The Express group tonight announced that it is planning to axe a tenth of its editorial work force. It is seeking to cut 35 jobs from its 350-strong journalistic complement at the two Express titles. This will mean the elimination of the City office and the amalgamation of the news and features departments, and the merging of the Daily and Sunday Express travel sections.
The National Union of Journalists' chapel, unsurprisingly, voted unanimously against the decision by the paper's owner, Richard Desmond. Union leaders were told about the demand for cut-backs at a meeting they had sought to discuss the firing of six graduate trainees who were just one month into their two-year traineeships.
Union sources expected the worst when they were informed hours beforehand by the Express group managing editor, John Maddock: "The graduate trainees are the least of your worries."
