Rakesh Kapoor to step down as Reckitt Benckiser’s chief

Pic--Rakesh Kapoor is the chief executive of consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser
Business correspondent(wp/es):::

Reckitt Benckiser’s divisive chief executive Rakesh Kapoor on Wednesday revealed he will leave the consumer goods giant, where he has worked since 1987.

The 60-year-old, who has been at the helm of the Nurofen, Clearasil and Durex maker for eight years, will retire at the end of 2019.

He said: “I believe now is a good time for new leadership to take this great company through the next phase of outperformance.”

The board has started a search for a successor. Shares in Reckitt Benckiser fell 204p to 6048p.

His departure will bring an end to a reign which has been far from smooth. The boss has faced shareholder revolts over his package, and in 2017 his pay was voluntarily slashed by £11 million, although he still pocketed £12.5 million in salary and bonuses.

Kapoor, who is one of only a handful of BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) bosses at FTSE firms, also had to grapple with a string of setbacks in recent years.

There was a cyber-attack that hit factories, and Reckitt Benckiser was hurt by a scandal in South Korea over the sale of a toxic product linked to almost 100 deaths.

The chief executive looked to boost the business in 2017, growing in China with the $17 billion purchase of baby formula maker Mead Johnson, and he last year created two divisions to drive growth: health, and hygiene and home.

RBC analyst James Edwardes Jones said during Kapoor’s time as leader Reckitt Benckiser’s share price has outperformed the “European consumer staples sector by 9%, but over the last three years it’s underperformed by 13%”. He added: “One could argue on this basis that it is time for a change at the top.”

But Investec’s Eddy Hargreaves said it “seems an unusual juncture for Kapoor to leave” given the recent changes he made.

McDonald's customer beaten up at Waterloo station

A McDonald’s customer at Waterloo station suffered a fractured eye socket in a brutal attack after asking a fellow diner to stop throwing chips at him.

British Transport Police (BTP) has released images of a suspect following the assault, which left the victim in hospital.

The force said the victim had been ordering food at the restaurant “when a large amount of chips” were thrown at him and his friend.

He asked those involved to stop, but a young man then punched him in the face, causing him to fall to the floor.

The victim was taken to hospital, where he was treated for a fractured eye socket.

The attack happened on October 4 last year at about 12.10am, and BTP is appealing for information on the male shown in the CCTV images.

Waterloo is the UK’s busiest railway station.

Anyone who recognises the male, or has information on the attack, is asked to call BTP on 0800 40 50 40, quoting reference 05 of October 4, 2018.

North Yorkshire drugs gang violence 'at unprecedented level'

Pic---A team set up in 2018 to tackle county lines has made 220 arrests
Crime reporter,Yorkshire(wp/bbc):::
Violence linked to "county lines" drugs gangs operating in North Yorkshire has hit unprecedented levels in the past 18 months, police chiefs have said.

Tackling heroin and crack cocaine in rural towns was North Yorkshire Police's "number one priority", said Det Ch Insp Graeme Wright.

"The drug supply and market in many of our isolated and rural towns is booming," he said.

A team set up nine months ago to tackle county lines has made 220 arrests.

County lines refers to urban drug dealers expanding their activities into smaller towns and rural areas, often via phone networks, to supply crack cocaine and heroin to addicts in those locations.

North Yorkshire Police has also seen a "significant escalation" in cuckooing - a practice in which vulnerable people's homes are taken over by gangs.

The force said it knew of 70 people affected by cuckooing so far, a mixture of people who had been cuckooed and people vulnerable to it.

Det Ch Insp Wright said: "We're getting support from wider law enforcement colleagues across the region and nationally but this is taking a serious toll on our resourcing and we're having to invest significantly.

"We're seeing significant numbers of people being embroiled in the use of drugs and high levels of drug-related deaths that I couldn't all attribute to county lines, but it's a factor.

"Typically where drug users reside, the violence has been unprecedented."

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A police officer, speaking anonymously after finding a vulnerable addict who was a victim of cuckooing, said the man was "so scared of any consequence and repercussions from this gang that have been using his address and using him" that he had barricaded himself inside his home.

The victim still had a debt to the gang, the officer said.

"He's basically barricaded himself in his bedsit. He's got a pump action squirt gun - if someone comes through the door he's going to use it, it's boiling hot water.

"He's a nervous wreck," the officer added.

Divided and riven by crisis, UK searches for Brexit 'plan B'

Political reporter(wp/reuters):::
Prime Minister Theresa May will on Thursday try to break the impasse in Britain’s political elite over how to leave the European Union by searching for a last-minute exit deal though there was so far little sign of compromise.
After May’s two-year attempt to forge an amicable divorce was crushed by parliament in the biggest defeat for a British leader in modern history, May called for party leaders to put self-interest aside to find a way forward.

If May fails to forge consensus, the world’s fifth largest economy will drop out of the European Union on March 29 without a deal or will be forced to halt Brexit, possibly even holding a national election or even another referendum.

May has repeatedly refused to countenance another election and has warned that another referendum would be corrosive as it would undermine faith in democracy among the 17.4 million people who voted to leave the EU in the 2016 referendum.

