One driving instructor told me he’d driven with murderers who were safer than me
The amusement arcades in Russell Street were the place in Melbourne to buy heroin in the 90s and early 2000s. But I went there to learn how to drive.
Continue reading...Charges against six protesters dropped as HS2 was not carrying out work on the site at the time
Six environmental protesters who occupied a tunnel close to Euston station in protest against the HS2 high-speed link earlier this year walked free from court after charges in connection with the occupation were dismissed by a judge.
Daniel Hooper, 48, also known as “Swampy”; Dr Larch Maxey, 49; Isla Sandford, 18; Lachlan Sandford, 20; Juliett Stevenson-Clarke, 22; and Scott Breen, 47, faced charges of aggravated trespass at Highbury Corner magistrates court in central London for their 31 days underground in January and February of this year. A separate charge against Maxey of damage to a mobile phone was also dismissed.
Continue reading...US and European media give their verdict on the fuel, food and labour crisis they say is caused by Brexit
Government ministers may insist it is “wrong” to blame Brexit for Britain’s fuel, food and labour shortages, but for the rest of Europe – and beyond – there is only one reason why the UK’s crisis is so very much worse than everywhere else’s.
“One is tempted to tell the British: ‘You have only yourselves to blame,’” said Gabi Kostorz on ARD’s Tagesthemen, a leading German news show. “We tried to talk you out of it, but you decided otherwise. Now you have to face the consequences.”
Continue reading...Threat of Christmas being ruined by driver shortages forces ministers to expand range and duration of visas
Boris Johnson’s government has made a dramatic U-turn in an attempt to save Christmas – with a raft of extended emergency visas to help abate labour shortages that have led to empty shelves and petrol station queues.
New immigration measures will allow 300 fuel drivers to arrive immediately and stay until the end of March, while 100 army drivers will take to the roads from Monday, the government announced late on Friday.
Continue reading...Ministers to discuss emergency plan Operation Escalin after BP reveals a third of its forecourts have shortages
Hundreds of soldiers could be scrambled to deliver fuel to petrol stations running dry across the country due to panic buying and a shortage of drivers under an emergency plan expected to be considered by Boris Johnson on Monday.
The prime minister will gather senior members of the cabinet to scrutinise “Operation Escalin” after BP admitted that a third of its petrol stations had run out of the main two grades of fuel, while the Petrol Retailers Association (PRA), which represents almost 5,500 independent outlets, said 50% to 90% of its members had reported running out. It predicted that the rest would soon follow.
Continue reading...Emergency visa plan will not resolve Britain’s road transport crisis, says industry as majority blame Brexit in poll
The government’s emergency programme to issue temporary visas to thousands of lorry drivers is far too little to resolve Britain’s supply-chain crisis and is unlikely to attract them to the UK, haulage chiefs have warned.
Downing Street on Saturday night confirmed hastily compiled plans to add 5,000 HGV drivers and 5,500 poultry workers to a visa scheme until Christmas, to help the food and fuel industries with shortages.
Continue reading...Boris Johnson believed to have overruled ministers unwilling to compromise on post-Brexit immigration as forecourt queues mount
Ministers are poised to agree an extraordinary post-Brexit U-turn that would allow foreign lorry drivers back into the UK to stave off shortages threatening fuel and food supplies.
Boris Johnson ordered a rapid fix on Friday to prevent the crisis escalating. Ministers met in an attempt to agree a short-term visa scheme permitting potentially thousands more lorry drivers from abroad to come to the UK.
Continue reading...Border staff left dealing with backlog of travellers as reports emerge of people fainting in three-hour queues
Delays at Heathrow airport have been described as “unacceptable” by the Home Office, af reports of passengers fainting in queues of up to three hours.
Border staff were left dealing with a huge backlog of travellers, with witnesses saying they had seen people – including a pregnant woman – passing out while queueing.
Continue reading...Hailing end to toxic fuel additive, Guterres says same commitment is needed to eliminate other pollutants
The UN secretary general and environmentalists have welcomed a declaration by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) on the end of leaded petrol in the face of years of “underhand” opposition.
As Algeria became the last country to stop selling the toxic fuel last month, the two-decade campaign to ban it has been called a “milestone for multilateralism”.
Continue reading...Holidaymakers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland look to take advantage of late summer sun
People seeking a bank holiday getaway in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are being warned to avoid major roads before 7pm as holidaymakers look to take advantage of good late summer weather forecast for much of the UK.
The RAC estimates that 16.7m leisure trips are planned between Friday and Monday, with the south-west predicted to be especially packed.
Continue reading...The Transport Workers Union has taken the case to the Fair Work Commission, arguing the driver qualifies as an employee, not a contractor
A food delivery driver who was allegedly sacked by Chinese food delivery company Easi after trying to raise concerns about pay and worker safety, has had his case taken to the Fair Work Commission by the Transport Workers’ Union.
