6:44 am, August 7, 2023
Bibby Stockholm barge could accept asylum seekers as soon as Monday
The first asylum seekers could be housed on the Bibby Stockholm barge as soon as Monday as ministers push on with the repeatedly delayed plans despite safety concerns.
Around 50 people are expected to be in the first group of migrants to board the vessel docked in Portland Port, Dorset, despite local opposition.
The government is also considering reviving plans to fly people who arrive by unauthorised means 4,000 miles to Ascension Island, according to multiple reports. The proposals to use the British Overseas Territory are apparently being considered by ministers and officials as a ‘plan B’ if the Rwanda scheme fails
Just Stop Oil demands ‘contemptible’, says Starmer
Sir Keir Starmer has said Labour would not tear up the 100 new drilling licences Rishi Sunak plans to grant as he described Just Stop Oil’s demands as ‘contemptible’.
The Labour leader said he would only ban the granting of new licences to explore oil and gas fields in the North Sea as he seeks to give businesses certainty.
Writing in the Times, he sought to distance himself from Just Stop Oil as the Tories attack Labour for accepting £1.5m donations from the campaign group’s backer Dale Vince. Sir Keir criticised their demands to ‘simply turn off the taps’, arguing that it would create ‘chaos’ as existing fields are needed for a managed transition for ‘decades to come’.
Dropping green goals could lose us election, environment secretary warns Tories
Abandoning green policies could cost the Conservatives the next general election, the environment secretary has warned colleagues vying for a rethink of key commitments.
Therese Coffey said the party must show it cares about the environment in order to win, but cautioned it must not be in a way that ‘burdens’ the public.
The Tories’ narrow victory to hold on to Uxbridge and South Ruislip last month has led to calls to rethink the way policies to alleviate the climate crisis are implemented. Rishi Sunak has sought to portray himself as being on the side of ‘motorists’ after London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s Ulez anti-emissions charge was linked to Labour’s failure to win the seat.
Almost 100,000 more pupils could miss out on top A-level grades this year
Almost 100,000 more school leavers could miss out on top A-level grades this year, it has been suggested.
The government has said the number of and A* and A grades awarded in England should fall back to pre-pandemic levels as exams return to normal. However, an education expert predicts they are unlikely to fall back to 2019 levels because teachers developed a ‘taste for awarding top grades’ in some subjects during the pandemic which markers will be ‘reluctant to relinquish’.
Professor Alan Smithers, director of the Centre for Education and Employment Research at the University of Buckingham, suggested 59,154 fewer A* grades and 35,505 fewer A grades will be awarded to sixth-formers this year compared with last year.
Huge vaccine centre launched to bolster UK’s pandemic preparedness
A state-of-the-art vaccine research facility, where scientists will work to ensure future pandemics are stopped in their tracks and do not cause the same disruption to everyday life as Covid-19, has been unveiled by the government.
The Vaccine Development and Evaluation Centre (VDEC) is based at the UK Health and Security Agency (UKHSA) science and defence technology campus Porton Down, near Salisbury in Wiltshire.
Live viruses will be kept on-site in specialist containment facilities, with researchers looking at pathogens that do not yet have a vaccine, or ones where immunisation could be improved, such as flu, mpox or hantavirus.
Higher fees for drivers who pay for parking with cash
A council has sparked widespread anger by introducing higher parking chargers for drivers who pay by cash instead of using a mobile app.
Liberal Democrat-run Sutton Council in south London was urged by the government to reconsider its policy, while the RAC described the measure as ‘discriminatory’.
The local authority increased its car park prices in June for people using machines to pay but froze them for those who use an app or automated telephone line, analysis by the PA news agency found. Following the change, using the borough’s council-owned car parks for an hour costs £3 if paid for at a machine but just £2 via the RingGo app or phone service. The council said this was in response to the rising cost of providing the machines.
Home insurance inflation up to 17.9% on average, analysis shows
Home insurance inflation has risen to an average of 17.9 per cent in the UK, in stark contrast to neighbouring European nations, according to analysis commissioned by the SNP.
The research compiled by the House of Commons Library on behalf of the party analysed the increase from January 2022 to May 2023, while inflation rates in France and Germany averaged 2.8 per cent and 2.6 per cent respectively.
During the same time frame, the UK recorded its highest monthly home insurance inflation rate of 29.9 per cent in November 2022, however, no other European country hit a similar monthly high during the two-year period.
Weekend Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Inverness Volvo undergoing multi-million-pound refurbishment as brand makes switch to agency
- Vertu looks to the future as it welcomes next generation of engineers to Leeds Jaguar Land Rover dealership
- What car dealers need to know about public chargers for electric vehicles
New UK airline says its passengers will ‘feel like a million dollars’
Transatlantic airline passengers are ‘sick and tired’ of their treatment, according to the founder of a new UK carrier pledging to make customers ‘feel like a million dollars’.
Global Airlines is aiming to begin operating between Gatwick and New York JFK by the middle of next year, before launching flights between Gatwick and Los Angeles.
The airline, which will be based at Gatwick, will serve Laurent-Perrier champagne on its flights, and hopes to even offer passengers in economy cabins a free glass, depending on costs. First class ticket holders will benefit from being chauffeur driven to airports and having a “proper social space” onboard planes, founder James Asquith revealed.
Musk says his cage fight with Zuckerberg will be streamed on X
Elon Musk says his potential in-person fight with Mark Zuckerberg would be streamed on his social media site X, formerly known as Twitter.
The two tech billionaires seemingly agreed to a ‘cage match’ face-off in late June.
Zuckerberg is actually trained in mixed martial arts, and the Facebook founder posted about completing his first jiu jitsu tournament earlier this year. On Sunday (Aug 6), Musk wrote in a post: ‘Zuck v Musk fight will be live-streamed on X. All proceeds will go to charity for veterans.’
Weather
Patchy cloud and scattered showers for most today, reports BBC Weather, although Wales and southern England will be drier and sunnier. By the evening sun will take charge but cloud will push into the south-west later on. Highs of 21 degrees in the Midlands.
Showers will persist in Scotland until dawn, meanwhile thick cloud and rain will build in Wales and most of England.
