Financial news

• George Osborne must understand the IMF role is no popularity contest | Nils Pratley

  04-07-2019 22:51 via theguardian.com
  Will the Evening Standard editor take a seat at the top table? Don’t put your money on it just yet…If George Osborne’s “friends” were not advertising the former chancellor’s interest in the top job at the International Monetary Fund, would we even take the idea seriously? One suspects not. The UK has a strong candidate to push to be managing director of the IMF. He is Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England.Osborne’s claim seems to rest on the idea
  
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• Regulator begins contempt of court action against Viagogo

  04-07-2019 17:13
  Ticket resale website has allegedly ignored warnings to comply with consumer lawThe UK’s competition regulator will seek to have ticket resale website Viagogo found in contempt of court, after it allegedly ignored repeated warnings to comply with consumer law.The Competition and Markets Authority has sent a “letter before action” to Viagogo, triggering a process that it had warned would begin unless the company cleaned up its often-criticised business practices. Continue readin
  
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• Water firms rapped on knuckles by regulator over bill-hike plans

  04-07-2019 12:44
  Ofwat concerned over plans to charge ‘significantly’ more to cover utilities’ day-to-day costsWater companies have been rapped on the knuckles over plans to charge customers “significantly” more to cover their day-to-day costs from next year.The water regulator said it had substantial concerns over the business plans of Thames Water, Anglian Water, SES Water and Yorkshire Water for the early 2020s. Continue reading...
  
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• Can I buy a phone that doesn’t use anything from Google or Apple?

  04-07-2019 09:00
  Steve does not like firms slurping up his data, so wants a device that respects his privacy I have concerns about the likes of Google and Apple slurping up as much info as they can about me from my phone. I’ve tried looking online for alternatives and found mentions of things like /e/, Lineage, Sailfish OS etc, but they assume a level of tech knowledge far above what I have as a layman. So, are there any phones that are 100% free from Google and Apple software and hardware? How easy are su
  
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• I found myself up the creek … without a paddle steamer

  04-07-2019 08:00
  I had booked a stay in Oban for excursions on the Waverley … but it isn’t running and I need to cancelThis year the paddle steamer Waverley advertised two excursions that have been on my bucket list for 30 years. I therefore used Booking.com to book three nights at a hotel in Oban. The cost was £150 which was non-refundable.The paddle steamer – the last sea-going paddle steamer in the world – has since been withdrawn from service because of urgent repairs and as ex
  
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