6:28 am, September 3, 2023
Tesco boss calls for change in law after rise in abuse of staff
Tesco chief executive Ken Murphy has called for a change in the law to make abuse or violence towards retail workers an offence across the UK.
Writing in The Mail on Sunday, he said the supermarket chain has offered body-worn cameras to members of staff who need them, after seeing physical assaults rise by a third in a year.
Tesco has invested £44m in four years on security measures including door access systems and protection screens, as well as the cameras, but called for more to be done against offenders. ‘These people are small in number but have a disproportionate impact,’ said Murphy.
Government ‘in talks with Tata Steel to provide £500m funding package’
The government is reportedly in advanced talks with Tata Steel to provide a £500m funding package aimed at safeguarding the long-term future of a key part of Britain’s steel industry.
However, it could lead to as many as 3,000 job losses at the group’s Port Talbot steelworks that is thought to employ about 4,000 workers, according to Sky News.
Tata Steel’s Indian parent company would agree £700m of capital expenditure over a multi-year period, and commit to building electric arc furnaces, which offer greener, less labour-intensive ways of producing steel than traditional blast furnaces.
India launches spacecraft to study the sun
India has launched its first space mission to study the sun, less than two weeks after a successful uncrewed landing near the south polar region of the moon.
The Aditya-L1 spacecraft took off on board a satellite launch vehicle from the Sriharikota space centre yesterday on a quest to study the sun from a point about 930,000 miles from Earth, known as L1, which gives an uninterrupted view of the star.
Once in place, the satellite should provide reliable forewarning of particles and radiation from heightened solar activity that can knock out power grids on Earth, said space scientist BR Guruprasad in The Times of India. It is scheduled to take 125 days to reach L1.
Online gambling firm In Touch Games has UK licences suspended
Online gambling firm In Touch Games has had its licences to operate in Britain suspended by the industry regulator.
The Gambling Commission is carrying out a review under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, saying it suspects the operator failed to follow licence conditions related to money laundering, fair and transparent terms and practices, plus reporting key events.
In Touch Games operates 11 websites including bonusboss.co.uk, cashmo.co.uk, drslot.co.uk, jammymonkey.com and slotfactory.com.
Heavy rain washes out Burning Man festival in Nevada desert
The entrance to the Burning Man counter-culture festival in the Black Rock Desert area of Nevada was closed and revellers were urged to shelter yesterday as flooding from storms swept through the area.
The entrance will be closed for the rest of the event, which began on August 27 and was scheduled to end tomorrow, according to the US Bureau of Land Management.
About six inches of rain fell on Friday at the site, some 110 miles north of Reno, the National Weather Service in Reno said, with another three inches expected into today. Organisers urged festival-goers to conserve their food, water and fuel.
Committee to plan permanent memorial to late Queen
Plans for a permanent memorial to the late Queen and a national legacy programme in her honour will be unveiled in 2026 to mark what would have been Elizabeth II’s centenary year.
The Queen Elizabeth memorial committee will consider and recommend proposals for a ‘fitting tribute’ to the nation’s longest-reigning monarch following her death in September 2022.
It will be jointly supported by the UK government and the Royal Household, the Cabinet Office said today. The independent body will consider Elizabeth II’s life of public service and the causes she supported, and will seek suggestions from the public.
Government under pressure to reveal list of buildings hit by concrete crisis
Parliament will return tomorrow after its summer recess with the lightweight concrete crisis preventing pupils heading back to their classrooms high on their agenda.
The Department for Education said education secretary Gillian Keegan is due to inform Parliament ‘of the plan to keep parents and the public updated on the issue’.
Labour is planning to force a vote to compel the government to reveal the extent to which reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete is affecting public buildings.
Cupra DarkRebel to make world premiere
Cupra is due to unveil its DarkRebel show car at the IAA Munich Motor Show this evening.
The Spanish brand says the car pushes the boundaries of design and performance ‘and even questions the way that cars will be designed and created for future generations of drivers’.
It will be officially unveiled at the Volkswagen Group Night at 8.30pm (7.30pm BST) today, before appearing at the Cupra IAA Open Space tomorrow (Sep 4).
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Interest in used electric cars dwindling but London bucks national trend as a result of Ulez – analysis
- No point in making electric supercars just yet, says McLaren boss
- New car registrations rise again in Europe, boosted by 61% increase in EV sales
- Peter Vardy Group expands MG portfolio after buying Gillanders Motors franchises
Weather outlook
Today will be dry and fine although areas of low cloud, mist or fog may linger early on, says BBC Weather. However, it’ll stay largely cloudy and windy, with some outbreaks of rain in the far north and north-west.
Monday will see settled conditions continue with fine, sunny weather for much of the UK and it’ll be very warm in the south. However, the far north will stay cloudy, with spells of rain moving from the west at times.
