6:29 am, July 22, 2023
National memorial to late Queen to be considered
A national memorial to the late Queen is to be considered by the Cabinet Office.
According to The Daily Telegraph, the membership of a committee to decide on the monument will be announced ahead of the anniversary of her death on September 8.
The late Queen unveiled a memorial to her father, George VI, in 1955, three years after his death.
Unions call off Tube strikes
Planned strikes next week by London Underground workers have been suspended.
Members of Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport union were due to take industrial action throughout the week in a long-running dispute over pay, pensions and conditions.
But both unions said progress had been made in talks at the conciliation service Acas.
Supermarket fuel margins have more than doubled since start of Ukraine war – RAC
Supermarkets have more than doubled their margins on fuel since the start of the war in Ukraine, new analysis suggests.
The RAC said Asda, Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s were making an average of around 4.7p per litre on fuel sales when the Russian invasion began in February 2022.
The motoring services company found this had increased to around 10p per litre, leading to higher pump prices. Supermarket fuel margins were 2.3p per litre in 2016.
Myleene Klass turns ‘pain of miscarriages into power’ with campaigning win
Myleene Klass said she has turned the pain of four miscarriages into power, after it was announced today that the government will be implementing the changes for which she has spent four years campaigning.
An advocate for women’s health, the former Hear’Say singer has been backing changes to the Women’s Health Strategy in Parliament, among which was a call to ensure women won’t have to suffer up to three miscarriages before receiving help.
The Department of Health and Social Care today announced a package of new measures to ‘boost the health and wellbeing of women and girls’, including a pilot scheme that will see medical intervention for women after every miscarriage.
HMS Prince of Wales leaves dry dock after nine months of repairs
A Royal Navy aircraft carrier that broke down just a few miles from her home port has left dry dock nearly a year later after undergoing repairs and upgrades.
HMS Prince of Wales suffered a broken propeller shaft after she sailed from Portsmouth Naval Base in August 2022 for a diplomatic mission to the United States.
The £3bn warship was then taken to the Babcock shipyard in Rosyth, where she was built, to undergo the repairs, which have taken nine months to complete. After propulsion trials, she will return to Portsmouth ahead of an autumn deployment to the USA.
UK debt higher than GDP for first time since 1961
The government’s debt pile was bigger than the country’s economic output in June – the first time this has happened for more than 60 years, official data shows.
Public sector net borrowing hit £18.5bn last month, down from £20bn a month earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. It pushed the total debt pile to a little under £2.6trn. The ONS said debt reached 100.8 per cent of GDP, the first time that had happened since 1961.
It was lower than the £22bn experts had forecast, according to a consensus figure from Pantheon Macroeconomics, but is still the third most that the government has borrowed in any June since 1993.
Guitar owned by Tony Sheridan when he played with The Beatles goes to auction
A guitar said to have been owned by musician Tony Sheridan at the time he played and recorded with The Beatles in Hamburg in the early 1960s is to be auctioned.
The 1959 Martin D-28E electro acoustic guitar will go under the hammer at Special Auction Services in Newbury on Tuesday and is expected to fetch £25,000.
Sheridan recorded the song My Bonnie with The Beatles in Hamburg in 1961 and released the single under the name Tony Sheridan And The Beat Brothers.
Jurassic Coast walkers warned after large landslip in Dorset
Walkers visiting the Jurassic Coast have been warned to stay away from cliff edges after a large landslip at Seatown in Dorset.
Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service also urged people to avoid sitting at the base of the cliffs.
In July 2012, Charlotte Blackman, 22, died after being buried by tonnes of rock following the collapse of a cliff on a beach further up the coast in Burton Bradstock.
New Skoda Superb detailed ahead of November reveal
Skoda has announced new details about its upcoming fourth-generation Superb ahead of its reveal in November, with sales likely to start in the middle of 2024.
It’ll have a broad range of engines, with a choice of petrol and diesel alongside electrified models. Mild-hybrids will be available alongside a new 1.5-litre plug-in hybrid powertrain said to boast an electric range of up to 62 miles.
Like the outgoing Superb, the new model will be available in a large hatchback bodystyle, alongside an estate. Both are said to be longer and taller. Inside, the new Superb will also feature a large 12.9-inch touchscreen.
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Investigation: Who’s driving the anti-electric car agenda… and why?
- Motor Depot reports £1.4m loss due to a drop in consumer demand in year of ‘two halves’
- What were the fastest selling used cars of the last year?
- W Brindley Garages in Cannock suffers profit and revenue drop without Vauxhall franchise
- Peugeot honours ‘roar-some’ dealers at Guild of Gold Lion Awards
- Adrian Mardell is officially made JLR’s CEO after eight months in interim role
- Older used car values record strong growth as second-hand EV prices continue to stabilise – report
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 17.68 points up yesterday to end the week on 7,663.73. The Cac 40, meanwhile, was up 47.86 points at 7,432.77, the Dax was down 27.00 points at 16,177.22 and the Dow Jones was up 2.51 points at 35,227.69.
Weather outlook
Today will be cloudy for most of the UK with heavy rain spreading in from the west and strengthening winds in the south, says BBC Weather. The far north will have a few sunny spells, though, with the occasional isolated shower.
Sunday will see cloudy skies and lingering spells of rain, heavy at times, in northern and central England as well as north Wales. It’ll be cloudy in Northern Ireland, with sunshine and showers elsewhere.
