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WeekDay AM: Ten things you need to know this morning DN A M Ten things wmssse
5 January 2023
1. LABOUR DISMISSES SUNAK PROMISES
Labour dismissed the five promises unveiled by Rishi Sunak yesterday as “so easy it would be difficult not to achieve them” and
said they were “aimed at fixing problems of the Tories’ own making”. The prime minister pledged to halve inflation, grow the
economy, cut debt and NHS waiting lists, and stop migrant boats crossing the Channel. Chris Mason, the BBC’s political said
Sunak’s speech “shows he is a PM in a hurry” but with the health service “under extraordinary pressure” currently, “some people
watching might say ‘Is that it?’.”
Can Rishi Sunak turn things around for the Tories in 2023?
2. WILLIAM ‘PHYSICALLY ATTACKED HARRY’
The Duke of Sussex’s memoir claims that his brother the Prince of Wales attacked him during a row over his relationship with
Meghan Markle, according to a leaked extract obtained by The Guardian. In his forthcoming book, Spare, Harry allegedly writes
about a confrontation in 2019 that was sparked by William calling the duchess “difficult”, “rude” and “abrasive”. When Harry told
William he was “parroting the press narrative” about his wife and the brothers, they had a physical confrontation at Nottingham
Cottage in the grounds of Kensington Palace.
Prince Harry, Princess Diana and the media
3. STRIKE LAWS ‘MAY BREACH HUMAN RIGHTS’
Bosses will be able to sue unions and sack staff under government plans to curb the right to strike, claimed The Times. New laws
will enforce “minimum service levels” in six sectors, including the health service, rail, education, fire and border security. The
legislation will require a proportion of union members to continue working to retain a “minimum level” of service. Trade unions
may take legal action over the plans, believing they are in breach of the human rights act.
Winter strikes: who will back down first?
4. COLD MEDICINE SUPPLIES LOW
Pharmacy leaders said cough and cold medicines are in short supply because of a lack of planning by the government. The
Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies said chemists were struggling to get hold of remedies including throat lozenges,
cough mixtures and certain painkillers. Leyla Hannbeck, its chief executive, accused ministers of being “in denial” over issues
with the drug supply chain. The Department of Health and Social Care said it was aware of low availability of some brands.
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5. FRANCIS TO PRESIDE OVER FUNERAL
The Vatican said that close to 200,000 people paid their respects to former Pope Benedict XVI during his lying in state over the
last three days. “By comparison with the enormous throng of people – most of them Poles – who came to see Pope John Paul II lying
in St Peter’s Basilica”, the thousands queuing are “fewer but even more diverse”, said the Catholic Herald. Pope Francis will
preside over the funeral today, the first time a sitting Pope has led his predecessor’s funeral in over 220 years.
6. AMAZON JOINS TECH CUTBACKS
Amazon will shed more than 18,000 roles as it cuts costs, the tech giant’s boss says. The job cuts amount to around 6% of the
company’s 300,000-strong corporate workforce. Chief executive Andy Jassy said the announcement was brought forward “because one of
our teammates leaked this information externally”. The “retail behemoth” has become the “latest tech giant to unveil painful
cutbacks as the cost of living crisis eats into profitability”, said Sky News.
What Silicon Valley lay-offs mean for the future of tech
7. GOVERNMENT ADDS TO MONE PRESSURE
A company linked to the Conservative peer Michelle Mone supplied defective gowns that could have compromised the safety of
patients, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. The Guardian said the allegation “will add to the intense public
and political pressure” on Mone over her apparent involvement in PPE Medpro. Bank documents leaked last year indicated that Mone
and her three adult children had secretly received £29m originating from the company’s profits on the government PPE deals. She
denies any wrongdoing.
Michelle Mone: The Tory peer facing ‘shocking’ allegations of pandemic profiteering
8. POLICE ‘LOSE INTEREST IN FRAUD’
A leading fraud barrister has said that police have lost interest in catching scammers and fraudsters. Clare Montgomery, a
recorder and High Court judge, who has been involved in some of the nation’s biggest fraud cases, said that although “you get the
occasional show trial in that area” the reality is that “99% of fraud at that level is not even investigated, still less
prosecuted”. Just 0.8% of the police workforce were focused on economic crimes, despite fraud accounting for 39% of all crime.
How Scotland Yard took down iSpoof in UK’s biggest ever fraud investigation
9. THUNBERG STATUE IS ‘GREENWASHING’
Students have accused Winchester University of “greenwashing” after it spent almost £24,000 on a statue of Greta Thunberg. Members
of the Labour Society, the Allotment Society, and the Sustainability Society gathered at the West Downs Centre, where the statue
is located, to protest. The group said they wanted beef taken off the canteen menu, cheaper vegan options and buildings made more
energy efficient “rather than wasting money on meaningless statues”.
10. UK ‘NOT READY FOR ELECTRIC CAR SURGE’
New car sales in the UK fell last year to their lowest level in three decades, new figures show. During 2022, 1.61m new cars were
registered in the UK, the lowest level since 1992. Demand for electric vehicles continued to grow as they accounted for almost a
fifth of new car sales. However, warned the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, charging infrastructure is not being built
quickly enough to cope with the growing demand for electric cars.
T h e W e e k M a g a z i n e
NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW
The Week’s editorial team gather news and opinion from multiple trusted sources from the UK and beyond, to provide readers with
all you need to know from every angle.
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forgotten its raisc Winter sun is nearer than ever Police have lost interest in going Hospitals are running after fraudsters, says
top judge outofoxygen supplies Jockey saddled upto EU chicf targets wolves Elgin Marbles after her pony is killed Hypersonic
missilesto HMRC launches raid passthrough Channel on grieving families i
TODAY’S NEWSPAPERS
‘NO LONGER THE PARTY OF BIG SPENDING’
Sir Keir Starmer will vow that his party will not get the “big government chequebook out again” in a speech today, reports The
Telegraph. The broadsheet said the Labour leader will promise a plan for “a decade of national renewal”, and insist his party is
ready to govern. However, many of the front pages look back to Rishi Sunak’s speech yesterday, with the Financial Times saying the
prime minister wanted to deliver “peace of mind” to a country facing a cost of living crisis, strikes and a meltdown in the NHS.
Read more
Tall Tales
TWO-LEGGED FOX STUNS COUPLE
And other stories from the stranger side of life
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PUZZLES AND QUIZZES
DAILY SUDOKU
Challenge your brain with The Week’s daily sudoku, part of our new puzzles section
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On this day
5 JANUARY 2015
15 year-old Mumbai schoolboy Pranav Dhanawade becomes the first person to ever score 1000 runs in a single innings in cricket.
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