6:31 am, August 15, 2023
Government hands NHS £250m in bid to tackle waiting times
The government has revealed plans to pump £250m into the NHS in a bid to boost capacity and tackle record waiting lists before winter.
The move will lead to the creation of 900 additional hospital beds and forms part of the Urgent and Emergency Care Recovery plan, which was published in January.
It comes as the four-day walkout by junior doctors in England ends at 7am on Tuesday, although NHS national medical director Professor Sir Stephen Powis said: ‘Industrial action is still causing significant disruption into Tuesday morning and services and staff will need time to recover.’
EU reportedly not open to UK returns agreement to fix the small boats crisis
The European Union has told the UK it is not willing to negotiate a returns agreement for migrants arriving via unauthorised routes, according to reports.
If correct, it would mean Britain is unlikely to be able to return refugees arriving via small boats across the Channel back to France in the near future.
Rishi Sunak has pushed for a bilateral returns agreement with Paris but French president Emmanuel Macron, a close ally of the prime minister, has said any deal must be at an EU level. During the UK-France Summit in March, Macron said any returns mechanism would not be ‘an agreement between the UK and France, but an agreement between the UK and the EU’.
Dissidents have information from data breach, PSNI chief constable says
PSNI chief constable Simon Byrne has said he is confident that information on police officers and staff mistakenly released in a major data breach is in the hands of dissident republicans.
At a press conference in Belfast Byrne said he believed dissidents would use the information to intimidate and target police.
Last week the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) revealed a document had mistakenly been shared online which included the names of about 10,000 officers and staff. Details released included the surname and first initial of every employee, their rank or grade, where they are based and the unit they work in.
RAF jets scrambled to intercept Russian bombers north of Shetland Islands
The RAF has scrambled jets to intercept two Russian bombers travelling north of the Shetland Islands.
The Russian Tu-142 Bear-F and Tu-142 Bear-J maritime patrol aircraft, used for reconnaissance and anti-submarine warfare, were monitored by RAF Typhoons in international air space as they passed north of the UK.
A Voyager tanker was also scrambled and remained airborne for the duration of the mission to offer air-to-air refuelling, according to the Ministry of Defence. The presence of the Voyager meant the Typhoons could remain in the air for the extended period necessary to complete their mission.
Donald Trump and 18 allies indicted in Georgia over 2020 election meddling
Donald Trump and 18 allies have been indicted in Georgia with scheming to overturn his 2020 election loss in the state.
Prosecutors turned to a statute normally associated with mobsters to accuse the former president, lawyers and other top aides in a sweeping criminal conspiracy aimed at keeping him in power.
The 97-page indictment details dozens of acts by Trump and his allies to undo his defeat in the battleground state, including hectoring Georgia’s Republican secretary of state to find enough votes to keep him in power, pestering officials with bogus claims of voter fraud and attempting to persuade Georgia politicians to ignore the will of voters and appoint a new slate of electoral college electors favourable to Trump. It also outlines a scheme to tamper with voting machines in one Georgia county and steal data.
Wilko administrators set Wednesday deadline for potential bidders
Bidders for crisis-stricken retailer Wilko have been given a Wednesday deadline to table offers to buy the firm.
The historic high street chain fell into administration last week, putting the future of its 400 stores and 12,500 workers in jeopardy.
It is understood that administrators from PwC have set the deadline as they quickly seek to strike a deal which could save jobs.
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Cities must look to non-Ulez options to tackle air pollution, Starmer says
Cities should look at other options for tackling air pollution instead of schemes like London’s Ulez (ultra low emission zone), Sir Keir Starmer has suggested.
The Labour leader said no-one in the UK should be ‘breathing dirty air’ but added that proposals for reducing air pollution should not have a disproportionate impact on people’s pockets during the cost-of-living crisis.
London’s Ulez will be expanded to cover the entirety of Greater London from August 29, a move overseen by the city’s Labour mayor Sadiq Khan. Sir Keir has asked Khan to reflect on the policy’s impact following last month’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election result.
Unemployment rate ticks up as wages continue to grow
The rate of UK unemployment increased in the three months to June even as pay grew at the fastest rate since records began, new figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the unemployment rate hit 4.2 per cent during the quarter, up 0.3 percentage points from the previous three-month period.
It is the highest since the three months to October 2021, the ONS said, and brings the measure above pre-pandemic levels.
Ford delays production of electric Explorer until mid-2024
Ford has confirmed it is pushing back production of its new electric Explorer, pictured top, due to new battery regulations.
The Explorer will be the first electric Ford to be made in Europe, with production due to commence this Autumn at its Cologne Electric Vehicle Centre. However, in a statement from the firm, it now says that the Explorer will ‘now be delivered to customers in the summer of 2024’.
Ford’s Cologne facility was the home of the Fiesta, with the firm specifically ending production of its well-loved supermini early in July 2023 in order to be able to produce the Explorer. It’s unclear if jobs are affected.
Weather
A day of sunny spells, patchy cloud and scattered showers, reports BBC Weather. The rain will be heaviest in the north-east, but it will turn drier later on. Warmer today with highs of 24 degrees in the Midlands and the east of England.
Tonight it’ll be mostly dry with clear spells and patchy cloud. The west will see patchy mist and fog, while northern Scotland will see the odd shower.
