6:38 am, July 17, 2023
Sunak to face crunch by-elections as Tories battle to keep seats
By-elections this week threaten to cause misery for prime minister Rishi Sunak, as the Conservatives battle to save seats in three crunch local polls.
All eyes in Westminster will be on the by-elections in Uxbridge and South Ruislip, Selby and Ainsty as well as Somerton and Frome on Thursday, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats both hoping to inflict blows on the Tories.
It could be a drama-filled end to a parliamentary term not short on political theatrics, with the Uxbridge and Selby polls triggered amid the fall-out of Boris Johnson’s furious reaction to the Privileges Committee investigation and the row over his resignation honours list.
Government set to break promise of 40 new hospitals by 2030 – report
The government is on track to break a key promise to build 40 new hospitals by 2030, a report by the public spending watchdog has found.
Delays to projects mean the target is unlikely to be met, with work on buildings in the second cohort of the scheme yet to have started as of May, the National Audit Office said.
Critics branded the findings ‘utterly damning’ and accused the government of ‘woeful progress’ despite having tried to ‘move the goalposts’ to meet the deadline.
Hospital consultants announce fresh strikes in pay dispute
Hospital consultants have announced fresh strikes in the long-running dispute over pay in the NHS.
The British Medical Association (BMA) said consultants in England, who will strike on Thursday and Friday this week, will also walk out on August 24 and 25.
The BMA said its announcement was in response to the ‘overnment imposing ‘another real-terms pay cut’ on doctors last week. BMA leaders said the pay award amounted to a ‘derisory, sub-inflation” increase of less than six per cent for consultants, once all elements of pay were considered.
Prospects of UK-US free trade agreement ‘very low’, says business secretary
The chances of the UK securing a free trade agreement (FTA) with the United States are ‘very low’, according to the business secretary.
Kemi Badenoch said the change of administration from Donald Trump to Joe Biden following the 2020 US election is the reason why the UK has not made progress on such a deal.
Conservative MPs have described an FTA with the US as the ‘greatest prize of all’ and the ability to strike new trade deals, particularly with the US, was a key promise of the Brexit campaign.
Government announces student numbers cap for ‘rip-off’ university degrees
Rishi Sunak has announced plans to cap the number of students that can be accepted on to ‘poor quality’ university degrees.
Limits will be imposed on courses that have high dropout rates or a low proportion of graduates getting a professional job, the government said.
Critics argue the plans are a rehash of previous policy announcements and will make it harder for young people to pursue their aspirations. The maximum fee that can be charged for classroom-based foundation year courses will also be reduced to £5,760 – down from £9,250 currently – under the measures.
Johnson resignation honours ‘brought into question’ Lords appointments process
Boris Johnson’s controversial resignation honours list has ‘brought into question’ the current appointments system for creating new peers, according to a House of Lords report.
A cross-party committee of senior peers said the former prime minister ‘showed no interest’ in reducing the number of peers during his three years in office and that the number of new appointments he made ‘far exceeded’ the target set by the upper House.
The panel also noted that peerages were ‘granted predominantly to members of his own party’ by the former Conservative leader.
‘Hugely disappointing for top football clubs to have gambling logos on shirts’
Gambling company logos will be carried on the shirts of nine Premier League clubs for the upcoming season in a move branded ‘hugely disappointing’.
A charity said it ‘beggars belief that top-tier clubs are still taking money from companies that exploit vulnerable fans’, after analysing the new kits for the 2023/24 season.
Seven clubs will have gambling companies as their main shirt sponsor – namely Aston Villa, Bournemouth, Brentford, Burnley, Everton, Fulham, and West Ham – while Crystal Palace and Wolves will carry logos on the shirt sleeves.
Elon Musk says Twitter is losing cash due to heavy debt and drop in advertising
Elon Musk has said Twitter is losing cash because advertising has dropped by half.
In a reply to a tweet offering business advice, the billionaire tweeted on Saturday: ‘We’re still negative cash flow, due to (about a) 50 per cent drop in advertising revenue plus heavy debt load. Need to reach positive cash flow before we have the luxury of anything else.’
Ever since he took over Twitter in a 44bn US dollar (£33.6bn) deal last autumn, Musk has tried to reassure advertisers concerned about the ousting of top executives, widespread lay-offs and a different approach to content moderation.
Weather
A day of patchy cloud, sunshine and showers, reports BBC Weather. The south-east might see some thundery showers, while cloud will be thicker in Scotland. A breezy day with highs of 22 degrees celsius.
Rain will clear leaving a dry night for most. Cloud will drift into Northern Ireland and the south-west later.
