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Starmer goes to Brussels as he eyes closer UK-EU co-operation

Published

8 hours ago

October 3, 2024

NewsAdmin

Starmer goes to Brussels as he eyes closer UK-EU co-operation

Sir Keir Starmer has made his first visit to Brussels since becoming prime minister.

His main message: to rebuild ties and trust with the EU after the bitter bickering of Brexit negotiations.

The moment was predictably rain-soaked but not insignificant.

Union flags were placed next to EU ones on press podiums. The red carpet at the European Parliament was washed down and hoovered ahead of Sir Keir’s arrival.

Ursula von der Leyen, the powerful president of the European Commission, gushed that his welcome was a warm one.

And the prime minister did not come empty-handed.

The wish list he brought here was long.

He called for closer co-operation on defence and security, including energy security, as well as on climate change, irregular migration, labelled ‘illegal migration’ under the previous Conservative government and on delivering economic growth – to help make Brexit work in the UK’s interest, he said.

He insisted the British public wanted a return to what he called sensible leadership when it came to the EU.

His European interlocutors nodded but without much evident enthusiasm.

The bloc still regrets losing the UK as a member. It bemoans the huge amount of time and political capital Brussels spent on Brexit negotiations.

It has little appetite for more protracted talks – and that was what was announced today – if the risk is high of going round in circles.

Working together better on security and defence is the most straightforward and uncontentious path of rapprochement.

Relations have steadily improved since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The two sides worked rapidly and closely to impose sanctions on Moscow and boost Kiev’s defences. The UK leading the way on the latter.

One point of division amongst EU member states, though, is whether British businesses could or should be involved in the bloc’s rearmament drive.

On migration, there’s clear cross-Channel agreement that people-smuggling gangs must be stopped and irregular migration, tackled.

The ‘How?’ could get thorny though. The French and German interior ministers recently asked the European Commission to reach a formal agreement with the UK, urging it to open more legal avenues to allow asylum seekers and others to enter the country.

The ministers said up to a third of irregular migrants coming their way, actually wanted to go to the UK.

Meanwhile Sir Keir has been in Rome, taking notes from Italy on how to stem migration at source in Africa and the Middle East with economic agreements.

Human rights groups have been highly critical of Italy’s and similar EU deals, saying they often result in the abuse of migrants.

But of all the points on the prime minister’s wish list, the EU is most wary of Labour’s zeal to strip away what it calls ‘unnecessary trade barriers’.

Brussels says those barriers are a result of the UK’s own choices: leaving the single market and customs union. Something the prime minister insisted again today was not up for renegotiation.

In which case, says the EU, our hands are tied.

The reality is: trade add-ons will require trade-offs. On both sides.

The government wants to ease the movement of food and drinks exports. It wants easier access for UK artists, including musicians to the EU.

Some EU member states want enhanced fishing rights in UK waters.

The bloc as a whole has asked for a youth mobility scheme where young Europeans study and work in the UK for a visa-limited time period. British youngsters would be offered the same deal in the EU.

But Sir Keir – who has pledged to reduce immigration levels – said again today that ‘free movement is a red line’.

He tried to avoid directly addressing prickly issues when pushed by the press.

He insisted that the focus of Wednesday’s meetings was the bigger picture, with an emphasis on “what we can do, not what we can’t do, and on deliverables rather than running commentary.”

But the European Commission has emphasised it wants the already-negotiated post-Brexit deals with the UK – the Withdrawal Agreement, the Windsor Framework on Northern Ireland and the Trade and Cooperation agreement – to be fully respected before it embarks on brand new chapters.

This summer it alleged non-compliance in a number of areas.

Behind-closed-door talks start imminently, we’re told, with the first of now-to-be regular EU-UK summits planned for the new year.

The joke once shared amongst us Brussels-based journalists during the Brexit process, that negotiations would go on forever, might to be coming to pass.

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Customers face heating problems if meters not replaced

Published

3 mins ago

October 3, 2024

NewsAdmin

Customers face heating problems if meters not replaced

Older meters need to be replaced due to the end of the longwave signal

BBC Older style electricity metre hangs on a wall with cables coming in and out — Older meters need to be replaced due to the end of the longwave signal

Around 175,000 Scottish energy customers face major problems with their home heating systems if they do not have their meters upgraded in the coming months.

The Radio Teleswitching Service (RTS) controls energy tariffs for hundreds of thousands of homes, sending signals to store energy via the BBC’s longwave transmitter.

The signal is due to be turned off for good next June but hundreds of thousands of homes have still to be converted to updated systems.

