Devon were offering to throw in a free car with every flat bought.</p><p></p><p>Last November, upmarket property developer Fivewalk Homes offered an Aston Martin to anyone buying one of its £1.25m properties. To date, no one has taken it up on the deal. "The offer is still open and we are prepared to offer the equivalent cash amount off the property if preferred," said a spokeswoman for the company.</p><p></p><p>Such offers were made in a year when <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/06/house-prices-fall-in-december" title="">house prices tumbled by an average 16%</a>, according to the Nationwide, and with commentators expecting further price falls this year housebuilders are expected to come up with ever more inventive deals.</p><p></p><p>"Clearly it is a very challenging time for housebuilders and they are trying to maintain or increase their market share from the market that is still there," said Steve Turner of the Home Builders Federation.</p><p></p><p>According to senior government housing officials, the number of new homes built in Britain this year <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2008/dec/28/construction-industry-housing-market" title="">will fall below 80,000</a>. If this dire prediction is borne out, 2009 will be one of the worst years for the housebuilding industry for a century, and will exacerbate Britain's housing crisis.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/property">Property</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/householdbills">Household bills</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/energy">Energy bills</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/construction">Construction industry</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244981010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266244981010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Saving is getting harder as the best-buy tables are topped with unfamiliar names
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/6211?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+What%27s+in+a+name%3F&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Savings+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CInterest+rates+%28Money%29&c5=Personal+Finance%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Sam+Dunn&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142399&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Money+blog&h2=GU%2FMoney%2Fblog%2FMoney+blog" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Who is Julian Hodge and would you entrust your life's savings to his bank? Or how do you feel about handing over fistfuls of spare dollars to FirstSave, Nigeria's finest? Maybe, as a soft compromise, you might settle for wiring your wonga to an account with Anglo Irish where every penny, not just £50,000, is guaranteed by the Irish government.</p><p>Anyone hunting the very best in easy-access or fixed savings rates must today ask themselves these questions and endure hours of internet research and fact-finding to secure peace of mind for their money.</p><p>As the Tories and Labour draw the battle lines over who will do the most to help savers battered by crashing interest rates, in the best-buy tables UK banks and building socities have, perhaps only temporarily, <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2009/jan/05/savings-tax">ceded dominance to overseas providers</a>. Top of Moneyfacts's tables for easy access accounts is Anglo Irish offering 4.55%, while top of the best-buy fixed rates is ICICI, the giant Indian savings bank, touting 5.1%; other featured institutions include Julian Hodge Bank and FirstSave.</p><p>Making sure you do extra homework with overseas banks is neither xenophobia nor bias against small financial institutions who usually bury their financial lights deep beneath a bushel: it is simply a case of being able to rest easy as you save.</p><p>At one remove, this is a positive development: it can only do us good to properly investigate those financial bodies to whom we're happy to give our cash and if we learn plenty along the way - the strength of a country's banking system, how it's rated by credit agencies, rates of interest across a whole spectrum of accounts, whether it's as comprehensively regulated as UK banks - then more's the better. But it's another layer of complexity for savers who are already struggling at the moment. Do you think it's worth it? Or have you just opted to hold your cash with a household name - no matter how poor the rate on offer?</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/savings">Savings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interestrates">Interest rates</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245008010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245008010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Deborah Arnott: How the FSA got financial regulation wrong
Deborah Arnott: We should have taught bankers the same lesson we taught consumers: if it looks too good to be true, it almost certainly is
Property: British second-home owners suffer as French house prices fall
