Rightmove, the UK’s leading property portal has apologised to its Facebook 13,600 Facebook fans for insensitive remarks about the riots sweeping the UK.
Yesterday, Rightmove posted the question: “Are the riots affecting where you live? What do you think will happen to house prices in those areas?” The post produced a social media backlash with numerous posts criticising the portal. After taking down the question, Rightmove apologised: “Apologies all, that was a stupid message for us to send out. We are incredibly sorry if and where we caused offense.” Adding: “We really are incredibly sorry everyone…we live in London too and are absolutely shocked and appalled by what is happening to innocent people”. Since a low point on Tuesday morning, shares in the company have rallied nearly 10%. It seems all publicity maybe good publicity. Source - Cityam As businesses across the capital counted the cost of the destruction and theft, the alleged perpetrators posted pictures on the internet displaying their booty.
In one photograph that was circulated widely on Twitter, a youth can be seen posing brazenly with a large number of items including computer games, cosmetics and electrical goods. The individual involved made no attempt to disguise his identity, prompting widespread criticism from other internet users. Another photograph, which was also circulated on the Twitter site, showed a room almost full to the ceiling of shoe boxes. The Twitter user who discovered the image and posted it on the internet, wrote: “These looters went hard! Loot hard or go yard!” It is impossible to know whether the photographs displayed the spoils of an actual raid, or were simply mischief making by internet users. But critics have warned that such postings are helping to fuel the unrest by glamorising the activities of the looters. Widespread looting took place across London after the riots that erupted in Tottenham on Saturday night. Early on Sunday morning gangs of looters descended on a retail park in Tottenham Hale north London, where they ransacked several stores including PC World, Currys, Comet and Staples. At a branch of JD Sports looters formed an orderly queue as they waited their turn to help themselves to training shoes and other designer label sports wear. One woman, who was described by locals in Tottenham as a known trouble maker who had recently been evicted from her flat, even had time to try a pair of shoes on for size. In Brixton, south London, where there was also widespread looting, residents described how many thieves were speaking openly and almost proudly of their activities. Paul Thompson said he watched as a group of teenage girls ran past his Brixton flat carrying bags of stolen clothes. Mr Thompson added: “When I got to the High Street they had already broken into Foot Locker. ''People were coming from everywhere, they were even running over from the council flats opposite. It was everyone, old women, men in cars, everybody was doing some looting. “I stood and watched from about midnight to 2am as plasma screens and computers came out at a rate of about 10-a-minute. No one did anything to stop them. “People were driving into the estate and filling their cars with computers and flat screens. Most of the cars were so full their boots could not close. “At one point people said the bottom floor was empty and you need to go to the top floor to get stuff. They must have stolen everything.” One woman told how she had overhead a conversation on a bus in which an adult female was explaining to a friend how she was planning to return to a branch of H&M where she had stolen some items of clothing to exchange them for some others. Someone else told a public meeting in the borough how a man who had been making off with a stolen television had himself been robbed by a gang of youths. With the police deciding to concentrate on rioting rather than looting, many of the individuals targeting businesses even had time to try on clothes before making off with them. Witnesses said many of the looters drove their vehicles to the stores to enable them to make off with large bulky items such as plasma televisions and computers. By Martin Evans - Telegraph Governor King’s Inflation Report press conference will provide a timely update on how the Bank of England is viewing current financial market developments. The Inflation Report itself will contain medium-term forecasts for the economy. Lloyds TSB have argued that the Bank’s growth forecasts appear too optimistic and its central case is likely to be revised down from just under 2% this year and 2½% next. This is particularly true with the apparent materialisation of downside risks from the Eurozone. Lloyds TSB would also expect to see an associated softening in next year’s inflation outlook (although for 2011 should remain broadly unchanged) despite a boost from lower market rates that the Bank uses to condition these projections. Yet these forecasts still look likely to suggest a set of economic conditions very different from those that led the Bank to ease monetary policy to its historic lows. Nevertheless, with global financial markets threatening to reverse developed economies recoveries, the MPC’s discussions will be dominated by assessments of how much damage the current financial turmoil will wreak on the real economy. This week’s trade release will gauge the ongoing pace of rebalancing in the economy. May saw the deficit widen with trade (including services) breaching the £4.0bn mark for the first time this year. Much of this reflected a jump in imports that Lloyds TSB expect to reverse in June. Accordingly Lloyds TSB forecast the deficit narrowing to £3.8bn. However, Q2 looks unlikely to provide further evidence of an export led recovery. Export volumes look likely to have fallen in Q2 and net trade should have detracted from growth. As with the wider economy, one-off factors affected Q2. But with global economic activity seemingly slowing, export prospects have weakened.
The final release of the quarter is always somewhat historical, with preliminary estimates inferred from the GDP release. Official estimates for manufacturing that recorded a 0.3% contraction in Q2, consistent with a 0.2% rise in June. However, Lloyds TSB suspect that oil production staged a bigger rebound in June than assumed, something that would lead to a 0.6% rise in the wider industrial measure and result in a 1.3% quarterly decline (1.4% estimated). This will have little impact on Q2 GDP, but would provide some support for the expected rebound in oil in Q3. Given market developments, focus has now shifted to the likely pace of Q3 expansion. Written by Ashley Ingle - Excel Currencies August 8, 2011 at 10:57 AM |
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