If this does not happen, customers could lose control of heating and hot water, leaving the systems either permanently on or off.

The deadline has already been extended from last March, but energy regulator Ofgem said that work to replace the old infrastructure needed to be accelerated.

Charlotte Friel is its director of consumer protection.

“The pace of replacement is not where it needs to be,” she told BBC Radio’s Good Morning Scotland programme.

“The industry has been working on RTS replacement for some time and has replaced 200,000 meters this year, but there are still 700,000 to go.

“This call to action is about bringing the industry together and emphasising the pace needed to accelerate the replacement programme, dedicating resources, getting boots on the ground in the right places.”

How do you know you have an RTS meter?

Some customers may be unaware their meters are controlled by RTS. But there are clues.

Ms Friel said: “Typically if your meter switches between on and off-peak rates, if your home is heated by electric storage heaters and if you live in a region that is off-gas supply, these are typical features that could mean you have an RTS meter.”

The RTS switches the meter from on to off-peak mode. Once that signal is switched off it will mean the customer loses control of their heating and hot water.

This could have different outcomes in different households.

In worst case scenarios, it could mean that the heating and hot water is permanently on or permanently off.

Ms Friel said: “Some of the challenge is around getting customers to engage with their suppliers. Not everyone understands the arrangements they are on and we appreciate that.

“It is on suppliers to reach out to customers but they can play their part too by letting engineers in to upgrade their meters.”

She said that the vast majority of cases are straightforward replacements. There will be some more complex installations but Ofgem is confident there is a technical solution for everybody with an RTS meter.

Homes running from the RTS system need to be upgraded to more modern methods before next summer

Getty Images A modern smart meter displaying the number of units used sits on a kitchen counter. A set of keys is on the counter beside it. — Homes running from the RTS system need to be upgraded to more modern methods before next summer

Frazer Scott, from campaigning group Energy Action Scotland, said there were growing concerns around the switch happening on time.

“With the scale of these changes over such a short period of time, we’re really concerned that it’s simply not going to happen,” he said.

“And the consequences are considerable for all those households that might be affected when it’s switched off.”

He added: “It is unacceptable that it is so late in the day with so little certainty.”

Mr Scott said it now felt as though the industry was working together to solve the issue but described it as the “eleventh hour”.

“It is incredibly worrying but at least they’ve finally got together some kind of taskforce and hopefully this will mean there will be an acceleration in this change,” he said.

He said about a quarter of the affected households were in Scotland and the country was “disproportionately affected”.

Mr Scott also called for “proper support” for people in case their heating fails.

“People just want a certainty of supply with a much cheaper cost,” he added.

“What we’re looking for from industry is certainty that people’s bills will not rise as a result of making a meter change, which would seem ridiculous.

“But at the moment we’ve not even got those kinds of assurances from industry, and nor is it clear who will pay for additional costs should a household require them to ensure they have a safe supply to their house.”

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CryptoCurrency

Tesla stock drops 3% after Q3 deliveries fall short of estimates

Published

4 mins ago

October 3, 2024

NewsAdmin

Tesla Q3 deliveries could drive 'further strength' in the stock

Tesla (TSLA) announced third quarter deliveries on Wednesday that slightly missed expectations, sending the stock down about 3%.

The EV maker delivered 462,890 vehicles in the three months ending Sept. 30, up 6.4% quarter over quarter to mark the first quarter of delivery growth this year. The numbers also came in ahead of the 435,059 EVs the company delivered in the year-ago period.

Wall Street had expected Tesla to deliver closer to 463,897, according to Bloomberg.

The Model 3 and Model Y represented the bulk of Tesla’s overall total, with those two vehicles combining for 439,975 deliveries.

Prior to the delivery numbers’ release, Tesla stock had been up around 20% in the past month, fueled by optimism about its upcoming robotaxi event on Oct. 10 and good news coming out of China indicating rising sales there.

But investors have also debated a “notably lower” annual vehicle growth rate, which Tesla warned about after the first quarter.

The company is currently dealing with stiff competition in China from Chinese automakers like BYD and Xpeng. Recent price cuts have also squeezed profit margins as competition intensifies.

Analysts have said next week’s robotaxi event will serve as a pivotal moment for the company’s future and its plans to further utilize artificial intelligence.

“We believe Robotaxi Day will be seminal and historical day for Musk and Tesla and marks a new chapter of growth around autonomous, FSD, and AI future at Tesla,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a note to clients on Tuesday.

Tesla will report third quarter earnings on Oct. 23.

Alexandra is a Senior Reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on X @alliecanal8193 and email her at alexandra.canal@yahoofinance.com

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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