6:21 am, July 29, 2026
Burnham warned ‘no scope’ for extra borrowing to fund cost-of-living support
A think tank has urged Andy Burnham to raise taxes or cut public spending to fund new cost-of-living and defence commitments, as it warned there was no scope for extra government borrowing.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (Niesr) said the new government will be squeezed by more persistent inflation as a result of the Iran war.
The organisation is expecting Consumer Prices Index (CPI) inflation to rise to peak at 3.8% in February 2027 and take longer to slow to the 2% target level in early 2029, rather than a previous forecast of 2028.
Merrie England closes down after 60 years following cost pressures
West Yorkshire coffee shop chain Merrie England has blamed soaring costs and government policy for contributing to trading troubles as it shut its doors after 60 years.
The group – founded in 1966 – has closed all of its six sites in Huddersfield, Halifax and Brighouse, as it said it faced a ‘sustained increase’ in costs, including energy, business rates and staff wages.
This combined with fewer customers visiting its cafes and spending less, with the firm saying it had to increase prices to offset the costs hike.
Bentley celebrates 80 years of Crewe production with bespoke Continental GTC
Bentley has honoured eight decades of car production at its Crewe headquarters with a special version of its Continental GTC.
The car, which is finished in a standout Purple Supernova Ombre colour, was unveiled at a gathering of more than 100 cars owned by members of the Bentley Drivers Club, which returned to Bentley’s headquarters.
The celebration one-off Continental GTC was commissioned by Mulliner, Bentley’s in-house bespoke customisation division. With the exterior colour developed specifically for the car, the custom GTC also features an ‘80’ side graphic to commemorate the company’s milestone. Inside, there are ‘80’ logos embroidered on the headrests of the seats, while there’s an airbrushed fascia graphic showing Bentley’s design studio.
The markets
The FTSE 100 made strong progress on Tuesday, buoyed by positive earnings and a drop in the oil price, which helped shrug off worries sparked by a chip sector sell-off in Asia.
The FTSE 100 index closed up 89.27 points, 0.8%, at 10,871.02. The FTSE 250 ended up 106.68 points, 0.5%, at 24,004.78, while the AIM All-Share closed down 3.75 points, 0.5%, at 767.94.
The pound was basically flat at 1.3306 dollars on Tuesday afternoon, against 1.3305 dollars at the equities close on Monday. Against the euro, sterling fell to 1.1674 euros from 1.1698 euros.
Burnham to hold cross-party talks on fixing crisis in adult social care
Andy Burnham will hold a cross-party meeting to discuss tackling the crisis in adult social care, as he pledged to ‘put everything I’ve got’ into fixing the system.
Both the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats accepted the prime minister’s invitation ‘to build that spirit of collaboration from the start’, however, Nigel Farage hit out at Burnham for ignoring Reform UK.
Burnham said governments have, for decades, failed to tackle reform of social care in England, seeing it as ‘too risky, too difficult, and too complicated’.
Earthquake leaves 13 dead in Japan as effort to rescue survivors continues
Japanese prime minister Sanae Takaichi said 13 people have been found dead after a powerful earthquake shook part of south-western Japan, with rescue work continuing on Wednesday morning to find those still missing.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake struck the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu late on Tuesday afternoon.
‘There are people who are still waiting to be rescued, and it’s a race against time,’ Takaichi said. ‘We will go all out to find and rescue as many people as we can.’
Tuesday on Car Dealer
Big Motoring World redundancy consultation begins as it scales back Big Wants Your Car operation
Used car supermarket Big Motoring World has begun consulting staff over potential redundancies after deciding to scale back its Big Wants Your Car vehicle buying operation.
Family-run Mazda dealer celebrates 50 years representing Japanese brand
One of Mazda’s longest-serving UK dealerships has celebrated 50 years representing the Japanese manufacturer.
Dealers see growing demand for used cars with more than 100,000 miles
A growing number of car dealers believe there is increasing demand for used cars with more than 100,000 miles on the clock as buyers become more pragmatic about high-mileage vehicles.
Autotrader ‘paused’ Deal Builder roll-out and is tweaking price flags following dealer feedback
Autotrader has announced a raft of sweeping changes following feedback from car dealers – including pausing the roll-out of its Deal Builder product and tweaking controversial price flags.
Hyundai Kona Electric upgraded to maximum EV grant after a review
Hyundai has secured the maximum £3,750 government Electric Car Grant for its Kona Electric after a special review.
Weather
Hot and sunny weather will dominate southern areas today, while northern and western parts turn cloudier as rain spreads south across Scotland, Northern Ireland and into northern England and Wales, reports BBC Weather. Temperatures could top 34 degrees in the south east.
Tonight, cloud and patchy rain linger in the west, with showers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, while the south-east stays dry and warm.