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/75002?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+The+French+correction%3A+Falling+house+prices+sting+expat+owners&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=Buying+property+abroad%2CHouse+prices+%28Money%29%2CForeign+currency+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CBusiness%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CProperty&c5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Peter+Davy&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142284&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=Buying+property+abroad&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FMoney%2FBuying+property+abroad" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>Back in April last year, the IMF warned that after the crash in Spain, French property, along with the UK and Ireland, was "particularly vulnerable" to a fall. But while Britain and Ireland saw steep declines, France seemed to carry on regardless. In the 12 months to July, according to the French National Estate Agents Federation (Fnaim), property prices overall were still up by 1.7%, with the strongest places continuing to report gains.</p><p>For many Brits ? and they are estimated to own more than 75,000 second homes in France ? it has been the only chink of light in the overwhelming property gloom, which has seen prices in the UK <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/02/halifax-house-prices" title="">fall by as much as 16% </a>.</p><p>However, that has now changed. Sales have dropped off sharply over the past few months, with Fnaim noting in September that "the brutality of the slowdown" had surprised seasoned observers. In December the association's executive director, Henry Buzy-Cazaux, told French radio that agents were faced with a 20%-25% fall in activity since the beginning of the year.</p><p>This has begun to hit prices: the third quarter saw falls of 1.3% and Fnaim expects prices to have finished 2008 around 5% down. Estate agent <a href="http://english.laforet.com/" title="">Laforêt Immobilier</a>, which has 875 offices throughout France, puts the figure at 10%. No one now seriously expects anything but further falls in 2009.</p><p>"I think [the] next year will be very hard," says agent Leo Attias, who heads up Fnaim's Paris office. The problem is credit ? while French banks avoided the sub-prime crisis hitting America and the UK, they are worried about the possibility of rising unemployment. Lending criteria for mortgages ? already strict by UK standards ? have been further tightened by lenders. "They are very reluctant," says Attias.</p><h2>Rural problems</h2><p>Outside Paris and the cities, and particularly in the rural areas favoured by the British, the problems are likely to be even worse. Charles Gillooley is manager of estate agent <a href="http://www.immobilier-causses-vezere.com/english/index.php?page=3" title="">Immobilier Causses et Vézère</a> in Thenon, and president of Fnaim for the Dordogne. His region has the highest density of British people in the country, and if you ask how the market was in 2008 you get a one-word answer: "Hard". Agents are reporting sales down by 50% and prices down a quarter. "France is going the same way as the others," he says, adding that many properties simply won't sell.</p><p>In rural areas the problem is not just the credit crunch but the exchange rate, which has seen the British, who make up as much of a third of the market, pull out. For them, even a 20% drop in prices has not made owning a second property in France any cheaper.</p><p>"There was a gradual decline in transactions since the start of the year, but it has been much steeper since September," says another agent selling in the region, Jerry O'Neil at <a href="http://www.premierfrenchproperty.com/" title="">Premier French Property</a>.</p><p>How much worse it will get is debatable; as O'Neil notes, there sometimes seem to be as many forecasts for property in France as there are economists. In the end, though, it may depend on which part of France you look at. In the cities where there is strong domestic demand, particularly in Paris and Nice, many argue that 2009 will only see modest falls. "It is likely they will drop a little, but we are not anticipating double-digit falls," says Laurence Boone, an economist in the Paris office of Barclays Capital.</p><p>Boone says the French market is very different from those elsewhere in Europe and as such, may not be hit as badly. Yes, prices in many parts of France have boomed in recent years, doubling in the past decade alone. At the end of the third quarter the average house price outside the Paris area was ?196,000 (£183,500). But they have lagged behind both Britain and Spain.</p><p>Furthermore, the banks have stuck to their policy of prudent lending. A typical French mortgage is for 70% of a property's value, has a term of 15 years at a fixed rate, and banks generally insist that repayments account for no more than a third of the borrower's take-home pay. That means there are unlikely to be repossessions on a level being witnessed in the UK. Finally, without the sort of building boom seen in Spain, there is no question of over-supply in the French market.