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Oct 4 round-up: Brexit talks intensify; Ryanair loses court battle; EV charging comparisons

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Time 7:31 am, October 4, 2020

  • Here are the headlines on Sunday, October 4

Brexit trade deal resolution needs further talks

The UK and the European Union will give their negotiators more time to reach a compromise in the trade talks after they agreed ‘on the importance of finding an agreement’.

Boris Johnson and European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen spoke via video conference on Saturday to take stock of progress in the negotiations following the final scheduled round of talks between Brussels and the UK this week.


Following their conversation yesterday, the pair have tasked their chief negotiators with working ‘intensively’ to resolve the remaining differences in the post-Brexit trade talks.

UK-first EV charging cost comparison site launched

The UK’s first EV energy tariff and charging cost comparison site has been launched, aiming to save electric vehicle owners money.


Rightcharge compares the cost of energy tariffs, the price of home charging and how much it costs to install a home charger. It claims that it could save users more than £230 a year on their energy bills as well as more than £100 on the upfront cost of installing a home charger.

It’s estimated that drivers could be overpaying on their energy bills by an average of £233.19 per year by not adopting smart home charging. This could rise to £1,102.94 for high annual mileage drivers.

Ryanair loses High Court action against Irish State’s travel restrictions

The High Court has ruled against Ryanair’s legal action challenging the State’s Covid-19 travel restrictions.

The airline had challenged the legality of travel advice published by the Irish Government in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

In its action, Ryanair claimed the travel restrictions aimed at limiting the spread of the virus were ‘unlawful’ and amounted to a disproportionate interference in the rights of the airline and its passengers. The State disputed those claims.

LV= in exclusive talks with private equity bidder

Life insurance giant LV= might end up in new hands shortly.

LV=, the trading name of Liverpool Victoria, is in ‘exclusive’ discussions with Bain Capital, which manages a massive portfolio worth more than £77bn.


In a statement to the market, LV=’s board said it had not hammered out a deal with Bain, nor the terms of any future sale.

Euro currency sales show some signs of recovery

Euro currency sales have shown signs of recovery indicating that pent-up demand for holidays overseas remains.

Although currency sales remain depressed compared with last year, Post Office Travel Money has seen some recovery in demand.

It said that while the total value of euro sales was still down 65 per cent year on year between June and September, this marks an improvement compared with earlier in the year when sales were down 79 per cent.

Tesco investors looking for payout after Asia sale

Tesco shareholders will be hoping for a payday next week as the company gives them the best behind-the-scenes look at how it coped with Covid-19.

The supermarket’s half-year results will be presented by new boss Ken Murphy on Thursday.

Investors will be hoping he might want to impress with a payout, slicing up some of the cake from recent big windfalls, such as the sale of Tesco’s Asia business, analysts said.

Britain now has more than 12,500 ‘million pound streets’

Britain has more than 12,500 million pound streets, where properties are typically worth at least seven-figure sums.

The total figure comes to 12,541, according to calculations from Zoopla with the most in the South East of England at 4,707, putting it ahead of London which has 4,523.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are 27 in Wales – compared to 116 million in Harpenden in Hertfordshire alone, and 183 in Guildford in Surrey.

Further heavy rain

Much of the UK will see cloudy skies and further rain, heavy in places today, says the BBC. It will be brighter in southern Scotland and northern England, but with showers. 

The rain will clear away in the evening to leave variable cloud and clear spells in the early hours. However, some scattered showers are possible, especially in the north. 

Tomorrow, light rain may stretch from Northern Ireland to south-west England, and it will move eastwards later. There will be sunny spells for most other parts but with scattered showers developing. 

James Baggott's avatar

James is the founder and editor-in-chief of Car Dealer Magazine, and CEO of parent company Baize Group. James has been a motoring journalist for more than 20 years writing about cars and the car industry.



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