Wind energy agreements have generated windfall that would normally go towards monarchy
The King has asked for profits from a £1bn-a-year crown estate windfarm deal to be used for the “wider public good” rather than as a funding boost for the monarchy.
Under the taxpayer-funded sovereign grant, which is currently £86.3m a year, the King receives 25% of the crown estate’s annual surplus, which includes an extra 10% for the refurbishment of Buckingham Palace.
Continue reading...Supermarket’s rise to £13.18 on 1 February puts hourly minimum rate 20% ahead of January 2022
Aldi is increasing pay for UK warehouse workers for the third time in a year – with the hourly minimum rate now 20% ahead of last January.
The German-owned discounter, which is the UK’s fourth-largest supermarket chain, said pay would rise to £13.18 on 1 February, up 4% on the current minimum of £12.66, which was introduced in September.
Continue reading...Charities and non-profit bodies urge Jeremy Hunt to introduce discount tariff from April 2024
Jeremy Hunt is facing calls for a “social energy tariff” providing cheaper gas and electricity for low income households to be introduced when government support ends next year.
In an open letter to the chancellor, 95 charities and non-profit organisations have urged the government to move quickly to legislate for a change in energy bills for “those in greatest need to ensure they are able to live in their homes comfortably”.
Continue reading...Labour leader tells LBC issue is being used as a political football after Scottish Tory MSP urges PM not to block bill
This is what Keir Starmer said in his LBC interview about Scotland’s gender recognition reform bill, and the UK government’s reported intention to block it.
Starmer suggested the SNP and the Tories were both exploiting the Scottish gender recognition bill for political advantage. He said:
I am worried about the fact that I think this is being used by the SNP as a sort of devolution political football. And I think it’s being used by the government – or might be used – as a divisive football in relation to the particular issue.
On this whole issue of trans rights, I think the government is looking to divide people rather than bring people together.
He refused to say whether Labour would support the UK government if it did block the legislation. When it was put to him that, from what he was saying about his reservatations about the bill that he was minded to support Rishi Sunak on this, he did not accept that. He said he would want to see exactly what the government said before deciding how to react. Blocking Scottish legislation would be “a big step for a government to take”, he said. But he also said No 10 was treading “very, very carefully” (which rather undermines the claim he made about the Tories potentially exploiting this for party political advantage).
He said that he accepted the Gender Recognition Act needed to be modernised. But he confirmed that he thought people should not be able to self-certify their gender at the age of 16 (as they would be able to, under the Scottish law). And he said that he was worried about the potential impact of the Scottish bill on UK equality laws.
He said that only a tiny proportion of people were likely to want to change gender. He said:
I approach it on the basis that for 99.9-something percent of women it is all about biology, sex based rights matter, and we must preserve all those wins that we’ve had for women over many years, and including safe spaces for women.
Whilst I am sympathetic to the change that is made to make the rights of trans people in Scotland, I think we may have a clash between the position in the UK-wide legislation and the position in Scotland …
[The legislation] may mean – even though I suspect political mischief on the part of the Conservative Government and culture wars – they may have a point. It is arguable at least that what’s happened in Scotland has a potential impact on the legislation as it operates UK-wide.
Continue reading...The first proper World Economic Forum for three years will take place against a humbling backdrop of crisis and conflict
The war in Ukraine. A rapidly slowing economy, fragmentation and de-globalisation. The rising cost of living. Climate change. There is plenty for the global great and good to get their teeth into this week as Davos resumes after a three-year hiatus.
Strictly speaking, it not the first gathering of world leaders, businesspeople, academics and civil society since the start of the pandemic, but last May’s World Economic Forum event was a slimmed-down and not especially well-attended affair. As a dry run it was fine, but a real Davos traditionally happens in January, when the snow is thick on the ground in the Swiss village 1,500 metres up in the Alps. In the past, the mood at Davos has oscillated between extreme optimism and unbridled gloom, depending on the state of the world economy. This year it looks certain to be the latter. As Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chair of the WEF put it last week, “economic, environmental, social and geopolitical crises are converging and conflating”. The aim of this year’s Davos, he added, was to get rid of the “crisis mindset”.
Continue reading...Bank slashes predicted 2023 European wholesale price by 30% as mild weather reduces demand
HSBC has slashed its forecasts for future wholesale gas prices in response to mild weather in Europe – raising hopes of a sharp decline in household energy bills.
The bank cut its 2023 forecasts for the price of gas traded in Europe by about 30% and its forecast for 2024 by 20%.
