Jeremy Hunt was unable to tell Martin Lewis whether the public should save or spend money to help the economy.

Holly Patrick www.independent.co.uk

The chancellor was grilled by the MoneySavingExpert founder on his eponymous ITV show broadcast on Tuesday (9 January).

Mr Lewis pressed Mr Hunt on whether a “good citizen” should spend money to boost the economy or save to keep inflation down.

“I pride myself on always giving people direct answers to questions, but I’m not going to answer that one… that is very, very individual,” Mr Hunt responded.

Britain’s Taylor Wimpey (LON:) on Thursday said the housing market remained uncertain in the near term, reflecting a cautious stance ahead of the key spring selling season.

uk.investing.com 

Britain’s housing sector is hoping to see some relief as mortgage rates appear to have peaked with markets betting on Bank of England rate cuts later this year, but wider economic challenges have dented hopes of a robust recovery.

Taylor Wimpey joined mid-cap rival Persimmon (LON:) in underscoring challenging trading conditions in 2024 despite signs of the housing market slowdown easing and refrained from providing any forecast on 2024 profits and build targets.

“Looking ahead, it is encouraging to see a reduction in mortgage rates, however, in the short term, the market remains uncertain and the planning backdrop extremely challenging,” CEO Jennie Daly said in a trading statement.

Shares in the company fell 0.5% in morning trade.

The company reiterated its 2023 operating profit expectations for the year ending Dec. 31 2023.

Taylor-Wimpey said its year-end order book, a key measure in gauging short-term sales performance, excluding joint ventures stood at 1.77 billion pounds ($2.3 billion), compared with 1.94 billion pounds a year earlier.

Analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:) said in a note that the message from Taylor Wimpey and Persimmon was that the market remained tough: “Like so much else these days, an awful lot is hanging on the future path of interest rates”.

Taylor Wimpey, which also has a minor presence in Spain, said it built 10,438 homes in Britain, including joint ventures, in 2023, within its target range.

The group’s finance director Chris Carney told analysts on a call that the company expects the first-half average selling price to be similar to the 320,000 pounds average reported a year ago.

The company expects underlying build cost inflation of about 4% on completions in the first half of 2024.

On ITV’s ‘Peston’ the two clashed over the Government’s response to the Post Office scandal

Ian Hislop is one of life’s good guys. As the long-serving editor of Private Eye, he has been relentless in his commitment to uncovering the truth about the Post Office scandal. This deserves real recognition.

Jordan Tyldesley inews.co.uk 

The Post Office scandal shows that journalists like Hislop are vital in an environment where powerful people think they can ride roughshod over the Alan Bateses of this world – decent people thrust into the spotlight and forced to fight against a powerful establishment that will crush anything or anyone when necessary. Under his editorship, Private Eye pursued the biggest miscarriage of justice in modern British history for more than a decade.

Compare that, if you will, to Tory MP Sir Jake Berry who recently used his social media platform to ask the public an utterly inane question about the strategic timing of supermarkets stocking Easter eggs.

Last night on ITV’s Peston the two clashed over the Government’s response to the scandal. Hislop raised an important question: why did it take an ITV drama to spur politicians into action?

After Hislop made the argument that executives involved in the Post Office during its time of complete and utter failure should have to pay their bonuses back, Berry proudly asserted: “One thing we do control is their massive taxpayer-funded pensions. We do have control of that and we can pass an emergency piece of legislation – a parliamentary pardon – why can’t we do the same thing with their pensions?” Bish, bash, bosh.

Hislop exasperatedly replied: “Well, why couldn’t you do it so long ago? The fact that it takes an ITV drama and suddenly [the sub-postmasters and mistresses], having been told their entire campaigning lives, ‘this is very difficult … you’ll have to go in front of a judge… this is very, very expensive … oh, this morning it isn’t, tomorrow we’ll pass legislation and you’re all exonerated.’ I mean it is absolutely fatuous.”

It is frightening that good, honest, innocent citizens can be dragged to Hell and back by our institutions and yet elected representatives, on the whole, only spring into action when it becomes politically embarrassing. What, then, if ITV hadn’t made this drama? Must we all rely on Toby Jones for justice? The delayed response to this unfathomable wickedness is not just shameful but chilling.

Another crucial question from Hislop was: “Why did you give [Paula Vennells] a CBE in 2019?” It is bewildering how someone can oversee such cruelty on an industrial scale and then be bestowed our nation’s supposedly finest honour. We need more Hislop’s in the media and beyond. People who are willing to upset the status quo. A willingness to challenge authority and ask the questions that really matter.

Let the Post Office scandal be a watershed moment in Britain: we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take this any more.

[Video clip below, you may need to unmute and rewind]

How many times have Alison Hernandez and Simon Jupp announced their personal involvement in securing a “new” police station for Exmouth?

No explanation was ever given as to why the plans were withdrawn last August (Now you see it, now you don’t). 

Despite the hype it’s now pretty clear that Exmouth will not have a new police station before the election. If the election is in the autumn, it might not even have planning permission.

