China’s zero-Covid policy must be a cautionary tale for the UK January 4, 2023 The rise in Covid-19 cases in China has seen the return of travel restrictions – but Paul Ormerod argues the scientific evidence suggests lockdowns aren’t worth the cost – only shifting cases, rather than eliminating them As we greet the new year with the hope of more serene times ahead, some might do it with [...]
Chung to build on recent success with Villa Fionn January 3, 2023 WITH a field consisting of some pretty ordinary middle-distance performers, and many looking past their sell-by dates, division one of the Tsun Yip Handicap (11:45am) over the extended mile at Happy Valley won’t take much winning. Newcomer Eighteen Palms will be the focus of attention, especially with Zac Purton in the saddle, after leading all [...]
English rugby attendances reach season high, but there’s more to do January 3, 2023 Attendances in rugby union’s English Premiership reached a season high across the New Year weekend, when five games saw an average crowd of 13,160. Gloucester Rugby’s low-scoring 8-6 win over London Irish sold more than 16,000 tickets, while Bath, Saracens and Northampton Saints claimed sell-outs too. Sale Sharks did not sell out at the weekend [...]
Aldi posts record December sales of £1.4bn after Christmas and World Cup surge January 3, 2023 Aldi today said it had achieved record December sales of more than £1.4bn following a surge in demand over the winter month, as the Christmas period coincided with the World Cup in Qatar. The budget supermarket said its sales increased 26 per cent during December, despite the UK’s cost-of-living crisis, due to surging demand for meats, cheeses [...]
Dry January: Pub bosses call on Brits to do their duty and get down the local – even if it’s for non-alcoholic beers January 3, 2023 Publicans have issued a rallying cry for punters to continue to back their local boozer this month as the industry battles an economic downturn – despite the growing trend for a ‘dry January‘ month off the sauce. The sector has struggled with sky-high energy bills all while consumers’ feel the pinch of household bills increasing [...]
January blues: Rail strikes hit the return to work – with even London transport affected January 3, 2023 Rail strikes are severely reducing services across the UK train network – with commuters forced to work from home on the first working day of the new year. Some Transport for London services are also affected, with the Elizabeth Line and the London Overground the most badly hit. Some other services – including the stretch [...]
Sky high? Wizz Air enjoys Christmas bump as passenger levels increase January 3, 2023 London-listed budget airline Wizz Air will be avoiding the January blues this year after a pre-Christmas traveller bump boosted 2022’s passenger numbers. The airline flew 4.18m passengers in December, up more than 50 per cent on this time last year when some parts of its European network were affected by Omicron travel destinations. The December [...]
100 road traffic officers for National Highways launch strike today January 3, 2023 More than 100 road traffic officers and control room operators working for National Highways across England will launch a 48-hour strike on Tuesday. The walkout by members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) is part of industrial action in a bitter dispute over pay, pensions and jobs. Around 100,000 PCS members working in 124 [...]
Retail footfall dropped by more than a quarter in week after Christmas January 2, 2023 Footfall across the UK’s retail destinations dropped by more than a quarter in the week after Christmas compared with the week before, figures show. Retail expert Springboard said footfall last week was 27.7 per cent lower than the week before, and 19.7 per cent down on the same week in 2019. It was just 7.2 [...]
Mick Lynch: Only ‘sensible’ proposals will bring end to rail strikes January 2, 2023 Only “sensible” proposals will bring the ongoing rail dispute to an end, according to union leader Mick Lynch. After disrupting Christmas plans for millions of Britons, walkouts at Network Rail and 14 other operators will resume from tomorrow. Members of the union RMT will down tools on Tuesday, Wednesday as well as Friday and Saturday [...]