5:46 am, December 3, 2022
Sajid Javid to stand down at next election
Former Cabinet minister Sajid Javid has become the most prominent Tory MP yet to announce he is stepping back at the next general election, shortly after the party was stung by another mid-term defeat.
The ex-chancellor and health secretary did not give a reason for his exit, saying only that he had ‘wrestled’ with the choice for ‘some time’, and pledged to continue to support the Prime Minister ‘in any way I can’.
He said his decision had been ‘accelerated’ by the fact Conservatives have been asked to confirm their intentions for contending the next nationwide poll at an ‘early stage’.
Russia rejects pullout from Ukraine as condition for talks
Russia said yesterday that Western demands it should pull out completely from Ukraine as part of any future talks to end the war effectively rule out any such negotiations, as Russian strikes continued.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov reiterated that Russian President Vladimir Putin remains open to talks but the Western demand that Moscow first withdraws its troops from Ukraine is unacceptable.
Peskov’s comments came as Putin spoke on the phone on Friday with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. Scholz’s office said he made clear to Putin ‘that there must be a diplomatic solution as quickly as possible, which includes a withdrawal of Russian troops’.
Putin may use Ukraine peace talks to rearm, warns Cleverly
Putin could use any peace talks over Ukraine as an opportunity to rebuild Russia’s battered forces for a fresh onslaught, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned.
Cleverly said Western powers needed to be ‘very, very careful’ if the Russian leader sought to initiate negotiations purporting to seek an end to the conflict.
His warning came after US President Joe Biden said he would be prepared to talk to Putin if he was genuinely looking to end the war – something that has not happened so far.
Review launched into late payments crippling small firms
The Business Secretary has launched a review into tackling late payments for small firms from larger, more powerful companies.
Grant Shapps said delayed payments are a ‘real barrier’ to improved productivity and job creation as firms face a challenging economic backdrop.
The government has a Small Business Commissioner dedicated to addressing the issue of late payments.
Roads ‘could come to a standstill’ during strike
Union members working on England’s roads have announced 12 days of strike action over Christmas and the new year.
Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) at National Highways, who plan, design, build, operate and maintain the country’s roads, will take part in a series of staggered strikes from December 16 to January 7.
The union said the action risks bringing roads to a standstill. The action will coincide with planned strikes by RMT members on the railways.
‘Post earlier than usual’ this Christmas
Royal Mail is asking customers to post their mail earlier than usual for Christmas this year as a result of the ongoing strike action by its workers.
The company is bringing forward its latest recommended posting dates for domestic and international mail to help manage any impact from planned strike action on December 9, 11, 14, 15, 23 and 24.
Final suggested dates for sending second-class post has been brought forward from December 19 to 12 and for first class from December 21 to 16.
30 years of the text message – nearly one in three still send them daily
Text messages still play a big role in the daily lives of many, with almost one in three sending and receiving SMS messages every day – 30 years after the first text was sent.
Despite a wide range of other communications platforms now being available, including services such as WhatsApp, 20 per cent of people still use SMS as their default messaging platform.
That is according to data from communications firm Infobip, which showed that 30 per cent of those surveyed said they sent text messages daily – with 54 per cent saying they used SMS as a way of reaching people who were not on other messaging platforms.
Ministers were told Covid could kill 820,000 people in UK
Matt Hancock has said he was warned the Covid pandemic could kill hundreds of thousands of people in the UK two months before the government put the country into lockdown.
The former health secretary said the chief medical officer for England Professor Sir Chris Whitty had informed him in January 2020 that in a ‘reasonable worst case scenario’ as many as 820,000 could die.
However, he said that when he passed on the warning to fellow ministers at a Cabinet meeting three days later, the reaction was ‘shrug shrug’ as they did not really believe it.
Health experts investigate Strep A cases after six children die
Health experts are investigating cases of Strep A infection after the deaths of six young children and a rise in cases.
The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) said there had been a rise in rare invasive Group A strep this year, particularly in children under 10, with five deaths of under-10s in England since September.
Friday Car Dealer headlines
- Ford likely to adopt agency sales to establish ‘long-term relationship’ with customers
- I’m A Celebrity jungle queen Jill Scott pays surprise visit to car dealership
- Death of the local car dealership is a long way off, says car manufacturer boss
- Tyson Fury eyeing up return to old job as a used car salesman after hanging up boxing gloves
- Charity Ben appeals for final Industry Leader Challenge donations as Kilimanjaro conquerors return home
- Toyota announces plans to develop hydrogen fuel-cell pick-up in the UK
- Is ‘phygital’ trade-in the new sourcing eldorado ?
Hate speech on Twitter is rising
Hate speech on Twitter is rising under Elon Musk’s ownership, online safety campaigners have said, despite the billionaire’s claims that it has been declining.
The Centre for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) said Musk’s recent tweet suggesting that hate speech impressions are down by a third was ‘misleading’ because it focused on how often tweets were seen, rather than how many containing hate speech were actually being posted to the site.
Insurers warned they must offer fair settlements when cars are written off
Insurance firms have been warned not to undervalue cars and other items when settling insurance claims.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) said it has seen evidence some people left with written off cars after an accident are being offered a price lower than the vehicle’s fair market value by their insurance providers.
In some cases, insurers are only increasing offers to the fair market price when the customer complains, the regulator said. Offering a price lower than fair market value is not allowed under FCA rules.
London stocks edge lower as hot US jobs data weighs on markets
The FTSE finished marginally lower after earlier gains were dragged back by hot jobs data from the US.
Friday’s non-farm payroll figures knocked back the US markets and weighed on sentiment across Europe as a result.
The FTSE 100 finished the day down 2.26 points, or 0.03 per cent, at 7,556.23. The Dax improved 0.27 per cent by the end of the session and the French Cac finished 0.17 per cent lower.
Weather outlook
The BBC says today, north-western areas will be cloudy with some patchy rain, these mainly in western Scotland. Sunshine and variable cloud elsewhere, with more in the way of cloud and a few showers in the east.
Tonight, England and Wales will turn cloudy with the chance of showers, these wintry on the high ground in the north.
Tomorrow, much of the UK will be mostly cloudy.
