Financial news

• Keir Starmer: ‘We can’t win power by spending. We need to reform and create wealth’

  15-07-2023 20:29
  
  Exclusive: Labour leader urges left to ‘care more about growth’ and rules out spending ‘vast sums of money’Labour will rebuild broken Britain with big reforms, not big spending. That’s a promise | Keir StarmerLabour will only succeed in winning power and rebuilding Britain if it prioritises economic growth, wealth creation and radical reform of public services over reckless spending promises, says Keir Starmer.With four days to go before a crucial set of parliamenta
  
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• Everywhere things are broken. Only by sweeping away the failed Tory approach can we rebuild our country | Keir Starmer

  15-07-2023 20:29
  
  The heart of Labour’s approach is to get Britain thinking big again, which requires reform, rather than just more moneyOn a housing estate in Selby, a young couple with a baby tell me they have seen the dream of buying their family home turn to dust because of the Tory mortgage bombshell.That encounter sticks with me. Good people, working hard, saving, bettering themselves – then seeing it cruelly snatched away through no fault of their own. The sheer unfairness of it is hard to stom
  
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• It’s high time Tory baby boomers stopped hoarding their wealth

  15-07-2023 18:00
  
  The new round of austerity is guided by older voters’ insistence on keeping their subsidies and tax breaks – can’t they show some generosity?The Tory-voting baby boomer has some tough choices to make over the next year.Fearful that their accumulated wealth is being threatened by one economic shock after another, they could choose to support the government’s return to austerity. Or they might consider sharing their lucky gains from the property market and a private occupat
  
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• If there’s no GP and you can’t buy a pint of milk, what’s the point of Northstowe? | Rowan Moore

  15-07-2023 17:32
  
  The biggest new town since Milton Keynes is billed as ‘unique’, but provision of even basic services seems to have been forgottenNorthstowe is a new town, billed as the largest since Milton Keynes was launched in the 1960s. It is, its developers say, “sustainable”. It “has a strong sense of community and an identity that is entirely unique” – so much so, it turns out, that it has no shop, cafe or GP surgery, which means that anyone who wants to buy a pin
  
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• Welsh steelworks at breaking point over the cost of cleaning up its act

  15-07-2023 17:00
  
  Time is running out in Port Talbot to decarbonise its operations: at stake is the supply chain for much of Britain’s construction and manufacturing sectors, along with thousands of jobsAt the Port Talbot steelworks on the south Wales coast, two 90-metre blast furnaces dominate the skyline. The plant has loomed over the town since an integrated steelworks was built there in the 1950s. It is the economic heart of the area, capable of producing 5m tonnes of steel a year, employing 4,000 peopl
  
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• No 10 reportedly in talks about making end of inheritance tax a manifesto pledge

  15-07-2023 16:50
  
  Downing Street said to be discussing measure to win votes in ‘blue wall’ seats in next general electionDowning Street is reportedly holding talks about making the scrapping of inheritance tax (IHT) part of its manifesto pledge in an attempt to win over votes in the next general election.No 10 is discussing whether to make abolishing the levy a key commitment in its manifesto to try to shore up votes in “blue wall” seats, according to the Times. Continue reading...
  
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• Sustainable smartphones calling? The eco-friendly new design rules to extend the life of your handset

  15-07-2023 16:00
  
  EU legislation will herald greener devices, with greater longevity for software and access to user-replaceable partsThe current status quo of smartphone design, repair and longevity could finally be upended in favour of users – and the planet. That is the message from campaign groups on the landmark overhaul of rules concerning batteries and eco-sensitive design working their way through the various legislative bodies of the European Union – a market big enough to force manufacturers
  
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• ‘Birdnesting’: why divorcing couples are taking turns to live in the family home

  15-07-2023 16:00
  
  Exes are alternating periods at home with time in a rented flat: it can work well for children and save money – as long as they get alongDivorcing couples with children are increasingly turning to an unconventional living arrangement know as “birdnesting” in order to save money in a time of soaring housing costs.Under the agreement, both parents take turns living in the family home, often on a week-by-week basis, with the rest of the time spent in a rented flat nearby. The name
  
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• HS2 threatens one of UK’s best Indian food streets

  15-07-2023 15:03
  
  Drummond Street, a south Asian hub, is under threat from HS2 works at Euston station in London but now moves are afoot to revive the areaFriday lunchtime and the dining room at Chutneys is in full swing. Happy customers, many longtime regulars, are tucking into the buffet, returning for many helpings of mild, sweet matar paneer, dark-green, minerally sag aloo, freshly cooked parathas and – of course – housemade chutneys. At £9.95, it’s a steal.Things look rosy, but for ma
  
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• Beat the fakes: how to find online reviews you can trust

  15-07-2023 15:00
  
  From excessive praise to overly perfect grammar, what to look out for to avoid getting scammedCan we trust what we read online as use of AI explodes?Fake reviews are often easy to spot – but, as with financial scams, even the smartest internet user can be fooled. So what are the top tips for avoiding being duped? And which sites can you depend on? Continue reading...
  
