6:44 am, May 31, 2023
Rail passengers to suffer fresh travel disruption amid more strikes
Rail passengers will suffer fresh travel disruption in the next few days because of more strikes in long-running disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
Train companies are warning that services will be ‘severely reduced’ because of industrial action by drivers and other workers.
Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will walk out on Wednesday and June 3, while the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has called a strike on June 2. Passengers are being advised to plan ahead and check the times of first and last trains.
Covid inquiry extends deadline over Johnson messages as No 10 denies cover-up
Downing Street has rejected claims of a ‘cover-up’ as the Covid-19 inquiry extended the deadline for the government to hand over Boris Johnson’s unredacted WhatsApp messages and notebooks.
As Tuesday’s deadline approached, the Cabinet Office was given until 4pm on Thursday to turn over the evidence after officials claimed they do not possess all the documents demanded.
The former prime minister insisted he has ‘no objection’ to handing over the evidence as his successor Rishi Sunak said the government was acting ‘in a spirit of transparency and candour’. But inquiry chair Lady Hallett demanded a witness statement from a senior civil servant accompanied by a statement of truth confirming the documents are not held if the Cabinet Office fails to produce them by the new deadline.
UK’s first post-Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand now in place
The UK’s trade deals with Australia and New Zealand came into force at midnight, with special shipments of British goods such as signed Beano comics among the first to be sent under the new arrangements.
The agreements are the first trade deals negotiated post-Brexit to enter into force and come after the UK, Australia and New Zealand completed their domestic ratification processes.
Under the deals’ terms, from Wednesday tariffs on all UK goods exports to Australia and New Zealand will be removed, access to these markets for services unlocked and red tape slashed for digital trade and work visas.
Protesters storm Kathleen Stock talk at Oxford Union
LGBT+ activists stormed a talk with feminist Kathleen Stock at the Oxford Union before one of them glued themselves to the floor on Tuesday.
Hundreds of chanting protesters marched towards the 200-year old debating society where they blared music including Nancy Sinatra’s These Boots Are Made For Walking as Professor Stock arrived.
Prof Stock spoke for around 10 minutes before three protesters emerged from the audience of the packed hall, shouting: ‘No more dead trans kids’. The altercation came after the Oxford Union LGBTQ+ Society’s president Amiad Haran Diman, which organised the rally outside, promised that the society would not try to ‘shut down’ the event.
Sunak and Johnson not holding expected meeting to tackle raft of rows
Rishi Sunak and Boris Johnson are not scheduled to meet this week despite suggestions they would hold clear-the-air talks to tackle a series of thorny issues.
It was understood on Tuesday there had been initial discussions about holding a telephone call but this is now not scheduled to go ahead.
The two leading Conservatives would have a lot more to discuss than the row over the disclosure of Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks to the Covid-19 Inquiry. The meeting had been billed by the former prime minister’s allies in the Sunday Times as an opportunity to discuss his honours list, which has attracted wide-ranging criticism.
Sunak to visit Washington DC for talks with Biden
Rishi Sunak will travel to Washington next week for talks with Joe Biden.
The two leaders are expected to discuss trade issues – although the idea of a full-blown deal has fallen by the wayside since the US president replaced Donald Trump in the White House – as well as the war in Ukraine.
The White House said Sunak and Biden would also discuss the situation in Northern Ireland.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Supercar dealer faces 16 fraud charges amounting to more than £1m
- Arnold Clark severs links with This Morning in wake of Schofield scandal
- Car Dealer Live: Omni-channel is the future of car buying – Auto Trader
- Family-owned Barretts of Canterbury suffers 21 per cent pre-tax profit drop
- Used car data experts team up with Car Dealer to help identify fake dealers
- Used car firm WeBuyAnyCar.com removes all Phillip Schofield adverts from its YouTube channel
Tesla chief executive Elon Musk meets Chinese foreign minister in Beijing
China’s foreign minister met Tesla chief executive Elon Musk on Tuesday and said strained US-Chinese relations require ‘mutual respect’, while delivering a message of reassurance that foreign companies are welcome.
US-Chinese relations are especially tense after Washington shot down a Chinese balloon believed to be gathering intelligence and warned Beijing against supplying arms to Russia for its war against Ukraine.
The Wall Street Journal reported China has rejected a request for its defence minister to meet the US defence secretary when both are in Singapore this weekend. ‘We need to keep the steering wheel in the right direction of mutual respect, peaceful co-existence and win-win co-operation,’ Qin Gang told Musk in Beijing, according to a ministry statement.
Just Stop Oil supporters cause disruption at four bridges in London
Just Stop Oil demonstrators have caused disruption at four bridges in London in their latest round of protest action.
Metropolitan Police officers moved the protesters off Waterloo Bridge, Tower Bridge, London Bridge and Blackfriars Bridge on Tuesday.
The force said it was not aware of any arrests. Section 12 conditions were issued to protesters at Tower Bridge, the Met said.
Weather outlook
Early cloud will push eastwards leaving plenty of sunshine, reports BBC Weather. It’ll be breezy in many parts, especially in the south. Highs of 25 degrees celsius in central Scotland.
Cloud will build overnight for most areas. It’ll remain breezy in the south.
