Banking Chief Agrees to Higher Tax

RBS chief executive Stephen Hester said that banks continued to benefit from government support and it was fair they should pay higher taxes to reflect that.

The comments highlight the apparent anomaly that banks have higher credit ratings that their balance sheets might indicate. This is partly due to the support government gave individual lenders and the sector as a whole.

The government now holds an 83% stakes in RBS, whose holdings include NatWest, private bank Coutts and Directline. He told a banking conference in London that he supported the measures in the recent Basel III initiative to ensure that banks reserved more capital. “It feels to me that Basel III … the measures that are making banks safer and less likely to fail is landing in sensible territory, the extremes are being cut off,” said Mr Hester.

He added that the future looked good for banks, despite 'shadows' on the political and regulatory landscape and the current economic climate, adding that RBS was on track or ahead of all key matrices he set out in last year's five year plan.

M&S Stick on Bra

(Photo by M&S) The new Marks and Spencer stick on bra has come under fire for its recommended wear time of eight hours. I must admit, I find this confusing.

I'm not entirely sure why anyone would want to wear a stick on bra all day. It is described as "ideal for wearing with strapless or backless dresses and tops". Personally, I don't tend to wear that sort of attire to work during the day and 8 hours is plenty of time for a night out, or perhaps I'm just boring.

I quite regularly browse the ladies underwear section at M&S and I would hazard a guess that the majority of ladies I see perusing the lingerie aisles don't often go on three day benders either. People worried about a sensitivity issue with the silicone lining or exceeding the recommended wear time have alternatives, such as low back bras or clear straps. The stick on bra is just one of several alternatives, and you have to choose what works best for you.

Sale on Flights to Australia

To celebrate their new partnership with Virgin Blue, Etihad Airways is cutting its prices on flights to Australia.

Return flights from London to Auckland are available for £938 for example, including a stop over in the Middle East. Other deals include Adelaide to Dublin for £1240 and Cairns to Paris for AU$2190.

Etihad Airways is also introducing the Australia Skypass, which allows tourists to fly across Australia and New Zealand on up to six legs for £36 each step. Peter Baumgartner, chief commercial officer at Etihad said "We believe the Australia Skypass will be a boon for domestic tourism in Australia, giving untapped European tourists access to secondary ports such as Tasmania and Far North Queensland," adding "This kind of inbound fare product will showcase Australia beyond just Melbourne and Sydney, although of course not excluding them."

Christmas Hampers and Presents

Its coming up to the final part of the year where the build up to Christmas inevitably occurs.

Buying presents takes some thought - at least buying individual presents for people close to you does if they don't have any idea of what they want. Hopefully some people already have an idea what they want and we can either give it to them, or put a donation towards it which makes life a lot easier.

One way to make it easier if there is a person we are stuck on is to buy a gift basket. In the past, hampers and gift baskets were traditionally full of wine, cheese, chocolate or a floral bouquet. These days, however, hampers can take the form more often of an experience day, or tickets to an event.

Buying gifts for work colleagues such as a contact at another company can be more problematic. Its very easy to buy something inappropriate - wine for a teetotaller, meat for a vegetarian - the list goes on. A couple of discreet questions might be a good idea, some companies have a gift catalogue of sorts that people can choose from.

Roll on Christmas!