Published: 06 January 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
The Government outlined tougher rules for some key workers planning strike action yesterday, saying new legislation will ensure key services like the NHS are protected. According to the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), some trade union members would be required to continue working during a strike to maintain a basic function and deliver minimum safety levels". The sectors to be covered by the plans are: - the NHS, transport, education, fire and rescue services, border security, and nuclear decommissioning. Police officers are banned from taking strike action. The government also said it would consult on the minimum level of staffing for the fire and ambulance services, as well as the railways, and that it expects to be able to reach voluntary agreements about workers in other affected roles. The measures are intended to be introduced to parliament in the coming weeks, however Labour leader Sir Keir Starmerhas already said that he will abolish any such laws brought in by the current government if Labour wins the next election. "These proposals are unworkable and unserious from a dead-end government," Labour Deputy Leader Angela Rayner said. "It's insulting to key workers that Rishi Sunak thinks that threatening teachers and nurses with the sack will end strikes." The GMB, meanwhile, one of Britain's largest trade unions, called the legislation an attack on the fundamental right to take strike action.
Thousands of workers at the Environment Agency will strike for the first time later this month in a dispute over pay, the Unison trade union said yesterday. Staff including those who maintain safety structures such as the Thames Barrier and coastal sea defences will walk out on 18th January.
Motoring organisation the RAC has again warned that supermarkets and some other retailers are failing to reduce petrol prices in line with falling wholesale costs. RAC Fuel Watch data shows petrol fell by 8.4p last month to 151.06p, while diesel came down by 9.4p to 173.97p . However, petrol prices should actually be around 140p, 11p less than the current UK average, while diesel should be nearer to 160p a litre, 14p lower than the average at the end of 2022, the RAC says.
British oil giant Shell expects to pay about £1.7billion in additional taxes for the fourth quarter of 2022 because of European Union and British windfall taxes imposed on the energy sector, it said.
Capricorn Energy published an open letter to shareholders yesterday in which it reaffirmed its support for a merger with Israel-based NewMed Energy amid opposition from activist shareholder Palliser Capital. Palliser, which holds a stake of around 6.6% in the FTSE 250 company, said in October that the proposed merger with NewMed was "another one-sided deal that does not reflect the company's intrinsic value" and urged the company "to recognise that it need not be a forced seller". However, Capricorn said in the letter that Palliser's arguments for opposing the deal were based on “incorrect facts and assumptions”. It had reviewed Palliser's plan in detail and concluded it is "based on an overstated value of Capricorn on a standalone basis," and underestimated the value creation potential of the NewMed merger. The combination of the two companies will create a "world-class gas and energy champion" that will provide enhanced scale, liquidity and a superior investment case and generate around $3bn in unlevered free cash flow between 2023-2027 from existing assets, with a shareholder distribution policy of at least 30%,” Capricorn said. Capricorn previously abandoned a proposed merger with Tullow Oil.
First Abu Dhabi Bank says it is no longer interested in buying Standard Chartered. Shares in the British Bank soared yesterday in response to press speculation, but First Abu Dhabi has now confirmed it had previously been at the "very early" stages of evaluating a possible offer for Standard Chartered, but is no longer doing so.
FTSE 100 mining giant Glencore is under increasing pressure to be more transparent about plans for its coal business, the Daily Mail reports. Investors including Legal & General and HSBC have signed a resolution, to be voted on at Glencore’s annual meeting in May, asking it to show how its development of thermal coal mines meets the goals in the 2015 Paris climate agreement, which aims to keep global warming to 1.5C. ‘A higher degree of transparency is necessary to clarify how the company’s exposure to thermal coal... corresponds with its net zero commitment,’ said Dror Elkayam, a Legal & General Investment Management analyst.
A new partnership between satellite phone firm Iridium and chip giantQualcomm will bring satellite connectivity to some Android smartphones later in the year, meaning handsets can connect with passing satellites to send and receive emergency messages where there is no mobile coverage. The BBC says the new partnership will make the service accessible to millions more smartphone users, without tying them to a particular brand - but it will be down to the manufacturer to enable it. However, Qualcomm said that at first the new feature, called Snapdragon Satellite, will only be incorporated into its premium chips so is unlikely to appear in budget devices. It will be eventually rolled out to tablets, laptops and even vehicles, and become a service that is not restricted to emergency communication, although there is likely to be a fee for this.
London-listed construction group Galliford Try said yesterday that its building business has won a £95m contract to deliver a new custodial facility at HMP Rye Hill. The facility is a privately-run prison managed by Onley Prison Services and operated by G4S Care & Justice Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.
FTSE 100 advertising giant WPP said yesterday that it had bought Fēnom Digital, one of the fastest-growing digital transformation agencies in North America, for an undisclosed sum.
Reuters, citing the Nikkei, reports that Dell Technologies Inc plans to stop using China-made chips by 2024 and has told suppliers to reduce the amount of other made-in-China components in its products amid concerns over U.S.-Beijing tensions. The US added Chinese memory chipmaker YMTC and 21 other "major" companies in the country's artificial intelligence chip sector to a trade blacklist in December. PC maker HP Inc, one of Dell's rivals, has also started surveying its suppliers to gauge the feasibility of moving production and assembly away from China, the report said, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.
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