6:41 am, April 24, 2023
PM to kick off business conference aimed at boosting UK’s economic growth
The prime minister is to kick off a conference that will look to increase opportunities for the private sector to boost economic growth.
The Business Connect event on Monday will gather industry leaders and investors together with government ministers for ‘direct and detailed discussions’, according to Downing Street.
No 10 said the London gathering of 200 of the UK’s highest-profile chief executives was about recognising that the UK government cannot achieve its economic priorities alone. The so-called growth sectors expected to be represented at the conference include technology, life sciences and advanced manufacturing.
Court of Appeal to hear challenge against plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda
An appeal hearing into whether two High Court judges were right to dismiss legal bids against ministers’ plans to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is due to start on Monday.
A group of individuals from countries including Iran, Iraq and Syria are aiming to overturn rulings made in December. Last year, Lord Justice Lewis and Mr Justice Swift dismissed a series of legal bids against the government’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. But the pair gave the go-ahead to several individual asylum seekers and the charity Asylum Aid to appeal against their decision.
In a hearing due to last four days, the Court of Appeal will be asked to consider whether the two judges were wrong to find there were sufficient safeguards to prevent asylum seekers from being returned to a country where they were at risk of persecution and whether the Rwanda scheme is ‘systemically unfair’.
Diane Abbott has Labour whip suspended after comments on ‘white racism’
Diane Abbott has had the Labour whip suspended after comments she made suggesting Jewish, Irish and Traveller people are not subject to racism ‘all their lives’.
Abbott, who served as Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow home secretary, wrote in a letter in The Observer that although white people ‘with points of difference’ suffer prejudice, they have not suffered the same racism as black people.
Following a backlash, including from a Tory Cabinet minister, she apologised for any ‘anguish’ caused, suggesting ‘errors arose’ in her initial draft letter to the newspaper. However, Labour confirmed that the whip has been suspended from her pending an investigation into the letter.
Cleverly holds further emergency Sudan talks as trapped Britons call for rescue
Ministers held another emergency meeting late on Sunday about the Sudan crisis as trapped British nationals called for the UK government to come to their aid.
Foreign secretary James Cleverly chaired a sixth Sudan Cobra session to discuss the ‘escalation’ of violence in the African nation as internal warring rages on.
It came hours after the Cabinet minister faced questions about why British diplomats had been prioritised over other Sudan-based UK citizens following a night time evacuation mission to rescue embassy staff.
Humza Yousaf to meet Rishi Sunak during London trip
Humza Yousaf will meet prime minister Rishi Sunak in person for the first time since he became Scotland’s First Minister.
Yousaf will meet the PM amid the looming court battle between Holyrood and Westminster after scottish secretary Alister Jack blocked the Gender Recognition Reform (Scotland) Bill.
The first minister has previously said challenging the UK government’s block on the gender Bill was ‘our only means of defending our Parliament’s democracy from the Westminster veto’ but Sunak said Westminster had taken ‘very careful and considered advice’ on the issue before acting.
New power line between UK and Netherlands ‘could power 1.8m homes’
A new power line between the UK and the Netherlands will deliver enough electricity to ‘power more homes than Manchester and Birmingham combined’, the government has announced.
The government said LionLink will be the ‘world’s largest multi-use electricity power line’ and claimed it will boost UK energy supplies with ‘enough to power 1.8m homes’.
LionLink will connect the two countries to each other and to offshore wind farms in the North Sea to provide ‘clean, affordable’ energy by the time it is due to be ‘operational by the early 2030s’. Energy secretary Grant Shapps hailed Monday’s ‘historic deal’ as a boost to the UK’s energy security.
Vast majority of young people expect to drive regularly by 2035 – survey
Four out of five young people expect to be driving regularly by 2035, a new survey suggests.
Some 85 per cent of respondents to a survey of 1,000 Britons aged 17–24 commissioned by the RAC Foundation said it is certain or likely they will be driving a car or van at least once a week then. That is despite only 55 per cent of this group currently doing so.
The most common reasons given for respondents believing they will start driving include an expectation their lifestyles will require it and a belief that driving will be more convenient than public transport, walking or cycling.
Weekend Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
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Pubs eye coronation boost to ease ‘challenging’ 2023 – Greene King boss
Pubs are set for a ‘much-needed’ coronation boost after facing a challenging start to 2023 amid soaring energy bills, according to the boss of Greene King.
The pub giant, which runs 1,600 managed sites across the UK, has said the coronation bank holiday ‘provides a great opportunity’ for pubs to show why they are at the heart of British communities.
Nick Mackenzie, chief executive of the Suffolk-based business, said it comes amid a ‘challenging backdrop’ for the industry, with consumer finances also coming under pressure. It came as research for a new report from Greene King showed that more than a quarter of people (27 per cent) aged 18-34 expect to go to the pub during the coronation weekend.
Plan of Titanic sells at auction for £195,000
A plan of the Titanic used during the inquiry into the sinking of the ship in 1912 has sold at auction for almost £200,000.
The 32ft (9.7m) cross-section plan made £195,000 from a UK buyer when it went under the hammer on Saturday. The extraordinary plan was used by witnesses and experts to establish the cause of the tragedy, and even contains original chalk marks showing what happened.
The enormous drawing, which was mounted on linen, was so pivotal to the inquiry that it was put up in the official hearing room so witnesses could refer to it constantly. The hand-drawn plan of the Titanic was prepared by White Star Line architects for the 1912 British inquiry into the sinking of the ship, just weeks after the disaster.
Weather outlook
A cloudy day for much of southern England and Wales with spells of rain pushing eastwards, reports BBC Weather. Further north the rain showers will be patchier. Feeling cool; highs of 14 degrees celsius in Plymouth and a low of six degrees in Aberdeen.
Rain at first for the south-east tonight, but this will clear to leave a dry night. Wintry showers for the far-north of Scotland.
