Financial news

• Barclays chair condemned after claiming many PPI claims are fraudulent

  23-09-2018 18:37 via theguardian.com
  Consumer champion Martin Lewis said John McFarlane’s comments were ‘outrageous’Consumer champion Martin Lewis has condemned as “outrageous” comments made by the Barclays chairman, John McFarlane, that claims for payment protection insurance compensation have turned many Britons into fraudsters.McFarlane, who has worked in banking for more than 40 years, said a huge proportion of compensation claims were fraudulent and that the PPI claims culture suited the governmen
  
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• Pret a Manger and BA face questions over girl’s allergy death on plane

  23-09-2018 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Inquest into death of Natasha Ednan-Laperouse will focus on food packaging ‘loophole’ and cabin crew’s trainingA 15-year-old girl who was severely allergic to sesame died after eating a Pret a Manger sandwich that did not list the ingredient on its packaging, an inquest will hear this week.Natasha Ednan-Laperouse was travelling with her father and a school friend from London to Nice when she collapsed during the British Airways flight in July 2016. Continue reading...
  
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• Radical Labour levy would double council tax on holiday homes

  23-09-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Party promises £560m raised would be used to help homeless childrenPlans for a new levy on tens of thousands of second homes have been drawn up by Labour in a move designed to ease the housing crisis and generate funds to cut homelessness.Second properties used as holiday homes would be the target of an annual tax should Labour win the next election, with each property facing an average levy of about £3,000 a year. It is the latest sign that Labour is prepared to back radical policie
  
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• Labour’s road to a people’s vote starts in Liverpool | William Keegan

  23-09-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  As it prepares for its annual conference, it is time for the party to abandon its lame acceptance of the EU referendum resultIs this year’s Labour conference in Liverpool going to rise to the occasion and put the party firmly on the road to stopping Brexit?With mounting support among trade unionists for a “people’s vote”, it would be a welcome outcome if what my old friend and Observer colleague Alan Watkins called “the people’s party” finally got its ac
  
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• How to avoid getting a bundle of extra charges for your mobile

  23-09-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  You can cut costs by checking data usage and not paying for a handset that you already ownWith attention turning to the price of mobile phones, as the latest versions of the iPhone hit the UK market, a very large number of consumers are wondering how much they have paid for the phone in their hand.New research says that about 4 million people have been paying for handsets they already own as EE, Three and Vodafone “routinely” carry on charging customers. Continue reading...
  
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• A long trade war will leave the world feeling its piggy bank was robbed

  23-09-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Don’t be fooled by China’s as-yet muted response: a decades-long battle with the US over tariffs is a real, and scary, possibilityA trade war between China and the US that lasts 20 years or more is a barely believable idea. It offers an Orwellian vision of ceaseless and debilitating battles between trading blocs – battles that give politicians a convenient enemy and the leverage to impose themselves domestically.Yet Jack Ma, the billionaire boss of Alibaba, one of China’s
  
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• Dressed to kill: will Boohoo’s results leave high street chains in tears?

  23-09-2018 07:59 via theguardian.com
  The online retailer has been clothing itself in glory, but a £50m incentive scheme for its new boss has raised eyebrows for more than one reasonWill the brisk rise of online fashion company Boohoo continue? Incoming chief executive John Lyttle will certainly be hoping so: a £50m bonus payout depends on it.The retailer’s interim results, out on 26 September, will illustrate whether the strong growth the company has been enjoying of late has continued. In June, it reported that s
  
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• Mike Ashley to close three House of Fraser stores

  23-09-2018 01:02 via theguardian.com
  Sports Direct tycoon has been unable to agree terms with landlords of outlets in Edinburgh, Hull and SwindonThe troubled retailer House of Fraser is to shut three stores and is considering the closure of a fourth after its new owner, Sports Direct tycoon Mike Ashley, failed to agree terms with their landlords.Ashley, the owner of Newcastle United Football Club, recently bought the department store chain out of administration for £90m. Following negotiations with landlords around Britain, 2
  
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