The UK imported no fuel from Russia in June for the first time on record

By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight

The UK imported no fuel from Russia in June for the first time on record, the Office for National Statics (ONS) says. Imports from Russia also fell to just £33m in June, the lowest level since records began in January 1997.  The UK government has banned imports on a range of Russian products including iron and steel, silver, gold, wood products and high-end goods, and put additional tariffs on other items. Exports to Russia also decreased substantially, dropping overall by almost 70% when compared with the monthly average in the 12 months to February, when President Putin sent his troops into Ukraine, to £168m. Machinery and transport equipment sales fell 91.3% to £118m. The only products to see a slight rise in exports were chemicals, driven by an increase in exports of medicinal and pharmaceutical products, which are exempt from sanctions. The figures were released on Ukraine’s Independence Day. It is 31 years since the country broke away from Soviet Union. The day also marked six months since Russia's invasion began. Britain has planned to phase out Russian oil imports completely by the end of the year, and gas imports as soon as possible. In 2021, the UK imported around 4% of its gas from Russia, and 11% of its oil, according to the International Energy Agency.
 
There are a slew of reports this morning warning about the consequences of rising energy bills, accompanied by calls for additional government support for families and businesses: 

• The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) is urging the government to freeze business rates for another year and take “decisive” action to help businesses most in need with surging energy bills this winter, to prevent thousands of companies going bust. “While helping struggling (domestic) consumers remains the number one priority, we can’t afford to lose sight of the fact that many viable businesses are under pressure and could easily tip into distress without action," said Matthew Fell, the CBI's chief policy director. "Firms aren’t asking for a handout. But they do need autumn to be the moment that the government grips the energy cost crisis. Decisive action now will give firms headroom on cash flow and prevent a short-term crunch becoming a longer-term crisis." Nearly one in three businesses surveyed by the CBI said soaring gas prices are likely to stifle their investment in transitioning to net zero. 69% said they expect energy bills to rise in the next three months, and nearly a third expect rises of more than 30%. The CBI also urged the government to give companies and the self-employed more time to pay their tax bills and provide easier access to pandemic-style loans to shore up their finances. Britain's energy regulator, Ofgem, is set to reveal the new energy price cap for the autumn period, on Friday. A sharp increase in the cap is widely expected to see average domestic energy bills rise to around £3,500 from October, before potentially exceeding £4,600 from January.
• The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is also calling for a repeat of the support offered through the pandemic for small businesses, and the suggestion is also among a range of proposals the business group has put forward in a letter to the Prime Minister, Chancellor Nadhim Zahawi, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng, both candidates for the Conservative Party leadership. The BCC estimates that around 4.5m small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will need around £5,000 each to afford their power bills over the winter, amounting to a £23bn bill should the Government accept its proposals. Small businesses face “a tsunami of costs”, Shevaun Haviland, director general of the BCCsays. “Using the system that was put in place during Covid, for example grants paid by local authorities, would help those at the smaller end who are really struggling to keep going,” she added, because without serious aid “businesses will have to reduce output, stop hiring and some will have to cease trading”. The BCC also says the Government should hand more power to energy regulator Ofgem and cut VAT on fuel bills. The business group has said action must be taken quickly to “protect businesses, livelihoods and jobs”
• Consumer group Which? also wants to see further government support because of spiralling energy costs, saying it must raise its energy bills discount by at least 150% or risk pushing millions of households into financial distress. Which? said the Government’s financial support for all households should increase from the current £400 to £1,000 – or from £67 to £167 per month from October to March – following soaring energy price cap predictions, as the existing support package is inadequate to protect living standards for those on the lowest incomes and would lead to considerable financial and social hardship. When the Government first announced its financial support package in May, the energy price cap was predicted to reach around £2,800 in October. Analysts Cornwall Insightnow predict that average energy bills will increase to £3,554 in October and hit £4,650 in January. Which? urged the Government to provide families on the lowest incomes an additional one-off minimum payment of £150, but warned that even this additional support would only be a temporary solution until March, when energy prices are predicted to hit £5,341 for April and remain high throughout 2023.
• “A catastrophe is coming this winter as soaring energy bills risk causing serious physical and financial damage to families across Britain,” Jonny Marshall, a senior economist at the Resolution Foundation says. “We are on course for thousands to see their energy cut off entirely, while millions will be unable to pay bills and (will) build up unmanageable arrears,” he added, saying that “The new prime minister will need to think the unthinkable in terms of the policies needed to get sufficient support to where it’s needed most.” He suggests that: “Significant additional support should be targeted at those most exposed to rising bills and least able to cope with them, and be watertight so that no-one falls through the cracks,” but concluded that “none of the proposals from the leadership candidates or the opposition parties currently do this.”
• And the BBC has put in a Freedom Of Information (FOI) request which has revealed more than three million households in Britain were still waiting to receive their £150 payment to help with energy costs on 1 July. Councils were expected to start paying the £150 rebates “as soon as possible” from April, but have until 30^th September to actually do so. Halfway through that period, 97% of households who pay by direct debit in England and Wales had got the payment, but only half of those who pay in other ways had received it, a group that typically includes lower-income households. The payment is available to homes in council tax bands A to D, or up to E if a householder has a disability. In Scotland, the scheme ran differently, with a £150 credit applied to council tax bills, or paid as a cheque to households exempt from paying. By 1 July, around 3,000 households in Scotland were waiting for the payment.

