6:54 am, August 16, 2022
‘Next generation’ Covid booster jab to be offered to adults over 50 from autumn
Adults over 50 and clinically vulnerable people will be offered the first Covid-19 jab to target two strains of the virus, as part of the UK’s autumn booster programme.
Health secretary Steve Barclay has said that Moderna’s new bivalent vaccine, which targets both the original Covid strain and the Omicron variant, will be part of the rollout from early September.
People over the age of five who are classed as most at risk from the virus will be eligible, as will their household contacts, NHS frontline and care home staff and carers aged 16 or over.
Heathrow cap on passenger numbers will be extended to end of October
Heathrow Airport has announced that it will extend its cap on passenger numbers for another six weeks as the aviation sector continues to struggle to cope with demand for travel.
No more than 100,000 travellers will be able to depart per day until October 29, the west London airport said.
It said the move was taken following an improvement in punctuality and fewer last-minute cancellations after introducing a temporary cap in July. The capacity limit of 100,000 daily departing passengers was initially to last until September 11, but that date was pushed back on Monday.
One in eight think energy bills will fall this winter
Around one in eight people think energy bills will go down this winter, while most underestimate the massive price rises that are likely to come.
New research from Uswitch found that families believe their household gas and electricity bills will go up by £487 from the start of October.
But experts have predicted that bills will rise by more than three times that amount. The bill for an average household will increase by around £1,600 to over £3,600, according to the most recent forecasts.
Scots 25 per cent more likely to support independence under next PM, poll suggests
A quarter of Scots would be more likely to support Scottish independence regardless of who becomes the next prime minister, a new poll suggests.
The survey of 1,002 Scots done by Survation and Diffley Partnerships for Charlotte Street Partners looked at attitudes to Tory leadership candidates Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak as the pair prepare to attend a hustings event in Perth on Tuesday.
When asked if they were more likely to support Scottish independence if Truss were to win No 10, 20 per cent said they were ‘much more likely’, while five per cent said they would ‘a little more likely’ to back separation. When asked the same question in reference to Sunak, 19 per cent said they were much more likely, while seven per cent said they were a little more likely.
Horizon Post Office scandal compensation decision delay ‘unacceptable’
The chair of the inquiry into the Horizon computer system scandal has said a delay in determining whether to process late compensation applications has been ‘wholly unacceptable’.
Sir Wyn Williams said the delay in making the decision ‘remains largely unexplained’. The Post Office can accept the applications but is still ‘actively considering’ how to deal with them, according to an inquiry update on Monday.
Sir Wyn said: ‘I know of no proper explanation for the delays in determining whether those applications which were made after November 27, 2020 should be rejected or accepted into the Scheme. The delay in determining many if not all of these applications is wholly unacceptable, and, in my view, it remains largely unexplained.’
Downing Street unable to confirm where PM will work from in final weeks
Downing Street was unable to confirm on Monday whether the prime minister would be returning to work from No 10 after his latest holiday.
The sight of removal vans in Downing Street, a few weeks ahead of Boris Johnson’s exit date of September 6, prompted questions about where and how the outgoing prime minister is planning to spend his final weeks in office.
It was reported over the weekend that Johnson is spending a week in Greece, with locals spotting him shopping alongside wife Carrie in a supermarket in Nea Makri, a town to the east of Athens. That holiday swiftly follows another break earlier this month, and comes amid warnings of further inflation and the threat of a recession later this year.
Aston Martin DBR22 revealed as V12-powered speedster
Aston Martin has unveiled the DBR22 – a carbon-fibre two-seat speedster as it marks 10 years of its special ‘Q’ division.
Making its debut at this week’s Monterey Car Week in California, the DBR22 celebrates the firm’s previous open-cockpit racing models, including the DBR1 and DB3S – two of the brand’s most valuable models. Clear links can also be seen to the more recent V12 Speedster.
Currently shown as a ‘design concept’, Aston Martin says it will ‘become production reality’ and be ‘ultra-exclusive’. Revealed to celebrate 10 years of the firm’s ‘Q’ division, which creates one-off or very limited numbers of bespoke cars, Aston Martin says the DBR22 shows Q’s ‘limitless potential’.
Monday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Cazoo and Cargiant offering written-off used cars to unsuspecting buyers
- Polestar set to more than double UK footprint to boost brand awareness
- IM Group to sell Ora Funky Cat when quirky EV arrives in the UK
- Motorpoint to continue growth with new store in Coventry due to open later this year
- Dealers experiencing quieter summer due to cost-of-living crisis, says former Used Car Award winner
- Cox Automotive recommends ‘focus and grip’ to get retailers through current economic challenges
Scottish police officers to receive five per cent pay rise after agreement reached
Police officers in Scotland will receive a five per cent increase in their pay and allowances weeks after rejecting an initial ‘derisory’ offer of £565.
The improved pay offer will be backdated to April 1.
Officers had ‘withdrawn goodwill’ from Police Scotland as part of strike action in July. But on Monday, general secretary Calum Steele of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF) said an agreement had been reached.
FTSE treads water as natural resources weigh on index
The top index in London remained stagnant on Monday, with a poor showing for its all-important natural resources sector.
A weak showing for the Chinese economy weighed on global commodity prices because the country is one of the biggest buyers of mining goods. It sent Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta close to the bottom of the FTSE 100, which ended the day only slight in the green as a result.
By the end of the day, the index was up 8.26 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 7,509.15.
Weather outlook
Heavy showers for much of the country today, bringing the risk of thunder and flash floods, reports BBC Weather. Rain will drift slowly east in Scotland, while in Northern Ireland, it’ll be largely dry. A cooler day.
Cloud and showery night, potentially heavy in the south. A dry night for Scotland and Northern Ireland.
