6:40 am, July 5, 2023
Teachers in England stage fresh strike over pay
Children and parents face more disruption today as teachers in England go on strike again in a long-running dispute over pay.
Sports days, school trips and transition days for pupils are set to be disrupted as a result of the walkouts by teacher members of the National Education Union, with another day of action planned for Friday.
Picket lines will be mounted outside schools and sixth-form colleges across England and striking teachers will march in Westminster before taking part in a rally in Parliament Square this afternoon.
Railway station ticket office closures plan to be revealed
A plan to close almost every railway station ticket office in England will be revealed today.
The PA news agency understands industry body the Rail Delivery Group will unveil proposals to shut offices at hundreds of stations.
Around three out of five stations have a ticket office. Most are owned and run by train operators, which are under pressure from the government to save money amid the drop in revenue caused by the pandemic.
Edward and Sophie to attend service to mark 75 years of the NHS
Frontline NHS staff will rub shoulders with royalty today in a special ceremony to mark the institution’s 75th anniversary.
A service will be held at Westminster Abbey to pay tribute to NHS staff and patients, with NHS England boss Amanda Pritchard delivering an address to the congregation.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will be joined by 1,500 health service staff, politicians and other supporters of the NHS, which was launched by then-health secretary Aneurin Bevan on July 5, 1948 at Park Hospital in Manchester – today known as Trafford General Hospital.
Thames Water fined £3.3m for ‘reckless’ pollution incident
Thames Water has been fined £3.3m for a ‘reckless’ incident in which ‘millions of litres’ of undiluted sewage were pumped into rivers near Gatwick Airport.
A two-day sentencing hearing at Lewes Crown Court was told there was a ‘significant and lengthy’ period of polluting the Gatwick Stream and River Mole between Crawley in West Sussex and Horley in Surrey on October 11, 2017.
A storm pump unexpectedly activated and was filling up the storm tank unnoticed, despite no substantial rainfall, for 21 hours. The pump then began spilling the sewage for an estimated six hours. Thames Water earlier admitted four charges relating to illegally discharging waste but denied seeking to mislead the Environment Agency.
Government wasted billions on PPE and set up body with accounting failings – MPs
The government wasted billions of taxpayers’ money on unusable personal protective equipment and has an ‘alarming’ lack of plan for an emergency stockpile for future pandemics, MPs have warned.
In a damning report, the Commons public accounts committee also scolded the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) for ‘completely staggering’ accounting failings that meant £3.3bn in NHS Test and Trace inventory couldn’t be verified by proper financial records.
The cross-party committee found the UKHSA, which was set up to replace Public Health England in 2021, was established with ‘financial controls so poor’ it was ‘unable to prepare auditable accounts’.
Captain Tom Foundation halts donations and payments amid charity watchdog probe
The Captain Tom Foundation has stopped taking money from donors after planning chiefs ordered that an unauthorised building at the home of the daughter of the late charity fundraiser be demolished.
Central Bedfordshire Council said a retrospective planning application had been refused and an enforcement notice issued requiring the demolition of the ‘now-unauthorised building’ containing a spa pool at the Marston Moretaine property.
Yesterday, the foundation said it wouldn’t seek donations, and was closing all payment channels while the Charity Commission held an inquiry. Sir Tom raised £38.9m for the NHS by walking 100 laps of his garden before his 100th birthday at the height of the first national lockdown in April 2020. He died in February 2021.
TV presenter Fiona Phillips reveals Alzheimer’s diagnosis at 62
TV presenter Fiona Phillips has revealed she has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease at the age of 62.
The presenter and Daily Mirror columnist said the disease had ‘ravaged’ her family and she had long feared being given the diagnosis.
According to the Mirror, Phillips was diagnosed more than a year ago and is undergoing trials for a new drug that could slow the effects of the disease.
Taliban ban women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan
The Taliban are banning women’s beauty salons in Afghanistan, a government spokesman said.
It is the latest curb on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls following edicts barring them from education, public spaces and most jobs.
A spokesman for the Taliban-run virtue and vice ministry didn’t give details of the ban but he confirmed the contents of a ministry-issued letter circulating on social media.
MG4 XPower is a 429bhp electric hot hatchback
MG is introducing its first performance car in almost two decades with the new MG4 XPower hot hatchback.
Its twin electric motors develop more than twice the power of the standard MG4, increasing the output from 200bhp to 429bhp, while torque has jumped from 250Nm to 600Nm, allowing for a 0-60mph time of just 3.8 seconds.
Priced from £36,495, the XPower will have its public debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, which runs from July 13 to 16.
Yesterday’s headlines on Car Dealer you might have missed
- Mercedes-owned car dealership group restates accounts after errors found
- TrustFord throws open doors to new Carlisle dealership after £500,000 investment
- Tesla shifts record number of cars and sees share price soar
- Starr performance as Swansway Motor Group reaches £100,000 milestone for circus charity
- Music to the ears as Bristol Street Motors ensures iconic band can play on
Market movements
The FTSE 100 closed 7.54 points down yesterday to end the day on 7,519.72. The Cac 40, meanwhile, was down 16.77 points at 7,369.93, the Dax was down 41.87 points at 16,039.17 but the Dow Jones was up 10.87 points at 34,418.47.
Weather outlook
Today will see patchy cloud develop widely across the UK, resulting in a mixture of sunshine and scattered showers, says BBC Weather. The south-east may also experience the occasional rumble of thunder.
Thursday will start mostly dry and bright, but cloud will begin building in from the west during the afternoon. Spells of persistent rain will reach the north-west by the end of the day.