Police arrested dozens of Just Stop Oil protesters after they glued themselves to service station forecourts on the M25 and fuel pumps were damaged yesterday. Surrey Police said 20 people were held after protests at Clacket Lane and Cobham services, prompting fuel supplies to be cut at the sites. A further 11 people were arrested after activists staged action at Thurrock services, Essex Police said. All those detained had been arrested on suspicion of causing criminal damage. Just Stop Oil said 32 protesters blocked access to three service station by sitting in the road with banners, while some petrol pumps were vandalised. On Tuesday, the protest group blocked two oil depots in Essex and Warwickshire, resulting in 35 arrests, and warned it would "continue the disruption until the government makes a statement that it will end new oil and gas projects in the UK".
 

The Trades Union Congress (TUC) says the minimum wage in the UK should rise to £15 an hour "as soon as possible" and apply to workers of all ages, instead of the current lower rate for under-23s. Currently, the minimum wage is £9.50 an hour for workers over the age of 23 and £9.18 for 21 and 22 year olds. The government responded by saying it was "determined to make work pay" but that setting the minimum wage too high or increasing it too quickly could lead to higher unemployment.
 
More than half a million landlords are facing rent arrears because of combination of soaring rents since the pandemic, and the Government’s housing benefits freeze, according to a report by the charity Crisis and property website Zoopla. Tenants on housing benefits account for one in four of all private renters in England, the report says, but only 12% of rental properties listed in the last year are affordable to them because there is a shortfall of 624,000 genuinely affordable rental homes. Zoopla’s Richard Donnell said the rental supply crunch was compounded because of a crackdown on buy-to-let by the government, which is pushing landlords to sell up. “The challenge for national and local governments is to encourage more supply across all tenures and a policy environment that continues to attract new investment into the rented sectors,” he said.
 
UK car production has risen for the third consecutive month year-on-year. A total of 58,043 cars were built in the UK in July, 8.6% more than during the same month last year, according to figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The industry body said the rise could indicate that the shortage of parts such as semiconductors, which has disrupted car manufacturing, “may finally be beginning to ease”. However, the SMMT warned July’s figures must be “set in context”, as production was badly hit during July 2021 because of components’ shortages and coronavirus-related staff shortages, leading to many factories altering their summer shutdown timings. Despite the recent growth in output, levels are still nearly half of pre-pandemic levels. SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “Other challenges remain, not least energy costs which are increasing at alarming rates. If we are to attract much needed investment to drive the production of zero emission vehicles, urgent action is needed to mitigate these costs to make the UK more competitive for manufacturing. This must be a priority for the next prime minister else we will fall further behind our global rivals, risking jobs and economic growth.”
 
