6:40 am, October 14, 2022
Expectation of major U-turn grows as pressure on PM builds
Liz Truss is expected to be forced to scrap parts of her mini-Budget in the days to come, amid growing pressure on her to reassure markets and rescue her administration.
Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng is set to return a day early from the International Monetary Fund’s annual meeting in Washington this weekend, and is likely to find a significant section of his mini-Budget redrawn after days of open revolt among Tory MPs and an emerging market consensus that a U-turn is on the cards.
The PM’s key pledge to scrap the planned increase in corporation tax from 19 per cent to 25 per cent is widely seen as a likely casualty in the coming days, as Truss seeks to save her embattled premiership.
Consumer champions and finance bodies press for action over online fraud
Consumers cannot afford to wait for vital protections against online fraud, campaigners and financial services industry bodies are warning.
Ten organisations, including Which?, MoneySavingExpert, the Association of British Insurers and UK Finance, have joined forces to write to Liz Truss, pressing for quick and effective action.
They are urging the government to ensure fraud is tackled through the Online Safety Bill so people are better protected against devastating financial and emotional harm. Analysis of Action Fraud figures indicates that nearly £5m is typically reported lost to scams every day.
Alcohol markets ‘worth £100m’ unlocked after trade talks
The government says it has unlocked export markets worth £100m for the alcohol industry after negotiating an end to trade barriers with several African and South American nations.
Meanwhile, the Scotch Whisky Association says ongoing trade talks with India are a ‘once-in-a-generation’ opportunity to unlock business on an even larger scale.
In Argentina, whisky tariffs were reduced from 35 per cent to 20 per cent following negotiations. The department said Morocco removed 48 per cent tariffs that were mistakenly imposed on UK spirits, and Angola cancelled a planned tax on whisky.
NatWest to shut 43 more bank branches across UK
NatWest is to close a further 43 bank branches across the UK as it moves its services online.
Several branches in Scotland, including in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen, are among the fresh wave of closures.
They add to 32 announced in February, which included 11 of its Royal Bank of Scotland branches.
Censors step in after protests against Communist leadership in Beijing
China’s internet censors have deleted social media posts after reports that banners criticising the Communist leadership were hung from a busy intersection in the capital Beijing.
Images on Twitter, which is blocked in China, showed smoke spiralling up from a fire on an elevated roadway and banners calling for an end to the hard-line ‘zero-Covid’ policy and the overthrow of Communist party leader and President Xi Jinping.
Political protest is rare in China and police are on high alert this week in the run-up to a major Communist party congress that opens on Sunday.
Trump ordered to appear before committee probing Capitol attack
A committee investigating the 2021 attack on the US Capitol has voted to subpoena Donald Trump to give evidence.
The panel voted unanimously to compel the former president to appear.
‘We must seek the testimony under oath of January 6th’s central player,’ said Republican Liz Cheney, the committee’s vice-chairwoman. However, Trump is almost certain to fight the subpoena and decline to testify.
Alpine’s Alpenglow concept arrives as symbol of firm’s intent
Alpine’s Alpenglow concept has been revealed in full, showcasing a striking look at the future of the French firm.
Incorporating hydrogen power, the Alpenglow has been designed to resemble a wingsuit, which Alpine calls ‘the most extreme of mountain sports’.
It’s a single-seater model in which the driver sits on the centre line between two hydrogen tanks. There’s a geometric steering wheel inspired by Endurance racing cars, and the paddle shift for the gears is transparent and backlit, while different buttons let the driver control aspects such as the regenerative braking.
Stories on Car Dealer yesterday that you might have missed
- Jaguar tumbles to the bottom of the pile as car dealers have their say
- Revealed: The top 10 used models that lost the most value in September
- Car dealers can live at the office as showroom with on-site bungalow goes up for sale
- William Morgan Group sees pre-tax profit more than double to £4.3m
- Dodgy car dealer avoids jail despite stealing thousands of pounds of customers’ money
- Used car buyers negotiating harder over prices because of cost-of-living crisis, say dealers
- Anson Moniz becomes new chief product officer at Automotive Transformation Group
France starts exporting gas to Germany amid energy crisis
France has for the first time started sending natural gas to Germany, French gas network operator GRTgaz said yesterday, as Berlin strives to diversify its energy supply following the interruption of Russian gas deliveries.
GRTgaz said the gas pipeline connecting both countries at the French border village of Obergailbach had started delivering an initial daily capacity of 31 gigawatt-hours.
The amount is expected to eventually increase to a daily maximum of 100 gigawatt-hours, representing less than two per cent of Germany’s overall gas consumption, according to figures from the French Ministry for Energy Transition.
Sir Ringo Starr cancels tour after second positive Covid test in two weeks
Sir Ringo Starr has cancelled the remainder of his North American tour after testing positive for Covid-19 for the second time in two weeks.
The former Beatles drummer, 82, said fans were sure to be ‘as surprised as I was’ as he revealed the news yesterday.
It comes just three days after Sir Ringo said he was ‘on the road again’ after recovering from his previous brush with coronavirus.
Market movements
The FTSE closed up 24.12 points yesterday to finish on 6,850.27. Meanwhile, the Cac 40 rose by 60.72 points, ending on 5,879.19, the Dax went up by 183.32 points to 12,355.58, and the Dow Jones was up 827.87 points at 30,038.72.
Weather outlook
Today will see rain in the north clear south-eastwards to leave sunny spells and showers, says BBC Weather. There’ll be some sunshine in parts of England and Wales but the south will have thicker cloud and bouts of rain.
Saturday will be breezy with showers or spells of rain across western areas. It’ll be drier in eastern areas with sunny spells but also showers.