“I believe it is my duty to deliver on the British people’s instruction to leave the European Union. And I intend to do so,” May said outside Downing Street in an attempt to address voters directly.

“I am inviting MPs from all parties to come together to find a way forward,” May said. “This is now the time to put self-interest aside.”

As the United Kingdom tumbles towards its biggest political and economic move since World War Two, other members of the European Union have offered to talk though they can do little until London decides what it wants out of Brexit.

Yet ever since the UK voted by 52-48 percent to leave the EU in June 2016, British politicians have been failed to find agreement on how or even whether to leave the European Union.

In a sign of just how hard May’s task may be, the main opposition leader, Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn, refused to hold talks unless a no-deal Brexit was ruled out.

His party wants a permanent customs union with the EU, a close relationship with its single market and greater protections for workers and consumers.

The chairman of May’s Conservative party, Brandon Lewis, said on Thursday that Britain cannot stay in the current customs union because striking international trade deals after Brexit is a priority.

He said senior ministers would meet colleagues from across the House of Commons, Britain’s lower house of parliament, on Thursday.

Alfie Lamb death: Mother told crushed boy 'to be quiet'

Pic--Alfie Lamb was previously described in court as a "smiley" boy
Crime reporter(wp/bbc):::

A mum repeatedly told her three-year-old son to be quiet while he was being crushed to death by her boyfriend's car seat, a court has heard.

Alfie Lamb cried so much "it sounded like he was choking" as he was squashed by Stephen Waterson, who was sitting in front of him, the Old Bailey heard.

A woman who was in the back of the car with Alfie and his mother Adrian Hoare said the boy had asked for more space.

Ms Hoare, 23, and Mr Waterson, 25, from Croydon, both deny manslaughter.

'Stretch legs out'

The pair had been travelling with Emilie Williams and Marcus Lamb, who was driving, and were returning from a shopping trip to Sutton on 1 February last year.

In a videoed police interview, 19-year-old Ms Williams said Mr Waterson's seat "was right back... because he said he had to stretch his legs right out".

"Alfie was kicking the chair, asking him to move it forward" but apart from shifting it "for a few seconds", the 25-year-old refused, the jury heard.

Despite the three-year-old's distress, Ms Hoare said the boy was "getting himself worked up" and she told him to "shut up", Ms Williams said.

She told police Ms Hoare believed Alfie had gone to sleep when he went quiet, then "thought he was just mucking around" as she tried to wake him.

The 19-year-old added that when the boy was lifted from the car by Mr Waterson, he looked "pale" and was not moving.

'Death threat'

The jury also heard Ms Williams had been threatened by Mr Waterson, who tried to persuade her to lie about what happened.

"He was telling me a lot of things. He said he would put me in the boot of the car and get rid of me. He said he would kill me," she said.

Ms Hoare was also "going along with it and helping", Ms Williams said.

Ms Hoare denies manslaughter, child cruelty and common assault on Miss Williams.

Mr Waterson denies manslaughter and the intimidation of Mr Lamb.

The couple and Ms Williams have pleaded guilty to conspiring to pervert the course of justice by making false statements to police.

The trial continues.

Brexit deal defeat knocks London's blue chip stocks as pound weighs

Business correspondent(wp/reuters):::
Britain’s blue chip stocks were lower on Wednesday as a stronger pound lured investors toward domestic companies and away from exporters after Prime Minister Theresa May’s heavy Brexit defeat, while weak results weighed on Pearson.

The top share index .FTSE was down 0.5 percent at 1054 GMT, lagging European peers as sterling hit its highest since November, a day after British lawmakers overwhelmingly voted against May's divorce deal with the European Union.

A loss had largely been priced in already, though the magnitude of the loss - a margin of 230 - came as a surprise.

The prime minister’s historic defeat was seen as reducing the chance of a hard Brexit even as uncertainty ahead of a no confidence vote in May’s government on Wednesday evening kept volumes muted.

Investors shunned consumer staples, which earn a big portion of their revenue abroad in foreign currency, with Unilever (ULVR.L) and Diageo (DGE.L) dragging on the index. Heavyweight oil and gas stocks .FTNMX0530 were down 0.5 percent.

The domestically focussed midcaps .FTMC, which make half of their income at home, were up 0.1 percent. Ireland's top share index .ISEQ, one of the barometers for Brexit sentiment, was up 0.5 percent.

Investors have started tentatively to cover bearish short positions in banks, retailers and housebuilders, which are considered most at risk from a weaker UK economy amid Brexit uncertainty.

“I do think positions are being built for the domestic part of the market to become a bit more investible as the worst-case scenario becomes less likely,” said Emmanuel Cau, head of European equity strategy at Barclays.

But it will take time before global investors return en masse even with UK stocks trading at a big discount to euro-zone and U.S. peers as investors digest a slew of headlines and data.

“People are still in wait and see mode and nobody wants to take a strong view because things can evolve very quickly from here,” said Cau.

British inflation hit its lowest in nearly two years in December as fuel prices fell, leaving the Bank of England under no pressure to carry on raising interest rates as uncertainty over Brexit dominates the economic outlook.