Continue reading...Report shows 3.2m people disconnected last year as they ran out of credit
Ministers are being urged to stop the forced installation of prepayment meters after revelations that 3.2 million people – the equivalent of one person every 10 seconds – were left with cold and dark homes last year as they ran out of credit.
As energy prices surged this winter, suppliers have stepped up the use of court warrants to force their way into homes to install prepayment meters, with some magistrates approving hundreds of applications at a time. For homes with smart meters, the change can be made remotely without even needing a warrant.
Rhiannon, a single parent with a baby who suffers from depression, fell behind on her payments after she separated with her partner. Her landlord allowed her supplier access to fit a prepayment meter. She has resorted to warming baby milk at her GP’s surgery and staying warm in her dad’s car.
Rona uses a wheelchair and lives with her daughter who has special educational needs. She is reliant on family to go to the Post Office to top up and was left without heating, lighting or means to make food over Christmas.
Alice, a woman with a lung condition who was moved on to a prepayment meter due to debt and couldn’t afford to top up. Her supplier told her she could not be helped again because she had been helped before, but being cut off prevents her charging her breathing machine.
Andy, a diabetic who was moved on to a prepayment meter and left without power for a week despite needing to keep his insulin in the fridge.
Continue reading...Medical union balloting 45,000 members from today over strike in March as ministers meet unions in effort to end disputes
Good morning. There are various meetings taking place today between ministers and union leaders representing workers in health, education and the rail industry after Rishi Sunak called last week for both sides to get around the table. This is quite a shift from the pre-Christmas position when ministers insisted it was up to management negotiators to take the lead in talks with unions. At the end of last week it was not clear whether this was mainly a presentational ploy (Sunak wants the government to be seen as “reasonable’”), or whether significant concessions might be in the pipeline, but yesterday, as my colleague Pippa Crerar reports, Sunak hinted it was the latter in his start-of-year interview with Laura Kuenssberg.
But it is quite possible that the strike crisis could get worse before it gets better. The British Medical Association is from today balloting 45,000 junior doctors in England on strike action and, if they vote in favour, a 72-hour strike is planned from March. This morning Dr Emma Runswick, the BMA’s deputy chair, told Sky News that the chances of a strike were “very high”. She explained:
[Health secretary] Steve Barclay’s planning to meet with us on Wednesday but only to discuss a very narrow set of things. He’s talking about the evidence that the government will submit to the pay review body. Unfortunately, they’ve already submitted their remit letter to the pay review body telling us and them that we only should receive 2% next year.
So, that’s another massive pay cut after we’ve had a pay cut this year, and for the previous 15 years. Again, another pay cut on top of the quarter pay cut we’ve already received, so I’m not optimistic … about the meetings, though we will go and we will negotiate if that is an available option to us.
We’re asking for the reversal of that pay cut [over the last 15 years]. So, mathematically, it might even be more and if we have another pay cut this year, it’ll be more again. So, we’re only asking for what we’ve had cut from us back.
Continue reading...PM offers no hint he will compromise on pay offers as former cabinet minister says nurses key to dealing with NHS pressures
The journalist interviewing Rishi Sunak this morning did not press Sunak on excess deaths because he needed to ask some questions about Prince Harry’s memoir. But Sunak would not go near the topic.
Asked how he felt seeing the royal family “torn apart” by these claims and revelations, Sunak replied:
As you would expect, it is not appropriate for me to comment on matters to do with the royal family.
I wouldn’t comment on matters to do with the royal family. I would just say I am enormously grateful to our armed forces for the incredible job they do in keeping us all safe. We’re all very fortunate for their service.
Continue reading...Figure of £281,272 comes as property values drop by 1.5% in December, after 2.4% decline in November
The average UK house price fell for the fourth month in a row in December, according to Halifax, with experts expecting a further slowdown amid a long recession.
Property values decreased by 1.5% in December, the lender’s monthly index revealed, after a 2.4% drop in November, a 0.4% decrease in October and a 0.1% dip in September.
Continue reading...Latest updates: Labour leader to say he plans to move away from the ‘sticking plaster politics’ of short-term decision making
Mick Whelan, the general secretary of Aslef, which represents train drivers, told the Today programme this morning that he did not think the anti-strike legislation proposed by the government (see 8.48am) would make life harder for his union.
He suggested the law would lead to unions like his having to organise strikes across more localised units, instead of nationally.
