UCL professor resigns from Science Museum board over oil and gas cash October 4, 2021 Professor of Climate Science Chris Rapley CBE resigned this weekend from the Science Museum’s Advisory Board over the issue of fossil fuel sponsorship and the museum’s willingness to accept money from major oil and gas companies, including Shell. Rapley, who is currently Professor of Climate Science at UCL, has long-standing ties with the Science Museum, [...]
Fuel crisis: City traders circle BP and Shell as they take positions for more price hikes October 4, 2021 Investors are not banking on a swift resolution to the UK fuel crisis against a backdrop of continuing queues on forecourts and the Army being put on standby to help with deliveries, according to data shared with City PM this morning. Analysis of investor movements with regards to BP, Royal Shell and Glencore shows that [...]
Future of HS2 uncertain as Grant Shapps will not ‘blindly follow’ decades old-plans October 4, 2021 Speculation over the future of the eastern route of the HS2 is mounting after Grant Shapps said he is not planning to “blindly follow” plans dawn up 20 years ago. In an interview with the Financial Times today, the Transport Secretary signalled that a major rethink of the high-speed rail project between Birmingham and Leeds [...]
UK travel rules are changing from today as traffic light system is scrapped October 4, 2021 Travel rules are changing significantly today, with the UK’s traffic light system involving green, amber and red lists being scrapped, with locations categorised as either on the red list or not. It comes amid reports the number of countries on the red list will be slashed to nine from 54 later in the week, with [...]
The sky is not the limit for Barbie as she takes zero-gravity flight to space October 4, 2021 When young girls and boys think of Barbie, they may not imagine her floating around on a zero-gravity flight. But the brand has teamed up with the European Space Agency (ESA) and its only active female astronaut to inspire young girls to see the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (Stem) field as a viable career [...]
Watchdog mulls investigation for EY and Deloitte over Southeastern audits October 3, 2021 The accountancy watchdog is debating whether to launch a probe into the auditors of the Southeastern train line after the company last week admitted to hiding £25m owed to the state. The Financial Reporting Council is looking into whether audit giants EY and Deloitte have a case to answer, sources told the Sunday Telegraph. Last [...]
City corruption: Company of Tory donor Ayman Asfari paid tens of millions in bribes across Middle East October 3, 2021 A company whose biggest shareholder is a major Tory donor did not stop its employees from paying out more than £32m in bribes in order to secure a range of contracts across the Middle East. Petrofac, one of the world’s largest service providers to oil and gas producers, won business worth £2.7bn in Iraq, Saudi [...]
Government writes to thousands of Germans in the UK: ‘Please drive a lorry’ October 2, 2021 The government has sent out thousands of letters to German nationals based in the UK, urging them to consider a career as a lorry driver, even if they have never driven one before. The letters, signed by transport minister Baroness Vere, encourages people to “consider returning” to the HGV driving sector. It is understood Germans [...]
Record high: Energy bills for 15m UK households to increase by at least £139 October 1, 2021 As suppliers grapple with soaring wholesale prices, energy bills for around 15m UK households will increase by at least £139 to a record high from today under Ofgem’s latest price cap. The regulator decided in August that energy customers on default tariffs paying by direct debit will see the sharpest jump in prices since the [...]
Fuel crisis: Shortages at petrol stations to persist for at least another week, govt admits October 1, 2021 A government minister admitted this morning that the shortages at petrol filling stations may persist for at least another week. Policing minister Kit Malthouse said there was still strong demand for fuel in some parts of the country and that Boris Johnson will have to review the situation if it deteriorates further. He told the [...]
