6:55 am, February 28, 2023
Sunak hails ‘decisive breakthrough’ on post-Brexit rules for Northern Ireland
Rishi Sunak has said his ‘decisive breakthrough’ on post-Brexit rules will remove trade barriers for Northern Ireland and give the UK a ‘veto’ on EU law as he seeks the backing of unionists.
The Prime Minister hailed the controversially named ‘Windsor Framework’ as marking a ‘new chapter’ on relations with Brussels that he hopes will restore powersharing in Stormont.
But European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the replacement to the Northern Ireland Protocol still includes a role for the European Court of Justice – a key issue for the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP).
Nissan accelerates shift to electric vehicles
Nissan is speeding up its shift toward electric vehicles, especially in Europe where emissions regulations are most stringent, the company said.
The Japanese carmaker said in a statement that it will make practically all its offerings in Europe electric or series-hybrids by fiscal 2026, at 98 per cent.
That is up from the previous target of 75 per cent.
Ofgem lowers energy price cap but bills still expected to rise for households
Ofgem is lowering its energy price cap – the amount suppliers are able to charge – from the current £4,279 per year to £3,280 for the average household, effective from April 1, it has announced.
The regulator said the reduction of almost £1,000 reflects recent falls in wholesale energy prices.
However, domestic energy bills are still set to rise by an average of £500 a year despite the reduction as the government’s support for households becomes more limited.
Drivers leasing new electric cars ‘overcharged’ by hundreds of pounds each month
Drivers leasing new electric cars are being overcharged by hundreds of pounds each month, according to a report.
Clean transport campaign group Transport & Environment accused leasing companies of failing to reflect the strong resale value of cleaner cars when setting their prices.
Charges are typically based on a vehicle’s expected depreciation over the period of the contract, which is often three or four years.
European stocks jump higher as investors upbeat over post-Brexit deal
European markets and the pound jumped higher after Rishi Sunak hailed his ‘decisive breakthrough’ on post-Brexit rules and confirmed trade borders in the Irish Sea have been removed.
The FTSE 100 closed 56.45 points higher, or 0.72 per cent, at 7,935.11.
The German Dax jumped by 1.13 per cent and the French Cac surged by 1.51 per cent at close.
Monday’s Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Arnold Clark snaps up Cazoo sites in Northampton and Chertsey in ‘£10.5m deal’
- Still ‘unclear’ whether car dealers will be able to make money via agency sales – expert
- Hendy marks top employees at special gala night
- Australian start-up completes takeover of Britishvolt and pledges to build Blyth gigafactory
- Used car dealer’s MOT tester ‘forced’ to issue fraudulent certificates after being given ‘kicking’
- Report warns drivers could miss out on £9bn of electric car savings unless government ramps up EV roll out
- Here’s the way to unlock dealers’ key problems
Supermarket bosses meeting food minister over fruit and veg shortage
Food minister Mark Spencer has summoned supermarket chiefs to explain ‘what they are doing to get shelves stocked again’ amid shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables.
The meeting comes as consumers continue to face, at best, buying restrictions on certain fresh produce items such as tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers or even bare shelves as retailers grapple with supply problems.
Spencer said: ‘The current situation – caused by recent poor weather in North Africa – shows how dependent we can be on certain trade routes for some types of food.’
Diesel drivers ‘have every right to feel hard done by’ over fuel prices
Drivers are being charged 20p per litre more for diesel than petrol despite there being little difference in the fuels’ wholesale prices, according to new analysis.
The RAC urged retailers to cut diesel pump prices to ‘fairer levels’ which reflect costs.
It found that diesel’s wholesale price – the amount that retailers pay for fuel – was just 6p per litre more than petrol last week.
‘One of a kind’ Betty Boothroyd, first woman Commons Speaker, dies
Baroness Betty Boothroyd, the first woman to be elected Speaker of the House of Commons, has died at 93.
The current Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle paid tribute to Lady Boothroyd as “one of a kind”.
She became the first woman to be elected Commons Speaker in the more than 700-year history of the role in April 1992, staying on until October 2000.
Teachers to stage fresh strikes in dispute over pay
Tens of thousands of teachers across England and Wales will strike over three days this week in the long-running dispute over pay.
Teachers will walk out across the north of England on Tuesday with the majority of schools expected to either restrict access to some pupils or fully close, the National Education Union (NEU) has said.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has called strike action ‘unforgivable’, adding that children deserve to be in class, especially after the pandemic.
Weather outlook…
This morning, much of the UK will turn increasingly cloudy and scattered showers will push into eastern and southern areas. It will be drier in the west, with wintry sunshine in north-west Scotland, the BBC reports.
Tonight, skies will remain quite clear towards north-western Scotland. Clear spells will also develop by the early hours in the far south-east. Largely cloudy elsewhere with a few spots of light rain.
Tomorrow, swathes of north-west Scotland will continue dry with bright spells, with the far south of England seeing some bright periods. The rest of the UK will be mostly cloudy with isolated showers.
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