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Sunday, 27 March 2022

BBC News

• Electric cars: Five big questions answeredThe electric car revolution is speeding up but what do buyers really want to know?
• P&O Ferries ship detained over crew training concernsIt comes after 800 of the firm's staff were sacked and replaced with workers on cheaper wages.
• Greater Manchester: Bus firm appeals against public control rulingA firm that lost a legal battle to stop the network returning to public control launches an appeal.
• South London bus drivers to stage 48-hour strike over payA spokeswoman for the bus company says it is
• P&O Ferries: Protests at ports against sackingsThere are safety concerns over using cheaper replacement crews, as one ship is found to be

The Herald

• Derek Mackay on holiday when ferries deal signed puts new pressure on SturgeonNICOLA Sturgeon has been urged to explain her knowledge of a controversial ferry contract as it emerged the former minister who she appeared to blame for signing the £97 million deal was on leave at the time
• Revealed: Proposals to open 51 new railway stations aross ScotlandEXTENSIVE proposals to expand Scotland's rail network with the creation of 51 new stations have emerged as Scots were found to be the slowest in the UK to return to trains as Covid restrictions eased
• Ministers sink £45m of taxpayers’ cash into Ferguson Marine despite ’lack of due diligence’MINISTERS have pumped in an "eyewatering" £45.1m of public money into the state-owned shipyard at the centre of Scotland's ferry fiasco in just over a year as public spending auditors said they failed to carry out full financial due diligence in nationalisation, the Herald on Sunday can reveal.
• Petrol stations fall short in passing 5p fuel duty cutPetrol prices fell by just 2.71p despite a 5p fuel cut announced by Rishi Sunak coming into immediate effect on Wednesday.
• RMT union plans Cairnryan port blockade to protest over P&O sackingsThe Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union is planning to blockade the Cairnryan port to protest over the sacking of hundreds of staff by P&O, the body’s Scottish organiser has said.

The Independent

• Gatwick reopens south terminal as airlines ramp up schedulesThe terminal, which was closed in June 2020 to reduce costs during the pandemic, has undergone months of refurbishment.

Times Online

• Tourist friendly North Coast 500 to go electric [subscription]Tourism chief Lord Thurso wants to make the world famous tourist route the preserve of electric vehicles
• SNP ’rushed’ disastrous CalMac ferry deal in hope of pre-election boost [subscription]A tycoon given the botched contract to build CalMac ferries, now more than £150 million over budget, claims the SNP rushed it through without normal safeguards for taxpayers because it wanted good publicity at its party conference.
• Uber and Bolt mull price rises to help drivers with soaring cost of fuel [subscription]Ride-hailing companies Uber and Bolt are considering price rises to offset soaring fuel costs for drivers as gig economy operators come under fire for failing to offer support packages to vulnerable workers.
• Why P&O’s captain calamity Peter Hebblethwaite is still on deck after breaking the law [subscription]What does a chief executive have to do to get fired these days? Peter Hebblethwaite, boss of P&O Ferries, appeared before parliament last Thursday to try his damnedest. He admitted there was “absolutely no doubt that we were required to consult with the unions” before laying off 800 seafarers — but that “we chose not to do so”. Asked whether P&O thought it could simply absent itself from the British legal system, Hebblethwaite said the board had decided the changes in pay and terms it wanted to push through were “of such a magnitude that no union could possibly accept our proposal”. P&O’s ships are flagged in the Bahamas, Bermuda and Cyprus — but it didn’t abide by its responsibilities there, either. Instead it sought to buy its way out of legal obligations with £36.5 million of redundancy payments.

