Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 5 December 2022

1. UK faces ‘lost growth decade’

The UK faces a decade of lost growth unless drastic action is taken, warned the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) boss, Tony Danker. “We don’t have people we need, nor the productivity,” said Danker. Predicting that the economy will contract by 0.4% next year, he said Britain is in stagflation - with “rocketing inflation, negative growth, falling productivity and business investment”. Although firms see potential growth opportunities, “headwinds are causing them to pause investing in 2023,” he added.

Is the UK the ‘sick man of Europe’ once again?

2. Health checks moved online

Face-to-face GP appointments for mid-life health checks will be scrapped and moved online, according to The Times. In a bid to ease pressure on the NHS, patients will be asked to complete a questionnaire, use a kit to take a blood sample at home and visit a pharmacy for a blood pressure check. The Royal College of GPs said the proposals could encourage people to take more of interest in their health, but would need to come with simple instructions and a “robust evaluation”.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Can the NHS’s ‘worst ever crisis’ actually be fixed?

3. RMT rejects pay offer

The RMT has rejected an offer from train companies as the latest round of strikes loom. The Rail Delivery Group claimed that its offer included a pay increase for staff of up to 8% over two years but the RMT said the offer would lead to huge job losses. The rejection of the offer from rail bosses means national strikes are set to go ahead on Dec 13 and 14, and again on Dec 16 and 17.

What strikes are taking place - and when

4. Trump leaps on Biden revelation

Donald Trump has called for the US constitution to be terminated after Elon Musk revealed details of Twitter seemingly suppressing images of Joe Biden’s naked son at the request of the President “Do you throw the Presidential Election Results of 2020 OUT and declare the RIGHTFUL WINNER, or do you have a NEW ELECTION?” Trump wrote on the social network Truth Social, as he accused “Big Tech” of working closely with Democrats.

Trump to run in 2024: what has he been up to?

5. UK-bound plane diverted to Prague

A plane travelling into the UK was diverted to the Czech Republic due to a report of a “possible bomb” on board. The flight was understood to be an Easyjet flight travelling from Krakow in Poland, to Bristol in the UK. After it landed safely in Prague, Czech police said their explosives experts were at the scene and were investigating the reported device. Prague Airport later said no dangerous object was found on the plane.

6. Report finds ‘devastating’ divides

Divides in health and wealth in the UK are worsening despite the Tories’ claim of “levelling up”, a new study has found. People in the UK are getting “sicker and poorer” stated the IPPR report, which found that a significantly higher than average proportion of working-age people are economically inactive because of poor health in the north-east, north-west, Yorkshire, east Midlands, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Labour called the report “devastating”.

Why is levelling up causing Rishi Sunak so many problems?

7. Straight men want several partners

Nearly a third of straight men (32%) would like multiple partners, found researchers at Swansea University. Only 5% of women were interested in forming part of such a relationship but 11% would consider having more than one husband or long-term boyfriend. “Whether participants would ever follow through on these hypothetical decisions is up for debate,” said the researchers, “but taken at face value, the idea of these mating arrangements was not universally repulsive”.

APR 2020: 52 ideas that changed the world - 42. Monogamy

8. Police to be monitored for bias

Police officers in schools will be monitored to see if they are disproportionately targeting black children. Under the plans, which are part of new measures agreed in negotiations between the Metropolitan police and the London mayor, the use of powers by officers in London, such as arrests and stop and searches, will be examined for evidence of racial bias. Black people are “seven times more likely to be stopped by police on suspicion of carrying weapons”, said The Guardian.

9. Met Office may walk out

Met Office workers are ready to join the mass public sector walkouts with the forecasters expected to become the latest to announce backing for industrial action this week. Meteorologists and supercomputer operators at the Met Office are thought to be ready to back strikes, raising the prospect of interruptions to Britain’s weather forecasts. “The forecast is a spell of strikes across the country, with widespread industrial action later,” quipped The Times.

10. France will be ‘tough test’ for England

England will meet France in the World Cup quarter-finals after an beating Senegal at Al Bayt Stadium. Following a nervy opening, a brace of quick-fire goals - the first from Jordan Henderson, the second from Harry Kane - put Gareth Southgate’s side in control. In the second half, Bukayo Saka scored his third goal of the tournament. England face the “toughest test they could ask for in the next round”, said Sky News.

World Cup: England set up ‘blockbuster’ quarter-final against holders France