Financial news

• China-owned British Steel said to have requested £600m of taxpayer support

  23-06-2024 19:28
  
  Company is looking for help from next government to upgrade to less polluting technologyChinese-owned British Steel has reportedly submitted a request for a package of taxpayer support worth £600m as it looks for assistance from the next government to upgrade to less polluting technology.Government officials are due to review plans that set out the costs of switching from blast furnaces to electric arc furnaces at the company’s steelworks in Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, the Sunday Times
  
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• John Lewis is ‘back on track’, says outgoing chair Sharon White

  23-06-2024 19:18
  
  Return to profit will enable ‘significant investment’, including Waitrose refurbs and more convenience storesThe outgoing chair of John Lewis has insisted that the retail group is “back on track” and “more fit for the future” with an improving financial position enabling it to spend money refurbishing Waitrose supermarkets and opening convenience stores.Sharon White, who will retire as chair of the John Lewis Partnership in September, said the upmarket Waitros
  
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• UK says importers making ‘deliberate errors’ on forms to avoid Brexit border charges

  23-06-2024 16:51
  
  New checks for plant and animal goods from the EU came into force on 30 AprilThe government has accused businesses importing goods from the EU of making “deliberate” and “criminal” errors on key documentation in a bid to avoid new Brexit border charges.In a notice sent out to traders this week, the government said it had been made aware that some traders and logistics companies were repeatedly filling out forms incorrectly, and vowed to crack down on the behaviour. It com
  
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• Labour plans to build 1.5m homes. Will that help Britons struggling for good housing?

  23-06-2024 16:00
  
  Experts say Starmer’s pledge to ‘bulldoze through’ planning restrictions will put money in people’s pockets – if he can deliverLabour appears poised to win a historic election victory on 4 July. In the series Life under Labour, we look at Keir Starmer’s five key political missions, and ask what is at stake and whether he can deliver the change the country is crying out for.* * * Continue reading...
  
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• Volvo does a sharp U-turn as the boxy estates and saloons return to Britain

  23-06-2024 15:50
  
  Last summer the Swedish carmaker announced it would limit UK sales to its more popular SUV modelsIt is not the kind of risky manoeuvre any self-respecting Volvo estate driver would execute, but the Swedish carmaker has performed a sharp U-turn on the decision to stop selling them here after an outcry from drivers devoted to a car synonymous with British middle-class family life.Last summer Volvo dropped the bombshell that it would no longer market its estates or saloon cars in the UK and would i
  
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• Eight steps you can take to help your family and neighbours be more cash-efficient

  23-06-2024 13:00 via express.co.uk
  
  MoneyMagpie breaks down the ways you can help your community to save cash.
  
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• How to slash your summer spending bill - six easy tips for those on a budget

  23-06-2024 12:00 via express.co.uk
  
  MoneyMagpie's team brings you its top tips for summer on a budget.
  
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• Tories did not lay waste to the economy, but the myth suits Labour’s campaign message | Larry Elliott

  23-06-2024 11:59
  
  Without minimising the challenges faced by Starmer and Reeves, it is actually not a bad time to be arriving in officeLabour will win by a mile but is coming to power at the worst possible moment. The economy has been laid waste by the Conservatives, who have deployed a scorched earth policy that will ensure the incoming government has the inheritance from hell.That, at least, is the conventional wisdom, a view that Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have done nothing to counter. There is a reason fo
  
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• State pension shock as millions of retirees will pay income tax despite triple lock pledge

  23-06-2024 11:47 via express.co.uk
  
  Pensioners are bracing themselves for a full-on tax assault if Labour wins the general election. But they will still be in the firing line if the Conservatives cling onto power.
  
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• ‘Saver’s dream’ as 5.21% account offers 'stunning' benefit we haven’t seen in years

  23-06-2024 11:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Homeowners may be seething at the Bank of England's decision to hold interest rates at 5.25 percent for the seventh meeting in a row despite plunging inflation, but savers may take a more positive view.
  
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• Banking executives 'biggest challenge' of the year is attracting Gen Z customers

  23-06-2024 11:00 via express.co.uk
  
  An estimated two thirds say it is a vital part of future proofing their business, with 50 percent believing it is key to remaining competitive according to a new survey.
  
