Financial news

• M25 reopens ahead of schedule

  17-03-2024 23:42
  
  A five-mile stretch of the London orbital motorway had been closed since Friday night to demolish a bridgeThe M25 in Surrey reopened eight hours ahead of schedule on Sunday after the first planned daytime closure of the motorway.The five-mile stretch of the motorway between junctions 10 and 11 had been closed in both directions at 9pm on Friday and was scheduled to remain inaccessible until 5.30am, in order to demolish a bridge and install “a huge gantry”. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on the Bank of England’s week ahead: it’s time to start cutting rates | Editorial

  17-03-2024 19:00
  
  High rates only prolong economic stagnation and the farce of big bank profits while Britons can’t feed themselvesAs 2021 ended, an article in the Guardian by the economist Isabella Weber went viral. Its online spread was lubricated by heresy. Dr Weber doubted interest rate hikes would bring down inflation. Instead, she argued that post-pandemic prices were rising because corporations were exploiting bottlenecks in supply chains to charge more and scoop windfall profits. Hence, attempts to
  
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• Nationwide faces mounting calls to give members say on Virgin Money takeover

  17-03-2024 18:44
  
  Experts question if ‘bigger is better’ and whether members should be consulted on the £2.9bn dealThe Nationwide building society is facing growing calls to give its 16 million members a say on its proposed £2.9bn takeover of high street rival Virgin Money in what would be the biggest UK banking deal since the financial crisis.It is just under two weeks since the building society shocked the City when it said it had reached a preliminary agreement to pay Virgin Money share
  
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• Nothing has been done to stop repeat of P&O Ferries scandal, unions say

  17-03-2024 17:29
  
  Despite UK government outrage the ‘legal loopholes remain and operator has been let off the hook’, says joint statementUnions have called for proper legal protection for seafarers on the second anniversary of the P&O Ferries mass sackings scandal, warning that ministers have “done nothing” to stop other firms following suit.The cross-Channel ferry operator fired 786 British crew on 17 March 2022 in order to replace them with low-paid agency staff. Although the firm ad
  
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• Pensioners face losing homes in new mortgage crackdown. What you need to know

  17-03-2024 16:44 via express.co.uk
  
  Lenders are cracking down on homeowners who need a mortgage after they retire. Many could lose their homes as a result.
  
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• ‘Complex’ post-Brexit tax rules means price rises for UK wine drinkers

  17-03-2024 16:00
  
  Wine Society describes planned alcohol duty changes as ‘ludicrous, expensive and probably unworkable’British consumers have been told that the price of some of their favourite red wines could increase by more than 40p next year after the government ignored pleas from the wine industry to abandon complex post-Brexit tax changes.The chief executive of Majestic Wine, John Colley, said the new alcohol duty system, which comes into effect in February 2025, would increase the number of tax
  
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• 'I'm an investment expert for a banking app - here's my big problem with the British ISA'

  17-03-2024 15:08 via express.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: He warned the account may not suit many savers.
  
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• Birmingham’s cuts reveals the ugly truth about Britain in 2024: the state is abandoning its people | John Harris

  17-03-2024 14:40
  
  First it was austerity. Now it’s something even worse: the suggestion that people didn’t need vital local services to begin withFour years ago, I saw something on a computer screen that I have never forgotten. The UK was six weeks into lockdown, and I was working on a series of Guardian videos based on raw footage from around the country, most of which had been filmed on people’s phones.We had made contact with a community activist from Alum Rock in central Birmingham – a
  
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• Victims of Norton Motorcycles pension fraud paid £9.4m compensation

  17-03-2024 14:38
  
  More than 200 people across three retirement schemes were tricked into losing £11.5m, with some expecting long wait for refundsThe Fraud Compensation Fund has paid £9.4m to the three retirement schemes that collapsed during the Norton Motorcycles pension scandal, more than a decade after victims had seemingly lost their life savings.The payment represents some long-awaited good news for more than 200 people who fell victim to what is known as “a pensions liberation fraud”
  
