Financial news

• Nimby name-calling will not solve Britain’s housing crisis | Letters

  22-09-2024 19:04
  
  Hazel Davies says the problem is one of affordability and accessibility, not actual physical supply; Helena Forsyth says the focus should be on underoccupied and empty homes. Plus a letter from Prof Jem PosterNimbys are constantly portrayed as selfish old fogeys; resistant to change; concerned only for house prices. Yimbys, according to your article, are ambitious, socially concerned, young go-aheads (‘The moment has come’: pro-building Labour yimbys are set to raise the roof, 15 Sep
  
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• Cheers! Here’s to the end of the pint | Letter

  22-09-2024 19:04
  
  Peter Burke welcomes an opportunity to finally end the sale of beer in imperial units It is entirely commendable to try to bring down the nation’s alcohol consumption (Pint of no return? Two-thirds measure could boost English health – study, 17 September). Whether reducing the size of the standard beer measure succeeds in achieving this remains to be seen.What is unaccountable is the proposal to move from a pint measure (20 fluid ounces) to two‑thirds of a pint (13.33 fluid oun
  
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• Labour, beware: Britain’s housing crisis is driving voters towards populism | John Harris

  22-09-2024 14:03
  
  Whenever I talk to people who are bitterly disconnected from politics, they raise the lack of decent homes. That’s the stark truth the party needs to addressWhatever the Starmer administration’s woes, Labour’s first conference as the party of government in 15 long years will still have an element of gleeful excitement. But nagging doubts will not be hard to find, and they will go further than the awful mess over gifts and donations. A panicked prime minister is now vowing to pr
  
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• ‘It’s the robot we were all expecting – like C3PO’: why aren’t humanoids in our homes yet?

  22-09-2024 13:00
  
  Tesla and others are trying to infuse robots with artificial intelligence, yet their development is dogged by technical and safety challenges. But the dream of a multipurpose domestic droid lives onIn 2013, US robotics company Boston Dynamics revealed its new robot, Atlas. Unveiled at the Darpa Robotics Challenge, the 6ft 2in humanoid could walk on uneven ground, jump off boxes, and even climb stairs. It was like a vision frequently depicted in fiction: a robot designed to operate like us, able
  
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• British beer drinkers, face the truth: a pint is too big, a half is too small – all hail the two-thirds measure | Elle Hunt

  22-09-2024 13:00
  
  Millions have always known it and now scientists agree that for health and pleasure, less is more What a great feeling it is when a study by actual scientists comes along and validates something that you’ve been saying for years. Researchers from the behaviour and health research unit at the University of Cambridge (heard of it?!) have recommended that the traditional British pint be abandoned in favour of the two-thirds measure.After a trial in a dozen pubs, bars and restaurants in Englan
  
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• TfL records 57% income rise from driving fines on major London roads

  22-09-2024 12:52
  
  AA says capital’s streets are ‘paved with fines’ as figures show £89m was received in 2023-24Transport for London (TfL) has recorded a 57% rise in income over five years from fining drivers using major roads in the capital, with a leading motoring organisation saying the transport authority has ensured London’s streets are now “paved with fines”.Figures show it received £89.3m in the 2023-24 financial year for perceived offences on its red route ne
  
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• HSBC calls on tech firms to help refund victims of fraud

  22-09-2024 12:40
  Bank says new UK compensation rules will fail to curb APP scams and prove financial sector is not the problemHSBC has thrown its weight behind calls for tech firms to pay up for fraud, saying incoming compensation rules requiring banks to reimburse scam victims up to £85,000 will fail to stem the flow of fraud and prove that the financial sector is not the problem.David Callington, the head of fraud at HSBC UK, said rules coming into force on 7 October would motivate banks and payment firm
  
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• ‘Affordable’ shared-ownership homes cost residents more than half their wages

  22-09-2024 11:00
  
  Many people now feel trapped despite major provider’s guidance that mortgage, rent and service charges should not exceed 40% of take-home payResidents who bought shared-ownership properties promoted as “affordable homes” say they now feel trapped because they have to spend more than half of their net salaries on mortgage repayments, rent and service charges.Campaigners say residents have become the victims of financial abuse after buying properties promoted as a step on the pro
  
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