</p><p>Fnaim suggests prices could drop by 10% over the next year. In some places, though, there could still be a fair deal of pain ahead ? much will depend on the fate of the pound.</p><p>Andrew Sutton bought a villa just outside Villeréal in south-west France in June. Like many others, he took out a mortgage in France and has been hit by sterling's slide ? at the start of last year £1 bought ?1.34; by the end of the year it bought just ?1.04. At the moment, he says, this is making life less comfortable, if bearable, for British owners in the area. The real worry, though, is if the situation continues.</p><p>"My major concern is that this trend goes on to see the pound and euro reach parity," says Sutton. "If that happened it could have quite a serious effect here." For now, the French market is still holding out against a crash, but for many British buyers, at least, there is still some way to go before they are out of the woods.</p><h2>Case study: A Brit abroad </h2>Margot Parker from Ealing recently bought a one-bedroom flat in Paris with her boyfriend Jean-Marc Eskdale. She says a temporary fall in its value doesn't really bother her. They wanted a foot on the French housing ladder since they eventually plan to move there, and were not looking to make a quick profit. "We are in it for the long term," Parker explains.</p><p>The exchange rate, on the other hand, has had a more immediate impact. When the couple started negotiations on their flat, the rate was about ?1.4 to the pound. By the time they completed in August it was ?1.31 and has since slid even further. After just a couple of months it is costing them £150 a month extra on the mortgage.</p><p>Fortunately, the payment is still affordable for them: when they were planning the purchase they checked that they would be OK even if the pound and euro reached parity. "We did it on what we thought was the worst-case scenario," laughs Eskdale.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/buyingpropertyabroad">Buying property abroad</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/foreigncurrency">Foreign currency</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/property">Property</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245086010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245086010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
UK house prices: a regional breakdown
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/79092?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+UK+house+prices%3A+a+regional+breakdown&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=House+prices+%28Money%29%2CProperty%2CMoney%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CUK+news&c5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Hilary+Osborne&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142606&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=House+prices&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FMoney%2FHouse+prices" width="1" height="1" /></div><h2>England</h2><p>House prices fell by 14.8% in England last year, with the last three months of the year seeing a 4.8% decline. Homeowners in East Anglia saw the biggest fall in the value of their homes, with prices dropping by 16.6% over the year to an average of £153,080.</p><p>London and its surrounding regions also took a hammering as affordability pressures and job losses took their toll. Prices in the capital fell by more than 15%, although Nationwide said the falls had not reached the pace of the early 1990s crash when it recorded an annual fall of 16.7%. London remains the most expensive place to buy a home in England with an average price of £257,963, compared to a country-wide average of £171,924.</p><p>Four out of five of the British cities that saw the largest price falls were in England, with Bristol, Bradford, Northampton and Norwich all recording a 17% drop.</p><p>Asked about the prospects for house prices over the next six months, consumers told Nationwide they expected to see falls across England, with the largest drop - 6.2% - expected in the West Midlands. Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said: "Consumers' views about the direction of house prices generally seem to concur with other macroeconomic data, although the relative magnitude of changes recorded are a little mixed.</p><p>"Within England, London and the south-east might expect to be affected badly due to the combination of an employment shake-out in the financial sector and stretched affordability relative to other regions."</p><h2>Northern Ireland</h2><p>After two years of massive growth, a correction in Northern Ireland was on the cards in 2008, and it came when prices dropped by a staggering 34.2% over the year, according to Nationwide.</p><p>At the start of the year the average house price in the region was £224,816; by the end of the year it was £147,833. Perhaps unsurprisingly Belfast is top of the list of biggest fallers, recording a 33% drop over the last 12 months. However, houses in the city are still much more expensive than the rest of Northern Ireland - and the UK as a whole - costing an average £203,942.