6:44 am, July 4, 2024
Polls to open as millions of voters make their final decision
Party leaders have put their closing arguments to the public as the country goes to the polls on Thursday to end six weeks of campaigning.
Millions of people across the UK will cast their vote between 7am and 10pm, with opinion polls suggesting Labour is on course to secure a big majority in the House of Commons and form a new government.
In what may be his last day with the title, prime minister Rishi Sunak urged voters to ‘save the UK’ from a Labour majority by voting Conservative.
Biden vows to stay in race as signs point to senior Democrats losing faith
A defiant president Joe Biden vowed on Wednesday to keep running for re-election, rejecting growing pressure from Democrats to withdraw after a disastrous debate performance raised questions about his readiness.
But in an ominous sign for the president, a leading ally publicly suggested a way that the party might choose someone else.
‘I am running. I am the leader of the Democratic Party. No one is pushing me out,’ Biden said in a call with staffers on his re-election campaign, according to a top aide who posted his comment on the X social media platform.
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and son-in-law disqualified as charity trustees
Captain Sir Tom Moore’s daughter and her husband have been disqualified from being charity trustees amid an ongoing inquiry into the foundation set up in the war veteran’s name.
Hannah Ingram-Moore is disqualified for 10 years and Colin for eight years – meaning neither can be a trustee or hold a senior management role in any charity in England and Wales in that time period.
Despite the option to appeal, the family said they have made the ‘extremely difficult decision’ not to do so, as the ‘profound emotional upheaval and financial burden make such a course of action untenable’.
Ofcom will not investigate Channel 4 over Farage’s Reform UK undercover sting
Ofcom will not investigate Channel 4 News after Nigel Farage’s Reform UK claimed the broadcaster used an actor as a ‘plant’ in its undercover investigation into his campaign.
The UK watchdog said it had received more than 270 complaints about Channel 4 News’s programme titled Undercover Inside Reform’s campaign, which saw a canvasser named Andrew Parker filmed using a racial slur to describe prime minister Rishi Sunak.
A spokesperson for Channel 4 News said: ‘Since this report aired, Channel 4 News has strongly stood up for its accurate, rigorous and duly impartial reporting, which speaks for itself. Ofcom’s decision underscores the integrity of Channel 4 News’s journalism and high editorial standards. The programme will continue to refute any claims that we – or the production company we worked with – knew or paid the Reform UK canvasser, Mr Andrew Parker.’
Post Office still rejects subpostmaster’s overturned conviction, inquiry told
The Post Office is refusing to accept the overturned conviction of a former subpostmaster three years after they were cleared, the Horizon Inquiry has heard.
According to Edward Henry KC, who has been representing Teju Adedayo throughout proceedings, the organisation provided a written submission to the inquiry which said it “does not accept” that the now-quashed conviction of Ms Adedayo from 2005 was ‘unsafe’.
Adedayo had falsely confessed to being responsible for the shortfalls at her post office in Kent to avoid the risk of ending up in prison. She was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing in 2021.
Thousands of Tesco workers to split £30m windfall
More than 20,000 Tesco workers are set to share a £30m windfall from maturing share schemes.
The company revealed that the employees will receive the bumper payout following a ‘strong performance’ from its Save as You Earn colleague share schemes.
It said it will be mainly workers on its store shopfloors and in its distribution centres who benefit from the cash boost. Workers have benefited from the recent improvement in the FTSE 100 group’s share price, which currently sits above 303p after a 20% increase over the past year.
Spending on cars rising three times faster than for public transport fares
Spending on car purchases has risen three times faster than for public transport journeys, new figures show.
Some £57.4bn was spent in the UK on new and used cars in 2023, up 6% on five years earlier, according to AA analysis of Office for National Statistics data.
Consumer spending on public transport – including rail, buses, taxis, air and water travel – was £60.bn last year, representing a 2% increase over the same period.
Land Rover Defender Octa goes on sale with a £145,000 price tag
Land Rover has shown off the Defender Octa.
It’s the product of the firm’s SVO division and features a raft of modifications, including 6D suspension to give outstanding on- and off-road performance, wider bodywork, and the fitment of a 626bhp 4.4-litre twin turbo V8 engine with mild-hybrid technology.
Order books open soon with a starting price of £145,300. An Edition One spec will be available for the first year of production and will cost £160,800.
Weather
A windy day is in store with scattered, blustery showers in the north and west, reports BBC Weather. It’ll be drier elsewhere with sunny spells. Highs of 20 degrees in the south-east.
It’ll remain breezy tonight. Patchy rain will push into southern Wales and southern England. Clear elsewhere.
