6:53 am, November 30, 2022
Food inflation surges to 12.4 per cent amid predictions of ‘increasingly bleak’ winter
Food inflation has surged to 12.4 per cent to hit a new record amid predictions of dampened Christmas cheer and an ‘increasingly bleak’ winter.
Overall shop prices are now 7.4 per cent higher than last November, up from 6.6 per cent in October, to set another record since the British Retail Consortium (BRC) records began in 2005. But food inflation accelerated considerably further to 12.4 per cent from October’s 11.6 per cent – also the highest rate on record as rocketing energy, animal feed and transport costs forced up prices.
The BRC-Nielsen IQ Shop Price Index shows fresh food inflation rose even higher to 14.3 per cent, up from 13.3 per cent last month, driven particularly by the cost of meat, eggs and dairy.
New Alzheimer’s drug hailed as ‘beginning of the end’ in search for treatment
Experts have hailed the ‘beginning of the end’ in the search for effective Alzheimer’s treatments after a new drug reduced memory decline among patients with early stages of the disease.
Lecanemab, which is designed to target and clear amyloid – one of the proteins that builds up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s – was found to slow decline in patients’ memory and thinking.
Scientists found that after 18 months the drug slowed the disease progression by 27 per cent compared with patients taking the placebo.
Postal and education workers take part in fresh wave of strikes
A fresh wave of strikes will be held on Wednesday as the year of industrial unrest continues across the country.
Royal Mail workers, university lecturers and sixth-form college staff will take action on one of the biggest walkouts on the same day.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) are also planning seven more strikes in December, including Christmas Eve. The union said its members will be in London on December 9 for the ‘biggest strike demonstration this country has ever seen’.
Consumers warned of ‘big, big’ shortage of British free range turkeys this Christmas
Consumers have been warned of a ‘big, big shortage’ of British free range turkeys this Christmas with half already dead due to bird flu.
Half of the free range turkeys produced for Christmas in the UK have already been killed in the bird flu epidemic, British Poultry Council chief executive Richard Griffiths told the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee.
Griffiths said: ‘The usual amount of free range birds grown for Christmas is around 1.2 to 1.3m. We have seen around 600,000 of those free range birds being directly affected.’ Total UK turkey production for Christmas was around 8.5 to 9m birds, but around a million had been culled or died from bird flu, he said.
Audi unveils faster RS6 and RS7 Performance models
Audi has introduced revised versions of its sporty models RS6 and RS, packing more power and a range of exterior changes.
Called the Performance, Audi has boosted the 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 engine by 30bhp and 50Nm of torque, with the models now producing 621bhp and 850Nm of torque. The changes have come from fitting larger turbochargers and an increase in boost pressure in the engine, with the RS6 Avant and RS7 Sportback now able to accelerate from 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds – two tenths quicker than before.
Design changes to separate the Performance models apart from the regular RS6 and RS7 include lightweight 22-inch alloy wheels. New matt grey styling elements have been introduced too, along with two new colours – matt Ascari Blue and matt Dew Silver. They are priced from £112,650 and £116,305 respectively.
Ministers rebuked for ‘exaggerating’ nurses’ pay rises
The Department of Health and Social Care has been rebuked by the official statistics watchdog over the ‘poor and misleading’ way it presented data on nurses’ pay on social media.
Sir Robert Chote, the chair of the UK Statistics Authority, said a graph posted by the DHSC on Twitter ‘exaggerates’ previous pay rises and risked undermining public confidence in official figures.
He stepped in after Labour MP Andrew Gwynne complained that the ‘y-axis’ on the graph did not start at zero but at around £20,000, creating a misleading impression about the scale of past rises.
Tuesday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Who won what at the 2022 Car Dealer Used Car Awards? All the winners and highly commendeds revealed!
- Robin Luscombe pays tribute to wife as he is named Car Dealer’s Lifetime Achievement Award winner for 2022
- Night of a thousand smiles as hundreds celebrate at the 2022 Car Dealer Used Car Awards
- Charles Hurst to open Northern Ireland’s only Lotus showroom
- Suzuki GB welcomes motorcycle legend Barry Sheene’s LJ80 back home
- JCT600 opens new state-of-the-art Ferrari showroom in Leeds
Ambulance workers across England set to strike before Christmas
Ambulance workers across England are set to strike before Christmas after voting in favour of industrial action over pay and staffing levels.
Unison said thousands of 999 call handlers, ambulance technicians, paramedics and their colleagues working for ambulance services in the north east, north west, London, Yorkshire and the south west are to be called out on strike.
More than 80,000 health workers across England have voted to go on strike and although the vote was just below the 50 per cent threshold in many trusts, ministers should be in no doubt about the level of anger and frustration from NHS workers, said Unison.
In Scotland, Unison is recommending its NHS members vote to accept the latest offer from the Scottish government which will see a £2,205 increase for the lowest paid staff, and more for those on higher bands. That vote closes on December 12. In Wales, the threshold necessary for strike action was not met anywhere, and its health committee is to meet to decide on its next steps.
Business confidence at highest rate since July, report shows
Business confidence in Scotland is at its highest rate since July despite a ‘challenging economy’, according to a report.
The latest Bank of Scotland business barometer showed that companies reported higher confidence in their own business prospects, up eight percentage points month on month to 30 per cent.
When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, which was up 30 percentage points to 16 per cent, this gives a headline confidence reading of 24 per cent of 1,200 respondents. The survey was conducted between November 1 and 15 before the chancellor’s autumn statement announcement on November 17.
Weather outlook
A cloudy start for most today, reports BBC Weather. Once it lifts, it’ll be a mostly cloudy day. Northern Ireland and western Scotland will see a few showers.
More fog for many areas tonight, although Wales and the south-west will remain clear. Rain will linger in Northern Ireland and western Scotland.
