Financial news

• Middle-income Australia has a new look, and it's not pretty | Greg Jericho

  30-06-2018 22:00 via theguardian.com
  The real low and middle-income earners are being erased from the debate in an unhealthy and one-sided class warThis week saw criticism of Labor starting a class war. But the real class war is being fought by those who seek to erase people on low and middle incomes from the debate. And too often the media are willing participants in this erasure. Let us be honest: Australia is a nation whose politicians are for the most part drawn from similar socioeconomic (and education) backgrounds, covered by
  
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• Sun over Blackpool and Scarborough, but dark days are not over

  30-06-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  Leading lights in northern England’s premier seaside resorts were in a sunny mood last week, but the towns still face deep-rooted social problems, poverty and lack of infrastructureThe sky is cloudless and the tide is high. Seagulls are scavenging, skin is blistering and the sea looks tempting. The trams go rumbling along the front and the air is thick with the authentic smell of the seaside: malt vinegar on chips.On a day like this, Blackpool appears not to have a care in the world. The t
  
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• Dealers shift down a gear as Brexit takes the shine off new car market

  30-06-2018 17:00 via theguardian.com
  The road ahead will also be affected by the collapse of diesel and a rise in online motor sales‘Had Brexit gone the other way, we’d be looking at a record car market this year,” says Andy Bruce, chief executive of Lookers, the UK’s biggest dealership.But it didn’t, and Bruce, who voted Remain, is instead faced with a car industry in turmoil. Anxious Britons have delayed buying new motors, and manufacturers, who rely on moving parts back and forth across the Channel,
  
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• Go-ahead given for merger of Tata Steel and Thyssenkrupp

  30-06-2018 10:43 via theguardian.com
  Synergies expected as German and Indian firms combine their European operations The German steel company Thyssenkrupp has agreed a merger of its European operations with Indian-owned Tata Steel.The deal signed on Friday will mean the European steel sector’s biggest shake-up since the takeover of Arcelor by Mittal in 2006. Continue reading...
  
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• What do you do with your valuables when you go on holiday?

  30-06-2018 08:00
  Has anyone got a failsafe hiding spot – and any other tips on not getting burgled? Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.Where do other people hide their jewellery and other valuables when they go on holiday? In the freezer, hidden in books – has anyone got a failsafe spot? And any other tips on not getting burgled? It happened once befor
  
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• MPs back plan for ombudsman to resolve new homes disputes

  30-06-2018 08:00
  Service would be free and help new-build buyers to get faster redress for defective properties
  The government is under pressure to set up an independent ombudsman with the power to order housebuilders to pay out up to £50,000 or even reverse a sale, following reports of new-home buyers lumbered with defective properties.A group of MPs and peers has called on the government to make it mandatory for housebuilders to belong to the proposed scheme, which would be free for consumers and offer a
  
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• MP back plan for ombudsman to resolve new homes disputes

  30-06-2018 08:00
  Service would be free and help new-build buyers to get faster redress for defective properties
  The government is under pressure to set up an independent ombudsman with the power to order housebuilders to pay out up to £50,000 or even reverse a sale, following reports of new-home buyers lumbered with defective properties.A group of MPs and peers has called on the government to make it mandatory for housebuilders to belong to the proposed scheme, which would be free for consumers and offer a
  
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• ‘I’m a billionaire, but I'm not a big spender’

  30-06-2018 08:00
  Entrepreneur David McCourt on buying art, his 30 blue suits, and why he likes living in hotelsI’m not a big spender and I don’t like to talk about my net worth, but if you believe what you read online you’d go with about $1bn. I’ve made money through telecoms and the media. I founded the first competitive phone company in the US, Corporate Communications Network. It merged with MFS Communications, which eventually sold for $14.5bn to WorldCom.A lot of my success is down t
  
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• Driving holidays: a guide to taking your car abroad this summer

  30-06-2018 08:00
  From breakdown cover to tolls and getting a GB sticker, here’s what you need to knowNo one forgets the first time they drive their car off a ferry at the start of a motoring holiday abroad – either for the thrill of excitement, or the fear that comes with driving on the right for the first time. But it doesn’t have to be stressful if you follow the Money guide to taking your car away this summer. It just needs a bit of planning.Insurance Continue reading...
  
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• A parent’s story: ‘Our son stole from us, courtesy of PayPal’

  30-06-2018 08:00
  The payments service raised no alarm bells when a 17-year-old ‘betrayed’ his parents by using his father’s bank cardThis is a cautionary tale that will be of particular interest to the parents of teenagers who, having grown up in a digital age, are over-confident in their use of technology and underestimate the potential dangers of the internet.My son David is 17, and technology has always been part of his life. As a consequence, nothing fazes him about computers or the interne
  
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• Transport for London hoards £321m from dormant Oyster cards

  30-06-2018 05:02
  As travel card marks 15 years, bosses ‘incredibly quiet’ about credit left unused in contactless era, say Lib DemsTransport for London (TfL) is being urged to encourage more people to get their money back from dormant Oyster cards on the 15th anniversary of the electronic travel cards.
  Caroline Pidgeon, Lib Dem member of the London Assembly, accused transport bosses of being “incredibly quiet” about highlighting the “cash mountain” from money left on cards. Co
  
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