Financial news

• ‘Bedlam’ in UK as air and rail travel hit by global IT outage

  19-07-2024 17:06 via theguardian.com
  
  More than 5,000 flights cancelled worldwide after problem affecting Microsoft WindowsBusiness live – latest updatesPassengers have described “bedlam” at UK airport check-ins after a global IT outage on what was due to be the busiest day for flying since the start of the Covid pandemic, while train networks have also been disrupted.More than 5,000 flights have been cancelled worldwide after Microsoft Windows operating systems used by airlines, airports and some air traffic syste
  
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• Nationwide gets green light for £2.9bn takeover of Virgin Money

  19-07-2024 12:05 via theguardian.com
  Regulator the CMA finds deal will not substantially affect competition for mortgages and credit cardsNationwide’s takeover of Virgin Money will not reduce competition for mortgages and credit cards, the competition watchdog has ruled, as it gave it the green light.The Competition and Markets Authoritysaid on Friday that the £2.9bn deal, the biggest in banking since the financial crisis, would not lead to a substantial lessening of competition in the home loans market. Continue readin
  
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• Queues and blank screens at airports as Microsoft IT outage disrupts travel – video

  19-07-2024 12:04
  There has been disruption at airports around the world, as well as banks, supermarkets and media outlets, after Windows workstations were hit by a 'blue screen of death'. Long queues of passengers formed in airports in the UK, US, India and Spain as some airlines warned of delays and grounded flightsGlobal Microsoft IT outage: latest updates Continue reading...
  
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• Starmer will bin the two-child benefit cap and outdo New Labour on tackling poverty – I’ll bet on it | Polly Toynbee

  19-07-2024 11:00 via theguardian.com
  On the Aylesbury estate in London this week, I met residents who recall the impact Blair had. This government will go even furtherI will eat my hat – or several – if Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves don’t soon find the money to bury the pernicious two-child benefit cap. The sum is very small: a mere £1.7bn to lift 300,000 children out of poverty. With a quarter of children in absolute poverty, nothing else they could buy at that price could do so much; and it would show the
  
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• How I spotted a gap in the market for ‘healthy, tasty, easy’ cuisine

  19-07-2024 11:00
  
  Craig Allen turned his interest in wellness and nutrition into a thriving online business, and his success is underpinned by a payment process customers trustWhen Craig Allen began driving around Manchester 12 years ago selling steam-cooked chicken direct to gyms, he was laying the foundations for a frozen food brand that has resonated with consumers thanks to its focus on healthier eating.With his interest in wellness and nutrition, and experience working for his dad in the meat trade, when All
  
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• Ofcom to ban inflation-linked mid-contract price rises on phones, pay-TV and broadband

  19-07-2024 10:35 via theguardian.com
  From January 2025 providers will have to tell customers upfront in ‘pounds and pence’ about expected increasesPhone, broadband and pay-TV companies are to be banned from imposing mid-contract price increases linked to inflation, in a crackdown by the regulator after a Guardian investigation exposed “greedflation” in the sector last year.Under plans being introduced in January 2025, Ofcom will force providers to tell customers upfront, in “pounds and pence”, ab
  
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• London Stock Exchange 'experiencing tech issue' as Microsoft outage sparks global glitches

  19-07-2024 10:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Widespread outages linked to Windows are affecting major companies.
  
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• Is Labour’s Rachel Reeves about to repeat Gordon Brown’s biggest ever £30bn howler?

  19-07-2024 09:32 via express.co.uk
  
  Every chancellor makes mistakes but few were more costly than Gordon Brown's decision to sell half the nation's gold at a rock bottom price. New Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves could be about to make a similar blunder.
  
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• Summer holiday childcare in UK now costs £1,000 a child, research finds

  19-07-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Parents or carers in full-time work said to be ‘dreading’ expense, and sum may be even higher in Wales and south-east EnglandParents can expect to spend more than £1,000 per child for care over the school summer holidays, according to research.A survey by the children’s charity Coram found that British families will be paying, on average, £1,049 for summer childcare for children aged from four to 14 – £635 more than they would pay for six weeks of after-
  
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• Parents saving up to £10,000 in nursery benefits may face unexpected tax bills

  19-07-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  HMRC says several commercial schemes are exploiting tax exemption aimed at employers who provide nursery placesWorking parents could be hit with unexpected tax bills because of a clampdown on the misuse of a childcare “benefit” offered by some employers that lets people enjoy savings of up to £10,000 a year.HM Revenue and Customs has turned its sights on some workplace nursery benefit schemes which allow employees to pay the fees out of their pre-tax salary, resulting in them m
  
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• Eco homes near the sea for sale in Great Britain – in pictures

  19-07-2024 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From a Grand Designs-style property nestled underground to a remote timber-framed home on a hillside Continue reading...
  
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• Expert issues warning over 'nightmare' state pension means-testing proposal

  19-07-2024 01:01 via express.co.uk
  
  There are concerns that the new government could implement a means-testing aspect to the state pension which would mean some people won't be eligible
  
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• Bamburgh judged UK’s best seaside destination by Which? readers for fourth year

  19-07-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Northumbrian village was named as nation’s favourite, just ahead of Portmeirion and St AndrewsBamburgh, the Northumbrian village known for its sprawling sand dunes and imposing castle, has retained its title as the UK’s best seaside destination for the fourth consecutive year.A survey of 4,700 people by the consumer group Which? placed the Northumberland coastal village as the nation’s favourite, ahead of Portmeirion in Gwynedd and St Andrews in Fife. Continue reading...
  
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