logo
Free bus travel for veterans and military on VE Day anniversary

Free bus travel for veterans and military on VE Day anniversary

Yahoo07-05-2025
Veterans, cadets, and serving military personnel will be able to enjoy free bus travel across Oxfordshire on VE Day.
This year marks eight decades since World War Two came to an end in Europe, with celebrations taking place across the country on Thursday, May 8.
To mark the occasion, Stagecoach West is offering free travel to those in uniform or carrying a military ID, veterans with a badge or medal, and cadets in uniform.
Chris Hanson, managing director at Stagecoach West, said: "We're incredibly proud to employ many veterans, and it's a privilege to recognise the bravery and dedication of our armed forces, cadets, and veterans.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Offering free travel on VE 80 Day is a small gesture of appreciation for the enormous contribution made by our service men and women, past and present."
Stagecoach has been a member of the Armed Forces Covenant since March 2015, recognising the value of serving military, regular and reservists, veterans, and military families to both the country and businesses across the country.
In recent years, the firm has shown its support to the armed forces community by also allowing free travel over armed forces weekends and remembrance days.
The latest offer will also be available on the bus operator's services in Bristol, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, Swindon, and Wiltshire, and is backed by the company's employee-led veterans network.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Analysis-Trump's interest rate demands put 'fiscal dominance' in market spotlight
Analysis-Trump's interest rate demands put 'fiscal dominance' in market spotlight

Yahoo

timea day ago

  • Yahoo

Analysis-Trump's interest rate demands put 'fiscal dominance' in market spotlight

By Davide Barbuscia NEW YORK (Reuters) -As U.S. debt swells and the White House leans on the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, investors are weighing the risk of "fiscal dominance," a scenario where keeping government financing cheap eclipses the fight against inflation. A budget bill passed last month by the Republican-controlled Congress is set to pile trillions onto the swelling U.S. debt load - raising the cost of servicing that debt. U.S. President Donald Trump has meanwhile made explicit calls for the Fed to cut rates, in part to lower the U.S. government's interest costs. The White House's pressure campaign has raised concerns that the administration wants the Fed to return to a bygone era when it kept rates low in order to allow for lower-cost borrowing. "(Fiscal dominance) is a concern ... There are risks on the horizon, both from the perspective of increasing debt loads and the probability for higher structural inflation, or at minimum, more volatility of inflation," said Nate Thooft, chief investment officer for equity and multi-asset solutions at Manulife Investment Management. "The reason why the Trump administration and politicians in general ... would like to see lower rates, is because it actually requires lower rates to be able to afford the debt levels that we have outstanding," he said. The U.S. experienced fiscal dominance during and shortly after World War Two, when the Fed was required to keep interest rates low for the war borrowing effort. The inflation spike that followed led to the 1951 Treasury-Fed accord that restored central bank independence. High long-term Treasury yields and a sliding dollar already reflect that economic setup, some analysts say, as investors require more compensation to hold U.S. assets that could lose value if inflation rises. "The administration wants to outgrow the debt ... but the other way to deal with the debt is to inflate it away," said Kelly Kowalski, head of investment strategy at MassMutual, who sees the dollar continuing to weaken. Higher inflation would mean the real value of government debt shrinks. Trump said last month that the Fed's benchmark interest rate should be three percentage points lower than the current 4.25%-4.50% range, arguing that such a reduction would save $1 trillion per year. He separately said the central bank could raise rates again if inflation rose. In the 12 months through June, inflation as measured by the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index advanced 2.6% - still above the Fed's 2% target. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, however, has explicitly said that the U.S. central bank does not consider managing government debt when setting its monetary policy. Some investors argue fiscal dominance lies on an uncertain horizon, with rising debt yet to trigger unsustainable interest rates, while others see it already seeping into markets as long-term yields remain elevated even amid expectations of Fed rate cuts. White House spokesperson Kush Desai said the Trump administration respects the Fed's independence, but that, with inflation having come down significantly from its highs in recent years, Trump believes it's time to reduce rates. The U.S. central bank so far has resisted those demands, though it is expected to lower borrowing costs at its September 16-17 meeting. It declined to comment on this story. FED'S MANDATE The dollar is down about 10% this year against a basket of major currencies while Treasury term premiums - the extra compensation investors demand for holding long-term debt - are high, even as yields have recently dipped amid slowing economic growth. "It's difficult to be bullish (on) long bonds in this environment," said Oliver Shale, an investment specialist at Ruffer, citing government spending that could keep inflation elevated and erode bond values. "If you have an economy that's running above its natural output, that's going to result in inflation or have important implications for inflation, interest rates, and probably the currency," he said. Thooft at Manulife said he was bearish on long-dated Treasuries as higher inflation would require higher term premiums. Despite years of economic growth, U.S. deficits have continued to balloon. Debt now stands at more than 120% of GDP, higher than after World War Two. The Fed normally manages inflation while Congress maintains fiscal discipline. That balance inverts under the fiscal dominance scenario, with inflation driven by fiscal policies and a Fed trying to manage the debt burden, said Eric Leeper, an economics professor at the University of Virginia. "The Fed cannot control inflation and keep interest payments on the debt low. Those are in conflict," Leeper said. One red flag for investors is the narrowing gap between interest rates and economic growth. Benchmark 10-year yields have hovered around 4.3% in recent weeks, while nominal GDP grew at an annual rate of 5.02% in the second quarter. When interest rates exceed the growth rate, debt as a percentage of gross domestic product typically rises even without new borrowing, making the debt increasingly unsustainable. "Risks to Fed independence stemming from fiscal dominance are high," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a recent note, citing high deficits and long-term rates close to nominal GDP growth. 'DOVISH BIAS' History offers cautionary tales. Extreme fiscal dominance triggered hyperinflation in Germany in the early 1920s and in Argentina in the late 1980s and early 2000s. More recently in Turkey, pressure on the central bank to keep interest rates low undermined policy credibility and fueled a currency crisis. A majority of economists polled by Reuters last month said they were worried the Fed's independence was under threat. Despite a barrage of criticism from Trump and administration officials, Powell has vowed to remain Fed chief until his term expires in May 2026. "It seems relatively clear that whoever is nominated for the seat, regardless of whatever views they've espoused in the past, is likely to articulate a dovish bias in order to be nominated," said Amar Reganti, a fixed income strategist at Hartford Funds and former Treasury official. Lower interest rates, however, might only be a temporary fix. The administration may be hoping to "juice nominal growth," despite the risk of creating higher inflation, to get to a place where real growth makes the debt trajectory sustainable, said Brij Khurana, a fixed income portfolio manager at Wellington. "The problem they have is ... the central bank is saying: 'I don't want to make that bet with you.'" Solve the daily Crossword

