6:53 am, February 1, 2023
Hundreds of thousands of workers on strike in biggest day of action in a decade
Hundreds of thousands of workers – including school teachers – are going on strike for what will be the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade.
Teachers in England and Wales, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), will embark on their first day of strikes on Wednesday, which threaten to disrupt more than 23,000 schools.
The walkouts, which could see more than 100,000 teachers take action in a dispute over pay, come on the same day that university lecturers, train drivers, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards are going on strike.
UK and EU reach customs deal that could end Northern Ireland logjam – report
The UK and EU have reached an agreement on customs that could signal a step towards a breakthrough in the dispute over the post-Brexit Northern Ireland Protocol, it has been reported.
According to The Times, the EU has accepted a plan that would avoid routine checks on goods going into Northern Ireland.
However, a Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO) source indicated that the claim a deal had been struck did not reflect the reality of the current state of the talks. The FCDO suggested the newspaper’s report was speculative, saying officials were engaged in ‘intensive scoping talks’ with Brussels and declining to pre-empt the discussions.
Alec Baldwin’s ‘reckless’ behaviour resulted in fatal Rust shooting, claims DA
Alec Baldwin’s ‘reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol’ directly caused the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office has alleged.
In a damning report, the DA alleged the actor had shown ‘wilful disregard’ for the safety of others in the days leading up to the incident on the Rust movie set in New Mexico.
Baldwin was not present for ‘mandatory’ firearms training, instead undergoing a 30-minute on-set session, during which he was distracted by a phone call to his family, the DA said. It comes as both Baldwin and the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were formally charged with two charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the incident in October 2021.
Shop price inflation hits new heights
Shop prices are at record highs after inflation accelerated in January, with a warning that the peak is yet to arrive.
Prices are now 8% higher than they were last January, up from 7.3 per cent in December and above the three-month average of 7.5 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-NielsenIQ Shop Price Index.
Overall food inflation rose to 13.8 per cent from 13.3 per cent in December – the highest inflation rate in the category on record. Inflation on fresh food also reached a record high due to increased food production costs as well as elevated fruit and vegetable prices, accelerating to 15.7 per cenet from 15 per cent in December. Ambient food inflation saw the fastest increase on record as wholesale and bulk prices rose, particularly for sugar and alcohol, accelerating to 11.3 per cent from 11 per cent in December.
Hunt faces calls for tax cuts and fuel duty freeze from Tory backbench MPs
Jeremy Hunt has faced calls for tax cuts and a fuel duty freeze during a grilling by Tory backbench MPs.
The chancellor said ‘nothing’ when pressed on slashing taxes and did not rule out a fuel duty hike, according to MPs who attended the 1922 Committee meeting.
Others gave mainly positive reviews of the gathering, in which Hunt highlighted the importance of tackling inflation before an eventual return to a tax-cutting agenda.
‘Huge’ differences in high street coffee caffeine amounts
High street coffee chains offer ‘huge’ differences in the amount of caffeine they serve, leaving customers with little idea how much they are consuming, a study has found.
A medium cappuccino at Costa contains a ‘massive’ 325mg of caffeine – around the amount contained in four cups of tea – almost five times the strength of a cappuccino from Starbucks, which contains the least at 66mg, Which? found.
Greggs was a close second to Pret for its caffeine levels, while Caffè Nero had the second lowest levels of caffeine after Starbucks in both its cappuccinos. The variations are not only due to the number of caffeine shots used across the chains but also the type of coffee bean, of which there are two main types – Arabica and Robusta.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Car Dealer Investigations: Is Motorway set to be the next motor trade giant?
- We interview AI bot ChatGPT about the UK used car market – here’s what it had to say
- New Premier Car Supermarket showroom opens for business
- Revealed: What were Car Dealer’s most-read stories in January 2023?
- Car dealers arrested on fraud and money laundering charges after police raid showroom
- Help middle-class drivers make the switch to used EVs, says Auto Trader
- Drivers are looking to switch to finance or swap car to save money as cost-of-living crisis tightens grip
- Transport for London launches £110m scrappage scheme as Ulez expansion draws nearer
- IMF says UK will be hardest hit G7 economy as it downgrades forecasts
Big farewell to the jumbo jet as final 747 takes to the skies
Boeing bid farewell to an aviation legend when it delivered its last 747 jumbo jet.
The final plane is the 1,574th built by Boeing in the Puget Sound region of Washington state.
Atlas Air ordered four 747-8 freighters early last year, with the final one leaving the factory Tuesday.
Drivers hit by rise in fuel prices
Drivers are being hit by rising fuel prices after an increase in oil costs.
The average price of a litre of petrol at UK forecourts on Monday was 148.8p, figures from data company Experian show. That was up from 148.4p a week earlier but remains considerably lower than the record high of 191.5p in July 2022.
Diesel averaged 170.4p a litre on Monday, having fallen to 170.3p on Wednesday and Thursday last week. It hit a record of 199.1p last July.
Weather outlook
Cloud with outbreaks of rain across northern England, southern Scotland, Northern Ireland reports BBC Weather. The south of England will stay dry and bright, turning cloudy later on.
Tonight will remain similar with a band of rain across the north while it’ll stay dry in the south.
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