City AM

• Thousands take to the streets calling for P&O boss to resignThousands have taken to the streets today calling on P&O Ferries’ boss Peter Hebblethwaite to resign after the operator sacked 800 people last week. Protesters across UK ports such as Liverpool, Dover and Hull rallied under the call of “Stop the P&O jobs Massacre.” “If you are in Dover, Hull or Liverpool, join one of [...] The post Thousands take to the streets calling for P&O boss to resign appeared first on CityAM.
• TfL grants Uber 30-month licence to operate in LondonTransport for London (TfL) has granted Uber a 30-month licence to operate in the capital, the company announced today. “We’re delighted to announce TfL has granted Uber a new 30 month licence in London,” Uber said in a tweet this morning. “TfL rightly holds our industry to the highest regulatory and safety standards and we [...] The post TfL grants Uber 30-month licence to operate in London appeared first on CityAM.
• UK Government detains jets of Russian oil tycoon Eugene ShvidlerThe UK Government announced today it has seized two jets belonging to Russian oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler as part of its crackdown against Putin’s allies. Transport secretary Grant Shapps said the two planes, impounded at Farnborough and Biggin Hill airports for the last three weeks, would be “detained indefinitely.” “Putin’s friends who made millions out [...] The post UK Government detains jets of Russian oil tycoon Eugene Shvidler appeared first on CityAM.

Daily Record

• P&O ferry departs Scots port for first time since nearly 800 staff sacked by firmLocals in Cairnryan, Dumfries and Galloway, told the Record that the European Highlander belonging to the scandal-hit companyleft the port at 3pm today.
• Shamed Scots transport chief pleads guilty after driving illegal cloned carGordon Maclennan quit as chief executive of Strathclyde Partnership for Transport after his scam was exposed by Sunday Mail.

The Mirror

• China plane crash: Second black box recovered after mystery smash killed 132It is still a mystery as to what caused the Boeing 737 plane to suddenly nose dive as it headed from Kunming to Guangzhou in China last Monday, killing 123 passengers and nine crew

This is Money

• With petrol prices sky high, does it finally make sense to GO ELECTRICThe fuel savings for switching to electric have hit a record high of £779 a year on average for petrol drivers - £738 for diesel drivers. Adrian Willett is benefitting.

Sky News

• 'P&O, shame on you': Protests across UK against sackings as ship remains groundedHundreds of people have demonstrated against P&O Ferries' sacking of 800 staff at ports across the UK, with some chanting: "P&O, shame on you."

Bolton News

• Bolton Council start new cycle to work schemeBolton Council have launched a new cycling scheme to get mroe people riding bikes to work.

Bradford Telegraph & Argus

• £23m bid that will see 'zero emission' buses rolled out in Bradford is approvedA FLEET of new zero emission buses will be rolled out in Bradford after a successful bid to Government.

Bristol Live

• Bristol Bridge bus gate fines cancelled on appeal for one quarter of casesBut the scheme has raised more than £4.5m so far

The York Press

• York gets £8.4 million to buy 44 new electric busesYORK council has been awarded more than £8.4 million to buy 44 new electric buses.
• Train strike Transpennine disruption in York and ScarboroughMAJOR disruption is set to hit rail services again today (March 27).

Cambridge News

• Forecourts are not passing on fuel duty cuts to drivers, says the AAPetrol prices have fallen just 2.71p and diesel 1.59p despite Rishi Sunak announcing a 5p fuel cut in his spring statement

Reading Evening Post

• Great Western Railway services cancelled between Reading and Newbury after staff taken illAll lines were closed on Saturday afternoon

Other Regional Press

• Month-long roadworks in Bushey near A41 set to cause traffic delaysRoadworks lasting a month are likely cause
• Rivals to Eurostar in 'advanced talks'Could Eurostar be set to face its first rival train service since it launched in 1994?
• New parking charges in Dorset Council-owned car parksCONTROVERSIAL new parking charges in Dorset Council-owned car parks will be rolled out from next week.

C.N.N.

• All 132 people on board crashed China airliner confirmed dead as second black box recoveredAll 132 people on board the China Eastern Airlines jetliner that crashed in the densely forested mountains of southern China Monday are dead, China's aviation authorities confirmed Saturday night.

Other News Sources

• Bridge infill work on Stoke Road still postponed as study finds that the structure should be maintainedCONTROVERSIAL plans to infill a bridge in the Upper Itchen Valley are still on hold, according to the national roads body.
• Gatwick Airport reopens South Terminal for first time since June 2020 after closing when pandemic hitThe terminal has been shut since the pandemic
• Gatwick welcomes passengers back to South TerminalGATWICK Airport’s South Terminal has reopened after being closed for more than 18 months.

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