6:51 am, October 6, 2022
Truss to press for European unity to address migration and energy challenges
Liz Truss will call for unity from European leaders to ‘address the fundamental causes’ of energy and migration challenges as she attempts to move beyond splits within her party.
The prime minister will attend a summit of European leaders in Prague on Thursday, with French president Emmanuel Macron among those she is expected to meet.
Truss travels to the Czech Republic for the meeting of the European Political Community after a difficult Conservative Party conference dominated by internal division and backbench opposition to some of her key policies.
Starmer blames government for families facing ‘eye-watering’ mortgage increases
Sir Keir Starmer has renewed calls for Liz Truss to reverse her ‘kamikaze’ budget as he warned families face ‘eye-watering’ mortgage increases.
Analysis by the Labour Party suggests an average UK buyer coming off a two-year fixed mortgage could experience a £498 monthly hike if interest rates hit six per cent.
Labour has developed estimates based on the assumption that a homeowner has a 20-year mortgage term and they pay a five per cent or six per cent interest rate once their two-year fix ends in the third quarter of 2022.
Nurses start voting on strikes over pay
Nurses will start voting on Thursday on whether to strike over pay amid warnings that record numbers are leaving the profession.
Around 300,000 members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) are being asked if they want to mount a campaign of industrial action in the union’s first UK-wide ballot.
The RCN said new analysis by London Economics to coincide with the ballot launch showed that pay for nurses has declined at twice the rate of the private sector in the last decade. It is the first time in its 106-year history that the RCN has balloted members across the UK on strike action and it is urging them to vote in favour. The ballot closes on November 2.
Settlement with Halyna Hutchins estate will ‘not impact’ criminal investigation
The settlement between Alec Baldwin, the Rust movie production company and the family of Halyna Hutchins will have ‘no impact’ on the ongoing criminal investigation into the incident, the Santa Fe District Attorney has said.
A spokesperson for the DA’s office said charges would still be brought if they were warranted by the “facts and evidence” in the case.
The undisclosed settlement with the killed cinematographer’s estate – regarding the civil lawsuit – was announced on Wednesday. It came after lawyers representing Ms Hutchins’ husband Matthew and their son Andros sued the Hollywood star and the film’s other producers for wrongful death in February.
£2 taken from households in ‘stealthy’ freezes for every £1 in tax cuts – IFS
Households will lose more from ‘opaque and stealthy’ freezes over the next three years than they will gain from headline tax cuts on average, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS).
By 2025–26, the freezes will take away £2 for every £1 given to households through the personal tax cuts, the IFS said.
The mini-budget’s high-profile cuts include the reductions in national insurance contributions (NICs) and the 1p cut to the basic rate of income tax. But they come during a four-year freeze to income tax thresholds, and many other tax and benefit thresholds and values are also frozen indefinitely, the IFS said.
New DS 7 goes on sale in the UK
The latest DS 7 is available to order in the UK ahead of first deliveries in November.
Priced from £36,760, the DS 7 benefits from a refreshed design both inside and out, as well as a number of efficient hybrid powertrains. Highlights include the DS 7 E-Tense 225, which can return up to 250mpg and 43 miles of electric-only range. All hybrid E-Tense models can be charged via a conventional 7.4kW home charger in an hour and 45 minutes.
Five trim levels are offered with the DS 7 – Performance Line, Performance Line+, Rivoli, Opera and Opera Premiere. The latter model is priced from £62,940 and gets 21-inch alloys, night vision and Focal sounds system which includes a 515-watt amplifier, 14 speakers and an eight-inch subwoofer.
Shopper footfall recovery slows as households face ‘severe economic situation’
The recovery in shopper numbers since the pandemic has slowed for the third consecutive month in a reflection of the severe economic situation facing UK households, figures show.
Footfall was up by just 6.8 per cent on last September, dropping away from the 8.6 per cent and 15.5 per cent uplifts seen in August and July respectively, according to retail analysts Springboard.
High street footfall was 9.5 per cent higher than last year but down from the 13.9 per cent increase seen last month, while retail park visits were just 0.3 per cent higher than last September.
Wednesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- American car collectors swooping in for the kill on ‘bargain’ UK supercars
- We want to be one of Top 3 biggest car dealer groups, reveals Vertu Motors boss
- Maserati reveals returning GranTurismo sports car in full for the first time
- New car market enjoys second month of growth in a row as plate-change September marks one million EV milestone
- Vertu Motors hints at further acquisitions as it posts impressive half-year results
- September sees first growth for van market in 2022
- Tesla boss Elon Musk finally set to complete Twitter takeover after protracted saga
- Vehicle recalls can be eradicated by 2032, says connected software trailblazer Sibro
James Bond 60th anniversary charity auctions raise over £11.5m
A series of James Bond memorabilia auctions marking the franchise’s 60th anniversary year have raised a record-breaking £11.5m.
The auctions comprised a total of 61 lots, featuring vehicles, watches, costumes, props, posters, and memorabilia experiences spanning the 25 Bond films to date.
Among the top lots sold were a replica Aston Martin DB5 stunt car from the franchise’s latest offering No Time To Die, which sold for £2,922,000 to the Prince’s Trust charity. A second Aston Martin V8, also from No Time To Die, was sold for £630,000 and a Swarovski crystal-mounted, green enamel and gold-plated prop egg, from the 1983 Roger Moore film Octopussy, sold for £327,600.
Weather outlook
A mostly dry day with bright spells amongst variable cloud, reports BBC Weather. It’ll be driest in the south-east while the north will see rain in the afternoon.
A similar picture tonight with dry conditions in the south and wet weather in Northern Ireland and Scotland which will push south-eastwards during the night.
