6:53 am, September 27, 2022
Kwarteng faces massive market turmoil after disastrous day for sterling
Kwasi Kwarteng is contending with massive market turmoil sparked by his tax-cutting mini-budget as a disastrous day for the pound saw Labour take its biggest poll lead over Tories for more than 20 years.
The pound steadied in early trading in Asian markets on Tuesday as it climbed to 1.07 dollars just before 6am. The Treasury moved to settle the markets with the promise of a Budget next spring as sterling tumbled to its lowest level against the dollar for at least half a century on Monday.
Senior Tory MP Huw Merriman – who backed former chancellor Rishi Sunak for Conservative leader – warned Liz Truss may be losing voters ‘with policies we warned against’, as a new YouGov survey put Labour 17 points ahead, the party’s greatest lead since the firm started polling in 2001.
Top Truss aide to be directly employed by No 10 after being paid by own firm
Downing Street has confirmed it will employ Liz Truss’s chief of staff Mark Fullbrook directly after it emerged he was being paid through his lobbying company.
Fullbrook will be put on a special advisor contract to avoid ‘any ongoing speculation’, a No 10 spokesperson said early on Tuesday.
The Cabinet Office had previously said it was ‘not unusual’ for a special adviser to join government ‘on secondment’ and that his salary was paid to a ‘seconding company’. But the arrangement drew accusations of renewed ‘Tory sleaze’ from opposition parties.
Truss congratulates far-right leader set to be Italy’s first female premier
Liz Truss has sent her congratulations to the far-right leader set to become Italy’s first female premier.
In a message to Giorgia Meloni, whose party the Brothers of Italy is expected to deliver the country’s first far-right-led government since the Second World War, the prime minister described the UK and Italy as ‘close allies’.
Truss tweeted: ‘Congratulations to @GiorgiaMeloni on her party’s success in the Italian elections. From supporting Ukraine to addressing global economic challenges, the UK and Italy are close allies.’
Charles’s new monogram revealed
The King’s new cypher has been revealed ahead of the official period of royal mourning ending today.
Charles’ monogram will appear on government buildings, state documents and on some post boxes in the coming months and years.
The cypher feature’s the King’s initial C intertwined with the letter R for Rex – Latin for King – with III within the R denoting Charles III, with the crown above the letters.
William and Kate to visit Wales for first official visit with new titles
The Prince and Princess of Wales are to visit the nation for the first time since taking up their titles.
William and Kate will journey the length of Wales on Tuesday, first visiting Holyhead in Anglesey, North Wales, and then travelling to Swansea in South West Wales.
The royal couple had promised to visit at the earliest opportunity following the death of the Queen, and return hoping to begin ‘deepening the trust and respect’ they have with the people of Wales.
Tense Japan holds funeral for assassinated ex-leader Shinzo Abe
A tense Japan is holding a rare and controversial state funeral for assassinated former prime minister Shinzo Abe, its longest-serving modern leader and one of the most divisive.
Tokyo was under maximum security, with angry protests opposing the funeral planned around the capital and nation. Hours before the ceremony began, dozens of people carrying bouquets of flowers queued at public flower-laying stands at nearby Kudanzaka Park.
Opponents of the state-sponsored funeral, which has its roots in pre-war imperial ceremonies, say taxpayers’ money should be spent on more meaningful causes, such as addressing widening economic disparities caused by Abe’s policies.
Ford Focus ST gains new Track Pack option
Ford has given buyers of its Focus ST the opportunity to sharpen the driving experience even further with a new Track Pack.
Developed by Ford Performance and tested at the famous Nurburgring in Germany, the Track Pack will be available exclusively for five-door, six-speed manual Focus ST variants.
The new Track Pack fine-tunes the Focus ST through the fitment of KW Automotive adjustable suspension that works in conjunction with lighter alloy wheels. The brakes are also larger and have four-piston Brembo callipers.
Monday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Pendragon begins talks with Hedin Group after fresh takeover bid
- New car margins will be the saviour of car dealership results in 2022
- Peter Vardy becomes first dealer to sell Chinese Ora Funky Cat EV
- Family-run Dick Lovett dealer group to open new BMW showroom in Melksham on October 17
- Wheeler Dealer star Mike Brewer urges used car dealers to get their names in the frame for top awards
- Williams Motor Co enjoys record pre-tax profit of £15.1m as customers favour used over new because of lengthy lead times
- Electric car drivers slapped with 42 per cent hike in price of public charging points
Fresh strike for workers at UK’s largest container port
Workers at the UK’s largest container port will stage a fresh strike from Tuesday in a long-running dispute over pay.
Around 1,900 members of Unite at Felixstowe will walk out at 7am until October 5 following an eight-day stoppage last month.
Unite said the port’s owners had imposed a seven per cent pay increase on the workforce, which it described as a real-terms pay cut because of the soaring inflation rate.
Weather outlook
A showery day with just the odd bright spell here and there, reports BBC Weather. The showers will be most frequent in the north, while this afternoon the south will also see rain.
Rain will clear tonight in most areas leaving clear spells. A breezy and chilly night.
