Published: 11 April 2023
By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight
Junior doctors have begun a 4-day strike in England, which the NHS says could affect around 350,000 appointments. They are demanding a 35% pay rise, as their union, the British Medical Association (BMA), claims they have suffered a 26% pay cut in real terms since 2008/9. Health Secretary Steve Barclay said the action was "extremely disappointing" as it risked patient safety, and accused organisers of timing the strike just after the Bank Holiday Easter weekend - a period when the NHS already faces increased demand and greater staff absence - "to maximise disruption". Trade talks between India and Britain have not been suspended and will continue this year, three officials told Reuters yesterday, responding to a report in The Times newspaper claiming India had "disengaged" from the talks after London failed to condemn Sikh separatists. Last month, protesters with banners supporting the so-called independent Sikh state of "Khalistan" staged a demonstration outside the Indian High Commission in London and took down an Indian flag from the building's balcony to denounce recent police action against a pro-Khalistan Sikh preacher. FTSE 100 chiefs enjoyed average pay rises of 12 per cent last year – despite the cost-of-living pressures battering workers. Bosses’ average pay packets climbed to £4.15million in 2022, up from £3.72million the year before, analysis by Deloitte shows. Women’s pensions are on average £17,014 smaller than their male counterparts, a new study by pensions consultants TPT concludes. The Labour Party has followed in the footsteps of the Treasury and paused all engagement with the Confederation of British Industry (CBI). The Treasury halted all engagement with the trade body last week after The Guardian published allegations that as many as 12 women felt they had been victims of sexual misconduct. Former Director general Tony Danker had already stepped aside from his role after claims over his own behaviour triggered an investigation, however he has this morning been sacked. Three other CBI employees are suspended pending further investigation. Meanwhile, Adnams Brewery CEO Andy Wood has told BBC Radio 4 his firm is considering withdrawing from the beleaguered trade body in the wake of the allegations. Wood told the Today programme: “Reputations take decades to build and moments to destroy, and the CBI need to get on with this and sort it out quickly, and restore our trust and confidence in the organisation. I’d say if there is any scintilla of truth in this, I think I can speak for all members that such behaviour is completely unacceptable and there is no place for it in the workplace.” A host of other companies, including EY and Rolls Royce, who pay substantial fees to the membership body, have also expressed concerns. Retailers are suffering as the cost-of-living crisis means people are eating out less to save money and entertaining at home instead, while facing rising wholesale costs and wages, The British Retail Consortium (BRC) says. However, the stay-at-home trend also saw sales of home accessories and furniture rise in March, helping total retail sales increase by 5.1% in the month, compared with a year earlier. According to the BRC, Mother's Day also "brightened up" sales, with people buying jewellery, flowers and fragrances, although the wettest March in over 40 years held back demand for fashion items, as well as gardening and DIY products. More pubs are closing in across England and Wales because of soaring energy and food prices that we lost during covid lockdowns, analysis of government data conducted by real estate advisor Altus Group shows. The number of public houses shutting up shop leapt to 51 a month in the first financial quarter of 2023 - a rise of almost 60% on last year.. In 2022, after the UK emerged from the Covid-19 pandemic, 32 pubs were lost on average each month, with 386 disappearing in total. A report in the Sunday Telegraph quotes estate agent Savills as saying that Britain's High Street is facing a £90bn bill as a result of upgrades forced on it by net zero rules, and that failure to take action may otherwise render 91% of all retail space unlettable by 2030. Under the government's plans, commercial properties would need to have a minimum energy performance rating of C by 2027 for them to be able to be rented out. A B rating would be necessary three years afterwards. Savills puts the cost of those upgrades at between £55bn to £90bn for the UK as a whole and at £10bn for London alone. A freedom of information request from campaign group Wild Fish has revealed that Ofwat has issued just one single fine to suppliers for sewage spills since the current rules were introduced nearly 30 years ago. This was incurred by Southern Water, which received a £126m fine in in 2019 for breaching waste water regulations. The government’s official data meanwhile, shows there were 301,091 sewage spills into rivers and the sea last year, on top of the 372,533 recorded in 2021. This has led City A.M. to conclude that the chances of a water company being fined are less likely than being attacked by a shark (one in seven million); almost