Published: 30 August 2022
Location: London, UK
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson has admitted that energy bills will be "eye-watering" this winter and the cost of heating is already "frightening" for some. Writing in The Mail on Sunday, Johnson blamed Vladimir Putin for the worsening crisis and claimed the Russian president "likes it". Johnson claimed that Putin also believes "soft" European politicians will ease sanctions "and go begging for Russian oil and gas" as the winter sets in, but warned that withdrawing support from Ukraine would be "utter madness." He went on to insist that Putin's position "grows weaker" with every passing month. He also said that when the cost of living crisis is over, “Britain will emerge stronger and more prosperous on the other side". Meanwhile, he said, “whoever takes over from me - the government will announce another huge package of financial support."
Pubs may be forced to close due to energy costs soaring by as much as 300%, leaders of six of the country's largest breweries have warned. JW Lees, Carlsberg Marston's, Admiral Taverns, Drake & Morgan, Greene King and St Austell Brewery, all of whom sit on the board of the British Beer and Pub Association (BBPA), have written an open letter to the government urging "immediate government intervention" to avoid "real and serious irreversible" damage to the industry in the form of a support package and a cap on the price of energy for businesses. Currently, there is no such cap, so bills are higher.
Conservative Leadership Candidate Liz Truss, who is currently believed to be frontrunner to be named the next prime minister on 5th September, has said it would not be "right" to announce her full plans for tackling the energy crisis until the contest is over. However, numerous media sources claim she is considering a cut in the VAT cut from 20% to 15%. Sky News said over the weekend that estimates suggest the 5% cut would save the average household more than £1,300 a year, while The Institute for Fiscal Studies said it would cost taxpayers £3.2bn a month, or £38bn for a year. The Sunday Telegraph was also told: "They [the Treasury] have talked about the Gordon Brownapproach that he took at the time (of the financial crisis) when it looked as though consumer confidence was falling. Another source claimed she "doesn't have time" to offer targeted support, warning: "People are going to start going out of business from the minute she takes office." Rishi Sunak's rival team criticised the plan as expensive and "incredibly regressive".
Unions are threatening to hold co-ordinated strikes in the coming months in an attempt to secure inflation-matching pay rises for workers, according to the Observer on Sunday. The newspaper says a series of motions will be tabled at the Trades Union Congress (TUC) in September, calling for unions to work together to increase the impact of their industrial action. The TUC's head of public services, Kevin Rowan, later told Sky News they would "support and encourage" unions in the move, so strikes could be "as effective" as possible. The plan has the backing of two of Britain’s largest unions, Unison and Unite.
An RAC investigation has found that drop-off fees have increased at two-thirds of the UK's major airports since 2019. The motoring services company claimed drivers will be "stunned" by some of the "sky-high" fees, and said that Stansted Airport is currently the most expensive for so-called ‘kiss-and-fly’ charges levied for dropping off someone as close to the terminal as possible. Stanstead’s initial fee is £7 for up to 15 minutes - an increase from £4 for 10 minutes in 2019, before the pandemic. Eight airports – including Heathrow and Gatwick - charge £5 for dropping off passengers. Both introduced the charge last year. Nicholas Lyes, RAC head of roads policy, said limited public transport options for some airports and concerns about train strikes mean many passengers are asking a friend or relative to give them a lift, but that "minute for minute and pound for pound, some of these charges could almost be as high as the airfare itself." He said it appears many airports have increased fees to "partially make up" for lost revenue during the pandemic. Manchester Airportgives drivers five minutes to drop off travellers for £5 (up from £3 in 2019), while Liverpool John Lennon Airport has raised its fees from £3 for 20 minutes to £4 for 10 minutes. Bristol Airport has hiked its initial fee for 10 minutes from £1 to £5. In Scotland, dropping off passengers at the three biggest airports is not much cheaper. Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Glasgow airports have all doubled their fees in the past three years to £4 for 10 minutes. Birmingham and Belfast International airports are among the few to have kept their fees the same since 2019 (£3 for 15 minutes and £1 for 10 minutes, respectively), while free drop-off is still available near terminal entrances at Cardiff, London City and Belfast City airports. Lyes advised drivers to research charges before heading to airports, and warned them to be aware that many sites use cameras to enforce bans on stopping in certain areas.
The Co-op Group is in talks to sell its petrol forecourts division for £450m as it seeks to reduce its debt pile and strengthen its balance sheet, Sky News says, claiming Britain's biggest mutual is in advanced negotiations to offload roughly 130 fuel retailing sites across the country. Sources said on Friday the business was expected to be sold to a trade buyer, with a deal potentially being agreed in the coming weeks. Bankers at Rothschild are advising. Meanwhile, Asda is said by Sky News to be the leading contender to buy forecourts division, which includes a sizeable convenience operation. Asda changed hands last year in a £6.8bn deal, bought by the Issa brothers and TDR Capital, who also control EG Group, one of the largest independent fuel retailers in Europe.
The Co-op Group has also appointed Shirine Khoury-Haq as its first female chief executive.
‘The Beer Hatch,’ apparently the UK’s smallest off-licence, has set up in a traditional red telephone box by Norwich businessman Saul Press. He plans to sell more than 50 craft beers from the Grade II listed K6 model red box in Tombland, trading from Thursdays to Saturdays. He currently delivers draught beers by bike around Norwich and sells craft beer and ales at markets across the county. "It's my first little premises," he said.
The black Ford Escort RS Turbo driven by the late Diana, Princess of Wales from August 1985 to May 1988, has sold at auction for £650,000. Arwel Richards, classic car specialist at Silverstone Auctions, which held the sale, said it was "an incredible result" with "fierce bidding" and a packed room. With the buyer's premium included, the buyer paid a total of £730,000.
Stock markets in the US closed lower yesterday following comments by Jerome Powell, chairman of the Federal Reserve, that the central bank will push ahead with further interest rate rises. The Dow Jones closed 0.57% lower, while the S&P 500 was down 0.67%, and the Nasdaq down by 1.02%.
The drop follows a sharp fall on Wall Street on Friday, with all three benchmarks more than 3% lower. The Nasdaq registered its worst daily performance since June, the BBC says. Inflation in the US is at a four decades-high and the US economy has shrunk for two consecutive quarters, a marker that would have been considered an economic recession, but the US recently changed the definition of the term, introducing new indicators of such.
Moderna is suing Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for alleged patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the US. The lawsuit, which seeks undetermined monetary damages, alleges they copied technology that Moderna had developed years before the pandemic. Moderna chief executive Stephane Bancel said: "We are filing these lawsuits to protect the innovative mRNA technology platform that we pioneered, invested billions of dollars in creating, and patented during the decade preceding the Covid-19 pandemic." Bancel said the company is continuing to use the technology to develop treatments for influenza and HIV, as well as autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and rare forms of cancer. "We believe that Pfizer and BioNTech unlawfully copied Moderna's inventions, and they have continued to use them without permission," Moderna's chief legal officer Shannon Thyme Klinger added. Pfizer told Sky News that they had not been served and that they were unable to comment at this time.
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