6:28 am, November 12, 2022
AA calls for fuel duty cut to be extended
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is being urged to extend the 5p cut in fuel duty amid the ‘nightmare’ of high costs for motorists.
When then-chancellor Rishi Sunak announced earlier this year that the 5p fuel duty cut represented the biggest cut ever, it was set to remain in place until March 2023.
The AA is now pushing for the reduction to be extended beyond March because of the continued high pump prices and cost-of-living crisis. Its research shows that surging electricity prices are a factor in deterring or delaying more than 70 per cent of drivers from going electric.
Eddie Stobart fined after workers exposed to asbestos
Logistics company Eddie Stobart has been fined £133,000 after work at one of its sites exposed staff to asbestos.
The Health and Safety Executive told Manchester magistrates that a series of failures took place while excavation work was carried out at its rail and container freight port in Widnes in 2018.
The firm admitted breaching The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and The Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 and was also ordered to pay £9,260 costs.
PM ‘set to cut defence spending in real terms’
Rishi Sunak is said to be preparing to cut defence spending in real terms as planned budget hikes are dwarfed by soaring inflation.
The allowance for all departments, including the Ministry of Defence, will rise in line with the 2021 spending review, representing a cash boost, according to reports.
But it has been suggested this will be devalued by inflation, which is currently at 10.1 per cent.
Councils handed extra £13.5m to clamp down on rogue landlords
The government has given councils a further £13.5m to help them clamp down on rogue landlords who exploit the supported housing system and fail vulnerable residents.
The money – on top of around £6m distributed in August to five council areas – is intended to help local authorities better tackle supported housing providers who profit from benefits claims but don’t properly support tenants, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said.
Currently, rogue landlords can be fined up to £30,000, prosecuted, or given a prohibition order to prevent part of the property from being used for supported housing.
Royals to attend Festival of Remembrance
The King, Queen Consort and members of the royal family will gather at the Royal Albert Hall today for the annual Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance.
The event is one of a series that the royals are attending as they commemorate the country’s war dead, ahead of tomorrow’s Remembrance Sunday ceremony at the Cenotaph in Whitehall.
Through words, song and storytelling, the festival will commemorate the service and sacrifice of servicemen and women, and will also mark the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War.
Government urged to rethink Public Order Bill after journalist arrests
Campaigners have called on the government to rethink its plans to change protest laws after journalists covering Just Stop Oil demonstrations were arrested.
Civil liberties groups including Liberty, Big Brother Watch, Amnesty International UK and the National Union of Journalists have written to home secretary Suella Braverman to express concern about the incidents, urging her to ‘pause and rethink’ the Public Order Bill, which is currently going through Parliament.
They questioned plans under the Bill to create more powers for police to restrict the right to protest and called on the Cabinet minister to commission an independent review of the new public nuisance offence introduced under the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act.
Xi returning to international stage
After a lengthy absence from major international gatherings, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is leaving his country’s Covid-19 bubble and venturing abroad next week into a dramatically changed world.
Xi will attend the G20 meeting of industrial and emerging market nations in Indonesia followed by the Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation summit in Thailand.
He has relied mainly on speeches by video to deliver China’s message at the UN and other forums since 2020. The period has seen a sharp deterioration in China’s relations with the west over the Covid-19 pandemic.
Abarth simplifies range
Abarth has streamlined its current range of hot hatches to simplify the ordering process.
There’s now the choice of the Abarth 595 or 695, which both use a 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine but develop 163bhp and 178bhp respectively.
Customers can then choose the Turismo specification – available for both powertrains and as a hatchback or convertible – or Competizione, which can only be specified on the more powerful 695. Prices start from £22,245.
Friday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Auto Trader confident it can turn loss-making leasing arm Autorama around
- Car dealer admits fraud and selling camper van conversion with dodgy brakes and wheels that could have come off
- Kia Stinger bows out in UK as all-electric EV6 GT prepares to make grand entrance
- Bristol Street Motors agrees major new sponsorship deal with Exeter Chiefs
- Economy shrinks between July and September as recession fears deepen
- Vertu Bolton Jaguar Land Rover becomes patron of local hospice
- Stock volumes of superminis skyrocket on Motorway
Market movements
The FTSE closed 57.30 points down yesterday to finish the week on 7,318.04. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 gained 37.79 points, ending on 6,594.62, the Dax was up 78.77 points at 14,224.86 and the Dow Jones rose by 32.49 points, to close at 33,747.86.
Weather outlook
Cloud and patchy rain will sweep across Northern Ireland and southern Scotland towards the north-west today, says BBC Weather, while much of England and Wales will have sunny spells and patchy clouds.
Sunday will see mist and fog lift across much of the UK to leave plenty of sunshine. It’ll be cloudier in western parts of Northern Ireland and western Scotland with some rain, but milder in the north of England.
