6:47 am, September 30, 2022
Truss and Kwarteng to meet with OBR amid market turmoil
Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng will meet with the head of the Office of Budget Responsibility on Friday, in the latest effort by the pair to reassure markets and voters that the economic turmoil of recent days is under control.
Treasury and Downing Street sources hit back at suggestions it was an emergency meeting, but it comes after days of chaos in the financial markets and fears of rocketing mortgage bills sparked by the chancellor’s mini-budget last week.
In a nonetheless unusual move for a prime minister, Truss will join Mr Kwarteng in meeting Richard Hughes, the head of the independent spending watchdog pushed to the fore amid the political and economic fallout from Friday’s mini-budget.
Labour surges to 33-point lead against Tories after days of turmoil
Labour now enjoys a 33-point lead over the Conservatives, after days of market turmoil sparked by Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget on Friday.
Liz Truss’s government has been engulfed in a political and economic crisis since then, after the £45bn tax-cutting package spooked markets and forced the Bank of England to intervene.
Now, days before Ms Truss arrives at her first Conservative Party conference as prime minister, a poll from YouGov suggests that Labour currently sits on 54 per cent – 33 points ahead of the Tories on 21 per cent. The lead is, according to YouGov, the highest of any recorded poll since the late 1990s.
Half of UK’s professionals to look for new job as result of mini-Budget – survey
Half of Britain’s professionals are planning to look for a new job due to fears of rocketing mortgage bills sparked by the Chancellor’s mini-Budget last week, according to new research.
A survey of 2,300 workers by jobs site CV-Library found 49.6 per cent will now actively look for a new role with a higher salary following days of economic turmoil.
Some 28 per cent reported they were already looking for a new job, but 8.6 per cent said the government’s plans made them want to sit tight and stay where they are.
NHS staff ‘leaving for better paid jobs in retail’
NHS staff are facing a cost-of-living crisis which is forcing them to leave for better paid jobs in shops and hospitality, according to the body that represents trusts.
A survey for NHS Providers found two thirds (68 per cent) of trusts were reporting a ‘significant or severe impact’ from staff leaving for other sectors where conditions and terms are better.
Anecdotally, senior NHS figures have said they are seeing ‘huge numbers’ of staff in their trusts taking other jobs, or considering second jobs, outside of the NHS.
Staff are also struggling to afford to go to work, with 71 per cent of trust managers surveyed saying this was having a significant or severe impact on their trust.
Citroen’s Oli concept gives a glimpse of firm’s electric future
Citroen has unveiled a new take on ‘electric family mobility’ with its Oli concept.
Using a completely electric setup, the Oli incorporates a 40kWh battery that is able to deliver up to 248 miles of range between charges. It takes a more sustainable approach to mobility, too, and is designed to be lighter and less complicated than a traditional family car. In doing so, it aims to be more affordable, too.
Vincent Cobee, Citroen CEO, said: ‘A typical mid-70s family car weighed around 800kg and was 3.7 m long and 1.6m wide. Today’s equivalents have grown to more than 1200kg, at least 4.3 m long and 1.8m wide. Some even weigh more than 2500kg. Citroen believes electrification should not mean extortion, and being eco-conscious should not be punitive by restricting our mobility or making vehicles less rewarding to live with. We need to reverse the trends by making them lighter and less expensive and find inventive ways to maximise usage.’
Royal Mail workers to launch 48-hour strike in pay dispute
Royal Mail workers will launch a 48-hour strike on Friday in a worsening dispute over pay.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will mount picket lines outside delivery and sorting offices across the country.
The union said the walkout by around 115,000 of its members is the biggest strike of the year amid long-running disputes in other sectors. A further 19 days of strikes have been announced on different days throughout October and November in a major escalation of the dispute.
Thursday Car Dealer headlines you might have missed
- Used car dealer scam exposed by BBC is near-identical to current criminal website
- Land Rover Discovery is most unreliable used car – top 10 worst offenders named and shamed
- John Clark Motor Group posts its best results as pre-tax profit rises nearly fourfold to more than £24m
- Car output rises for fourth consecutive month but record energy costs threaten recovery, says SMMT
- Glyn Hopkin posts stunning 700 per cent rise in pre-tax profit
- Hedin performs U-turn and now won’t block rival bids for Pendragon
- Nissan electrifies all its UK-built models and reaches five million milestone for Qashqai and Juke
Record gap between petrol and diesel prices
The gap between petrol and diesel prices has hit a record high due to Russia reducing gas supplies.
Analysis of government figures by the PA news agency and the RAC Foundation found the average price of a litre of diesel is nearly 17p more expensive than petrol.
The RAC Foundation said the difference is mainly due to an increase in the amount of diesel being used for heating and power generation in continental Europe because Russia has cut gas exports.
Nearly 400 job cuts announced at BBC World Service
Some 382 jobs at BBC World Service will be cut as part of plans to move to a digital-led service.
The broadcaster will also close its BBC Arabic and BBC Persian radios in a move it says will help ‘accelerate its digital offering and increase impact with audiences around the globe’.
The cuts follow the BBC’s announcement of a new digital-first ‘blueprint’ in May, which included the news that BBC Four and CBBC will end as linear channels in the coming years.
Weather outlook
A bright start in the south-east won’t last long as a band of rain and wind will sweep eastwards across the country, says BBC Weather. It’ll be wet in north-west by the afternoon.
Rain will clear tonight in the south-east leaving a clear night. A breezy night and scattered showers in northern and western areas.
