Closing summary
Time for a recap....
New research has shown the extent of the UK’s cost of living crisis, and how a decade of austerity-driven cuts to benefits has left single parents among the most exposed to soaring inflation.
The executive responsible for running easyJet’s operations has resigned following months of disruption at the budget airline, including thousands of flight cancellations.
Peter Bellew resigned “to pursue other business opportunities” after two and a half years in the role.
Bellew, who joined from rival Ryanair shortly before the pandemic, had seen his star wane -- with senior executive level changes had been looming since the chair of easyJet, Stephen Hester, started taking closer charge in response to the crisis.
Problems at its main base at Gatwick, in particular, led to the airline cancelling hundreds of flights at the last moment during the half-term holidays.
Half of all children in lone-parent families are now living in relative poverty, according to exclusive research published today, due to the erosion of benefits.
Research shared exclusively with the Guardian by the Institute for Fiscal Studies show that relative poverty for children in lone-parent families has risen at a significantly faster rate compared with other households.
Former prime minister Tony Blair said Conservative austerity cuts had undermined progress against poverty:
Blair said:
“The last Labour government made it a priority to tackle child poverty. Our policies revolutionised opportunities for lone parents by making work pay – lone-parent employment rose and child poverty fell sharply as a result.
“That legacy has been undermined over the past decade as state benefits have been eroded, growth has been weak and wages stagnant, despite high employment rates for lone parents.”
UK families have suffered 15 years of income stagnation which left them “brutally exposed” to the current cost-of-living crisis, Resolution Foundation warned.
The cost of living squeeze has knocked UK consumer confidence to a record low, and led to a boom in business at pawnbrokers.
Petrol prices have hit a new record, prompting the RAC to blame supermarkets for passing on lower wholesale fuel prices.....
.... as convoys of protesters demonstrating against high fuel prices have caused delays and disruption on motorways and main A roads in the UK. Police have arrested a number of those involved for driving too slowly.
The cost of living crisis, soaring costs and the pandemic have pushed the number of pubs in England and Wales to an alltime low.
Surging imported energy costs, and a fall in exports, has dragged Germany into its first trade deficit in around 30 years.
1. Another Macro Red Flag to start this new week = 1st Germany's monthly trade deficit since 1991: pic.twitter.com/rKRZraZimB
— Chris Ollari (@ftx_chris) July 4, 2022
The Suez Canal has recorded its highest ever annual revenues, hitting $7bn for the first time thanks to a jump in trade and higher fees.
Concerns over a strike in Norway’s energy sector pushed up UK gas prices.
Turkey’s inflation rate has climbed to even more alarming levels, with prices jumping by 78% over the last year.
Amazon is launching a fleet of e-cargo bikes and a team of on-foot delivery staff to replace thousands of van deliveries on London’s roads, from a new micromobility hub in Hackney.
Kellogg’s has failed in a legal challenge against regulations that would ban it from promoting sugar-filled cereals with buy one, get one free offers.
The sandwich chain Pret a Manger has returned to profitable operations after two years in which it lost a cumulative £570m.
Analysts have warned there is a growing risk of recession in Europe, if there is further disruption to Russian oil and gas suppliers.
In the finacnial markets, the FTSE 100 index has jumped 1% in London, led by oil companies.
But Germany’s DAX has lost 0.5%, on worries about the economic outlook -- which have also knocked metal prices today.
Goodnight. GW
Updated
David Muir, senior economist at Moody’s Analytics, predicts that German exporters will continue to struggle this year.
Writing after Germany recorded a trade deficit in goods for the first time in decades, he says:
Rising import prices have pushed nominal readings through the roof. But this is happening at the same time that there is strong real demand for imports amidst a rush to refill energy supplies and in the post-lockdown spending spree.
Moreover, exports have been struggling to keep up due to supply shortages at factories and a lull in orders out of China because of this spring’s harsh lockdowns. Heightened uncertainty around the outlook for the global economy is likely to continue to weigh on Germany’s export prospects in the second half of the year.”
