Home
The government pondered whether to accept pay-review bodies’ recommendations on rises in public sector salaries. ‘Delivering sound money is our number one focus,’ Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said in his Mansion House speech. ‘That means taking responsible decisions on public finances, including public sector pay.’ Regular pay in the March to May period was 7.3 per cent higher than a year earlier, although it rose less than inflation. Unemployment rose from 3.8 per cent to 4 per cent; vacancies fell by 85,000 to 1,034,000. The average two-year fixed-rate mortgage rose to 6.7 per cent. Jeremy Hunt confirmed that he was refused a bank account with Monzo last year on the grounds that he was a ‘politically exposed person’. Two eight-year-old girls died after a Land Rover crashed into the Study preparatory school, Wimbledon. A teacher was stabbed at Tewkesbury Academy. The Commons rejected Lords amendments to the Illegal Migration Bill. Marius Draghici, 50, from Romania, admitted 39 counts of manslaughter over Vietnamese migrants who died in a lorry container in 2019; he was sentenced to 12 years and seven months in prison.
In three days, 1,339 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats: 686 on 7 July; 384 the next day; and 269 the next. EasyJet cancelled 1,700 flights to and from Gatwick during July, August and September. The train drivers’ union Aslef announced an overtime ban from 17 to 22 July. President Joe Biden, aged 80, had talks with Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, at Downing Street, and then met the King, aged 74, at Windsor, where financiers and philanthropists gathered to discuss climate change. Mr Biden was on his way to Vilnius for the two-day Nato summit. With Mr Sunak he discussed America’s gift to Ukraine of cluster bombs, against the use of which Britain and 122 other countries have signed a convention.
Comments
Join the debate for just £1 a month
Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.
UNLOCK ACCESS Just £1 a monthAlready a subscriber? Log in