Croydon tram crash: Accidental death verdict a ‘total farce’ July 22, 2021 The victims of the Croydon tram crash died as a result of an accident, and were not unlawfully killed, the jury at the inquest into their deaths has concluded. Seven passengers died and a further 62 were injured when a tram derailed in south London on November 9 2016. Dane Chinnery, 19, Philip Seary, 57, [...]
Commuter rail services axed due to staff self-isolating July 22, 2021 Commuter rail operators have today said that they will reduce the number of services they run from next week as a result of staff shortages due to workers being forced to isolate. Govia Thameslink, which runs both the Thameslink and Southern franchises, confirmed that it would run a reduced weekday service from Monday. The firm [...]
Saudi Aramco ‘faces $50m ransom’ after data leak July 22, 2021 Saudi Aramco is reportedly facing a $50m (£36.3m) ransom demand after a data leak from one of its contractors. The world’s largest oil firm confirmed in a statement that it “recently became aware of the indirect release of a limited amount of company data which was held by third-party contractors.” Aramco added: “We confirm that [...]
Go-Ahead Group names Transdev exec as new boss July 22, 2021 Go-Ahead Group has today named Christian Schreyer as its new chief executive following the departure of long-serving boss David Brown. German national Schreyer, who is currently the chief executive for central and north Europe at public transport operator Transdev, will take over on 1 November. Prior to that, he worked for Deutsche Bahn group for [...]
Food supply chains ‘on edge of failing’, meat industry warns July 21, 2021 The country’s food supply chains are “on the edge of failing” as the so-called “pingdemic” aggravates a critical shortage of labour, a sector body said tonight. The British Meat Processors’ Association (BMPA) said the shortage of skills was so critical, some plants had reported vacancies of 10 per cent to 16 per cent of permanent [...]
US drops opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline July 21, 2021 The US and Germany have today struck a deal allowing the completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has long been a bone of contention between the two countries. In return for the $11bn pipeline being finished, the two will invest $200m into energy security in Ukraine, as well as renewable energy [...]
BP closes small number of petrol stations due to lorry driver shortage July 21, 2021 BP said that the current shortage of lorry drivers meant that it had had to close a small number of its UK petrol stations. The oil giant said that the majority of its shortages of petrol and diesel were being resolved within a day. But the warning is yet another sign of how deeply the [...]
Government confirms 3 per cent pay rise for NHS staff in England July 21, 2021 The government has this evening announced a 3.0 per cent payrise for NHS staff in England after apparently failing to do so earlier today. In a statement tonight the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that it had accepted the recommendations of NHS independent pay review bodies in full. The pay rise covers [...]
Labour comes out against vaccine passport plans for nightclubs July 21, 2021 The Labour Party has this afternoon come out against plans for vaccine passports to be used to allow people access to venues like nightclubs. On Monday Boris Johnson announced that from September it will be mandatory for people to show proof that they have been fully vaccinated in order to access such venues, as well [...]
‘Catastrophic’ backlog at driving license agency due to staff being put at risk July 21, 2021 A series of “catastrophic” decisions made at driving license agency the DVLA has led to 1.4m-long processing backlog, MPs heard today. Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), said that the decisions had also put DVLA workers at risk. He said that there had been 643 Covid cases at the [...]
