6:52 am, January 6, 2023
Rail passengers face fourth day of travel disruption due to strikes
Rail passengers face a fourth consecutive day of travel disruption on Friday because of a strike by thousands of workers in a dispute over jobs, pay and conditions.
Services will be crippled by the walkout by members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) at Network Rail and 14 train operators.
The action will last for 48 hours and follows a stoppage on Thursday by train drivers in the Aslef union which caused widespread disruption.
Nurses’ union suggests government meet it halfway on 19 per cent pay rise demand
The Royal College of Nursing could be willing to accept a 10 per cent pay rise, with the union’s leader calling on the government to meet it ‘halfway’.
The general secretary of the Royal College for Nursing (RCN), Pat Cullen, has previously said the union’s demand for a 19 per cent rise, dismissed by the government as ‘unaffordable’, is simply a ‘starting point’, and that she would put any new offer to her members.
The PA news agency understands the union could be willing to accept a pay rise of about 10 per cent.
Health secretary to sign cancer treatments deal with leading pharmaceutical company
Research into new cancer treatments could be sped up by a government deal with a leading pharmaceutical company, the Health Secretary has said.
Health secretary Steve Barclay is due to sign a memorandum of understanding with BioNTech on Friday, to ‘ensure the best possible treatments are available as soon as possible’ for cancer.
The agreement means cancer patients in England will get early access to trials exploring personalised mRNA therapies, like cancer vaccines, possibly from as early as autumn this year.
Met Police chief says London is ‘fantastically safe’ city
Metropolitan Police commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has described London as a ‘fantastically safe’ city as the force announced a drop in homicide rates last year.
The head of Britain’s biggest police force said the capital is a place to ‘live, work and enjoy yourself’ as he visited a boxing gym in Ilford, east London, on Thursday.
It came as the force promised it was cracking down on offences targeting youngsters, releasing figures which showed the number of teenage killings halved in 2022.
Russia’s 36-hour ceasefire plan will do nothing for peace, says James Cleverly
Moscow’s plans for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday period will ‘do nothing to advance the prospects for peace’, the UK’s foreign secretary has said.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has ordered Moscow’s armed forces to observe the 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend, when the Russian Orthodox Church, which uses the ancient Julian calendar, celebrates Christmas on January 7.
Cleverly responded on Twitter by reiterating his call for Russia to permanently withdraw its forces and relinquish territory it has taken from Ukraine.
Volkswagen is best-selling brand in UK
Annual registrations figures released yesterday (Jan 5) by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders revealed Volkswagen was 2022’s best-selling car brand.
The German firm registered 131,850 cars last year putting it at the top of the table, and giving it a market share of 8.17 per cent.
The Golf remains the brand’s top-seller while the ID.3 appeared in fourth place in the top 10 list of best-selling EVs.
Fuel price reductions in December ‘should have been far bigger’ – RAC
A reduction in fuel prices last month ‘should have been far bigger’, according to new analysis.
The RAC said the average price of petrol in the UK fell by 8.4p per litre in December to 151.1p, while the price of diesel dropped by 9.4p per litre to 174.0p. This came after fuel prices decreased by around 6p per litre in November.
But the RAC claimed that wholesale prices mean a litre of petrol and diesel should have been around 11p and 14p cheaper at the end of 2022 respectively. This was even allowing for a retailer profit margin of 10p per litre, which is 3p more than the long-term average.
2022 ‘second greenest year on record’ for Britain’s electricity grid
The electricity produced in Britain was close to the greenest it has ever been last year, second only to the pandemic, when demand was lower than usual.
New data from the grid operator showed that in 2022 Britain had the greenest day and month on record, and wind power hit new highs.
For every unit of electricity produced in Great Britain last year, 182 grams of carbon equivalent was released into the atmosphere, just one gram more than in 2020.
Peloton to pay £16m in fines over dangerous treadmill defect
Exercise equipment maker Peloton Interactive has agreed to pay roughly 19m dollars (£16m) in fines related to its delay in reporting a defect for its treadmills that caused one death and multiple injuries, the US federal consumer watchdog said.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) said the fine resolves the agency’s charges that Peloton knowingly failed to immediately report to the commission as required by law that its Tread+ treadmill contained a defect that could create a substantial product hazard and created an ‘unreasonable risk of serious injury to consumers’.
The civil penalty also settles charges that Peloton knowingly distributed recalled treadmills in violation of the Consumer Product Safety Act. The commission noted that beginning in December 2018 and continuing into 2019, Peloton received more than 150 reports of incidents where users were pulled under or entrapped. They included the death of a child and 13 injuries, including broken bones, lacerations, abrasions and friction burns.
Thursday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- British-built Nissan Qashqai takes number one spot – but 2022 new car sales tumble to 30-year low
- Rail strikes could spell good news for car dealers, new Auto Trader research suggests
- New van registrations fall by more than a fifth over the year
- Which carmakers were the biggest losers in 2022?
- BMW offers glimpse into the future with i Vision Dee concept
- From cars to kebabs? Former showroom could become Turkish restaurant
- York couple to tie the knot after getting engaged during vehicle handover at Bristol Street Motors dealership
- Afeela electric car brand unveiled by Honda and Sony
- Volkswagen releases more teaser images of ID.7 electric saloon with model set for 435-mile range
Number of independent bookshops in UK and Ireland reaches 10-year high
The number of independent bookshops in the UK and Ireland has reached a 10-year high following an ‘astonishing’ number of new entrants to bookselling during the pandemic.
The Booksellers Association (BA), which represents both chain and independent bookshops, said its annual membership survey indicated the number of independent bookshops had grown for the sixth consecutive year.
BA membership grew from 1,027 shops in 2021 to 1,072 at the end of 2022. It marks the highest number of independent bookshops in BA membership in a decade, it said.
WhatsApp to allow people to connect to app even during internet shutdowns
WhatsApp will allow users to connect to the messaging app via proxy servers for the first time to allow users to stay online even when an internet shutdown or block is in place.
The Meta-owned site said it had taken the decision in response to internet shutdowns seen in countries such as Iran in recent months, which the company said ‘deny people’s human rights and cut people off from receiving urgent help’.
A new feature within WhatsApp’s settings will allow users to enter the name of a proxy server and use it to connect to the internet.
Weather outlook
A dry and bright start for most, reports BBC Weather. Cloud will gather in the west later on today, with the odd shower possible.
A mild night is in store for the vast majority of the UK. Northern and western areas will see cloud and increasing winds.
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