</p><p>Across Northern Ireland the rate of price falls slowed as the year went on, with prices dropping by 7.4% in the last quarter of the year following three quarters of double-digit drops.</p><p>A survey of consumers in Northern Ireland found that while 9% of people expected prices to increase in the next six months, the average expectation was a 6.9% fall in values. Earley said: "Realistically one might expect Northern Ireland to remain the worst affected region in 2009, given the especially severe overshoot of house prices relative to earnings in the province during the boom years."</p><h2>Scotland</h2><p>Of all the UK regions Scotland saw the smallest fall in house prices last year with a decline of 8.1%, according to Nationwide. During the final quarter of the year prices actually rose, albeit it by just 0.1%, making it the only UK region to see a rise in prices last year. The average price of a home in Scotland is now £138,941, compared with £151,178 at the end of 2007.</p><p>Of the three main cities in Scotland, Aberdeen saw the largest annual fall of 11%, closely followed by Glasgow at 10%. In Edinburgh, where prices are highest, values fell by just 6%. For the second quarter running the largest year-on-year fall was in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde where prices were down by 15%.</p><p>Nationwide's consumer survey found Scotland was the most optimistic part of the UK with 11% of people believing prices will increase in the next six months. It was the only part of the UK where fewer than half of those questioned said they expected prices to fall.</p><h2>Wales</h2><p>Across Wales house prices fell by 12.1% in 2008, reducing the average price of a home to £136,174, according to Nationwide. In the last quarter of the year prices dropped by 2.4%, less than the 4.4% fall seen across the UK as a whole. Prices have fallen in every region of Wales, but some have been harder hit than others. In the south-east Nationwide said prices were down by 20% at the end of the year, while in the north and south-west falls were below 10%.</p><p>Despite a 10% decline in prices over the year, Cardiff remains the most expensive place to buy with an average price of £188,089. The cheapest area is south Wales (east) where the average house price has fallen to £141,654.</p><p>Consumers questioned by Nationwide said they expected prices to fall by an average of 6.3% over the next six months. The society said: "A continued fall in prices in Wales seems likely given economic conditions. Business surveys suggest a sharp reduction in the private sector workforce in Wales as output has fallen. However, the larger proportion of public sector employment in Wales is likely to protect it somewhat and help support the housing market relative to other regions."</p><h2>Top city fallers</h2><p>Belfast: prices down 33% on Q4 of 2007 to £203,942</p><p>Bristol: Prices down 17% to £199,587</p><p>Bradford: prices down 17% to £144,881</p><p>Northampton: prices down 17% to £156,425</p><p>Norwich: prices down 17% to £169,898</p><h2>Lowest city fallers</h2><p>Durham: prices down 4% on Q4 of 2007 to £147,188</p><p>Edinburgh: prices down 6% to £241,617</p><p>Leicester: prices down 7% to £154,787</p><p>Birmingham: prices down 9% to £164,939</p><p>Newcastle: prices down 9% to £162,863</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/property">Property</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245119010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245119010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
House prices fall by 16% year-on-year
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/48404?ns=guardian&pageName=Money%3A+House+prices+fall+by+16%25+in+2008&ch=Money&c3=guardian.co.uk&c4=House+prices+%28Money%29%2CProperty%2CMoney%2CHousing+market+%28Business%29%2CBusiness%2CUK+news&c5=Personal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates&c6=Hilary+Osborne&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142568&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Money&c12=House+prices&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FMoney%2FHouse+prices" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>House prices fell by 15.9% in 2008, Nationwide said today - the biggest annual drop since the society began publishing its index in 1991.</p><p>December saw a 2.5% fall in prices - the second biggest monthly fall of the year after May, when prices were down 2.6%. The drop follows a 0.4% fall in November, which seemed to suggest the rate of decline was easing.</p><p>The snapshot of house prices from the UK's biggest building society showed that by the end of last year the average price of a UK home had fallen by £29,000 to £153,048.</p><p>Nationwide's figures are broadly in line with those <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2009/jan/02/halifax-house-prices">published last week by the UK's largest lender, Halifax</a>.</p><p>It reported that prices had dropped by 16.2% over the course of last year, with a 2.2% fall in December alone. Its index put the average price of a home at the close of last year at £159,900 - 20% below its peak in the summer of 2007.