Financial news

• Barclays says Epstein allegations against ex-boss Jes Staley ‘serious and new’

  27-03-2023 20:53
  
  Bank further distanced itself from its former chief executive who resigned in November 2021 Barclays has said allegations that its former chief executive Jes Staley was aware of sex trafficking operations run by the late billionaire Jeffrey Epstein were “serious and new”, as it further distanced itself from its ex-boss.It is the most substantial comment made by Barclays since Staley resigned in November 2021 after a UK regulatory investigation into his relationship with the convicted
  
  Read more

• US moves forward plan to ban TikTok as AOC joins protests supporting app

  27-03-2023 20:40
  
  Lawmakers, unconvinced after five hours of testimony from company chief Shou Zi Chew, are set on restricting the platformLawmakers have said they’re moving forward with plans for a national ban on TikTok, as users including Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez take to the app to protest.The snowballing effort to take action against TikTok comes after company chief Shou Zi Chew appeared before a US House committee for five hours on Thursday, where lawmakers from both parties grilled him a
  
  Read more

• Times are a-changin’ in Greenwich Village – Bob Dylan couldn’t afford to live here | Letter

  27-03-2023 19:05
  
  The neighbourhood in lower Manhattan has become a magnet for bankers, brokers and trust-fund tragedies, says Robert RosenYour article (Freewheelin’ to fame – the untold story of Bob Dylan’s iconic VW van, 24 March) begins: “New York City’s Greenwich Village has always been a magnet for outsiders, artists and poets.” That sentence cries out for an update. Greenwich Village used to be a magnet for such people.I’m a writer, my wife is a singer-songwriter, a
  
  Read more

• 'Environmental disaster': sailor shows oily sludge polluting water in Poole harbour – video

  27-03-2023 17:43
  
  A sailor in Poole in Dorset posted a video on social media on Sunday showing an oily substance he had noticed leaking into the water in the harbour. He collected some of the 'horrible, oil kind of sludge' in a plastic bottle. The public is being urged to avoid using the water and beaches within Poole after the harbour regulator said a leak occurred at a pipeline operated by gas company Perenco. The incident, which took place at Wytch Farm oilfield, resulted in approximately 200 barrels of 'reser
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Could office blocks be the next big casualty of the banking crisis?

  27-03-2023 15:47
  
  Higher interest rates and cuts in lending could pile pressure on commercial property sector after hit from hybrid workingThe new central London headquarters of the property company CBRE could easily be mistaken for a hotel, given its open lounges with comfy seating, potted plants, coffee and tech bars and library.In the post-pandemic property world, phrases such as “hotelification” and “earning the commute” have become commonplace among executives trying to lure back work
  
  Read more

• UK homebuyers: has your mortgage application been turned down recently?

  27-03-2023 13:25
  
  We’re keen to hear from prospective house buyers whose application for a UK residential mortgage has been rejected because of affordability checksWe’d like to hear from people who have had their application for a UK residential mortgage refused recently because they did not pass a lender’s affordability checks.If you tried to get a mortgage and were unsuccessful, we are interested to hear about your experience, your financial circumstances and what lenders based their final dec
  
  Read more

• Share how you will be affected by rising water bills in England and Wales

  27-03-2023 12:39
  
  We would like to speak to people in England and Wales about how they will cope with their water bill increasing next monthHouseholds in England and Wales are facing the biggest increase to water bills in almost two decades from April.Industry body Water UK said the typical water bill will increase to an average of £448 a year from April, a rise of 7.5%. But households may pay less or more depending on regional variations and individual factors, such as whether they have a meter and how muc
  
  Read more

• Share how you will be affected by the end of the energy bill support scheme

  27-03-2023 12:37
  
  We would like to hear about the impact the end of the EBSS will have on households in BritainThe government’s £400 energy bills support scheme (EBSS) ends this month.The energy price guarantee (EPG) will remain at £2,500 a year until the end of June. But households will no longer receive the £67 a month in support, and standing charges will increase. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• I’ve inherited some money – should I save it or renovate my house?

  27-03-2023 11:05
  
  I’m worried about the rising cost of living and if I spent the money I may not have enough incomeQ I have inherited some money and am wondering whether to save it or spend it on renovations around my house.The mortgage is paid and I took early retirement so although I have a pension I do not yet have a state one, plus I have a private pension worth £125,000 which I have not yet touched. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Broke and disabled in Tory Britain: the reality of life on one meal a day

  27-03-2023 11:00
  
  Welfare reforms have left many disabled people effectively destitute. For them, this isn’t a cost-of-living crisis – it’s a cost-of-staying-alive crisisIn his Buckinghamshire front room, Mike is working out how many meals he has to skip this week to make sure his wife can afford to eat.Sandra, 38, has bipolar disorder, on top of multiple physical health problems, and has long been too sick to work. Mike – himself slowly recovering from agoraphobia – is needed at hom
  
  Read more

• Millennial generation despairs of being able to afford to retire

  27-03-2023 10:00
  
  We asked them a simple question: How much do you pay into a private pension? The answers that came back were starkMany younger people, struggling with high rents, student loans and low wages, are scratching their heads about why the government has decided to throw billions of pounds at people already wealthier than many of them ever will be.A little over a week ago, chancellor Jeremy Hunt used his first budget to announce a multibillion-pound tax giveaway to Britain’s wealthiest pension sa
  
  Read more

• Living on a boat is hard – but it’s worth it to escape the toxic rental market | Faye Keegan

  27-03-2023 08:00
  
  The challenges are myriad, including raising a child and, yes, using the toilet. But we’ve gained so much more than we lostWhen people find out that I live on a narrowboat, their eyes light up. They say things like “Gosh, I’d love to do that,” and “That’s so bohemian of you!,” and “It must be so peaceful”. It is peaceful, sometimes, but it’s easy to forget that when you’re struggling to push open a heavy lock gate in the pouring r
  
  Read more

• From living water to toxic sludge: the Philippine island devastated by an oil spill – a photo essay

  27-03-2023 08:00
  
  The slick from sunken tanker Princess Empress has harmed livelihoods, caused health problems and done untold damage to marine life. Can Mindoro island recover?Words and photographs by Alecs OngcalIt is a beautiful sunny day on Mindoro island but a nauseating stench fills the air and black sludge covers the beaches and rockpools. The cause? A massive oil spill off the eastern coast of the island, from the tanker Princess Empress, carrying 800,000 litres of industrial fuel oil when it sank on 28 F
  
  Read more

• Alarm bells rang when I felt I was being overcharged by an Audi dealership

  27-03-2023 08:00
  
  On top of a £1,480 repair to my Q3, I was billed £50 for one wiper bladeI am in dispute with an Audi dealership in Exeter over repair costs for my 11-year-old Audi Q3. When I booked in my car, to deal with the issue of the alarm going off sporadically, I was told there would be a £160 charge to diagnose the problem.I was then contacted by the garage to say it still didn’t know what the problem was. It could be the control panel, but it would cost me another two hours (&po
  
  Read more

• Cost of living payment dates: DWP confirms first instalment to be paid from next month

  27-03-2023 04:44 via express.co.uk
  
  The Department for Work and Pensions will pay out the £900 cost of living payment in three instalments, and the date to expect the first of the payments has now been announced.
  
  Read more

• Little progress made on energy efficiency in UK homes, report finds

  27-03-2023 01:01
  
  National Infrastructure Commission accuses ministers of ‘prevarication’ over installation of heat pumpsMinisters have made negligible progress in improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s homes even as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has underscored the need to cut the reliance on gas for home heating, according to the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC).The independent infrastructure tsars’ annual report warned that the progress towards improving the UK’s
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!