Financial news

• The dream of free buses still lives on | Letters

  30-05-2019 19:03
  Let’s give them a free-to-use bus service as was intended by a visionary authority in 1974, writes Mike Smith of South Yorkshire Freedom RidersDavid Walker’s recollection of South Yorkshire’s publicly subsidised public transport system (Letters, 30 May) is only part of the story. The aim of the cheap fares was to make the bus service totally free of fares by 1984 – a hop-on, hop-off service funded through a precept on the rates and savings made from not having to collect
  
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• China accuses US of 'naked economic terrorism' in trade dispute – business live

  30-05-2019 09:55 via theguardian.com
  World’s second-largest economy is not afraid of a trade war, says senior diplomat8.55am BST Perhaps more interestingly, Ramsden also suggests that markets may be too sanguine about the risks facing them – and that when investors finally wake up to the dangers it could make for more dramatic market moves.The key piece of evidence he cites is the divergence between policy uncertainty and the Vix – the so-called fear index which measures the volatility of trading on the S&P 50
  
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• De La Rue boss leaving after losing post-Brexit blue passport contract

  30-05-2019 09:27 via theguardian.com
  Shares in banknote printer plunge as chief exec Martin Sutherland agrees to goUK banknote printer De La Rue is parting ways with its chief executive a year after he lost the battle for a £490m contract to print the post-Brexit blue passport.It came as the firm revealed 77% drop in pretax profits and warned that tough competition would contribute to “somewhat lower” profits next year. The company is now set to slash £20m in costs. Continue reading...
  
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• Brexit: UK car production plunges amid 'untold damage' of EU leave date chaos

  30-05-2019 08:56 via theguardian.com
  April manufacturing fell 44.5% as factories shut down for an EU exit that never cameCar production plunged by nearly half in April as factories shut down to prepare for a Brexit date that never came, prompting renewed anguish from the UK motor industry at the “untold damage” done by prolonged uncertainty.In a slump that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) described as “extraordinary”, 70,971 vehicles rolled off the production lines in April, down 44.5% f
  
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• Being a care worker is the best job in the world, but it must be regulated properly

  30-05-2019 08:01
  Care workers are responsible for people’s lives. The industry should professionalise to protect service users and workersIn the decade I’ve worked in frontline social care, I’ve lost count of the number of people who’ve told me that anyone can do this job because it’s so easy. I explain to them that care workers are highly skilled professionals and that the job is hard, but extremely rewarding.I strongly believe that professionalisation – registration, better
  
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• I had evidence I’d paid London congestion charge but robot said ‘no’

  30-05-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  I even sent a screenshot of my online statement but the charge still standsI paid the London congestion charge with my American Express card. The payment showed as “pending” on my bank account for five days, then disappeared. Customer services said there might have been a problem with Transport for London’s payment system and I should wait for the penalty charge notice (PCN) to come, then appeal. This I did, providing a screenshot of my online statement showing the pending tran
  
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• Electric vehicle drivers at risk by charging from home mains supply

  30-05-2019 07:27
  Charity urges UK government to expand national network of public charging pointsAn inadequate public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in the UK is forcing drivers to take risks by opting for highly dangerous alternatives at home, an electrical safety charity has warned.Three-quarters of those who resort to charging from their home mains supply using a domestic extension lead even admit to risky “daisy-chaining” – using multiple extension leads plugged into one anot
  
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• Thousands face energy price jumps of up to £362 a year as deals end

  30-05-2019 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Increases follow controversial rise in Ofgem’s price ceiling for default tariffsThousands of households face energy bill increases of up to £362 a year because more than 60 fixed-price gas and electricity deals are about to end.Expiring deals from 13 different suppliers, including four of the “big six” players – British Gas, EDF, npower and Scottish Power – would add an estimated £42m to the energy bills of almost 193,000 households, assuming they all di
  
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• Half of job growth to be limited to London, inequality inquiry finds

  30-05-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  UK2070 commission urges government to emulate German reunification to bridge gap London and the south-east will see more than half of the UK’s future job growth if the government does not address the massive gulf between the capital and everywhere else, an independent inquiry into the UK’s deep–rooted inequalities has warned.Bob Kerslake, the former head of the civil service and chair of the UK2070 commission on regional inequality, said the UK was going “materially in th
  
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• Child stair gates fail safety tests and pose 'serious risk'

  30-05-2019 01:01 via theguardian.com
  Only four out of 12 gates tested by Which? were deemed safeEight popular child stair gates have failed recent safety tests carried out by a consumer group, exposing a “serious risk” for the youngsters they are designed to protect.Which? subjected 12 stair gates on sale in the UK to a series of tests to check they confirm to EU standards, two of which – the impact resistance and the fatigue test – aim to establish the risk of becoming dislodged. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump needs to make peace with China and get a cut in interest rates | Larry Elliott

  30-05-2019 01:00 via theguardian.com
  US president’s target has tended to be Beijing but his focus is likely to turn more to the Federal ReserveStock markets around the world are sending a message to Donald Trump: end your trade war with China or face the nightmare scenario of running for a second term in the White House with the economy in serious trouble.The big falls seen on the world’s major bourses this week are the result of one thing: the growing fear of the impact of the standoff between Washington and Beijing on
  
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