But any action to prevent predatory pricing would depend on a case being lodged and won at the

But any action to prevent predatory pricing would depend on a case being lodged and won at the European Court of Justice.The Government has made clear it intends overturning a House of Lords amendment which would strengthen the Bill’s provisions against predatory pricing.A few weeks ago Mr Blair mentioned Mr Murdoch’s interest in a share in Italian broadcasting in a phone conversation with Italy’s Prime Minister, Romano Prodi. I strongly welcomed Mr Blair’s stand on this issue which was clearly unpopular with some of his party. I made my donation because I was impressed with Mr Blair’s leadership of the Labour Party and I wanted to reinforce his independence in a party substantially dependent on finance from trade unions.”. TONY BLAIR met Rupert Murdoch at Downing Street yesterday, officials confirmed.

It followed protests by Labour MPs over the Government’s Competition Bill, which some believe will not provide tough enough rules to control predatory pricing by Mr Murdoch’s News International group. Downing Street would not say why the Prime Minister met Mr Murdoch but ministers yesterday stressed that they believed their Bill would control predatory pricing.
A legal opinion by the Attorney-General, John Morris,suggested the Bill could affect Mr Murdoch’s newspapers. If I was concerned with my own self-interest, I should have encouraged the British government to ban tobacco sponsorship on the shortest possible time-scale …”I would like to emphasise that prior to my donation, Tony Blair, then Leader of the Opposition, was encountering some opposition within the Labour movement for his decision to retain a top rate of personal income tax at 40 per cent … Lord Neill ordered Labour to pay back the money amid claims that Mr Ecclestone might have given it because he hoped it would influence a Labour government to soften its plans to ban tobacco sponsorship.
Mr Ecclestone wrote: “Since I share the TV income with teams and my costs would have increased only modestly even with a huge take-up in demand, I personally would have gained substantially from an immediate ban on tobacco sponsorship. BERNIE Ecclestone gave a pounds 1m donation to the Labour Party because he admired Tony Blair and welcomed his pledge to peg the top rate of income tax – not because any deal had been done on tobacco sponsorship, the Formula One boss said last night. In a letter to the Neill committee on political funding, released yesterday, Mr Ecclestone said he actually stood to gain from a ban on tobacco sponsorship.

It shouldn’t be doing favours for the CBI.”A 100-strong meeting of the group yesterday decided that while they would avert confrontation, they would not “lie down” and acquiesce over decisions with which they disagreed.Trade unionists who harboured doubts that the Government had any intention of introducing a law on recognition, were cheered by a comment from the Prime Minister’s spokesman who said the Government would be fulfilling its manifesto pledge That in itself would be a “big step”, the spokesman said.. Ian Davidson, secretary of the trade-union group of MPs, said he was unable to identify anyone in the Parliamentary Labour Party who backed the 40- per-cent formula.”We think the Government should be sticking to its manifesto commitment. Downing Street denied ministers had already opted for the 40-per-cent formula, although senior union figures believe that such a proposal will be part of the White Paper.After the meeting yesterday with John Monks, the TUC general secretary, Mr Blair met representatives of the CBI, which originally wanted more than half of a workforce to endorse recognition, but has apparently accepted the 40-per- cent proportion.The activity in Downing Street means the proposals could be presented to the Cabinet tomorrow, with a view to publishing the white paper next week.Some slippage looked likely last night after the intervention of Mr Prescott. Given his close association with the unions, he is anxious that the Government is not accused of overriding the views of the TUC.”It’s an important issue for him,” said a source at Westminster.The Prime Minister’s spokesman said the meeting with Mrs Beckett was one of a series and there would be more individually and collectively, before agreement was reached.Mr Blair told the TUC leadership that, while publication of a white paper on “fairness at work” was imminent, key decisions on union recognition remained to be taken.Despite attempts to calm speculation, union leaders insisted they had been told by ministerial sources that the Government was hell-bent on introducing a law which would present substantial hurdles to collective- bargaining rights. The Deputy Prime Minister was furious over a report that an deal had been reached between Margaret Beckett, President of the Board of Trade, and Tony Blair that 40 per cent of any workforce would have to back recognition before it was granted, not just a majority of those voting in a ballot.
With unions offering a compromise of 30 per cent, Mr Prescott was keen to see more time being given to try to get the two sides to reach an accommodation. THE Deputy Prime Minister intervened last night to try to get the TUC and the CBI to reach agreement over trade-union recognition.

John Prescott is understood to have called for more time to be given to the two sides to see if they could strike a deal, even if it means delaying a Cabinet decision. After giving up work Mrs Hagstrom said her symptoms worsened and she was unable to do anything but sleep during the day She continued with psychiatric counselling. The judge is to assess the amount of damages to be awarded.The Royal Surrey County and St Luke’s Hospital NHS Trust has admitted negligence but disputes whether her continuing difficulties stem from the medical treatment she received in August 1993.The case continues.. She took two weeks off but shortly after returning she collapsed again. “I had numerous tests and everything came out negative and I wanted a magic pill that would make everything go back to normal,” she said. The following month she resigned, which she said was “entirely my decision Work had become overwhelmingly difficult for me I thought I was going mad …