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• Talk of a soft landing for the global economy are premature – many dark scenarios are lurking | Larry Elliott

  17-03-2024 13:22
  
  Big obstacles to rising living standards remain, from populism to protectionism, military conflict to the climate crisis, and China to Wall StreetCentral bankers are feeling smug. The fears of 12 to 18 months ago that the global economy was likely to crash as a result of rising interest rates have proved unfounded. Inflation has subsided without the expected sharp increase in unemployment.Although it hasn’t been reflected in Joe Biden’s opinion poll ratings, the US’s performanc
  
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• Millions more in cash needed to fund UK’s open-banking watchdog

  17-03-2024 13:06
  
  Exclusive: £10m needed for regulator charged with developing tools to thwart financial crime and protect consumersBanks are under pressure to stump up millions of pounds in interim funding for the organisation that polices open banking, with regulators saying the new money is needed to prevent financial crime and protect consumers if things “go wrong”.Large banks including NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Santander UK were among more than 40 City firms summoned by the Financial Conduc
  
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• State pension alert as government urged to clarify how National Insurance funds payments

  17-03-2024 12:11 via express.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: There are concerns the Treasury may have to make special grants to cover the rising costs of the state pension.
  
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• Millionaire Rishi Sunak escapes £300m inheritance tax bill - while HMRC targets you and me

  17-03-2024 11:41 via express.co.uk
  
  Half of Britons now fear their family will have to pay inheritance tax as HMRC cracks down, yet most multimillionaires have nothing to worry about, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
  
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• Should the state pension be means-tested? Have your say

  17-03-2024 11:22 via express.co.uk
  
  Share your thoughts on the future of the state pension and whether it should be means-tested in our online poll.
  
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• Masters of spin – how slot machine operators are taking over UK high streets

  17-03-2024 11:00
  
  With concern focused on online casinos, the firms who run ‘adult gaming centres’ have been expanding fast – and glad-handing dozens of MPs‘I’d keep loading £20s in. I could be in a daze’In the corner of a dimly lit room, the face of a middle-aged woman is bathed in the greenish-yellow glare of a giant slot machine. Next to her, an increasingly agitated man jabs furiously at the “spin” button, as the jackpot eludes him yet again.It is early af
  
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• Church of England accused of ‘acting like a loan shark’ over vicar’s widow falling £313,000 in debt

  17-03-2024 11:00
  
  A church mortgage supposed to help clergy buy their own home has turned into a huge burden for a woman who paid interest for almost 29 yearsThe family of a vicar’s widow has accused the Church of England of behaving like a loan shark after a £55,000 mortgage it granted became a £313,000 debt – on top of monthly payments she has been making for almost 30 years.Tessa Norris* says her 84-year-old mother, Rose, has “devoted her life to the church, all on a voluntary bas
  
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• Jeremy Hunt urged it's 'high time' for tax cuts overlooked in Spring Budget

  17-03-2024 10:14 via express.co.uk
  
  EXCLUSIVE: An expert said more tax cuts are needed to as financial pressures for families are growing.
  
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• Martin Lewis pensions warning for those using a Lifetime ISA as retirement fund

  17-03-2024 09:22 via express.co.uk
  
  He was asked if the funds can be split in how they are used with some going towards a first home while the rest is saved up for a person's retirement.
  
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• ‘Just when we need them most’: Britain’s car share clubs face closure as last insurer pulls out

  17-03-2024 07:00
  
  The community-owned car pools have been hailed as a greener alternative to full-time ownership, but insurers say driver risk is hard to measureUp to 40 community car clubs across the UK could be forced to close after the last insurance firm covering such groups announced it was pulling out of the sector.For several years, the clubs – often groups of like-minded neighbours – have been sharing cars as a way to cut their carbon footprint. Continue reading...
  
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