6:32 am, August 2, 2023
Tees Valley projects to boost hydrogen-powered vehicles
Two new transport projects will aim to make it easier to use hydrogen-powered vehicles including supermarket delivery trucks and airport ground support.
The government said the schemes will receive part of an £8m funding package to support green energy in the north-east via the Tees Valley hydrogen transport hub.
Four new publicly accessible hydrogen refuelling stations will be created and used to power HGVs including supermarket delivery trucks as well as airside vehicles.
Product safety laws face modernisation to better protect online shoppers
Product safety laws are to be modernised to better protect customers when shopping online and buying products such as smart devices, the government has announced.
The Department for Business and Trade said the plans would cut business costs and reduce unnecessary red tape thanks to measures such as electronic labelling, enabling them to invest more in their own firms.
A consultation will seek views on how the UK can better regulate innovations such as connected devices including smart watches and speakers, and artificial intelligence, while ensuring British businesses aren’t ‘stifled’ by red tape.
Trump charged over efforts to overturn 2020 election results
Former US president Donald Trump has been charged by the US Justice Department for his efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.
The indictment focuses on schemes by Trump and his allies to subvert the transfer of power and keep him in office despite his loss to Joe Biden.
It is the third criminal case brought against the ex-president as he seeks to reclaim the White House. Trump denies any wrongdoing.
Britain to retain CE safety mark following calls by businesses
Britain is to retain the EU’s product safety CE mark indefinitely rather than make its own post-Brexit alternative compulsory after businesses warned of increased costs.
The CE (Conformité Européen) mark is used by the bloc to certify that a wide range of items from electrical goods and construction materials to medical devices and toys meet safety standards.
It was to have been replaced by the new UKCA (UK Conformity Assessed) mark for goods sold in Great Britain from December 2024. But firms had told the government that forcing them to adopt new rules would add significant costs while trying to cope with the cost-of-living crisis.
Government to publish police guidance on dealing with low-level crimes
Shoplifting, drug possession and theft are among the types of crime for which first-time offenders could receive a caution instead of being sent to court, according to a report.
The Ministry of Justice will publish a draft code of practice today aimed at governing how police respond to low-level offending.
The guidance is part of government efforts to end a patchwork of cautions, warnings and penalties used to deal with minor crimes.
SNP and Scottish Labour to start by-election campaign after MP loses seat
Campaigning is to begin in earnest for the Rutherglen and Hamilton West by-election triggered by the Covid rule-breaking of current MP Margaret Ferrier.
Ferrier announced she won’t stand in the by-election when 11,896 of her constituents signed Scotland’s first recall petition after the former SNP MP travelled by train at the height of the pandemic in September 2020, having tested positive for the virus.
Scottish Labour candidate Michael Shanks and deputy party leader Dame Jackie Baillie will launch the party’s campaign. Meanwhile, SNP councillor Katy Loudon aims to take the seat.
Leisure club group fined £2.55m after three-year-old drowned in pool
A leisure club group has been fined more than £2.5m following the death of a three-year-old boy in one of the firm’s pools.
Rocco Wright died after he was pulled from the water by his father at the David Lloyd centre in Leeds on April 21, 2018.
An inquest in 2020 was told there was only one 17-year-old lifeguard on duty at the time. David Lloyd Leisure Club Ltd was fined £2.55m and ordered to pay £258,355.80 costs at Leeds Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting breaches of health and safety law.
Scientists develop pill that destroys solid cancer tumours in early research
Scientists have developed a pill that appears in pre-clinical research to ‘annihilate’ all solid cancer tumours and leave healthy cells unaffected.
Researchers at City of Hope, one of the US’s largest cancer research and treatment organisations, published a study yesterday detailing early test results of ‘cancer-killing pill’ AOH1996.
The drug targets a cancerous variant of proliferating cell nuclear antigen – a protein that in its mutated form is ‘critical’ in DNA replication and repair of all ‘expanding tumours’, City of Hope said.
Skoda upgrades Scala and Kamiq
Skoda’s compact Scala hatchback and Kamiq crossover models have been given an upgrade.
Kamiq’s new look takes inspiration from the Vision RS concept, with a newly designed grille, slimmer headlights plus redesigned front and rear aprons, while both the Kamiq, pictured at top, and Scala, above, can now be fitted with Skoda’s powerful LED matrix headlights.
An eight-inch driver display is standard, alongside an 8.25-inch infotainment setup, which can be upgraded to a 10.25-inch driver display or 9.2-inch infotainment screen via optional extras. Pricing will be announced shortly.
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Exclusive: Peter Vardy used car supermarkets face closure as group signs MG deal
- Cazoo slashes its losses as brutal cost-cutting mission begins to bear fruit
- Used car dealer sold ‘dangerous’ Mercedes-Benz that he said was in ‘mint condition’
- Dealers avoid major summer drop-off as used car prices remained stable in July – eBay Motors Group
- Revealed: The top five UK areas where used diesel cars for sale are plummeting
- Volkswagen opens order books for celebratory Polo GTI
- UK plays key role in Lamborghini’s success as brand enjoys best start to year
- Volvo sheds all estates and saloons in UK to go SUV-only
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 33.14 points down yesterday to end the day on 7,666.27. The Cac 40, meanwhile, was down 91.70 points at 7,406.08, the Dax was down 206.43 points at 16,240.40 but the Dow Jones was up 71.15 points at 35,630.68.
Weather outlook
It’ll be unsettled today as heavy and thundery showers spread east, says BBC Weather. The north and west will turn drier through the day, with a few showers lingering. The south will be breezy and windy, with coastal gales.
Thursday will see variable cloud, sunny spells and scattered showers, heavier in central parts, and it’ll be largely overcast in the north. The day will be cooler, with northerly winds.
