6:45 am, July 18, 2023
Government crushes late-night challenges to secure passage of small boats law
Controversial plans to tackle the small boats crisis are poised to become law after the government crushed a series of renewed challenges by peers at Westminster.
In a night of drama, the Tory frontbench saw off five further changes being sought by the unelected chamber to the Illegal Migration Bill, including modern slavery protections and child detention limits. At least one other vote was ditched in the face of the government victories.
It marked a shock ending to the parliamentary tussle over the flagship reforms that had threatened to go to the wire ahead of the summer recess.
Peers to grill BBC bosses about governance following Huw Edwards furore
BBC leaders are to be grilled in Parliament about the ‘adequacy’ of the corporation’s governance arrangements following the Huw Edwards furore.
Director-general Tim Davie, acting chairwoman Dame Elan Closs Stephens and policy director Clare Sumner will face a pre-arranged meeting of the House of Lords’ Communications and Digital Committee on Tuesday.
The committee said it would raise issues including ‘in light of recent events, what concerns have been raised about the adequacy of the BBC’s governance arrangements and how it is addressing these’.
UK to open trade negotiations with Turkey
The UK is set to pursue a new trade deal with Turkey in an effort to deepen relations with the country.
Negotiations on an updated free trade agreement are expected to begin in 2024 after the two countries announced on Tuesday that there was scope to improve the existing trade deal.
The current deal, which was rolled over after Brexit, is restricted to trade in goods and UK negotiators will attempt to expand the relationship to cover digital trade and services, reflecting Britain’s status as a predominantly service economy.
Sunak says inflation not falling as rapidly as he would like
Rishi Sunak has acknowledged that inflation is not coming down as quickly as he would like.
He has made halving consumer prices index (CPI) inflation to around 5.3 per cent by the end of the year one of his key priorities. But he said it is ‘taking longer than any of us would like’.
The Office for National Statistics will publish the CPI figure for June on Wednesday. In May, inflation was 8.7 per cent and the consensus among economists is that June’s figure will come in at around 8.2 per cent.
Food producers cut prices in June for first time in three years – Lloyds Bank
British food and drink producers have cut prices for the first time in more than three years as cost pressures have started to relent, according to new data.
But strong consumer demand is preventing holding down prices among businesses in the services sector, Lloyds Bank found in its analysis of surveys across different industries.
Food and drink manufacturers charged their customers, which include wholesalers and retailers, less in June compared to the previous month, the report found. The monthly reading of 49.4 was a substantial drop from 60 in May. Any score below 50 indicates price reductions, whereas a score above means prices rose.
Grant Shapps tells retailers ‘enough is enough’ over petrol prices
Energy secretary Grant Shapps has spoken with supermarket and petrol station bosses to tell them ‘enough is enough’ over petrol prices for customers.
Earlier the prime minister’s official spokesman said the call on Monday was aimed at getting retailers to agree to the Competition and Markets Authority’s (CMA) voluntary scheme ‘that would see them share their accurate road fuel prices by August so we can improve transparency and competition’.
The UK’s competition watchdog warned earlier this month that drivers in the UK paid an extra £900m in fuel last year as they were charged 6p more per litre. The CMA then said it would launch a voluntary scheme to provide customers with live, transparent fuel price data.
Iceland becomes latest grocer to announce wide-ranging price cuts
Supermarket Iceland is cutting the price of 500 grocery essentials and including a third of its range in multibuy deals in the latest competitive move by grocers.
Price cuts include a 15 pack of Youngs Fish Fingers dropping from £3.50 to £2, Nescafe Coffee 200g from £6.50 to £4.50, Anchor Spreadable Butter 400g from £3.50 to £2.50 and four cans of Heinz spaghetti in tomato sauce from £4 to £3.50.
It follows a host of grocers announcing wide-ranging price cuts as they pass on falling commodity costs. Supermarkets are under increasing pressure to hand down savings they are seeing on wholesale items to consumers, who have faced punishing food price inflation in recent months.
Dover warns of two-and-a-half hour summer getaway queues
Holidaymakers sailing from the Port of Dover are being warned to expect two-and-a-half hour delays this week.
The Kent port issued the alert ahead of many schools in England and Wales breaking up for summer on Friday.
Enhanced post-Brexit passport checks by French border officials Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) have significantly increased processing times. Port bosses have taken a series of measures aimed at minimising queues, including installing an additional PAF booth and a new system for checking coach passengers.
One-off Koenigsegg tops Festival of Speed auction with £3.3m hammer price
A Koenigsegg CCGT race car that has never competed was the most expensive car sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed auction.
Taking place on Friday (July 14), the CCGT was by far the most expensive car to go under the hammer, selling for £3.319m, including fees at the Bonhams auction. This Koenigsegg is a true unicorn, and was devised when the Swedish hypercar firm was looking to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing series.
However, 31 of the 79 collector car lots failed to meet their reserve. It was many of the high-worth models that struggled too, including an ex-Peter Sellers Aston Martin DB4 GT, which was estimated at £2.2m-£2.6m, and an ex-works 1984 Audi Sport Quattro S1 Group B rally car, estimated at £1.2m-£1.4m, which were both unsold.
Weather
A large band of cloud and rain will push north-eastwards meaning many will have a shower or two, reports BBC Weather. It’ll be drier in the far north and south. Highs of 23 degrees in the south east; 16 in areas covered by the cloud.
The band of cloud will clear leaving a mostly clear night for all. There will be odd patch of cloud and shower, though, in places.
