Hollingsworth Daily Post

• Chancellor George Osborne is setting out details of the biggest programme of public spending cuts attempted by a UK government since the Second World War.Unveiling his Spending Review in the Commons, Mr Osborne is expected to cut the budgets of Whitehall departments by an average of 25% - or £83bn in total.He vowed "fairness" would underpin the cuts, telling MPs "those with the most should pay the most".He also insisted economic growth and reform were at the heart of his plans.He began his statement by saying: "Today is the day when Britain steps back from the brink, when we confront the bills from a decade of debt."
• Mining giant Rio Tinto has announced a $3.1bn (£2bn) expansion of its Australian iron ore operations in what it calls the "largest ever mining project" undertaken in the country.The move would increase production by almost 30%, from 220 million tonnes to 283 million tonnes, the company said.The announcement comes just two days after Rio and BHP Billiton dropped plans to combine their Australian iron ore operations.
• Euro MPs have backed a controversial draft law to extend maternity leave to 20 weeks on full pay and make that mandatory in the EU.UK business leaders and Conservative MEPs lobbied against the proposal. The European Commission earlier recommended an extension to 18 weeks.One assessment said the 20-week proposal could cost UK businesses an extra £2.5bn (2.8bn euros) a year. Minimum maternity leave in the EU is currently 14 weeks.Even though MEPs have approved the 20-week plan it cannot become law unless EU governments back it too, and the UK's coalition government is among those lobbying against it.
• The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee was split three ways during its October meeting, released minutes have revealed.Seven of its members voted for no change to interest rates and no additional stimulus spending, while one person wanted to see rates rise.The ninth member, Adam Posen, voted to see quantitative easing (QE) - the bank's main stimulus measure - restart.This is the means by which the Bank puts more money into the economy.The French government has used the security forces to lift blockades by strikers at three fuel depots serving the west of the country.President Nicolas Sarkozy has authorised police to break all remaining blockades at fuel depots.French workers are taking their rolling strike against planned pension reforms into its seventh day.Masked youths have been roaming the streets of the Paris suburb of Nanterre, skirmishing with police.In the centre of Paris, hundreds of students gathered outside the Senate, chanting, "Resistance".The Senate, the upper house of the French legislature, is due to vote on the proposed retirement age later this week.
• British Airways cabin crews are to be balloted on a new deal that could end their long-running industrial dispute.The new offer was reached in talks between BA chief executive Willie Walsh and Unite joint leader Tony Woodley.The union has been pressing for the restoration of travel concessions removed from members who went on strike earlier in the year.It has also been trying to reverse disciplinary sanctions imposed on union members during the dispute.

BBC Business News 20th October 2010