6:37 am, December 16, 2022
More misery on rail network after talks fail to resolve dispute
Commuters face more travel misery today as railway workers launch a fresh strike after talks failed to resolve a bitter dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union will walk out for 48 hours, crippling services across the country.
The latest stoppage will hit 14 companies and Network Rail. Passengers are being urged to only travel if necessary. Services will start later and finish earlier, with some areas having no trains.
£9bn dodged in tax during pandemic
Tax dodging and non-compliance during the pandemic cost the government £9bn, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has found.
HM Revenue & Customs moved 1,350 tax compliance staff to Covid support schemes, reducing its capacity to investigate people and businesses not paying the right amount, according to the National Audit Office.
Before the pandemic, tax from compliance work was, on average, 5.2 per cent of total HMRC revenues. This dropped to 4.2 per cent between 2020 and 2022 – a £9bn drop – as HMRC paused many inquiries into suspected non-compliance.
Interest rates rise to new 14-year high
The Bank of England eased its foot off the accelerator yesterday as it raised interest rates to a 14-year high.
The Monetary Policy Committee chose to increase the rate from three per cent to 3.5 per cent – slightly less than the 0.75 percentage point increase announced a month ago.
Rates have been raised at every meeting since late last year when they were 0.1 per cent, as the Bank tries to get inflation under control.
Twitter suspends accounts of journalists who wrote about Elon Musk
Twitter yesterday suspended the accounts of journalists who cover the social media platform and new owner Elon Musk, including reporters working for The New York Times, Washington Post and CNN.
Neither the company nor Musk gave any explanation as to why it took down the accounts and made their profiles and past tweets disappear.
The sudden suspension followed Musk’s decision on Wednesday to permanently ban an account that automatically tracked the flights of his private jet using publicly available data.
Virgin Atlantic to operate ‘world’s first net zero transatlantic flight’
Virgin Atlantic will operate the world’s first ‘net zero’ transatlantic flight, the Department for Transport has announced.
The airline has secured £1m of government funding to fly a Boeing 787 from London Heathrow to New York JFK next year using sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) instead of kerosene.
Virgin Atlantic and its partners are putting in similar funding. The SAF is expected to be produced mainly from waste oil and fats, such as used cooking oil.
Ex-Culture Club drummer runs up £1m costs in battle with former bandmates
Culture Club founding member Jon Moss has racked up £1m in legal costs as part of an ongoing High Court dispute with his former bandmates over the group’s profits, a judge was told.
The drummer is bringing a legal challenge against lead singer Boy George, guitarist Roy Hay and bassist Michael Craig, after allegedly being ‘expelled’ by their manager in 2018 following 37 years together.
A six-day trial due in March will determine the value of the Culture Club name, profits made by the band since Moss’s alleged ‘expulsion’ and the amount he is entitled to receive. It’ll also cover his claim to an ‘outstanding balance’ of $246,000 (circa £188,000) under the terms of an agreement over its 2018 Life Tour.
Nissan celebrates 250,000th EV production milestone with Leaf-powered Christmas lights
Nissan has commemorated the production of its 250,000th electric vehicle at its Sunderland plant with a Christmas light display powered entirely by the firm’s Leaf.
The EV, which has been built there for more than a decade, is using its power reserves to light up the display via vehicle-to-grid technology, with Nissan saying this shows the extra ability of an EV.
The display has lights on a 32ft Christmas tree and model reindeer – all powered by the car.
Thursday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Stellantis chief Paul Willcox speaks out after car dealers reveal firm’s ‘shocking behaviour’
- Cazoo sells Spanish subscription business
- Hendy announces massive rise in profits for 2021
- Nearly half of people still don’t recognise Kia’s new badge almost two years after it was launched
- Car finance industry sees monthly growth as buyers look for alternative ways to pay for cars
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 69.76 points down yesterday at 7,426.17. The Cac 40 was down 208.02 points at 6,522.77, the Dax was down 473.97 points at 13,986.23 and the Dow Jones was down 764.13 points at 33,202.22.
Weather outlook
Sleet and snow will feed into areas of Scotland and Northern Ireland today, while the south-west will have the occasional shower, says BBC Weather.
Elsewhere will be mainly sunny and dry, although the south-east will start off with some fog and mist.
Saturday will see more showers, wintry at times, and mainly in northern England and western Britain. Elsewhere will be drier, with one or two showers and some sun, but becoming breezy.
