Category: #uk

Almost three million people in the UK may be unemployed by Christmas as up to 1.5 million more jobs face the axe in the run-up to the festive season, two leading think tanks are warning.

With Covid-19 still “battering the economy” and the government’s Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme coming to an end on 31 October, more companies will be forced to lay off staff, says The Guardian. The predicted “surge in unemployment” would drive the unemployment rate above 8% for the first time in almost a decade, the newspaper adds.

The latest study from the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found that UK businesses are planning to lay off more than a third (35%) of furloughed workers after the scheme ends this month – equivalent to 1.2 million staff.

And a further 300,000 jobs are also at risk, according to the think tank, which is echoing Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s warning of a “tough” winter ahead.

The CEBR agrees that “as the chancellor said, he can’t be expected to save every job throughout the crisis and a readjustment of the economy will be required”.

But “as hopes for an early return to normal recede and it indeed looks like some businesses in Covid hotspots will need to close in the coming weeks and month, the chancellor needs to act now despite the fiscal cost”, the economies consultancy adds.

The Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) is also warning of major job losses to come.

The think tank believes that the government’s new Job Support Scheme (JSS) “will do little to halt rising unemployment”, The Times reports.

The IPPR says that almost two-thirds of the three million people presently on furlough had been working in “viable” roles – jobs that are likely to become available again once Covid-19 restrictions are lifted.

But “we find that the new schemes will only save 230,000 of these jobs. As such, 1.8 million viable jobs which could otherwise be preserved will be lost, at great individual and wider economic cost,” the experts predict.

European Union nations have begun “wargaming” plans for a no-deal Brexit that could see the resumption of talks next year if the December deadline is missed, according to insiders.

Ahead of crunch talks in Brussels this week, a senior EU diplomat told The Telegraph that although there would be a “period of chaos” if no agreement is struck, “there is nothing that says that just because there is a no deal there can never be trade negotiations again”.

Other sources also insist that eventually “UK-EU trade negotiations would have to resume with the European Commission, which handles negotiations on behalf of the bloc, after no deal on 1 January”, says the newspaper. But the insiders warn that London would continue to face the same demands and would have lost any goodwill and leverage.

Not everyone is convinced that the talks could resume, however. A separate EU source reportedly said that there would be no resumption of trade negotiations in the aftermath of no-deal and that Britain would be forced to strike bilateral agreements with individual member countries.

Meanwhile, EU leaders including France’s President Emmanuel Macron are expected to insist on stringent enforcement rules for any UK trade deal, amid widespread concerns that Boris Johnson’s decision to supersede the Brexit treaty has shown that London cannot be trusted.

In a sign of the erosion of trust that Johnson’s move caused, the bloc wants any agreement to be backed by the right for Brussels to take “rapid retaliatory action” if Britain were to breach its commitments, the Financial Times reports.

The EU’s chief negotiator told a meeting of European ambassadors last week that any hint of compromise, especially on fishing rights, would weaken the bloc’s position. Michel Barnier is encouraging European leaders to resist Johnson’s efforts to turn this week’s summit, on Thursday and Friday, into a de-facto negotiating deadline.

Killer whales have declared war on Spanish fishing boats. Since July, there have been at least 30 attacks on small boats in which the mammals ram the vessels. Most have taken place off Spain’s north-west coast, but some were rammed by the mammals in the Straits of Gibraltar and five ships were attacked in Portuguese waters. A woman who was onboard one of the ships said that the attack felt “totally orchestrated”.

Labrador puppy picks up sex toy during walk

A dog owner was embarrassed when the pet she was walking found a sex toy. Klara Robson was walking a labrador named Charlie and thought he was playing with a stick. Thinking he looked happy, she took a photo to send to the dog’s owner. It was only then she realised that the one-year-old pup had actually found a sex toy and was carrying it around in his mouth.

Baby boy delivered in mid-air

A passenger has given birth prematurely to a baby boy on a flight in India. Flight attendants helped deliver the infant during a flight last week IndiGo flight from Delhi to Bengaluru. The crew have been praised for their “amazing team work”. They were were assisted by a senior gynaecologist who was, luckily, on the flight. “Thank you God and entire @IndiGo6E crew,” tweeted one passenger.