6:58 am, January 10, 2023
More strikes expected despite crisis talks between unions and ministers
A wave of further strike action is expected after crisis talks between ministers and unions failed to resolve industrial disputes involving nurses, teachers and rail workers.
Talks between NHS unions and Health Secretary Steve Barclay were branded ‘bitterly disappointing’ and an ‘insult’, while education unions warned Gillian Keegan it was ‘now or never’ to prevent teachers going on strike.
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) and Unite criticised the meeting with Mr Barclay, accusing ministers of ‘intransigence’.
Energy bill support for businesses extended with much less generous promise
The Government has promised to help businesses with their energy bills for another year, but significantly reduced the amount of support they will get.
Ministers said that non-domestic customers – which include businesses, charities and schools, among others – would get up to £6.97 taken off their energy bills for every megawatt hour (MWh) of gas they use.
Electricity bills will also be discounted by up to £19.61 per MWh.
Read what the news means for car dealers here.
Bank chief economist: Inflation could be more persistent even if gas prices fall
The Bank of England’s chief economist has said that inflation in the UK could become ‘more persistent’ amid prevailing tough economic conditions, as he hinted at another upcoming interest rate hike.
Huw Pill said in a speech on monetary policy, due to be delivered in New York on Monday, that Britain is probably in a recession.
The chief, who is influential in the Bank of England’s decisions over interest rates, confirmed that the Monetary Policy Committee would be prepared to act ‘forcefully’ if the outlook suggests more persistent inflation.
Healthcare at home model can help relieve NHS pressures, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak has told patients and staff at a healthcare centre focused on treating patients at home rather than in hospital that it is a model which can help relieve the current pressures on ambulances and emergency departments.
The Prime Minister chatted with 75-year-old Pauline Burke and her carers – husband Patrick and daughter Emma – when he visited Rutland Lodge Medical Practice in Leeds on Monday morning.
The family said the approach developed by Leeds Community Healthcare, which brings together a multi-disciplinary team and specialist skills and equipment to reduce the need for hospital admissions, had helped Mrs Burke recover faster from a hip operation 12 months ago.
Christmas boosts sales but masks nervous festive season for consumers
The increased cost of goods saw Christmas retail sales values up almost seven per cent last December, masking a nervous festive season for consumers, figures show.
Total sales increased by 6.9 per cent in December against an increase of 2.1 per cent in December 2021 – well above the three-month average growth of 4.4 per cent and 12-month average growth of 3.1 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG Retail Sales Monitor.
UK retail sales increased 6.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis from December 2021, when they had increased by 0.6 per cent.
FTSE 100 closes at four-year high as investors buoyed by China reopening
The FTSE 100 closed at a more than four-year high on Monday as it continued to build on a the strong winning streak since the beginning of the year.
The move saw the index end the day at 7,724.94, a rise of 24.45 points. It was the highest close that the index had registered since May 2018.
In Europe, Frankfurt’s Dax index closed up 1.25 per cent, while the Cac 40 in Paris gained 0.68.
Monday’s Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Exclusive: Car dealer group Pendragon facing £260m claim in High Court battle
- Tesla prices are in free fall as latest used car data shows huge drops in value
- Beleaguered Britishvolt holds talks about majority sale to secure its future
- Rolls-Royce’s sales pass 6,000 for first time as bosses hail ‘momentous year’
- Inchcape Retail reverses heavy losses by posting pre-tax profit of £6.5m
- European brands facing ‘terrible fight’ amidst influx of new Chinese firms, says Stellantis boss
- Car dealers to get less help with their energy bills
- Revealed: The used car prices that went up the most last month
Hennessey reveals track-focused Venom F5 Revolution
American hypercar firm Hennessey has revealed its new track-focused Venom F5 Revolution.
Based on its regular Venom V5, Hennessey says the model has been ‘comprehensively re-engineered’ to make it more suitable for track work, although the model will be sold as a road-going car.
The firm has worked to reduce the weight of the model, with motorsport-inspired influences being made to the aerodynamics, suspension and engine cooling, while digital telemetry has also been added.
Workers typically feel they need a £49,300 salary to live comfortably – survey
Workers feel that £49,300 would be a ‘comfortable’ salary to live on typically, as living costs surge, according to a survey.
Recruitment business Reed made the findings after asking 5,000 UK workers a range of questions on their salary.
The average wage that was seen as a sum on which people could live comfortably is £16,300 less than the £33,000 median annual pay for full-time employees in the tax year ending in April 2022, according to Office for National Statistics figures.
Electricity costs more than petrol for drivers on long journeys – analysis
Electric vehicle drivers are being charged more to top up their batteries on long journeys than people behind the wheel of petrol cars pay for fuel, according to new analysis.
The RAC said the average price of using rapid chargers on a pay as you go basis has increased by nearly 26p per kilowatt hour (kWh) since May, reaching 70.3p per kWh this month.
This rise – caused by the soaring wholesale costs of gas and electricity – means drivers pay around 20p per mile for their electricity when using the chargers.
Read the full story here.
First UK rocket launch ends in failure after suffering ‘anomaly’
An attempt to make British space history by launching a rocket into orbit from UK soil has ended in failure after suffering an ‘anomaly’ during the flight.
After taking off from Cornwall, the Virgin Orbit plane flew to 35,000ft over the Atlantic Ocean where it jettisoned the rocket containing nine small satellites towards space.
Organisers of the Start Me Up mission said the rocket – with a variety of civil and defence applications – failed to orbit.
Keir Starmer tells Labour the party must set out winning vision for government
Sir Keir Starmer has told his party it must use the next year to lay the groundwork for an election victory in 2024 and ‘redouble their efforts’ to win power.
The Labour leader, addressing his MPs and peers in Parliament for the first time since the start of the new year, looked to focus attention on the party’s vision for government.
‘We need to redouble our efforts,’ he told the Parliamentary Labour Party in Westminster on Monday evening.
Fans queue to buy Harry’s memoir at midnight to read story from ‘horse’s mouth’
Fans queued to buy a hardback copy of the Duke of Sussex’s autobiography as it hit shelves at midnight.
Shops across the country reopened at 12am on Tuesday for the official release of Harry’s controversial memoir Spare, which was leaked and also sold early by some book shops in Spain last week.
A handful of people waited outside WH Smith in Victoria station, central London, to be one of the first to buy a copy of the book, which contains a flood of bombshell revelations and intimately private details about Harry’s life and family.
Weather outlook…
Today will be cloudy, wet and windy as a band of heavy rain moves north-eastwards across the UK. Turning drier for a time in the south, but another band of rain will move in from the west later on, the BBC reports.
This evening, another band of rain will quickly move eastwards across the UK. Clear spells will then develop behind, but heavy and blustery showers will move into Northern Ireland and west Scotland.
Tomorrow will be very windy with blustery showers in western areas, wintry over the hills to the north. Drier in the east with bright spells, but turning wet later on.
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