6:57 am, December 12, 2022
Government to hold Cobra meeting as it faces widespread strikes
Plans for military staff and civil servants to cover for striking workers in the coming weeks will be discussed at a Cobra meeting on Monday.
The country is set to be hit by a wave of strikes over the coming weeks as Royal Mail staff, nurses, paramedics, rail employees and Border Force officials all stage walkouts over jobs, pay and conditions.
The meeting of Cobra (civil contingencies committee) on Monday will be led by chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Oliver Dowden and attended by transport, health, home office and defence ministers. Another meeting is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, as the government aims to avoid scenes of widespread disruption.
Four children critical in hospital while search continues at frozen lake
Four children are in critical condition in hospital after being pulled from an icy lake in cardiac arrest, while a search operation continues amid fears two more children were involved in the incident.
Emergency services were called to Babbs Mill Park in Kingshurst, a nature park in Solihull, at 2.36pm on Sunday, with reports from the scene and social media indicating that children had been playing on the ice and had fallen through into the lake.
Local fire, police and ambulance chiefs told a press conference on Sunday evening that four children were rescued from the water in cardiac arrest and taken to hospital in a critical condition.
Jersey explosion death toll rises to five with four more people feared missing
Five people are confirmed to have died following an explosion at a block of flats in the Jersey capital.
States of Jersey Police gave an updated death toll on Sunday evening as specialist teams continued the recovery operation on Pier Road, St Helier.
The force estimated that four more people are also likely to be recovered from the wreckage of the three-storey Haut du Mont residential block, which was destroyed in the blast at 4am on Saturday.
Hospital in England pays £5,200 for doctor’s agency shift
Hospitals in England have paid up to £5,200 for a single agency doctor shift, amid growing pressure on the NHS.
Labour said that the figure, which the party obtained through a freedom of information request, shows the extent of the staffing crisis facing English hospitals.
It shared figures showing that the NHS has been forced to spend billions of pounds on doctors and nurses, provided by agencies, to staff under pressure hospital trusts. The most expensive shift was £5,234, the party said, and was paid by a trust in the north of England.
Labour calls on Raab to abandon Bill of Rights plan
Labour have urged Dominic Raab to abandon plans to replace the Human Rights Act with a new Bill of Rights.
The justice secretary had introduced the controversial Bill during his first stint in office but it was then shelved by Liz Truss’s short-lived government.
Shadow justice secretary Steve Reed and shadow Northern Ireland secretary Peter Kyle, in a letter to Raab, urged him to ‘scrap’ the plan. The pair warn that it would have a detrimental impact on the UK justice system, prevent the conviction of foreign terrorists and upset the foundation for the Good Friday Agreement.
Listen to the latest Car Dealer Podcast
Chorley Group’s Adam Turner joins Jon Reay and James Batchelor to discuss last week’s headlines
Weekend Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Motor trade in far stronger shape for recession compared with financial crash of 2008 – Auto Trader
- Sources claim Apple is scaling back self-driving car plans with vehicle unlikely to appear before 2026
- Shanty Christmas to you! Dealership sales director helps raise money for RNLI with group’s festive nautical song
- Mazda completes 1,000-mile UK road trip using fossil-free fuel
- New Hyundai Ioniq 6 electric coupe-saloon is priced from £46,745
- Guy Perry to bring Citroen and Peugeot showrooms under one roof
- Revealed: The 10 used cars tipped to rise in value in 2023
Banks not moving fast enough to tackle climate and nature crises – campaigners
Major European banks must do more to tackle the climate crisis, cut emissions and safeguard the world’s vital natural systems, campaigners have warned.
A report from ShareAction, which campaigns for responsible investment, assessed the 25 top banks in Europe and their approaches to climate change and nature loss. It says that while there have been some improvements since the last survey in 2020, crucial gaps remain which should be urgently closed.
Despite all 25 banks committing their businesses to be net zero by 2050 – ensuring they have cut carbon pollution to zero overall by that date – the analysis suggests they are not doing enough to avert the climate crisis. Very few banks are addressing the nature crisis, with targets for protecting and restoring biodiversity almost non-existent and limited integration of the issue in policies, it says.
Majestic freezes prices for pubs, restaurants and bars
Wine retailer Majestic has frozen prices for pubs, bars and restaurants until at least the spring as rising costs continue to put pressure on the hospitality sector.
The hospitality industry is facing a key winter period amid surges in energy costs, pressure on consumer budgets and other disruptions such as industrial action.
Majestic, which serves thousands of venues through its commercial business, has pledged to freeze on-trade prices until April 2023 in an effort to combat uncertainty for business customers.
Weather outlook
Another cold day with clear skies across the south-east, reports BBC Weather. Wintry showers will persist in coastal areas in the south-east, north and west.
Variable cloud and dry for most of England and Wales, although in the far north a band of wintry cloud will push southwards.
