Household confidence has reached its highest level for 11 years in another sign that the economy has benefited from a post-election bounce (The Times £). Britons have started life outside of the EU on a positive note after a closely-watched gauge of household confidence jumped to a record high (The Telegraph).

More than 600 Amazon workers have been seriously injured or narrowly escaped an accident in the past three years, prompting calls for a parliamentary inquiry into safety at the online retailer’s vast UK warehouses (The Guardian). Hundreds of people have been seriously injured at Amazon’s UK warehouses over the last three years, new figures suggest (Sky News). Hundreds of workers have been seriously injured or narrowly escaped an accident at Amazon’s UK warehouses over the last three years, new figures claim (The BBC).

Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos has pledged $10bn (£7.7bn) of his personal wealth to fighting climate change (Sky News). The world’s richest man said the money would finance work by scientists, activists and other groups (The BBC).

Britain’s top negotiator with Brussels insisted last night the UK would never agree to EU oversight of its rulemaking in exchange for a post-Brexit trade deal, even as France sought to toughen the bloc’s stance in the talks (The Financial Times £). Britain will not sign up to follow EU standards because it would defeat the point of Brexit, the UK’s chief negotiator has said (Sky News). The democratic consent of the British public would “snap dramatically and finally” if the UK continued to be tied to EU rules, Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has said (The Guardian).

A panel of experts assembled to help to construct one of the central pillars of the government’s post-Brexit economic strategy - freeports - has met only once in six months. (The Times £)

As a fish-loving nation you might be surprised to discover that Britain exports most of the fish it catches and imports most of what it eats, including up to 95% of the cod served in fish and chip shops. (The Telegraph)

Neither China nor the world were well placed at the start of this year to absorb large demand and supply shocks simultaneously. China’s reaction to Covid-19, or coronavirus, has closed swathes of activity in China, sending shock waves through supply chains, the transport and other key sectors and companies selling goods and services in or to the country. (The Times £)

 

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