This means that it is selling oil faster than it can find it In effect

This means that it is selling oil faster than it can find it In effect, the company is shrinking. Increased life expectancy must inevitably lead to some raising of the retirement age for state pensions unless we are to pay even higher taxes.But please do not ignore the private sector. The more provision there, the less the cost of the tax-funded safety net. Why should you let companies completely off their previous contractual liabilities? Combine this with some tax incentives for savers to encourage personal provision.Gordon, start sprinkling a little fairy dust and get us back to where we were. Can we expect that from this Chancellor? Or is that really never-never land?christopher.walker tiscali.co.uk. Jonathan Bloomer could not believe what he read in the papers on Wednesday.

The chief executive of Prudential, which had surprised the City with a £1bn cash call the day before, read quotes calling for his head. One, unnamed, fund manager said: “We live in a country where the Prime Minister won’t resign despite not finding WMD. Nobody goes easily these days.”

Jonathan Bloomer could not believe what he read in the papers on Wednesday. Nobody goes easily these days.”
Speaking after three days of “constructive” meetings with more than 50 institutional investors, Mr Bloomer is able to laugh about what was written “It was surprising to be compared to Tony Blair,” he says. After it downgraded four billion barrels of “proven” oil and gas reserves to “probable”, the company was left with one of the lowest reserve replacement ratios among its peers. We are driving Shell to be a different company.”So why is the oil giant – motto, “You can be sure of Shell” – changing and what will the “new Shell” look like?One of the biggest problems facing Shell is how to replace the oil it is pumping. And it is the same company whose new chairman, Jeroen van der Veer, vowed last month at its annual strategy meeting: “Much more needs to be done.

This is the same Shell which in the past six months has seen its chairman, exploration chief and finance director leave after a fifth of its proven oil and gas reserves were found to be wrongly booked. Shell is expected to outdo its rival, BP, when it announces higher third- quarter earnings this week. In fact, it has already earned more than BP this year, which isn’t bad for such a “troubled” company.
It underlines the fact that the Anglo-Dutch company has continued to perform financially despite spending most of the year mired in controversy. A bit of intolerance can be an advantage.”BIOGRAPHY Mark HaysomBorn: 17 August 1953Education: Leicester University; Richmond College, SheffieldCareer1977: Grimsby News, trainee1986: Reed International, newspaper manager1993: Thomson Regional Newspapers, managing director (Wales)1997: Trinity Holdings, director1999: Trinity Mirror, director of national newspapers2003: Learning and Skills Council, chief executive. I am intolerant of people who lack clarity and intolerant of people who fudge issues.”The public sector has an awful lot of fudge, an awful lot of ducking the difficult decisions, a lot of dragging feet.