Bus strikes begin as hundreds walk out over pay
Bus strikes begin as hundreds walk out over pay

Yahoo

time2 days ago

  • Yahoo

Bus strikes begin as hundreds walk out over pay

Hundreds of bus workers are on strike in a row over pay. Nearly 600 Unite the Union members at Stagecoach North East in Newcastle, Sunderland and South Shields have walked out as part of the first of two days of industrial action. Services operated by the firm are expected to be disrupted as drivers, cleaners and engineers take to the picket line after rejecting a 5% pay rise offer. Another strike is planned for Thursday. Stagecoach North East managing director Steve Walker said staff had been brought in from as far away as south Wales to help run services. Unite said the "below inflation" offer did not reflect the responsibilities of the job. Some passengers told BBC Radio Newcastle the strike action was a "disgrace" due to the school holidays and vulnerable people's reliance of the services. However, David Ord, a bus driver at Slatyford, Newcastle, who was part of the picket line outside Stagecoach's depot in Walkergate, said the below minimum pay offer had left everybody with "no redress but to go on strike". He said he previously left the job after he was "spat on" but had returned for personal reasons. "We are under a lot of stress, we work unsociable hours, anything from 03:00 to 01:00 the following morning," he added. "We do 12-hour shifts, we have unruly passengers, we get assaulted, abused." Union members previously voted to strike on 11 and 12 August after workers rejected an initial 3.3% increase, but this was later suspended after the company tabled an improved offer. If accepted it would have seen staff receive a 3.3% rise backdated to April and a further 1.7% added to pay from January, however it was rejected. Unite said drivers working for Stagecoach in Manchester earned £17.54 an hour but those working in the North East were paid £15.01. Regional officer Dave Telford said it was not fair his members were paid less than colleagues elsewhere. Stagecoach North East managing director Steve Walker said he wanted to work with Unite to avoid the next strike on Thursday. "We have been trying to reach an agreement with Unite, playing about with different offers to try and appease the requests and the demands," he added. Mr Walker said the company's Newcastle drivers were "already the highest paid in the region" and further pay increases would see "additional costs passed on to customers". Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram. More on this story Bus strikes back on as workers reject pay offer Bus strikes called off after improved pay offer Bus strike union warns of 'huge disruption' Related internet links Stagecoach Unite the Union

Putin calls Xi, Modi and other foreign leaders ahead of planned meeting with Trump
Putin calls Xi, Modi and other foreign leaders ahead of planned meeting with Trump

Yahoo

time08-08-2025

  • Yahoo

Putin calls Xi, Modi and other foreign leaders ahead of planned meeting with Trump

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Russian President Vladimir Putin spoke to the leaders of China, India and three ex-Soviet states on Friday in a flurry of calls to brief them on his contacts with the United States about the war in Ukraine. Putin met U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff in Moscow on Wednesday, after which the Kremlin said a summit between Putin and Trump could take place as early as next week. No venue, date or agenda have been announced. Trump, pressing for an end to the 3-1/2-year war, had set a deadline that expires on Friday for Russia to agree to peace or face new sanctions on Moscow and countries that buy Russian exports. China and India are the biggest buyers of Russian oil. China's President Xi Jinping told Putin in a phone call that China is pleased to see Russia and the United States maintaining contact and improving ties to advance a political resolution of the Ukraine crisis, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said. China is a major backer of Russia in its confrontation with the West, as well as Russia's biggest trading partner. Putin is due to visit China in September for events marking the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two. The Kremlin said that Putin also discussed his talks with Witkoff with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Trump this week announced an additional 25% tariff on Indian goods to penalise New Delhi for its purchases of Russian oil. "Had a very good and detailed conversation with my friend President Putin. I thanked him for sharing the latest developments on Ukraine," Modi said in a post on X. On Thursday Putin spoke with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who expressed South Africa's "full support to peace initiatives that will end the war and contribute to a lasting peace between Russia and Ukraine." Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, met Putin in Moscow on Thursday and Putin said the UAE was a possible venue for the Russia-U.S. summit. Russia, China, India, South Africa and the UAE are all members of the BRICS group of countries which Moscow sees as a counterweight to U.S. political and economic dominance. Putin on Friday also discussed the outcome of Witkoff's visit in calls with his ally Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, and with the leaders of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Solve the daily Crossword

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store