If we’ve got to sit down in 15, 20 or 30 different undertakings and agree different levels of [minimum service], all it means is that we put more strikes on to pick up the shortfall, create greater strife, the connectivity of the railway falls apart, the logistically it’s impossible.
There have been minimum [service] levels in European countries for several years. They have never been enacted because they don’t work.
Continue reading...Prime minister urges public to judge him on whether he delivers on new pledges but Labour says most ‘were happening anyway’. This blog is now closed
Lucy Powell, the shadow culture secretary, has issued a statement welcoming the government’s proposal to abandon the privatisation of Channel (without actually putting it in those terms). She says the government should never have floated the plan in the first place, and that it has been a “total distraction” for the broadcaster. She says:
The Conservatives’ vendetta against Channel 4 was always wrong for Britain, growth in our creative economy, and a complete waste of everyone’s time.
Our broadcasting and creative industries lead the world, yet this government has hamstrung them for the last year with the total distraction of Channel 4 privatisation.
Continue reading...People with disabilities more likely to cut back on energy use and food, Resolution Foundation says
Disabled people in the UK are much more likely to struggle to heat their homes and cut back on food this winter, according to a report highlighting “massive” income gaps amid the cost of living squeeze.
Research from the Resolution Foundation found people with disabilities had an available amount to spend that was about 44% lower than that of other working-age adults, exposing them hugely to the rising cost of essentials.
Continue reading...PM has reinstated ‘boring government’ but smooth relations with backbenchers are unlikely to last
At the end of one of the most tumultuous years of politics in decades, Rishi Sunak is confident he has successfully managed to calm Tory MPs and – in the words of one senior aide – “bring back boring government”.
He has sought to kick some controversial pieces of legislation into the long grass, performed quick U-turns and managed to satiate a parliamentary party with a seemingly unquenchable thirst for regicide.
Continue reading...Centre for Retail Research says 17,145 stores shut in total, up almost 50% on 2021, during pandemic
Last year was a “brutal” one for Britain’s retail sector, with more shops shutting down than at any other point in the last five years, and 2023 will be similarly challenging, according to industry groups.
About 47 shops on average pulled down their shutters for the final time every day last year, according to analysis from the Centre for Retail Research (CRR). It found a total of 17,145 shops on high streets and in other locations closed for good over 2022. This is up almost 50% on the 11,449 shops closed in 2021, during the Covid pandemic.
Continue reading...Figure worse than predicted and head of industry body expects ‘more business failures’ in early 2023
The rail strikes have had a worse impact on the UK’s hospitality industry than expected – costing bars, pubs, restaurants and hotels £1.5bn in December alone – according to the head of the body representing the sector.
Kate Nicholls, the chief executive of UKHospitality, said this had contributed to a “perfect storm” for businesses battling high energy bills and a cost of living crisis, adding this meant “undoubtedly we will see more business failures” in the next three months.
Continue reading...US oil firm contests legal authority for ‘solidarity contribution’ to raise funds to offset soaring energy prices
ExxonMobil has launched a legal challenge against the EU in an attempt to derail the bloc’s windfall tax on the profits of energy producers.
In a high-stakes political battle as countries across Europe and the wider western world struggle with soaring energy costs and sky-high inflation, the US oil firm said it believed the EU had overreached its powers with the windfall tax.
Continue reading...Quarter of consumers more likely to visit branches amid struggles with surging energy, food and housing costs, finds KPMG survey
Cost of living pressures have increased the number of customers relying on bank branches to help manage their squeezed budgets, research shows.
While the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the adoption of online-only banking, particularly during lockdowns, research from the accountancy firm KPMG showed a quarter of UK consumers were more likely to visit bank branches now that households were grappling with surging energy, food and housing costs.
Continue reading...Exclusive: ONS analysis shows black households five times more likely to struggle to pay energy bills
Labour has reaffirmed its commitment to tackle structural racism after new analysis showed black households are five times more likely to struggle making energy bills repayments.
Black and minority ethnic people were already 2.5 times more likely to be in relative poverty, and 2.2 times more likely to live in deep poverty (defined as having an income more than 50% below the relative poverty line), than their white counterparts regardless of the energy crisis, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
Continue reading...An estimated £3.8bn will be spent on 26 December, down almost 4% on last year
Retailers are preparing for a quieter Boxing Day this year despite freedom from pandemic restrictions as the cost of living crisis weighs on shoppers’ budgets.
Spending is expected to hit almost £3.8bn on 26 December, according to research by GlobalData for Vouchercodes.
Continue reading...