News about Vince Cable

The businessman, who has been nicknamed the 'Czech Sphinx' for his inscrutable nature, is planning on taking the UK's 500-year-old postal service into full foreign ownership for the first time. But the business mogul, who also owns a 10 per cent stake in Sainsbury's and nearly a third of West Ham football club, could already be eyeing up plans to reduce Royal Mail's current service. At the moment Royal Mail must deliver first and second-class post to every address in Britain six days a week under its universal service obligation. However Mr Kretinsky, 48, is reported to want to retain the six-day service only for first-class mail - which would attract a higher premium, according to The Sunday Times.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said the Government would examine 'risks' posed by Daniel Kretinsky's offer for the British institution. And the boss of the Communication Workers' Union threatened strike action if its demands on working conditions and the universal service were not met. Royal Mail owner International Distribution Services (IDS) this week said it was 'minded' to accept the offer from Mr Kretinsky - a businessman known as the Czech Sphinx who already owns a big stake in the company as well as interests in West Ham FC and Sainsbury's .

Sir Richard Branson's building society shocked the city by announcing a bid for the UK's sixth largest bank. The merger will result in the establishment of the country's second largest savings and loans group. With almost 700 branches and £366 billion in assets, it would catapult Nationwide into the big league of retail banking. On paper, the transaction looked fine, but members, according to Baroness Bowles, need more information and should have a say.

Thomas and Agnes Woods (pictured) are desperate to put an end to the timeshare nightmare that has cost them £48,000 over the last 24 years. The couple obtained a loan to buy a fractional timeshare in order to travel with their three children in destinations including Spain, the Lake District, and America in 2000.

Royal Mail was given a charmed contract by which no other privatized company had been granted before, and which may have boosted the company's earnings. Now it's clear that the privatization has ripped us all apart. Ofcom, the government control, appears to be on its side, which makes matters worse. A recent Ofcom study has outlined a number of shoddy alternatives that can now be consulted on, and Saturday deliveries may be postponed altogether.

A lack of accountability is the common thread at the center of the Post Office-Fujitsu controversy. Former business panjandrums, such as former managing director Alan Cook (one of the men who tried to sell LV to private equity) and Paula Vennells, were able to save themselves from being involved in a horrific scandal that cost lives because no one was paying attention.

62-year-old Rev Richard Fothergill (left), who died at the age of 62, claims that the Yorkshire Building Society (right) shut down his account after he accused them of propagating gender ideology during Pride month. In reaction to material on YBS' website, the retired vicar insists that his remarks were a polite rebuttal of transgenderism. However, the building society claims to have a 'zero tolerance policy to discrimination', and that their customer relationships had been'irrevocably broken down.' 'I think they should focus on directing money rather than preaching LGBT beliefs,' Rev Fothergill said.'

Ed Davey fueled rumors that the two parties are planning an alliance, adding that it is his "job" to 'get the Conservatives out of office.' Although he said he was not focused on anything beyond the election, his remarks would raise doubts that a deal is in the offing, with polls showing that Labour could fall short of winning outright. Both favor dramatic reforms to the electoral system that might make it easier for 16-year-olds and European nationals living in the UK to vote. Longtime Liberals have long argued for a first-past-the-post to be abandoned entirely and replaced by PR.

ANDREW NEIL: Little acorns grow – as the old saying goes – and a large number of Left-wing activists are poised to breathe new life into it. They believe now is their time. After the local elections, which were disappointing for the Conservatives, you might have guessed that the British Left would be a bit downhearted, but Labour's leader Ed Miliband said the Labour Party would continue to vote in a stalemate as the General Election comes. But not a bit of it. The possibility of a hung parliament suggests more than just another Labour government: the potential to install and enshrine Left-of-centre government for the foreseeable future - perhaps forever.

Vince Cable (top left), a Cabinet minister with the Conservative Party, said'serious, but deniable' talks regarding a settlement were already underway with Labour over a vote if there is a hung Parliament. And Sir Vince made it clear that dropping the first-past-the-post voting scheme in favour of proportional representation would be highly recommended. After Keir Starmer (left and center) has consistently refused to rule out running as part of a partisan alliance with the Lib Dems (leader Ed Davey pictured bottom left) to be the head, the remark would put more pressure on him.

When it was privatised at 330p per share in 2013, the Liberal Democrat politician (pictured) was strongly chastised for offloading Royal Mail on the cheap. Cable defended the change, despite the fact that the company's stock plummeting and the corporation facing annual losses of nearly £650 million.

The knee-jerk reaction to Shell's soaring third-quarter results and the prospect of £34.5 billion in 2022 is to tax the oil major until the pips squeak. Shell isn't going anywhere. So upping the average tax rate in these turbulent economic times is a big blow for Labour and the LibDems, who like to say they invented the windfall tax. Shell's only explanation for the swifter tax hit, according to some, Liz Truss used to work there. Vince Cable, a former chief economist, also served as a LibDem grandee.

Vince Cable (pictured) has just finished reading The Women Of Troy by Pat Barker. Tolstoy or Dostoevsky would be taken by the UK politician to a desert island. He says that he was always bookish and grew up before TV offered alternatives