6:36 am, May 30, 2023
Covid inquiry legal battle looms over Johnson WhatsApp requests
Ministers could be set for a legal battle with the Covid-19 inquiry over the requested release of unredacted WhatsApp messages and diaries belonging to Boris Johnson.
The Cabinet Office has until 4pm on Tuesday to respond to the request from Lady Hallett’s official inquiry.
There has so far been little sign that ministers are set to shift from the position that the government has no duty to disclose ‘unambiguously irrelevant’ material. Refusing to comply with the request would lead to a legal clash with the official inquiry, raising the possibility of ministers seeking a judicial review of the probe’s powers.
Cleverly set for Estonia stop-off before Nato gathering
James Cleverly will hold talks in Estonia and Norway over the coming days – as Nato foreign ministers gather for an informal meeting in Oslo.
The war in Ukraine is set to top the agenda at the Nato gathering, while it is also likely that Sweden’s accession will be discussed ahead of a key summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July.
The foreign secretary will arrive in Tallinn on Tuesday for his first official visit to Estonia, where he is expected to meet members of the government and visit the Royal Navy’s HMS Albion in the Baltic Sea. While there, he is likely to stress the UK’s desire for continued close co-operation on European security, including on support for Ukraine, and the need to tackle illegal migration.
Food inflation slows in May after April record, survey suggests
There were signs on Tuesday that the rapidly rising increase in the price of food may have reached its peak as a survey of prices in shops suggested they fell between April and May.
Food inflation fell to 15.4 per cent in the year to May, according to a survey by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen. It was down from 15.7 per cent in April.
It is still an incredibly high figure, meaning that a person who spent around £20 in a food shop a year ago would now be paying a little over £23 for the same items.
Government looks to tidy up guidance on recycling
Ministers are planning a crackdown on waste – by getting people to cut down on what they put in recycling bins.
According to the i newspaper, the government wants to limit the amount of ‘wishcycling’ which sees the recycling process contaminated by items which cannot be processed. They will ask people to be more selective in what they send for recycling in a bid to reduce the amount of material which needs to be separated at processing centres and sent to landfill.
Among the commons items wrongly placed in recycling are crisp packets, juice cartons, dirty takeaway boxes, soft plastic bags, wet cardboard and toothpaste tubes which require specialist recycling – items that are too contaminated or need to be taken to large recycling centres. Full details of the guidance are expected to be published later this summer.
Listen to the latest Car Dealer Podcast
‘Grumpy Entrepreneur’ and joint chairman and joint CEO of car subscription platform, AAM Group/MyCarDirect, David Murray-Hundley joins the podcast this week. Listen via Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
Comedians back campaign against Lake Windermere sewage pollution
Comedians Steve Coogan, Lee Mack and Paul Whitehouse have been praised for their ‘amazing support’ of a campaign protesting against the pollution of England’s largest lake.
The trio turned up for a rally at The Glebe in Bowness-on-Windermere, Cumbria. Campaigners are calling for an end to all treated and untreated sewage discharges into Lake Windermere.
In an Instagram post, zoologist Matt Staniek, who is campaigning to stop sewage pollution in the lake, thanked the comedians for ‘your amazing support’ and said ‘we will not rest until the problem is solved’.
Cost of carbon offsetting could double by 2030 – report
The cost of carbon offsetting could double for companies by 2030, new analysis has indicated.
A report, published by Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC), found that FTSE 350 companies publicly reported voluntary carbon offset purchases totalling £38m in 2022.
But analysis of BloombergNEF forecasts suggests that this same volume of offsets could cost companies more than £154m – an increase of 256 per cent – by the end of the decade. It also found that prices were expected to continue to rise until 2050, with the cost of the same volume of offsets peaking at £356m as businesses raced to meet net-zero targets.
Pubs and restaurants plead for government action on energy as bills soar 81 per cent
UK pubs, bars and restaurants revealed their average bills have surged 81 per cent over the past year as firms make further pleas to the government for support.
Industry bodies have revealed that less than a third of hospitality businesses are optimistic about their future after swallowing mammoth energy price increases, as well as more expensive food and wage bills.
Data collected by CGA by NielsenIQ on behalf of the British Institute of Innkeeping, UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association and Hospitality Ulster showed that 29 per cent of hospitality businesses said they feel optimistic about the next 12 months. Business owners said they are particularly concerned about energy costs, with 86 per cent of firms saying it was a worry.
Weather outlook
Temperatures could soar to 25 degrees celsius in western Scotland today, which would make Tuesday the hottest day of the year so far. Elsewhere, there will be plenty of sunshine for the rest of the country although it’ll be breezy, said BBC Weather.
A cloudy night in central and eastern areas with the chance of the odd spot of rain. Clear in the far west.