</p><p>Nationwide's chief economist, Fionnuala Earley, said 2008 had been a "year of turmoil" in the UK housing market. </p><p>"The disruption in the financial markets worsened throughout 2008 and had larger implications for the real economy than we anticipated a year ago. </p><p>"This time last year we expected the housing market to cool quickly as affordability was poor and economic conditions looked set to weaken, but we did not anticipate the speed of house price falls or the extent of the global and domestic economic slowdown."</p><p>Last month, the society said it would be <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/2008/dec/19/nationwide-halifax-house-price-predictions">ditching its annual forecast for house prices</a> as a result of the uncertain economic outlook.</p><p>Earley today reiterated that position, saying volatile conditions made it more difficult than usual to estimate what would happen to the market over the coming year.</p><p>"In these unsettled times a forecast subject to frequent change could itself add to greater uncertainty," she said.</p><p>However, she said that tighter lending conditions and the fact that homes remained unaffordable for some people suggested prices would have to fall further before significant numbers of buyers returned to the market. </p><p>"In terms of house price expectations, current sentiment of borrowers and lenders is still fairly low," she said.</p><p>"Until the economy and the labour market stabilise, it is hard to imagine households becoming upbeat about the immediate future for house prices and this will hinder the pace of recovery."</p><h2>Looking ahead</h2><p>Nationwide said prices had fallen in all regions of the UK during 2008, although the rate of decline varied hugely. While Northern Ireland recorded a 34% drop in prices, the Scottish market dropped by just 8%.</p><p>In England the largest fall was in East Anglia, where prices were down by 16.6%, followed by London and the south-east where prices dropped by more than 15%. The smallest drop was in the north of the country, where prices were down 11% year-on-year.</p><p>Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said the figures completed "a dismal year" for the housing market. </p><p>He predicts that prices will fall by a further 15% this year, taking the average to £130,091 on Nationwide's measure, and said the data increased the likelihood of further large interest rate cuts. </p><p>"The ongoing deep problems of the housing market maintains pressure on the Bank of England to deliver another deep interest rate cut on Thursday, although mortgage lenders are likely to be increasingly unwilling to pass on much of any further interest rate cuts," he said.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/houseprices">House prices</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/property">Property</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/housingmarket">Housing market</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245149010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Money&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245149010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Polly Toynbee: It might sound appealing, but this is populist poison
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/56401?ns=guardian&pageName=Comment+is+free%3A+It+might+sound+appealing%2C+but+this+is+populist+poison&ch=Comment+is+free&c3=The+Guardian&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CPolitics%2CEconomics+%28Business%29%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CSaving+money+%28Money%29%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CTax+and+spending%2CMoney%2CBusiness%2CUK+news%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29%2CSociety%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29&c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPersonal+Finance%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Polly+Toynbee&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142531&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Comment+is+free&c12=blog&c13=&c14=Comment+is+free&h2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" /></div><p>The ideological gap just yawned yet wider as David Cameron sprang into the New Year with tigerish ferocity. The longer Labour is in power, he said, the worse it gets - for the economy, national debt, crime, education, welfare dependency, the health service and family breakdown; all worse, worse, worse. Broken Britain needs an election now when "change is going to come". But president-elect Barack Obama, Cameron is certainly not. As the new president plans a trillion-dollar Keynesian stimulus in the United States economy, Cameron retreats into Thatcher's 1980s. Every time he speaks, he climbs deeper into the recesses of her handbag economics, preaching thrift and a bonfire of public spending.