According to the Fair Work claim, Lawrence Du, 35, started working for Easi in Brisbane in early June, but was sacked in early August, he claims after making inquiries with other workers about work safety, wages and other conditions.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ministers to make traffic provisions indefinite in expectation of further cross-Channel disruption
Emergency powers to handle post-Brexit queues of lorries heading for France are being made permanent, signalling the government expects further cross-Channel disruption.
Operation Brock, a traffic management system designed to cope with queues of up to 13,000 lorries heading for mainland Europe across Kent, was meant to end by October 2021, after being extended once when the Brexit transition period ended in December 2020.
Continue reading...Bridge opened on Monday to allow wooden ship through, before its arms got stuck in raised position
A technical fault has left Tower Bridge stuck open, causing major rush-hour traffic problems in the capital with pedestrians and vehicles unable to cross.
The London landmark, one of several bridges over the River Thames that connects central and southern parts of the city, was scheduled to open this afternoon to allow a large wooden tall ship to pass through. But City of London police said the 127-year-old bridge had been closed to traffic and pedestrians after a “technical failure” left it stuck in its raised position.
Continue reading...Jim Steer responds to an article by Simon Jenkins that said the high-speed rail link was of little use to the north, and Mark Sullivan hopes the West Midlands gets the transport hub it rejected a decade ago
Simon Jenkins’ latest piece on HS2 (Depleted and unwanted, HS2 hurtles on as Johnson’s £100bn vanity project, 30 July) repeatedly mischaracterises both the case for, and the benefits of, a rail project that will transform connectivity in the UK.
He talks as if services will only go from London to Birmingham, stating confidently that “Britain’s new high-speed railway will not – repeat: not – get to the north of England”. But this is simply untrue. Construction work on the Birmingham-Crewe section is now under way, and detailed planning and consultation prior to a parliamentary bill submission is under way for Crewe-Manchester. HS2 services will reach Edinburgh, Newcastle, Liverpool, Leeds and more than a dozen other cities across the country.
Continue reading...Home deliveries are soaring and cargo bikes cut congestion and pollution in cities, researchers say
Electric cargo bikes deliver about 60% faster than vans in city centres, according to a study. It found that bikes had a higher average speed and dropped off 10 parcels an hour, compared with six for vans.
The bikes also cut carbon emissions by 90% compared with diesel vans, and by a third compared with electric vans, the report said. Air pollution, which is still at illegal levels in many urban areas, was also significantly reduced.
Continue reading...Ministers ditch plans for watchlist of amber countries such as Spain
Millions of Britons have been given the green light to travel to Europe’s holiday hotspots, avoiding quarantine on return from France and Spain where concerns have been raised about Covid variants.
Ministers announced on Wednesday that fully vaccinated holidaymakers returning from France would no longer need to quarantine and ditched plans for a “watchlist” of amber countries such as Spain.
Continue reading...Ageing fleet hit by breakdowns and cancellations, with capacity low on services that do run due to Covid
The perfume and toiletries shop overlooking Brodick Bay on Arran is normally packed in the summer, as day-trippers and holidaymakers stream off the mainland ferries at the busy terminal just across the bay.
But this summer has been grim, said Andrew Russell, the sales director for Arran Sense of Scotland, formerly known as Arran Aromatics. For thousands of people and businesses up and down the west coast of Scotland, this summer has been marred by repeated crises affecting ferry services run by the state-funded CalMac.
Continue reading...Exclusive: officers in England no longer have to verify whether new arrivals have received a negative Covid test
Border officials are no longer required to make basic Covid checks on arrivals in England from green and amber list countries, according to leaked instructions that prompted claims the government is turning a blind eye to the risk of importing Covid cases.
A change that came into effect on Monday means Border Force officers no longer have to verify whether new arrivals have received a negative Covid test, have booked a test within coming days or have a passenger locator form showing an address where they will isolate if necessary.
Continue reading...Rail industry resists calls from passenger groups to release data on risk of contracting Covid on trains
Train operators have been urged to release research showing the risk of contracting Covid on trains, with the chances now believed to be substantially higher than the figure publicised by the rail industry last year.
The industry-funded Rail Research and Safety Board (RSSB) said in July 2020 that the risk was just one infection in 11,000 average journeys in Great Britain.
Continue reading...Dearth of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and fruit pickers caused by Covid and Brexit are fuelling wage rises with 5% hike in prices forecast
Food prices could rise by about 5% by the autumn – and turkeys and pigs in blankets could be in short supply this Christmas – as shortages of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and other workers drive up pay and other costs.
Industry insiders say that pay for lorry drivers and other supply chain workers, including abbatoir workers, plus vegetable and fruit pickers and packers have all risen because of difficulties in finding sufficient staff.
Continue reading...