Two-thirds to cut back on Christmas to cope with cost-of-living rises
More than two-thirds of UK adults are planning to cut back on their spending this Christmas because of the rising cost of living, a survey suggests.
Despite the past two Christmases taking place under social restrictions, some 75 per cent of adults aren’t planning a ‘big celebration’ and 70 per cent are cutting back on last year, the poll for Accenture found.
Almost half are planning to spend less on buying presents (49 per cent), eating out (46 per cent), general socialising, and buying food and drink to consume at home (both 35 per cent), the online poll of 4,232 adults found.
Staff at Southampton Airport to walk out in pay dispute
Workers at Southampton Airport are to stage a series of one-day strikes in a dispute over pay.
Members of Unite, including operations controllers, firefighters, technicians and engineering workers, will strike for 24 hours on November 5, 12 and 19.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘Inflation is now at a 40-year high. It’s completely wrong for the employers, AGS, to refuse these safety-critical workers a decent pay increase after a three-year freeze.’
Elon Musk posts video of himself strolling into Twitter HQ
Elon Musk has posted a video showing him strolling into Twitter headquarters ahead of tomorrow’s deadline to close his $44bn (£37.8bn) deal to buy the company.
Musk also changed his Twitter profile to refer to himself as Chief Twit and his location as Twitter headquarters, which are based in San Francisco.
The video showed him carrying a sink through a lobby area. ‘Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in!’ he tweeted.
Russian fossil fuel exports will fall as world turns to cleaner energy, says IEA
Russian fossil fuel exports will never return to 2021 levels in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine as the world turns to cleaner energy, experts have said.
The International Energy Agency said the crisis provoked by the war could be a ‘historic turning point towards a cleaner and more secure energy system’ as governments including the US, Europe, China and Japan respond with a shift to clean power and technology such as electric cars.
The IEA’s world energy outlook for 2022 said that, for the first time, its scenario based on current policies by governments worldwide sees global demand for every fossil fuel peaking or plateauing. As a result, global emissions are set to peak in 2025, before falling slowly.
National security at risk from climate change, say MPs
Britain’s national security is being jeopardised because of the failure of ministers to prepare for the increasing risks of extreme weather events due to climate change, a parliamentary inquiry has warned.
The Joint Committee on the National Security Strategy said the UK’s critical national infrastructure had been left exposed because of an ‘extreme weakness’ at the heart of government.
In what it described as a ‘severe dereliction of duty’, the committee said no minister was prepared to take responsibility for ensuring the resilience of vital power, transport and communications networks – even though climate change was a recognised national security risk.
Health workers to vote on possible strike action
Hundreds of thousands of health workers start voting today on whether to strike over pay.
Around 350,000 members of Unison working for more than 250 health trusts and boards across England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being balloted. Some 50,000 Unison health employees in Scotland are already being balloted.
Boeing posts £2.9bn loss
Boeing reported a surprising $3.3bn (£2.9bn) loss for the third quarter yesterday, as revenue fell short of expectations and it took huge losses for fixed-cost government programmes including new Air Force One presidential jets.
The American multinational blamed higher manufacturing and supply chain costs for driving the losses in government programmes.
Vauxhall broadens GSe range with new Grandland
Vauxhall has widened its new performance electrified GSe line-up with the introduction of the Grandland GSe.
It uses a 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine combined with two electric motors to make 296bhp, alongside fuel economy of up to 217.3mpg and CO2 emissions of between 29 and 31g/km, depending on specification.
Vauxhall claims that the Grandland GSe will manage the 0-60mph sprint in just under six seconds before hitting a top speed of 146mph.
Wednesday’s stories on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Revealed: The biggest used car repair bills of the last 12 months
- Burrows Motor Company to shut showrooms on Sundays to improve sales staff’s work-life balance
- Ford confirms axe to fall on Fiesta, S-Max and Galaxy models in 2023
- Eastern Western Motor Group opens new Mercedes dealership in Dunfermline
- Lotus gives Eletre electric SUV £89,500 price tag
- Just Stop Oil protesters spray paint over Ferrari and Bentley showrooms in London
- Harwoods given permission to build new ‘specialist’ car dealership on south coast
- EV charging: How Juice Technology is making cybersecurity a priority
Market movements
The FTSE closed up 42.59 points yesterday to finish on 7,056.07. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 gained 25.76 points, ending on 6,276.31, the Dax rose by 142.85 points to 13,195.81 and the Dow Jones was up 2.37 points to 31,839.11.
Weather outlook
It’ll start largely cloudy today, with rain spreading north-east, says BBC Weather. England and Wales will become drier with sunny spells in the afternoon, but Northern Ireland and Scotland will have more rain.
Friday will see heavy rain in the west sweeping north-east and reaching the Northern Isles by the end of the day. Behind this rain, it’ll turn drier for many, with sunny spells in the afternoon.