Opposition Labour Party finance policy chief John McDonnell said that May could eventually get a deal through parliament if she negotiated a compromise with Labour.

Housebuilders led the gainers, with Bovis Homes (BVS.L) providing additional cheer after it forecast better-than-expected full year profits.

Persimmon (PSN.L) topped the FTSE 100 leader board while Taylor Wimpey (TW.L), Barratt (BDEV.L) and Bovis were all at two-month highs. Bunzl dropped 3.5 percent after Exane BNP downgraded the supplies distributor.

In corporate moves, Pearson (PSON.L) was the bottom of the board after its full-year outlook. The company’s forecast for full-year profits was in line with expectations, but pointed to weaker-than-expected revenues.

Liberum analysts said the guidance was possible only due to a massive savings drive.

Investors shunned Reckitt Benckiser (RB.L) after it announced its chairman was retiring after more than 30 years at the firm. He is considered an architect of the company’s push to become a global consumer health products company.

Among the small caps, floor covering distributor Headlam (HEAD.L) was down 1.4 percent after warning on profits.

Search on for Brexit consensus after May's crushing defeat

Political reporter(wp/reuters):::
Prime Minister Theresa May was trying to forge consensus in parliament on a Brexit divorce agreement on Wednesday after the crushing defeat of her own deal left Britain’s exit from the European Union in disarray 10 weeks before it is due to leave.
May was widely expected to see off an attempt by the opposition Labour Party to bring down her government, having secured the backing of her own party’s rebels and the small Northern Irish party which props up her minority administration.

The confidence motion, called on Tuesday after lawmakers rejected May’s Brexit deal by 432-202 - the worst defeat for a British government in modern times - will be held at 1900 GMT.

With the clock ticking down to March 29, the date set in law for Brexit, the United Kingdom is now in the deepest political crisis in half a century as it grapples with how, or even whether, to exit the European project it joined in 1973.

May pledged to work with senior politicians to find a compromise that would avoid a disorderly no-deal Brexit or another referendum on membership but critics said she was not budging from a deal that had alienated all sides of the debate.

“The exercise ... (is) about listening to the views of the house, about wanting to understand the views of parliamentarians so that we can identify what could command the support of this house and deliver on the referendum,” May told parliament.

Labour’s finance spokesman, John McDonnell, said May could eventually get a deal through parliament if she negotiated a compromise with his party which wants a permanent customs union with the EU, a close relationship with its single market and greater protections for workers and consumers.

But her spokesman said it was still government policy to be outside an EU customs union while May, an initial opponent of Brexit who won the top job in the turmoil following the 2016 referendum vote, insisted Britain would leave the bloc on March 29, leaving little time for a solution to be found.

Her crushing defeat, though, appears to have killed off her two-year strategy of forging an amicable divorce with close ties to the EU after the March 29 exit.

Labour leader Corbyn said she was now leading a zombie government. Labour says its aim is to win power and negotiate Brexit on better terms. However, many Labour members want to see another referendum with an option to cancel Brexit, and the party says it is ruling out nothing if it fails to bring May down.

NEW DEAL?

Sterling GBP=D3 jumped by more than a cent against the U.S. dollar on news of May's defeat on Tuesday and was holding close to that level on Wednesday. Many investors see the prospect of a no-deal exit receding as parliament hardens its stance against it.

May has said cancelling Brexit is likelier than leaving with no deal, but has repeatedly described any failure to carry out the mandate of the 2016 referendum as “catastrophic” for democracy.

“Should the next step be a general election? I believe that is the worst thing we could do, it would deepen division when we need unity,” she told parliament.

Ever since Britain voted by 52-48 percent to leave the EU in a referendum in June 2016, the political class has been debating how to leave the European project forged by France and Germany after the devastation of World War Two.

Companies are bracing for the possible chaos of a no-deal Brexit that would see trade with the EU switch to World Trade Organization rules which many argue could disrupt supply chains relying on friction-free trade. UBS Wealth Management told investors to limit their exposure to UK assets.

“We would now urge ruling out a no-deal immediately as the only option with unanimous support in parliament,” Britain’s biggest carmaker Jaguar Land Rover said in a statement.

“TIME FOR PLAYING GAMES IS OVER”

Other members of the EU, which combined has about six times the economic might of the United Kingdom, called for discussion but indicated there was little chance of fundamental change to the deal May had negotiated. Germany’s Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said there was not much time left to find a Brexit solution and “the time for playing games is now over”.

For the EU, already reeling from successive crises over debt and refugees, Brexit is possibly the biggest blow in its 60-year history, though its 27 other members have shown remarkable unity over Britain’s exit.

While some EU leaders and many British lawmakers have suggested that Britain might want to change its mind, Britain’s leaders are concerned that to stop Brexit could alienate the 17.4 million people who voted to leave.

Brexit supporters anticipate some short-term economic pain but say Britain will then thrive if cut loose from what they cast as a doomed experiment in German-dominated unity. Opponents of Brexit say it is folly that will weaken the West, make Britain poorer and torpedo what remains of its post-imperial clout.