Now Alison Hernandez is trying to change the narrative by blaming EDDC for following the law protecting bats for the latest delay.

[Owl does not take kindly to flippant remarks about bats, who are one of Owl’s favourite creatures, nor to suggestions that Police and Crime Commissioners might consider the law a nuisance.]

Philippa Davies www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

The plans for Exmouth’s new £5million police station have suffered a setback because bats – a protected species – may be present at the site.

A planning application for the new building was submitted to East Devon District Council in December 2023 by the office of Devon and Cornwall’s Police and Crime Commissioner, Alison Hernandez.

But after evidence emerged that bats may be roosting in gaps in the cladding on the existing building, the council’s planning officers said a further survey is needed before they can officially register the application.

This survey would have to take place during the bats’ summer roosting season, which is May to  September.

On Monday (January 9) Ms Hernandez posted on X (formerly Twitter) to say:

“Bats stall my office’s planning application for the new #Exmouth Police Station. I have to wait until roosting season May-Sept to carry out a survey before East Devon District Council will even register the planning application. It’s driving me batty! Can’t blame the bats though.”

She later posted again to ‘bat’ off accusations that she was planning to break the rules on bat conservation in order to push the project forward, clarifying that she ‘was making a joke about being batty and didn’t want bat lovers to think I was against bats!’

In a media statement she said: “I am disappointed for the people of Exmouth, and Devon and Cornwall Police’s hard-working officers, staff and volunteers, who have to wait longer to get the police station and Police Enquiry Office which they deserve.

“Devon and Cornwall are full of wonderful nature and that is part of life here. We will, of course, ensure that all appropriate steps are taken to look after any bats and other wildlife found on the site, but Exmouth sees a huge rise in visitor numbers in the summer months and I look forward to a time when we and our force are focussed on our core business of supporting victims rather than surveying bats.”

It is “plain stupid” for the government to require more houses to be built in East Devon when the sewage system has “already failed”.

Will Goddard www.exmouthjournal.co.uk 

That’s the belief of councillor Geoff Jung after recent sewage pipe bursts in Exmouth, which have led to tankers being used to transport waste through the town and the Environment Agency advising against swimming in the sea.

Cllr Jung (Lib Dem, Woodbury and Lympstone) told the district council’s strategic planning committee this week that these incidents “clearly demonstrate systematic ongoing failures both from South West Water and the Environment Agency”.

He said: “In Exmouth since December 11, the water firm has been dealing with various major pipe bursts in the town, which has led to untreated sewage being taken from Phear Park by a convoy of trucks to Maer Road’s sewage pumping station and only in the last few days directly to Maer Lane sewage works.

“Failures have occurred predominantly between the pumping station in Phear Park and Maer Lane sewage works, where a temporary overground bypass has been hastily constructed but only yesterday operational.

“It is clear from what we see locally that despite assurances, the increasing sewage capacity together with the increased surface water from climate change events show that the present sewage infrastructure is failing.”

He continued: “By [the government] forcing us to build more housing we are actually increasing the number of connections, thus increasing capacity to an already failed system. That’s plain stupid.”

Cllr Brian Bailey (Conservative, Exmouth Littleham) went further, calling for an embargo on allowing new homes to be built in certain areas.

He said: “[South West Water] are strangers to the truth and what they say to us. I think that’s the politest way of putting it.

“I would like to propose that we have a building embargo, and we can do it. We’re the authority.

“No more building in and around Exmouth or Woodbury or Lympstone or Topsham because the sewage system is not up to it. Otherwise, we’re going to let more and more houses in and it’s going to get worse.”

A spokesperson for South West Water said: “We would like to thank local residents for their continued patience whilst essential repair works in Exmouth are carried out and we are sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.

“We have successfully finished installing the temporary pipe which will divert flows around the damaged section of sewer, so we can now turn our attention to making a full repair. This progress means we no longer need to use tankers.”

A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said: “We take all pollution incidents extremely seriously and we are currently investigating the burst pipe that was initially reported to the Environment Agency on December 30, 2023. South West Water has now resolved the issue and their pumping station is back in operation.

“In response to the pollution, we issued advice against bathing via our Swimfo webpage and through social media and informed East Devon District Council. During the incident, we worked closely with the water company to minimise the impact on the environment.

“We are continuing to investigate and will consider taking appropriate enforcement action when we have all the information required. The Environment Agency is urging SWW to deliver on its promised investment in Exmouth to reduce sewage spills.”

From a Budleigh correspondent:

Dawn yesterday revealed a trawler (or scalloper) beached on the high tide line on Budleigh beach roughly under the West Down Beacon.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that it had been anchored in the bay and drifted ashore during the night. Sea conditions were calm with a gentle easterly swell. 

There are no reports of casualties amongst the crew of three, indeed it has been suggested that they went into town for breakfast.

During the day a tug arrived and a second one around 6.00pm.

The trawler was successfully pulled off the beach on the evening high tide and towed away.

(The photo also shows the remains of recent cliff falls. Sidmouth is not unique in experiencing these.)