6:44 am, February 7, 2023
NHS facing ‘incredibly disrupted week’
The NHS is preparing for further disruption to services as nurses walk out again in their bitter dispute over pay.
Health leaders said the service is anticipating an ‘incredibly disrupted week’ as it faces strikes by nurses, ambulance staff and physiotherapists.
Monday saw the largest strike in NHS history as tens of thousands of workers in England staged walkouts, including members of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) alongside GMB and Unite paramedics, call handlers and other staff at ambulance trusts. More upheaval is expected on Tuesday as nurses continue their strike action.
Sunak to unveil mini reshuffle as he looks to appoint Tory chair – reports
Rishi Sunak is reportedly planning to announce a mini reshuffle of his Cabinet as soon as Tuesday.
The potential overhaul could be ‘relatively limited’, with a ‘domino’ effect caused by the naming of a successor for Nadhim Zahawi, The Times reported, citing a government source.
The newspaper reported that a Whitehall shake-up is also on the cards, with Sunak considering breaking up the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy into separate ministries.
BBC chairman to be grilled by MPs amid questions over Boris Johnson loan
BBC chairman Richard Sharp faces a grilling by MPs after the disclosure that he helped Boris Johnson secure a loan of up to £800,000 before the then-prime minister backed his appointment to lead the broadcaster.
Sharp will appear before the Commons Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) Committee on Tuesday morning to face questions on his involvement in Johnson’s financial affairs before getting the job.
The cross-party panel of MPs is set to challenge him over his apparent failure to tell them about the arrangement at his pre-appointment hearing in January 2021.
Rapist Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick faces life sentence
Rapist Metropolitan Police officer David Carrick is facing a life sentence after committing ‘violent and brutal sexual offences’ against a dozen women.
Carrick, who joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with the Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009, pleaded guilty to 49 charges, including 24 counts of rape.
Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb is expected to sentence Carrick, 48, from Stevenage, Hertfordshire, at Southwark Crown Court on Tuesday.
Death toll from earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria rises to more than 4,000
The death toll surged past 4,000 as rescuers in Turkey and Syria worked overnight to find more survivors of the 7.8 magnitude earthquake that hit the region early on Monday.
Survivors cried out for help from within mountains of debris as first responders contended with rain and snow.
The quake, which was centered in Turkey’s south-eastern province of Kahramanmaras, sent residents of Damascus and Beirut rushing into the street and was felt as far away as Cairo.
Labour: Government has ’10 days to act’ to avoid bus cuts
There are just ’10 days to act’ to avoid bus services being slashed across England, Labour has warned.
The government’s current funding deal to keep services running despite the fall in demand sparked by the coronavirus pandemic expires at the end of March. But operators planning to cancel or change routes are required to give six weeks of notice, meaning they are keen for a new agreement to be secured by February 17.
Labour’s analysis, based on figures from the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), show more than 1,600 routes could be cut this spring, leaving England with fewer than 10,000 routes for the first time since records began in 2002.
Retailers suffer disappointing January as consumers brace for more bill rises
Retailers have suffered a disappointing January as consumers kept a tight rein on spending ahead of another round of household price rises.
Total UK retail sales increased by 4.2 per cent in January – less than half the 11.9 per cent rise seen a year earlier and below the three-month average growth of 5.2 per cent, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC)-KPMG retail sales monitor. And even the meagre rise in sales masked a significant drop in volumes, taking into account historically record levels of inflation.
Sales of clothing continued to prop up the high street, with men’s clothes and shoes the strongest category in January, while energy efficient appliances remained a top purchase for consumers.
UK digital currency ‘likely to be needed’, say Treasury and Bank of England
A state-backed ‘digital pound’ could be launched later this decade as the Bank of England and Treasury set out a road map to potentially introduce a new central bank currency.
The Bank and the government will formally start a consultation for the digital currency on Tuesday.
The bodies said that a digital pound, which would be issued by the Bank of England, is ‘likely to be needed in the future’ as use of cash and cards continues to change. Nevertheless, the consultation and research process does not mean the central bank digital currency (CBDC) will definitely be issued, with the decision due to take place at a later stage.
Google launching own AI chatbot following success of Microsoft-backed ChatGPT
Google is launching its own artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot following the success of Microsoft-backed ChatGPT.
The company said the product, named Bard, will be released to the public in the coming weeks and will provide written answers to questions in split seconds.
AI will also ‘soon’ be integrated into the company’s search engine to provide written answers to search queries in addition to links to relevant webpages, images and videos.
We interview AI bot ChatGPT about the UK used car market – here’s what it had to say
Monday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Revealed: The used electric cars that DROPPED the most in value in January
- GWM Ora expands dealer network with Charles Hurst, Chorley Group and City West Country
- Cinch and Cazoo were behind Auto Sportiva’s decision to go after luxury market, boss tells Car Dealer Podcast
- New car market grows for sixth month in a row in best start to a year since before Covid
- New van market begins 2023 with growth of more than a quarter
- Shoreham Vehicle Auctions tips influx of Chinese brands to kickstart UK new car supply
- Cox Automotive backs UK’s new car market to improve in 2023 but agency sales could impact numbers
Lamborghini bids V12 engine farewell with pair of new supercars
Lamborghini has called time on its famous naturally-aspirated V12 engine with a pair of one-off supercars.
The Invencible coupe and Autentica roadster both use the Italian firm’s 12-cylinder 6.5-litre naturally-aspirated V12 which has become a calling card in many of Lamborghini’s famous models, but against tightening emissions regulations is being discontinued..
In both one-off vehicles, the V12 produces 769bhp, which sends that power to all four wheels via a seven-speed gearbox. Lamborghini is expected to unveil its next-generation hybrid supercar ‘in the coming weeks’.
Weather outlook
Most of the UK will be waking up to mist this morning, reports BBC Weather, but this will clear leaving a day of bright winter sunshine for the southern half of the country. Northern parts will have variable cloud with patchy rain.
Cloud and light rain will linger across central areas tonight. It’ll be clear in the north and south, and fog will develop later on in southern regions.
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