</p><p>He is right that this year things can only get much worse: every economic commentator says so. Any government seeking re-election after a year like 2009 with three million unemployed and gaping black holes in high street shopfronts can expect an uphill struggle. On the face of it, Cameron should walk it with constant finger-pointing - who was at the wheel when the economy crashed? Revenge is a strong voting motive. Superficially, he has all the best lines. The question is whether his phoney economics fool enough of the people enough of the time. </p><p>Yesterday's speech extolled the moral case for saving and thrift, "where government and citizens live within their means, save for a rainy day, waste not, want not". How well that chimes with the current mood, in which the worried rein in spending and even the comfortable indulge in frugality chic. It chimes with the bishops' call for less shopping and more praying. It chimes with commonsense instinct: in hard times pull in your horns, don't borrow, don't spend; hide under the duvet until it's all over. So when Cameron ratchets up the rhetoric by calling the VAT cut "an absolutely criminal waste of public money", plenty of voters will nod in agreement. Labour's £12.5bn cash splurge did feel odd. When Cameron claims: "We are in this mess because of too much government debt", it sounds plausible. When he offers £5bn in tax cuts for penny-wise savers by taking money out of current spending to salt away in savings accounts, that too may seem like prudent policy. All this goes with the grain of human instinct - and Labour has yet to find resonant language to challenge it.</p><p>Cameron's plan for retrenchment is economically illiterate, and would be frighteningly dangerous if he were in power. But it's hard to explain why thrift is not the answer in a punchy political message. Keynesianism is counter-intuitive: he wrote himself about the problem of the "thrift paradox" - persuading people and governments to spend, lend and invest at a time when every fibre of their being urges slamming on the brakes. But let's examine why the Cameron prescription is part populism, part poison and part snake-oil: since he's not stupid, presumably he knows it. </p><p>Take his plan for a loan guarantee to let banks lend again with the state as guarantor. It sounds good - indeed, the government has already said it will do the same, responding to the Crosby report. Cameron's deceit, in his eagerness to cut borrowing, is to pretend he can do it cost-free by raising interest rates enough to cover any losses from failed loans. Nonsense, say those working on the scheme. To make it self-financing, he would have to raise the loan interest rates to many times their present rate, and no one would want them. Guaranteeing loans, some of which would fail, costs some £2bn - but in Cameron's fantasy economics he pretends he can both fix this crisis and cut spending.</p><p>Take his key claim that Britain's debt "puts us in a much weaker position than other countries". Is that true? Ask the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies - by no means always a friend of Gordon Brown's previous economic policies - and here's their verdict: of the G7 richest nations, only Canada has a lower stock of debt than the UK. The US, France, Germany, Japan and Italy have even higher debts than the sizeable 57% of gross domestic product Labour now plans. Compared with all the leading economies, the UK is still only in the middle of the debt table. So yes, we can well afford to borrow more to avoid the worst of this year's cataclysm - and that is the right thing to do. What of Cameron's plan? To make a sudden £5bn cut in spending this April is an anti-stimulus at a time when money needs to be spent. The Institute for Fiscal Studies warns that the only way to cut quickly is to axe whatever is easiest with random destruction, without rational planning. </p><p>Was the VAT cut "a criminal waste"? The IFS says it was the best way to get money out there fast. What of Cameron's plan to encourage saving with tax cuts? Not a bad idea, but absolutely not in the depth of recession. For years the IFS has criticised Brown for adding to national debt by failing to raise enough tax to cover his higher spending in the good years. Now, the IFS's Carl Emmerson says: "But even if he had, that slight cushion would no way have insulated us from this crisis." </p><p>Cameron's proposed cuts in public services would be disastrous in a year like this. He would ring-fence only NHS, schools and defence spending, while from April he would cut planned spending on everything else. But how could he cut Department for Work and Pensions funds as unemployment claimants soar? Why cut the big rise in apprenticeships, just as the young are leaving school to sign on? How do you create jobs if all infrastructure is cut back? (His high-speed rail would take years to set up - and it needs state funds.) During the last Tory government, average capital spending was just 0.6% - while Labour has spent more than 2%, the price of repairing 20 years of public squalor. Labour's plan to bring forward £10bn of capital spending to create 100,000 jobs is a vital necessity.