6:50 am, August 3, 2026
Healey tells ministers to prepare to make cuts to fund Burnham’s new pledges
Chancellor John Healey has told the Cabinet they must make be prepared to make cuts to finance Andy Burnham’s new spending pledges.
Mr Healey on Friday announced the date of his first budget as Chancellor as October 28, and promised the plans would be ‘built on fiscal discipline’.
The start of Mr Burnham’s premiership has seen a succession of announcements likely to require additional spending.
NatWest profits up by a fifth after AI-led tech drive and wealth focus
NatWest has become the latest high street bank to report a bigger-than-expected jump in earnings, after growing its wealth arm and an AI-led tech drive.
The British banking group made an operating pre-tax profit of £4.3bn for the six months to the end of June, up 20% on the same period in 2025.
This was more than the £4.1bn that most analysts had been expecting.
BYD’s new Ti 7 aims for SUV glory with UK arrival
BYD has introduced a new challenger to the Land Rover Defender with its plug-in hybrid Ti 7.
Priced at £47,995, the new SUV gets a plug-in hybrid setup which combines a 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor and battery for a total output of 402bhp and a resulting 0-60mph time of 4.5 seconds.
Despite this performance, the Ti 7 will also manage a claimed electric-only range of up to 74 miles.
FTSE 100 closes just below milestone after strong week
The FTSE 100 ended a strong week lower on Friday after once again setting a new all-time best, as investors locked in recent gains eyeing rising bond yields.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 29.22 points, 0.3%, at 10,868.05. The blue-chip index had earlier hit a new intra-day high of 10,989.45.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris closed up 0.3%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended up 0.1%.
The weekend on Car Dealer
Who won what? Waddell and Big Motoring World both claim victory after High Court ruling
Peter Waddell and Big Motoring World have both claimed victory after a landmark High Court ruling, with the founder winning his unfair prejudice case against Freshstream but losing his wrongful dismissal claim after a judge ruled his gross misconduct justified his sacking.
You can read all the rest of our coverage of Friday’s verdict below:
- Peter Waddell vs Big Motoring World – What the High Court judgement revealed
- Peter Waddell wins unfair prejudice case against Big Motoring World and Freshstream
Motor trade stalwart Graham Clark retires after 50 years in the industry
Hundreds of jobs to go at JLR as car maker reshuffles UK leadership team
Jaguar Land Rover is preparing to cut fewer than 300 management and salaried jobs as part of a business transformation programme, while also reshuffling its senior leadership ahead of major model launches and Jaguar’s ongoing reinvention.
Seat and Cupra profits jump as Raval gives EV sales a boost
Car dealer revives 600-mile Aston Martin V8 Zagato after 30 years in storage
Aston Martin specialist Nicholas Mee & Company has returned one of the world’s lowest-mileage V8 Vantage Zagatos to ‘as new’ condition after completing a no-expense-spared recommissioning of the ultra-rare 600-mile classic.
Nissan celebrates three billion EV miles driven by UK owners
Nissan says its electric cars and vans have now travelled more than three billion miles on UK roads, as the brand celebrates another EV milestone ahead of the launch of its new Leaf and Micra EV models.
Renault sends 100 Twingo EVs to UK retailers ahead of order books opening later this year
Renault has begun delivering more than 100 left-hand-drive Twingo E-Tech electric display cars to UK dealerships, giving customers an early look at the new EV ahead of order books opening later this year.
Weekly Briefing: Is the Stock Market really the right place for car dealers?
The Car Dealer Briefing from James Baggott summarises the week’s most important motor trade headlines for you all in one place.
Petrol reaches highest price since 2022 as Iran conflict continues
Petrol has reached its highest point of the Iran war as the conflict continues to roll on.
RAC analysis shows that the cost of a litre of unleaded has now reached 159.97p, while diesel stands at 178.97p. It represents a 9p increase since falling to a low of 150.59p on July 6, while diesel has increased by 14.5p since its previous low point on July 9.
It now means that filling an average-sized family car with unleaded will cost £88, with a diesel-powered car of the same size coming in at £98.
Burnham pledges to be ‘relentless’ in tackling small boat crossings
Prime Minister Andy Burnham has pledged to be ‘relentless’ in tackling small boat crossings.
Speaking during a visit to Dover, he highlighted that crossings are down significantly compared with the numbers for this time last year, but said he is not ‘complacent’ on the issue.
Mr Burnham visited Dover’s joint command room, the hub for monitoring small boat crossings, where officers from the NCA, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Border Security Command work to track movements across the strait using surveillance drones.
Health alerts issued with parts of England set to be hotter than Greek islands
Heat health alerts will come into force for large parts of England, with some areas forecast to be hotter than Greek holiday hotspots.
Temperatures could reach 35C in the South East today, according to the Met Office, higher than forecasts for the islands of Mykonos, Rhodes and Santorini.
Much of central and southern England is set to see highs in the upper 20s to low 30s before temperatures ease slightly later in the week. The UK Health Security Agency has issued amber heat-health alerts for the East Midlands, East of England, South East and London until Wednesday morning.