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• Woke capitalism is not to be sneered at. Gen Z is a mighty force for change | Martha Gill

  23-06-2024 10:30
  
  Young people don’t want prospective employers to merely pay lip service to their liberal social valuesYoung people are used to being told they expect too much when it comes to the world of work. Judge Judy, Whoopi Goldberg and Jodie Foster were among the latest of their elders to give them a ticking off – accusing indulgent parents of setting them up to fail. Curmudgeonly employers would not pander to their requests for better hours, they said, or align themselves with their pet soci
  
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• The falling birthrate threatens a disaster so costly no politician dares think about it | Sonia Sodha

  23-06-2024 10:05
  
  A demographic timebomb caused by an ageing, shrinking population is looming for many western countries, so where are the policies to defuse it?A conference on changing demographics I attended last week tackled the fact that, while we are living longer – a great product of medical innovation – many of us will also experience extended periods later in life with physical and mental decline, so requiring more health and social care than in the past. Yet falling birthrates mean
  
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• Working from home is all very well – unless your daughter is there too

  23-06-2024 10:00
  
  It seems my little girl is happy to forgo toys, paints and cuddles at nursery, so long as it means she can stop me getting down to workThere’s a perennial bestseller called The 4-Hour Work Week written by self-help author and annoyance Timothy Ferriss. I hate this book, because it’s based on earning passive income through a few weird tricks that feel neither possible or scalable for normal people, and proves little more than the ability of self-help authors to generate passive income
  
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• British business owners reveal what they believe are biggest threats to UK firms

  23-06-2024 10:00 via express.co.uk
  
  New research from Charles Stanley has found that 54 percent of business owners think the latest recession was an opportunity for entrepreneurs in the UK, and 51 percent think British entrepreneurship is about to boom.
  
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• A Norway deal? What are Labour’s options for forging closer ties with Europe? | Philip Inman

  23-06-2024 10:00
  
  Starmer and Reeves plan to improve parts of the relationship with the EU. But what of becoming a member of the single market – or even a return to full membership?Labour’s plans to re-engage with Brussels after a tumultuous and often acrimonious eight years since the referendum will be welcomed by all those who have recognised Brexit as an act of self-harm. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have put forward tentative ­proposals tackling discrete issues in the UK’s relationship
  
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• Recovery! Inflation down, growth up and we’re shopping again - bad news for Sunak

  23-06-2024 09:00 via express.co.uk
  
  In politics, timing is everything. PM Rishi Sunak has worked hard to get the economy moving again. But it won't be enough to save him at the general election.
  
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• Improving people’s lives should be Labour’s first priority. Not that Ming vase | Kenan Malik

  23-06-2024 09:00
  
  Britain is angry about poverty and austerity but Keir Starmer seems more worried about Tory criticismThis should be an election at the heart of which are the issues of poverty, inequality, precarity and low pay. It is, after all, a campaign in which the cost of living, the state of public services, the price of austerity and the failure of politicians and institutions to listen to the public, dominate discussion. Yet Labour’s fear of dropping the Ming vase – its terror of slipping by
  
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• Five easy ways to boost your investing skills this financial year

  23-06-2024 09:00 via express.co.uk
  
  MoneyMagpie offers its top tips on how you can get involved in investing - and it might be easier than you imagined.
  
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• This timid ‘Ming vase’ strategy won’t turn Labour into a dynasty | William Keegan

  23-06-2024 08:00
  
  Cautionis understandable, but, if elected,Starmer and Reeves will need to makebold decisions on investment and EuropeAre you familiar, dear reader, with the “Ming vase” strategy?It seems to be a commonplace in inner Labour party pre-election discussion. It refers to the way that the man who is on the verge of being prime minister, and his chancellor to be, Rachel Reeves, are being so depressingly cautious in their electoral commitments that many natural Labour voters are asking thems
  
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• Changes to Inheritance Tax sees rush for advice on how to keep cash

  23-06-2024 08:00 via express.co.uk
  
  The number of people making a web search around "inheritance gift tax" has surged by 38 percent in the past month alone.
  
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