</p><p>Labour relies on real economics winning over the plausible lie in the long run. After all, the Confederation of British Industry, the International Monetary Fund and Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development all urge Keynesian policies, with Barack Obama leading the way. Labour's serious problem is that no one will ever be able to prove whether what they did worked: if the recession is less deep, were these debts really necessary? Economists will argue for years, but nobody will ever know how much worse things might have been, had Cameron been in power.</p><p><a href="mailto:polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk">polly.toynbee@guardian.co.uk</a></p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics">Economics</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/saving-money">Saving money</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending">Tax and spending</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance">Public finance</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy">Public services policy</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245198010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Commentisfree&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245198010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
Cameron offers savings tax cut plus clamp on public spending
<div><img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/8295?ns=guardian&pageName=Politics%3A+Cameron+offers+savings+tax+cut+plus+clamp+on+public+spending&ch=Politics&c3=The+Guardian&c4=David+Cameron%2CConservatives%2CEconomic+policy%2CGordon+Brown%2CTax+and+spending%2CPolitics%2CCredit+crunch+%28Business%29%2CSmall+business+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business%29%2CRecession+%28UK%29%2CBusiness%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CSavings+%28Money%29%2CIncome+tax%2CTax+%28Money%29%2CMoney%2CUK+news%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29%2CSociety&c5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPersonal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CCredit+Crunch%2CPolicy+Society%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful&c6=Patrick+Wintour&c7=2009_01_06&c8=1142525&c9=article&c10=GU&c11=Politics&c12=David+Cameron&c13=&c14=&h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FDavid+Cameron" width="1" height="1" /></div><p> David Cameron took the side of savers hit by tumbling interest rates yesterday and promised to abolish tax on the savings income of all basic-rate taxpayers. He also promised to lift personal allowances for pensioners by £2,000 a year. </p><p>Pounded by Labour charges of offering a do-nothing approach to the crisis, the Tory leader said that he wanted to help the "innocent victims" of the recession.</p><p>Cameron also toughened his approach to public spending, by proposing for the first time that its growth in the financial year 2009-10 be cut from 3.4% to 2.6%, saving £5bn. Setting out a plan for Conservative government, he said spending on schools, health, defence and international development would be maintained at Labour's planned levels, meaning projected spending in other departments could grow only 1% in real terms, instead of the 4.1% planned by Labour. Cameron said he did not think 1% unreasonable. </p><p> But his move imposes tight constraints on departments such as the Home Office, Ministry of Justice, business department, and communities department. George Osborne, the shadow chancellor, pointed out that public spending would still be rising by £25bn under the Tory regime, as opposed to £30bn, leading Tory rightwingers to claim that Cameron was not doing enough to break with Labour spending or borrowing. </p><p>The chief secretary to the Treasury, Yvette Cooper, said it was "economic madness" to slow public spending - the Conservatives were isolated internationally, she claimed. Downing Street was last night pointing to reports that Germany is planning a £50bn fiscal stimulus.</p><p>But Cameron is increasingly bold in advocating tighter spending, and has already proposed a lower level than the government plan for 2010-11. The country, he said, was facing a "catastrophic legacy of debt and disrepair"; he sometimes wanted to shake Gordon Brown, he said, to get him to understand his errors.</p><p>Cameron put his proposals in the context of a wider claim about the need for an economy that is more balanced, and not so tilted towards housing, the public sector and financial services. </p><p>He published reports on creating green technology incubators, and buidling the world's first trading market for environmental companies. He also revealed a review into how to give every home ultra-fast broadband within a decade. Brown is proposing a green and digital infrastructure renewal programme this spring.</p><p>The Tory leader's move came ahead of Thursday's meeting of the Bank of England monetary policy committee, expected to cut interest rates to possibly 1%, the lowest since the Bank's formation in 1694. A cut from the current 2% would further damage the interests of savers when savings are at their lowest for 50 years. </p><p>Cameron said: "We need to make a really big change in Britain from an economy built on debt to an economy built on savings. A culture of thrift at the heart of government and a culture of saving at the heart of our economy - these changes will provide strong foundations for the new economy we plan to build."