The average price of a used car has risen by more than a quarter, according to Lookers, one of the UK’s largest car dealerships. The company said prices rose 27% in the first half of 2022, compared to the same period a year earlier and, although the number of used cars they sold fell, they were still able to make nearly £200m in revenue, up nearly 17% from a year ago. Lookers added it had 22,000 orders from retail customers at the end of June, compared to 9,000 in June 2021. Lookers’ revenues for new vehicles fell, however, by 5.6% to £970.2m, due to a decrease in the number of fleet vehicles that it rents out to companies.
 
Shares in FTSE 100 firm Aveva ended the day 26% up yesterday after France's Schneider Electric said it was considering making a bid for the software company, buying the remaining 40% of Aveva shares it does not already own. Aveva recommended shareholders take no action saying it had yet to receive an approach, and noting Schneider's statement that it had not yet decided whether to in fact table an offer, nor on what terms. Schneider now has until 21 September to either make a firm intention to make an offer or walk away.
 
Allied Minds shares tumbled 40% yesterday after the company - which invests in the tech and life sciences sectors - said it was planning to delist from the London Stock Exchange after a formal strategic review aimed at ensuring “the company is being managed in as cost-efficient manner as possible". "In conducting this review, the board considers that the costs of maintaining a premium listing on the Official List and the Main Market of the London Stock Exchange are now prohibitively high relative to Allied Minds' current size and maintaining a public listing is no longer in the best interests of the company and its shareholders as a whole," it said. Allied Minds must now consult formally with shareholders regarding a possible delisting, and offer them a vote if it decides to go ahead.
 
FTSE 100 miner Rio Tinto has upped its bid for Turquoise Hill, the majority owner of the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in Mongolia. The 18% increase to C$34 (£22.21) per share represents a 56% premium to the miner's share price on 11 March, the day before Rio made its initial offer, valuing its minority share capital at $3.1bn (£2.63 bn). Rio already holds a 51% stake in Turquoise Hill which in turn owned two-thirds of Oyu Tolgoi.
 
A technology platform for building blockchain projects co-founded by Steven Bartlett, the youngest ‘dragon’ on BBC1’s Dragon’s Den, has raised $24m (£20m) in a series A funding round. Thirdweb – a platform which makes it quicker and cheaper to build and launch apps without having to write a single line of code for the “next generation of the internet”, or Web3 – secured the funding from large investors including Haun Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, Shopify and Polygon. Bartlett co-founded the platform with Furqan Rydhan in 2021, since when more than 80,000 developers have used the platform. It generates $1.5m (£1.3m) in revenue every week, the company said. The platform can be used to build non-fungible tokens (NFTs), tokens on the blockchain that can be used to represent digital items like art, collectibles, or real estate. Thirdweb says the cash raised will be used to speed up the platform’s development, add support for additional blockchains, and bring in new brands, individuals and creators. Several global fashion companies have launched their own NFT projects. For example, sportswear giant Nike now sells digital trainers, called Cryptokicks, which the firm says brings in more than $185m (£157m) in revenue. Dolce & Gabbana, the second top company in terms of NFT revenues, has made around $25 million from the sale of its NFTs, which other brands such as Tiffany, Gucci, and Adidas have each made between $11 to $13 million from NFT sales.
 
Premier Inn owner Whitbread announced yesterday the purchase of a prime freehold property just off London’s Trafalgar Square. Subject to planning, 5 The Strand will become the latest Hub by Premier Inn hotel and is expected to open in 2027. The purchase and development is anticipated to cost in the region of £200m and is being funded from existing cash resources. It will include one of the group's Bar+Block steakhouse restaurants. The Hub sub-brand of Premier Inn chain was introduced in 2014 and features smaller rooms in city centre locations. It currently offers around 2,400 rooms across 14 properties in London and Edinburgh.
 
Asda has joined Tesco, Waitrose, and Marks & Spencer in removing 'best before' dates from labels on fresh produce to help cut food waste.

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