Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 22 November 2022

1. EU dismisses ‘Swiss-deal’

Senior European figures have poured cold water over talks of a trade-deal between the UK and EU in which Britain does not accept some EU laws or protocols. Following reports that Jeremy Hunt hoped to “remove the vast majority of trade barriers that exist between us and the EU”, Brussels officials said that a special deal without alignment was “wishful thinking”, according to the i news site. No.10 has denied that a split had opened up between Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt over the issue.

Chequers 2.0: is the UK heading for a Swiss-style Brexit deal?

2. Raab faces new allegations

Dominic Raab once behaved “so badly and inappropriately” in a meeting with the Home Office that his department’s top official had to personally apologise to counterparts afterwards, according to a report in The Guardian. The deputy prime minister is already facing two official complaints over alleged bullying and Labour said he “leaves a trail of senior officials forced to spend their time apologising for his toxic behaviour and reading him the riot act”. A spokesman for Raab said he “always acts with the utmost professionalism”.

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Dominic Raab: the deputy PM at centre of new bullying row

3. Ofgem demands improvement

Energy suppliers must do more to help vulnerable customers this winter, said the industry’s regulator. Ofgem told all 17 firms that took part in its review to improve, with five found to have severe weaknesses: Good Energy, Outfox, So Energy, Tru Energy and Utilita. Moderate weaknesses were found at E (Gas & Electricity), Ecotricity, Green Energy UK, Octopus and Shell. However some of the suppliers dismissed the review as “incomplete”.

Why the ‘energy price cap’ is confusing – and how it could be better communicated

4. Starmer to focus on immigration

Keir Starmer will argue today that the British economy must be helped away from its “immigration dependency”. In his speech at the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference, the Labour leader will say that the focus should be on “investing more in training up workers who are already here”. Last week, Starmer told the BBC that the UK was recruiting too many people from overseas into the NHS.

What the Autumn Statement means for Labour

5. Doctors prescribe heating

Doctors are prescribing heating to patients with conditions that get worse in the cold. A pilot scheme called the Warm Home Prescription heated the homes of 28 low-income patients to avoid the cost of hospital care if they became more ill. It proved a success and is now being expanded to 1,150 homes. Age UK said that cold homes cost NHS England £860m a year and that 10,000 people die every year due a cold home.

Warm banks: a worrying winter necessity?

6. Shell ‘reviewing’ investment plan

Shell’s UK chairman said he is reconsidering the plan to invest £25bn in Britain’s energy system after Jeremy Hunt announced new windfall taxes. David Bunch said the expanded levy means the company might re-examine a raft of planned projects, from North Sea investments to renewable energy schemes. Shell “cannot take it for granted” that the full investment plan will still go ahead, he said during a speech to the Confederation of British Industry’s annual conference.

Pros and cons of a windfall tax on oil and gas profits

7. Christmas rail chaos expected

Strikes and line closures could cause severe disruption for rail users at Christmas. All services from London Liverpool Street have been cancelled and Southern services from Victoria will be halted as Network Rail carries out 300 projects. There will also be no Southern or Gatwick Express services to or from London Victoria over the same period because of resignalling and track work, while suburban services from London Waterloo will be significantly reduced. Meanwhile, the RMT has warned that it is highly likely more strikes would be called.

Which winter strikes are happening and when

8. Migrant boats challenge Italian PM

People traffickers are packing fishing boats with hundreds of Egyptians in Libya and sending them towards Italy. According to Alarm Phone, an organisation that fields distress calls from migrant boats, at least eight fishing boats headed for Italy from Libya between the end of October and last week, with a total of about 2,800 migrants on board. The trend is “playing havoc” with new Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s bid to end the flow of migrants across the Mediterranean from north Africa, said The Times.

Brothers of Italy: understanding Giorgia Meloni’s political party

9. Study reveals Covid impact on cats

A study has found that more than 350,000 cats in Britain caught Covid during the pandemic. Using swabs from 2,309 cats that were taken to vets in the UK between April 2020 and February 2022 for routine check-ups, virologists and veterinarians from the University of Glasgow found that 3.2% of all the samples were positive for Covid antibodies. There is one known case of a person catching Covid from an infected cat, when a 10-year-old tabby in Thailand caught the virus off its owners and then sneezed in a 32-year-old vet’s face while being swabbed.

MAR 2020: Can cats really spread coronavirus?

10. Hancock withdrew from dyslexia event

Matt Hancock pulled out of a dyslexia charity event because he was in the I’m A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! jungle, according to The Telegraph. The former health secretary had agreed to address the British Dyslexia Association’s 50th anniversary event at the House of Lords last week but cancelled due to his stint on the game show. He previously claimed he would “raise the profile of my dyslexia campaign” on the ITV show but critics have pointed out he has only mentioned it once.

Politicians on reality TV: pure narcissism or shot at redemption?