6:39 am, April 13, 2024
NHS chief calls out ‘unacceptable’ abuse faced by doctors and nurses
NHS England chief executive Amanda Pritchard has called out the ‘unacceptable’ abuse that doctors and nurses face at work and said the NHS needs its own #MeToo movement.
According to an NHS survey of 675,140 employees, there were more than 80,000 reports of staff in England being sexually harassed by patients, their relatives, members of the public or colleagues while at work last year.
Writing in The Independent, Pritchard said: ‘The #MeToo movement has powerfully called out this unacceptable behaviour and fuelled important discussions right across society, and the NHS must not be exempt.’
Jeremy Hunt says he is ready to ‘cut taxes and bet on growth’
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has declared he is ready to ‘cut taxes and bet on growth’ after the UK’s gross domestic product grew in February by 0.1%.
It followed January’s growth of 0.3%, which was revised up from 0.2%, and writing in the Daily Express, Hunt said Britain ‘has done the hard yards’ and the economy is ‘bouncing back’.
ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said widespread growth in manufacturing, particularly in the motor sector, helped spur the economic growth.
Tories rapped over UK’s potholes
Britain’s roads now have 100 times as many potholes as there are craters on the Moon, Labour has claimed.
Analysis from the party claims to expose ‘the Tories’ abject failure to maintain Britain’s roads’.
Statistics from car leasing firm Vehicle Contracts estimate there were more than one million potholes in the UK in 2023, with just over 9,000 craters reckoned to be on the Moon.
Gatwick ranked worst airport for flight delays
Gatwick was the worst airport in the UK for flight delays last year, an investigation has found.
Departures from the West Sussex airport were an average of nearly 27 minutes behind schedule in 2023, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority data by the PA news agency.
The UK’s second busiest airport was badly hit by air traffic control staff shortages across Europe last year and repeatedly suffered the same problem in its own control tower. In a statement, Gatwick said it was ‘working closely with our airline partners to improve on-time performance’.
UK and US block trade of new Russian metals at world’s largest exchanges
The UK and the US have announced that new aluminium, copper and nickel produced by Russia will no longer be traded at the world’s two largest metal exchanges.
The London Metal Exchange and Chicago Mercantile Exchange will now ban Russian exports in an effort to hinder one of the country’s biggest sources of revenue, the Treasury said.
Both exchanges have warehouses all over the world and help to set global benchmark prices for the trade of base metals.
Varada Sethu, left, Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson. (Credit: James Pardon/Bad Wolf/BBC Studios)
New Doctor Who companion revealed
Like many Doctors who have come before him, one isn’t enough for the latest incarnation of the Time Lord and in next year’s run of the sci-fi show that is currently being filmed, he’ll have two companions by his side as Varada Sethu steps aboard the TARDIS.
She joins the cult BBC programme from a galaxy far, far away after starring in the Disney+ Star Wars series Andor. Now she straps in for another journey through time and space alongside Ncuti Gatwa as the Fifteenth Doctor and Millie Gibson as Ruby Sunday.
Sethu, whose character’s name is yet to be announced, said: ‘It is such an honour to be a part of the Whoniverse. I couldn’t ask for a better team than Ncuti and Millie to be on this adventure with. This is so much fun!’ This year’s eight-part series begins on Saturday, May 11.
Quoted motor insurance premiums ‘jump by 56.4% in year to February’
The average quoted price of car insurance jumped by 56.4% in the year to February but there were some signs of a slowdown, according to an index.
In February, drivers most commonly received a quote between £500 and £749, insights firm Consumer Intelligence said.
The latest rise is lower than the 67.2% recorded in the year to the end of November. But it’s still the third-highest annual increase recorded by Consumer Intelligence since it started tracking data in October 2012.
Trump loses latest bid to delay hush money criminal trial
The judge in Donald Trump’s hush money criminal case has turned down the former president’s request to postpone his trial because of adverse publicity.
It is the latest in a string of delay refusals that Trump has got from various courts as he fights to stave off the trial’s start on Monday with jury selection.
Judge Juan M Merchan wrote that Trump ‘appears to take the position that his situation and this case are unique and that the pre-trial publicity will never subside. However, this view does not align with reality’.
Huracan STJ will be Lambo’s last V10-powered production car
Lamborghini is to end production of its V10-powered cars with just 10 of its smallest supercar – the Huracan STJ.
The naturally aspirated 5.2-litre engine – mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, with power sent to the rear wheels – will pump out 640bhp and 565Nm of torque. Performance figures are yet to be revealed.
Expect its price tag to be north of the £260,000 for the STO model on which it’s based.
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- How a family of footballers caught the motor trade bug and set up their own used car business
- FCA warns motor finance firms to prepare to pay out following discretionary commission review
- Peugeot 3008 is quickest-selling used car at the moment, says Auto Trader
- Alfa Romeo reveals first EV as brand takes initial steps to all-electric future
- Car production singled out for praise as UK economy grows again in February
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 71.78 points up yesterday to end the week on 7,995.58. The Cac 40 was down 12.91 points at 8,010.83, the Dax was down 24.16 points at 17,930.32, and the Dow Jones was down 475.84 points at 37,983.24.
Weather outlook
Today will be windy with heavy rain in Northern Ireland and Scotland, followed by heavy, thundery showers, says BBC Weather. Northern England and Wales will be cloudy with patchy rain, while elsewhere will have sunny spells and variable cloud.
Sunday will start dry and bright. It’ll be windy in the afternoon with variable cloud and scattered showers, mainly in the north and west, merging into longer spells of rain at times.