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• Thousands stranded in Italy and Belgium as strikes ground flights

  15-07-2023 14:35
  
  Airline and airport staff action comes at busiest travel time and amid record heatwave in EuropeStrikes by airport and airline staff have grounded hundreds of flights and left thousands of travellers stranded in Europe at the height of the busy summer tourism season.In Italy, about 1,000 flights, both domestic and international, were cancelled as a result of the strike by ground crew, according to airport and airline authorities. Continue reading...
  
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• In America’s ‘Voltage Valley’, hopes of car-making revival turn sour

  15-07-2023 14:00
  
  EV manufacturer Lordstown Motors, lauded by Trump in 2020, has gone bankrupt – what now for the once-proud auto-making region?When Lordstown Motors, an electric vehicles (EV) manufacturer in Ohio’s Mahoning Valley, declared bankruptcy last month, it was the latest blow to a region that has seen decades of extravagant promises fail to deliver.The 5,000 new jobs executives vowed to create in 2020 generated fresh hope for the shuttered General Motors Lordstown plant, which once function
  
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• Florida rocked by home insurance crisis: ‘I may have to sell up and move’

  15-07-2023 14:00
  
  Soaring hurricane-cover premiums are bad news for the state’s homeowners – and Ron DeSantis is accused of dragging his feetHouseholds in Florida, the third most populous state in the US, have been grappling for some time with a property insurance crisis that is making home ownership unaffordable for many. After at least six insurers went insolvent in Florida last year, Farmers on Tuesday became the latest to pull out of the Florida market, saying in a statement that the decision was
  
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• Reservoir supplying drinking water to Uruguay almost depleted – video

  15-07-2023 12:04
  
  Uruguay is facing the worst water crisis in its history due to a prolonged drought that has led to the practical depletion of fresh water from the main reserve that supplies the capital, MontevideoDrought leaves millions in Uruguay without tap water fit for drinking Continue reading...
  
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• Food insecurity and eating disorders are linked and rising. Where’s the plan to tackle them? | Dorothy Dunn

  15-07-2023 12:00
  
  New NHS research reveals the direct effect of the cost of living crisis on people’s mental health. The most vulnerable must be protectedThe first thing that came to mind when reading the obituaries of Milan Kundera, the author of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, was not the man, but the title of his book. The unbearable lightness of being could be an apt way to describe the precarious nature of many people’s lives across the UK right now: unbearable, treated lightly by those in pos
  
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• Fake reviews: can we trust what we read online as use of AI explodes?

  15-07-2023 11:00
  
  Artificial intelligence produces plausible verdicts on hotels, restaurants and tech in an instantHow to find online reviews you can trustThe four-star hotel in Kraków in Poland, the review says, is “excellent”, a “short walk from the main square” and boasts a “first-rate” spa and fitness centre. A less positive review describes it as “small, cramped and outdated” with “lumpy” pillows. But then a family who stayed said they were m
  
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• UK supermarket food prices up by more than 25% in two years, says Which?

  15-07-2023 09:00
  
  Retailers should be forced to display detailed price information on loyalty card deals, says consumer groupSupermarket food prices have increased by more than 25% over the past two years according to the consumer group Which?, with the size of the rise reinforcing the case for retailers to be forced to display detailed price information on loyalty card offers and promotions so shoppers can find the best deal.Which? said the government needed to close loopholes that result in “confusing and
  
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• UK savings: more accounts now offering 6%-plus interest

  15-07-2023 08:00
  
  Government-backed NS&I increases its rates, as building societies and banks launch better dealsAmid the mortgage misery, there was more good news this week on savings rates, with a growing number of accounts now paying 6%-plus interest.Meanwhile, the government-backed NS&I – a favourite of many in these uncertain times – has upped the rates on some of its popular fixed-rate accounts. Continue reading...
  
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• Holiday hotspots where your pound will go furthest this summer

  15-07-2023 08:00
  
  Want to go away without spending too much? Here’s a roundup of the best-value destinationsHolidaymakers hoping to cut costs this summer but still keen to go abroad may want to think about destinations where they will get more for their money.Picking somewhere where the pound is strong against the local currency is one way to get more bang for your buck, with Egypt and Turkey proving to be attractive options on that front this year. At the time of writing, sterling was up by 80% against the
  
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