Financial news

• BP predicts global oil demand will peak in 2025, bringing to end rising emissions

  10-07-2024 20:07
  
  Outlook says use of wind and solar power will surge – but forecasts for gas point to slowing in energy transitionBP has predicted that the world’s demand for oil will peak next year, bringing an end to rising global carbon emissions by the mid-2020s amid a surge in wind and solar power.The energy company’s influential outlook report has found that oil use will increase by about 2m barrels a day to peak at about 102m in 2025 across both of its forecasts. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on Labour’s devolution plans: beyond ‘levelling up’ | Editorial

  10-07-2024 19:31
  
  Sir Keir Starmer’s No 10 meeting with metro mayors sent the right message. But big challenges loomOver the years, England’s town halls have become used to being treated with a mixture of hostility, condescension and neglect. During the late 1980s, writing at the height of Margaret Thatcher’s ideological assault on leftwing councils, the political scientist Andrew Gamble warned that her centralising tendencies could pave the way to “the eventual abolition of local governme
  
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• Elon Musk beats $500m severance suit over mass Twitter layoffs

  10-07-2024 19:26
  
  Judge said court lacked jurisdiction for case, in which workers argued they didn’t receive proper compensationA US court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit claiming Elon Musk refused to pay at least $500m in severance to thousands of Twitter employees he fired in mass layoffs after buying the social media company now known as X.US district judge Trina Thompson in San Francisco ruled on Tuesday that the federal Employee Retirement Income Security Act (Erisa) governing benefit plans did not co
  
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• Do not let Thames Water’s bondholders wriggle off the hook | Nils Pratley

  10-07-2024 19:21
  
  Bondholders are hoping to escape intact if Ofwat is sufficiently generous with its increases in billsWhat is the new government’s policy on Thames Water? We’ll get a firmer guide – maybe – after regulator Ofwat gives its verdict on all the English and Welsh water companies’ business plans on Thursday. In the meantime, all we have to go on is this pre-election comment from Jonathan Reynolds, now the business secretary: “I wouldn’t want to see a nationalis
  
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• Martin Lewis says get instant £550 from Barclays, Lloyds and First Direct

  10-07-2024 17:32 via express.co.uk
  
  Barclays, Lloyds and First Direct are offering cash bonuses to the likes of Natwest, Halifax and Santander customers.
  
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• Rachel Reeves says the UK’s public finances are in a dire state – but here’s why I’m cautiously optimistic | Larry Elliott

  10-07-2024 17:07
  
  The markets haven’t imploded, sterling is solid, and there is no flight of investors. Given the circumstances, the only way is upLarry Elliott is the Guardian’s economics editorA Labour government that comes to power after a prolonged period of unbroken Conservative rule. A sense in the country that something has gone seriously wrong with the economy and that change is needed. A backdrop of rapid technological change. For 2024, read 1964. For Sir Keir Starmer, read Harold Wilson.Wils
  
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• Labour plans to save the planet - by destroying the English countryside

  10-07-2024 17:01 via express.co.uk
  
  The road to hell is paved with good intentions, they say. That certainly applies to the Labour Party's green energy policy.
  
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• My speakers don’t work properly and Apple won’t provide a refund. What are my entitlements?

  10-07-2024 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  You have a right to return the product if you think it’s faulty, says policy expert Kat George – but it will take some time and effort to claim your refundGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailI bought an Apple HomePod mini speaker in February 2023. I want it to reliably play audio via my iPhone and it does not and will not work with our standard wifi network. We’ve followed help documents, forums and Apple Support’s advice: nothing helped, but we learned that thousa
  
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• Wimbledon to pay at least £250,000 in refunds after near-non-stop rain

  10-07-2024 16:55 via theguardian.com
  Seventy-five of 91 matches scheduled for Tuesday were cancelled, while 12 were carried over to WednesdayWimbledon is to hand out at least £250,000-worth of refunds after the tournament was hit by near-non-stop rain on Tuesday.There was no play on the outside courts for most of Tuesday and 75 of the 91 scheduled matches were cancelled, while 12 were carried over to Wednesday. Continue reading...
  
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• Water bill shock: Millions in England and Wales brace for steep increases as Ofwat reviews

  10-07-2024 16:39 via express.co.uk
  
  Consumers in England and Wales will learn how much their water bills are likely to rise by over the next five years, and what firms will have to do to improve their services in return
  
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• Families missing out on up to £290 free cash - how to see if you qualify

  10-07-2024 16:39 via express.co.uk
  
  People could be missing out on the help of up to £290 which is aimed at helping them deal with the rising cost of living
  
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• Over 15,000 UK businesses commit to Real Living Wage as economic challenges persist

  10-07-2024 16:30 via express.co.uk
  
  The Living Wage Foundation has announced that more than 15,000 employers in the UK now pay the Real Living Wage of £12 or more an hour, which is higher than the Government's living wage of £11.44.
  
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• Amanda Staveley to leave Newcastle after three years at St James’ Park

  10-07-2024 16:03
  
  Financier became a club director after Saudi purchaseDeparture may unsettle manager Eddie HoweAmanda Staveley is to sever ties with Newcastle, almost three years after becoming the public face of the club’s Saudi Arabian-controlled takeover.Staveley and her husband, Mehrdad Ghodoussi, became directors and minority co-owners of Newcastle in October 2021 when Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) purchased an 80% majority stake and Staveley and Reuben Brothers each assumed 10% ho
  
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• HSBC announces 'big' change to mortgage criteria to give 'real boost' to property market

  10-07-2024 15:43 via express.co.uk
  
  HSBC's criteria switch-up has been largely met with praise from mortgage brokers.
  