as unlikely as dying in a plane crash (one in 11 million); and less common than being struck by lightning - around a one in 1.1m chance. Wizz Air was the worst major airline for flight delays from the UK last year, according to figures from the Civil Aviation Authority and reported by the PA news agency. The Hungarian carrier's UK departures were an average of 46 minutes and six seconds behind schedule last year, more than three times longer than the previous year, when it was also ranked the worst for punctuality. Tui was the second worst, with an average delay of 40 minutes and 18 seconds, followed by Qatar Airways (31 minutes and 48 seconds), Turkish Airlines (29 minutes and 30 seconds) and Pegasus Airlines (27 minutes and 18 seconds). The most punctual was Norwegian Air Shuttle, with an average delay of just 13 minutes and 42 seconds. Discount shopping chain Poundstretcher is said to have hired advisers to look at stock market floatation London, after sales boomed during Covid, the Daily Mail reports. In February, the group, set up in 1981, said it planned to open another 50 stores across the UK this year. It had around 350 branches at the start of the year after opening 30 in 2021. The boss of the UK's largest insurance broker has warned the industry will go bust if it is forced to cover the cost of claims arising from Russia's invasion of Ukraine. David Howden of Howden Group said the sector was 'not designed' to be a 'backstop' for the costs of war and if insurers paid out claims 'we'd all go bankrupt.' His comments came as the owners of around 500 commercial aircraft that were seized by Russia shortly after the outbreak of war prepared to sue several Lloyd's of London insurers after they refused to pay out around £8billion in claims. Howden said their decision not to pay up was legitimate. A tie-up between Vodafone and rival Three, who operate the UK's third and fourth largest mobile networks, will be agreed within weeks, The Mail on Sunday said at the weekend. An agreement would follow six months of negotiations between Vodafone and Three owner CK Hutchinson. But potential sticking points did exist, including separate network sharing deals and how to go about disentangling Vodafone UK from its parent group. Cineworld has filed a plan of reorganisation with a US Bankruptcy Court, a week dropping plans to sell its businesses in the US, UK, and Ireland after it failed to find a buyer, and proposed a new debt deal. The proposed restructuring does not provide for any recovery for holders of its existing equity interests. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is investigating Amazon.com's anticipated $1.7bn (£1.38bn) takeover of robot vacuum maker iRobot Corp. The e-commerce giant's planned acquisition is already being reviewed by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission. The CMA will consider whether the deal could reduce competition in the connected device market. Invitations to comment on the combination are now open, it said. The iconic Tupperware brand is “looking less airtight,” Reuters reports. The US reuseable plastic container firm founded in 1946 by chemist Earl Tupper, after taking inspiration from the design of paint can lids, cited “substantial doubt” on Friday about its ability to continue as a going concern, sending its shares plummeting 48% yesterday. While Covid-19 was a boon to the business - its earnings in the third quarter of 2020 more than quadrupled as locked-down home cooks whipped up recipes – the resurgence in dining out means less room for leftovers, it says. Also, an earnings misstatement, leading it to be late in filing its annual report, could cause creditors to declare Tupperware has violated its debt covenants. Tupperware relies on some 3m independent sales members to distribute its products into nearly 70 countries, but compared with the company’s heyday, customers now have more options for food storage, more places to buy from, and less time for Tupperware parties, leaving “the iconic brand increasingly boxed in”. Tech sector layoffs for 2023 have already surpassed the whole of last year amid a bloodbath in Silicon Valley, the Daily Mail reports. Almost 169,000 people have been sacked since January, compared to the 164,411 who were let go in the entirety of 2022, according to data tracker Layoffs.fyi. Last month, Facebook owner Meta said it would be sacking 10,000 more staff – just months after the social network group axed a record 11,000. Meanwhile, Google's parent company Alphabet, plus Amazon, Salesforce, Spotify and Microsoft, have all made significant layoffs. Rising competition, reduced advertising income, and over-hiring during the pandemic have been cited by the firms – the latter being cited by Amazon as the key reason behind its record cull of 27,000 jobs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says it thinks interest rates in major economies are expected to fall to pre-pandemic levels because of low productivity and ageing populations. Increases in borrowing costs are likely to be "temporary" once high inflation is brought under control, it says, but did not predict when interest rates would fall back.
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