Author: News Desk

Daily Mirror – Interest rate pain: It’s not over yet Summary of the front page The Daily Mirror leads with the Bank of England boss, Andrew Bailey, saying he will take “whatever decisions are needed” to tackle high inflation. Higher rates are yet to fully filter through to households and the economy, the Bank warned on Thursday, estimating that just a third of the impact has passed through so far. It means homeowners on fixed-rate deals will feel the impact when it is time for them to renew rather than now. The front page also reports the UK is sending…

Read More

Rail strikes: trains halted as passengers face weekend of disruption The Guardian says Rail services across Britain will be severely disrupted on Friday as train drivers stage the first of the latest wave of planned strikes in a long-running pay dispute. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef will strike for 24 hours across virtually all the big passenger operators in England, stopping some major intercity and commuter services entirely. Cross-border services to Wales and Scotland will also be affected, although the union is only in direct dispute with firms contracted to the Department for Transport in England. No trains will…

Read More

Rail passengers face summer of strife as national strikes resume The Independent says Forty-eight hours of rail chaos is about to get under way. Travellers trying to reach the Eurovision Song Contest this Saturday and, next month, the FA Cup Final by train could find their trains cancelled by a series of strikes. As the next round of national rail strikes begins, the dispute between rail unions, train operators and ministers appears deeper than ever. In June 2022, the first national rail strikes since the 1980s began across Britain in a tangle of disputes about pay, job security and working…

Read More

Northern to run ‘Eurovision express’ despite train strikes Railway Review says Northern – the second largest train operator in the UK – have said they will operate a ‘Eurovision express’ train service from Manchester Airport to Liverpool Lime Street on Friday 12 May 2023 despite industrial action by ASLEF forcing all other services on its network to be cancelled. The hourly service, which will run from 7am until 7pm, has been chosen to help international visitors arriving at Manchester Airport get to the event in Liverpool. Tricia Williams, Chief Operating Officer at Northern, said: “As a Liverpudlian myself, I know…

Read More

Weak UK economy in Q1, contracts in March due to strikes The UK economy experienced weak growth in the first quarter of the year, with a contraction in March attributed to strike action, according to the latest statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The economy saw a modest 0.1% growth between January and March. However, in March, it contracted by 0.3%, primarily due to poor car sales and a struggling retail sector. Sectors like IT and construction contributed to overall growth, while health, education, and public administration faced declines, with “these sectors affected by strikes.” Amidst concerns about…

Read More