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• Payouts of £23,000 handed out over pothole and wet floor mistakes

  10-07-2024 15:20 via express.co.uk
  
  People who suffer a problem with potholes have successfully received payouts of £23,000 each.
  
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• Royal Mail to stop using its own freight trains after almost 200 years

  10-07-2024 15:09
  
  Company to decommission its remaining trains, with plans to increase amount of post it moves by roadRoyal Mail is to stop using its own trains to transport post after almost 200 years.The company has confirmed it will decommission its remaining freight trains by 10 October, with a plan to increase the amount of post it moves by road. Continue reading...
  
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• Barratt to build fewer houses this year despite Labour pledge to fix shortage

  10-07-2024 14:56
  
  Housebuilder cites economic and political uncertainty as expected number of completed homes drops by up to 7%Business live – latest updatesBarratt Developments, Britain’s biggest housebuilder, expects to build fewer houses this year despite Labour’s pledge to build hundreds of thousands more.Its shares were the biggest faller on the FTSE 100 index on Wednesday, dropping by 2.9%, and later trading 2.2% lower. Continue reading...
  
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• Tax-free Personal Allowance increased to £14,064 for ‘backdating’ households

  10-07-2024 14:38 via express.co.uk
  
  Some households can use a 'backdating' method to get a £14,064 Personal Allowance tax-free
  
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• Brits issued warning over 'little known' payslip code which affects mortgage chances

  10-07-2024 14:09 via express.co.uk
  
  If you have a student loan you could be at risk of getting a smaller mortgage offer when you apply for a mortgage - so it's important to look out for this payslip code
  
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• UK tech startup raises £5m to prevent dangerous mould in social housing

  10-07-2024 13:24 via theguardian.com
  
  Switchee aims to protect health and cut bills by installing its technology in 1m homesA British startup which uses technology to prevent renters from living in cold, damp homes has raised fresh funds to expand as landlords belatedly try to tackle outbreaks of mould in crumbling social housing.Switchee has secured £5m, split equally between an existing investor, Axa IM Alts, and Octopus Ventures, part of the group which includes household gas and electricity supplier Octopus Energy. Continu
  
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• Blackwall and Silvertown tunnels will cost up to £4 at peak times, says TfL

  10-07-2024 13:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Fares for road tunnels under Thames could be halved for low-income local residents, as pricing consultation opensDrivers will be charged up to £4 at peak times for a one-way trip through either the Blackwall tunnel or the new Silvertown tunnel after the latter opens in 2025, Transport for London has announced.However, TfL is proposing to halve these charges for low-income local residents in east London to use either of the road tunnels under the Thames, as well as exempting buses, black ta
  
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• Why are the US and IMF imposing draconian austerity measures on Kenya? | Fadhel Kaboub

  10-07-2024 12:00
  
  Kenya’s eruption of protests, riots and government repression is the result of decades of failed western financial prescriptionsIt took several days of peaceful popular uprisings, violent confrontations with the police and the army, the illegal arrests and detention of protesters, the tragic death of several protesters at the hands of state security forces, and the burning of its parliament building for the Kenyan government to finally withdraw a finance bill that would have imposed the mo
  
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• Wetherspoon’s boss Tim Martin praises economic ‘pedigree’ of Rachel Reeves

  10-07-2024 11:34
  
  Brexit supporter calls for new chancellor to ‘rectify tax inequality’ in hospitality industryTim Martin, the politically outspoken boss of the JD Wetherspoon pub chain, has praised the new Labour chancellor’s economic “pedigree”, as he called for tax changes to help the struggling hospitality sector.Martin regularly publishes economic and political commentary alongside his company’s results and has previously voiced support for Brexit and Boris Johnson. Contin
  
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• Wimbledon’s service was at fault over ticket name change

  10-07-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I wanted to treat my mother-in-law, who has waited 80 years to visit the tournamentI have tickets to the Wimbledon tennis championships that are in my name, and I was hoping to transfer them to my wife so she could take her mother, who is 80 and was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. She would love to attend for the first time.I contacted the ticket office and was initially turned down. I explained the situation, the team was consulted and I was then given approval if I provided documentation
  
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• Four-day week campaign to launch UK pilot looking at flexible working

  10-07-2024 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: after success of first trial, group running second scheme in autumnhopes Labour will be more receptiveCampaigners for a four-day working week are preparing a new pilot project on flexible working in the hope that the Labour government will be more receptive to changes in how people work.The pilot project has opened to companies to sign up for a November start, with findings to be presented to the government in the summer of 2025. Continue reading...
  
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• Cheap sales, debt and foreign takeovers: how privatisation changed the water industry

  10-07-2024 06:00
  
  Familiar concerns over bosses’ pay, prices and borrowing emerged in the utilities’ early years in private hands, with UK dubbed the ‘dirty man of Europe’There was a time when privatised British water companies were as unpopular as they are now. During the hot summer of 1995, the managing director of Yorkshire Water, Trevor Newton, achieved notoriety when he urged customers to use less of his company’s product by issuing a motivational message: “I personally ha
  
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