6:53 am, August 23, 2022
UK inflation to breach 18 per cent due to energy price surge, Citi warns
UK inflation is on course to breach 18 per cent at the start of 2023 due to skyrocketing energy bills, according to new forecasts by economists at Citi.
Experts forecast that Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation will reach 18.6 per cent in January, which would represent the highest rate for almost half a century.
Last month, CPI inflation struck a new 40-year-high of 10.1 per cent.
Musk subpoenas former Twitter chief executive Dorsey
Elon Musk has subpoenaed his friend and former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey as part of an effort to back out of his $44bn (£37bn) agreement to acquire the company Mr Dorsey helped found, according to a court document.
Twitter and Tesla chief executive Mr Musk are heading for an October 17 trial in Delaware that should determine whether or not Twitter can force the billionaire to go through with the acquisition.
Twitter has subpoenaed a host of tech investors and entrepreneurs connected to Mr Musk, including prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen and David Sacks, the founding chief operating officer of PayPal.
‘Difficult to see how many will cope’ this winter as energy price cap soars
It is ‘difficult to see how many will cope’ this winter, energy experts said, as a final prediction suggested the energy price cap will have tripled in just a year by October.
Cornwall Insight said households will face an 80 per cent rise in bills going into the winter period when energy use soars.
It is the final forecast from the consultancy before regulator Ofgem announces the new price cap on Friday, which will come into effect on October 1 and last until the end of the year.
Felixstowe dockers ‘relying on food banks’ as port strike reaches second day
Dockers striking at Britain’s largest container port have said they are relying on food banks and struggling to make mortgage payments as the cost-of-living crisis intensifies.
Almost 2,000 workers walked out from the site in Felixstowe, Suffolk, on Sunday for the first time in 30 years as pay negotiations broke down between the port and trade union Unite.
In scenes which some compared to a party, strikers gathered on a roundabout near the port on Monday to call for a 10 per cent pay rise, which would keep wages roughly in line with inflation.
Read more about the strike here.
Liz Truss’s £235m cut to Environment Agency ‘doubled sewage discharge’ – Labour
Liz Truss presided over ‘efficiency savings’ during her time as Environment Secretary that significantly slashed funding for the Environment Agency and resulted in ‘doubled sewage discharge’, Labour has claimed.
Labour Party analysis of official figures shows that since 2016, when the Tory leadership hopeful was in charge of DEFRA – raw sewage discharge more than doubled from 14.7 per overflow in 2016 to 29.3 in 2021.
This coincided with her cutting £80m of sewage monitors as part of a £235m Tory axe to the Environment Agency’s budget, which she branded ‘efficiency savings’.
Global markets suffering losses against UK inflation panic
Global stocks suffered losses Monday with warnings of ‘stratospheric’ cost-of-living rises in the UK making waves across the major markets.
The FTSE 100 was trading 16.58 points lower, or 0.22 per cent, at 7,533.79 when markets closed on Monday.
The Dax was down 2.32 per cent when markets closed. While the French Cac index also suffered losses and was down 1.8 per cent at the end of the day.
Monday’s Car Dealer headlines that you might have missed
- Woman killed in horrific crash that sees Tesla Centre closed indefinitely
- Sign in for early access: Car Dealer 174 features an in-depth look at Auto Trader, a High Court ruling that could spell trouble for dealers – and lots more!
- Bowker Mini staff and customers join forces to clean up river and prevent erosion
- Bentley’s new limited-edition Batur offers peek at new styling direction for manufacturer
- New car market facing further delays after port workers in Felixstowe walk out on strike
- Motor industry’s reputation ‘is being harmed by supply chain delays’
- Dealer group Furrows sees profits leap by more than 500 per cent in ‘exceptional’ 2021
Video of ‘mooning’ crook issued as cops hunt for tool theft gang
A police force has released video footage of a getaway driver mooning at witnesses through a car window while his accomplice swiped tools from a nearby van.
Officers hope the ‘bare-faced cheek’ of the crook will help identify thieves who took items valued at around £600 from a van parked in Fred Lee Grove, Coventry, the morning of August 11.
The men, who smashed a window to gain access to the van, are believed to be part of a wider group that has targeted more than 40 tradespeople across Coventry in recent weeks using vehicles on cloned registration plates.
Government under fire for doing ‘nothing’ to resolve industrial disputes
The Government has been accused of doing ‘absolutely nothing’ to resolve industrial disputes as it emerged the Justice Secretary was on holiday while criminal barristers voted for an all-out strike.
Members of the Criminal Bar Association (CBA) have been walking out on alternate weeks in a row over jobs and pay but were balloted on whether to escalate the action with an indefinite, uninterrupted strike that would start in England and Wales on September 5.
The continuous strike effectively begins next week because the action is ongoing. Friday will be the last working day for barristers before they walk out again on Tuesday August 30.
Average car insurance premium rises by £51 year-on-year
The average car insurance premium has risen by £51 year-on-year in the second quarter of 2022, according to new research.
Comparethemarket’s Premium Drivers research has found that the average annual motor premium now comes in at £704, compared with £653 in the same three-month period in 2021.
The increase makes it the most expensive quarterly average for insurance since the fourth quarter of 2020 when it stood at £724.
‘Time to pay the price’ for Ryan Giggs, prosecutor tells court
The truth has caught up with Ryan Giggs and ‘it’s time to pay the price’, jurors at his trial have been told.
In his closing speech at Manchester Crown Court, prosecutor Peter Wright QC reiterated there were ‘two very different Ryan Giggs’.
He said: ‘The one who is exposed for public consumption and the Ryan Giggs who exists on occasion behind closed doors.’
Koenigsegg celebrates 20th anniversary with CC850
Koenigsegg has created a ‘reimagined’ version of its first production car as a celebration of its 20th anniversary.
Called the CC850, it’s a fresh take on Koenigsegg’s CC8S. While the exterior might be quite similar to that of the original, the CC850’s underpinnings and powertrain have been substantially modernised.
It’s powered by a 5.0-litre twin-turbocharged V8 engine capable of delivering up to 1,366bhp and 1,385Nm of torque. With a kerb weight of just 1,385kg, the CC850 has the same 1:1 power-to-weight ratio as Koenigsegg’s ONE:1 model.
Amber traffic warning for bank holiday getaway
An amber traffic warning has been issued for this weekend as an estimated 15m bank holiday leisure trips are planned.
The AA published the alert because it expects 45 per cent of UK drivers to embark on at least one non-commuting journey between Friday and Monday.
Families returning from summer holidays before the start of the new school year will battle for road space with festivalgoers and people embarking on day trips.
Weather outlook
Today will see cloudy skies in west England and Wales with scattered showers, these falling heavy at times. Sunshine, variable cloud and isolated showers elsewhere. The BBC is predicting a warm day in the south-east.
Tonight will see mostly cloudy skies across many areas will scattered showers. Clear spells developing in northern and eastern Scotland. Heavy rain moving into Wales and the south-west towards dawn.
Tomorrow, a band of heavy, showery rain will lie over south-west England, Wales and the midlands. Sunshine developing elsewhere in the UK, but rain will move into west Scotland later on. Expect a warm day.