</p><p>Privately, the Tories accept that the cost, and therefore the impact, of abolishing tax on savings for basic-rate taxpayers - £2.6bn - may be too high, since it is based on estimates made at a time when interest rates were much higher.</p><p>The proposal to lift tax on savings income would, the Conservatives say, simplify the tax system, since banks would no longer have to withhold 20% of interest income at source, and people on low incomes who currently do not pay tax at 20% would no longer be forced to apply for their money back.</p><p>In practice, a third of savers already have their savings in tax-free Isas, and yesterday's initiative by the Tories may prompt Brown (planning a tour of English regions starting tomorrow) to raise the maximum amount of income that can be invested in an Isa tax-free, currently £7,200. </p><p>The Tories denied that helping savers would take money out of the economy. They argued that advisers to the Obama administration are suggesting that tax cuts are three times as effective at raising growth as spending increases.</p><p>More broadly, Cameron insisted he was optimistic that his policy package was winning converts: the government's 2.5% VAT cut in December had been "a criminal waste" of £12.5bn of taxpayers' money, saying the government might as well have burnt the cash.</p><p>Cameron also repeated his call for a government insurance scheme to back banks lending to customers and businesses. The Treasury is looking at a similar scheme, but the government will be determined to present any proposal as sharply different to the Conservatives' socialisation of credit.</p><h2>Parties' policies</h2><p><strong>Labour plans</strong></p><p>? Cut VAT by 2.5%at cost of £11bn to stimulate demand.</p><p>? Consider second round of help for banks following £50bn recapitalisation, but put the idea of more government cash for banks on the back burner.</p><p>? Create 100,000 jobs by advancing extra capital investment directed at green jobs and school building.</p><p>? Publish interim report on digital Britain.</p><p>? Encourage ailing firms to switch staff to part-time work and allow staff to train for remainder of time.</p><p>? Consider bringing forward extension of school leaving age. </p><p>? Allow mortgage holders in difficulty to have a two-year interest rate holiday.</p><p>? Consider help for savers in March budget.</p><p><strong>Tory plans </strong></p><p>? £50bn national loan guarantee scheme to help free up credit for business. Focused on short-term credit lines, overdrafts and trade credit - the lifelines all businesses need to keep afloat. </p><p>? £3bn tax breaks to reward companies who take on new staff. </p><p>? Small businesses to enjoy six-month VAT holiday. </p><p>? An environmental stockmarket, where green companies are listed and traded.</p><p>? No tax to be paid on savers' incomes for basic rate taxpayers. Help 5 million taxpaying pensioners by increasing personal allowances. </p><p>? Commission report on how UK households will have access to high-speed broadband internet within next 10 years.</p><div style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><ul><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron">David Cameron</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/conservatives">Conservatives</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/economy">Economic policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/gordon-brown">Gordon Brown</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending">Tax and spending</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/creditcrunch">Credit crunch</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/small-business">Small business</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking">Banking</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/recession">Recession</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks">Banks and building societies</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/savings">Savings</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/incometax">Income tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax">Tax</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy">Public services policy</a></li><li><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance">Public finance</a></li></ul></div><div class="guRssAdvert"><a href="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/click.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245257010618275434310"><img src="http://ads.guardian.co.uk/image.ng/richmedia=yes&site=Politics&country=usa&spacedesc=rss&system=rss&transactionID=1231266245257010618275434310" border="0" /></a></div><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk">guardian.co.uk</a> © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our <a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html">Terms & Conditions</a> | <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html">More Feeds</a>
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