Financial news

• Competition regulator’s backing for Vodafone-Three merger is a fair call

  05-11-2024 19:26 via theguardian.com
  
  CMA’s new pragmatism over having three UK mobile operators will provide more genuine competition than the current setupVodafone and Three merger could get go-ahead, says watchdogWhat could UK merger mean for customers?Compare and contrast. Back in September, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) had a big grumble about Vodafone and Three’s plan to merge their UK mobile operations. A combination of the third- and fourth-largest operators could result in “a substantial less
  
  Read more

• Let the panic begin! Glastonbury reveals new process for online ticket purchases

  05-11-2024 18:23
  
  Hopeful ticket-buyers will be assigned random places in an online queue, during two phases of sales that begin on 14 NovemberFor many music fans it’s the most stressful few minutes of the year: the online scramble to secure Glastonbury tickets. And while 2025’s event is set to be as oversubscribed as ever, that stress will at least be given a shiny new focus as Glastonbury overhauls its ticket-buying process.Previously, hopeful ticket-buyers would frantically refresh the festival&rsq
  
  Read more

• In analysing the budget, take account of the social wage too | Letters

  05-11-2024 18:14
  
  Better infrastructure and public services are in store with Rachel Reeves’ plans, says John Boaler. Plus letters from Richard Churcher, Ian Simpson, Mike Lake and Les BrightYou published an analysis of how the budget might affect people’s personal finances (Budget 2024: what it means for you, 30 October), like most other newspapers and the BBC website did. While people want to know how their income might be affected, this analysis takes no account of how we all benefit from improveme
  
  Read more

• Exact date state pensioners will start paying tax on £12,578 after Triple Lock rise

  05-11-2024 11:06 via express.co.uk
  
  State pensioners will begin to owe tax on their pension income alone.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Lloyds Bank, NatWest, Nationwide customers warned over up to £200 payments into accounts

  05-11-2024 10:56 via express.co.uk
  
  The offer of 'free cash' may only last for a limited time given current trends.
  
  Read more

• DWP sending letters as people to receive boosts of up to £300

  05-11-2024 10:56 via express.co.uk
  
  Those who are eligible should receive the cash from DWP by the end of the year.
  
  Read more

• Lloyds Bank issues urgent scam warning as Oasis fans lose £346 to fraudsters

  05-11-2024 10:26 via express.co.uk
  
  A staggering 70% of ticket-related scams pertained to Oasis concerts, Lloyds data shows.
  
  Read more

• Major update on BBC TV licence fee as new chairman admits it could be scrapped

  05-11-2024 09:24 via express.co.uk
  
  The TV licence fee has been under intense scrutiny following its increase in April.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• All these sad stories of the stricken rich prove one thing: Labour’s budget is on the money | Polly Toynbee

  05-11-2024 09:00
  
  Rachel Reeves’s first budget has triggered a backlash – but only the wealthiest are being asked to pay their fair shareSomeone had to pay. Is this a “class”-based budget, the chancellor is asked on the BBC? No, it’s raising money urgently needed for the NHS and all public services. Someone has to pay, and if not the best-off, then who?Labour chose larger employers, those with more than four employees. And Labour taxed the well-off, those with capital gains and priva
  
  Read more

• Why should I bother paying into a pension if we’re all doomed?

  05-11-2024 08:00
  
  If the end is nigh, I’d rather invest for the short termIf the end of the world is really nigh, should I be investing in shorter-term savings schemes rather than a pension? I currently contribute 20% of my £117,000 salary to my pension and my employer pays 5%. I’m 44 and worry about imminent world wars over dwindling resources. I find it hard to believe a peaceful 20-year retirement beckons. Is there a way to invest in things I could access quickly if the poop really does hit t
  
  Read more

• Cleaning, noise, bills: how to have a happy house-share

  05-11-2024 08:00
  
  From putting everything down in writing beforehand to talking through those inevitable niggles … face to faceThe main things people disagree on when they share a property are “cleaning, noise, bills and other people’s other halves”, says Matt Hutchinson, a director of the property-sharing website Spareroom. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Oasis fans defrauded by scammers have lost £346 on average, bank reports

  05-11-2024 07:00
  
  Lloyds Bank says ‘hundreds’ of its customers are victims of fraud – with 90% of cases starting on social mediaOasis fans who have fallen victim to ticket scammers have lost £346 each on average, according to a high street bank’s analysis of its own data.Lloyds Bank said fans desperate to buy tickets to the Manchester band’s UK reunion shows next year had been hit by a “landslide” of scams, with more than 90% of cases starting with fake adverts and
  
  Read more

• Hidden behind the budget is a terrible bombshell: billions in cuts for disabled people | Frances Ryan

  05-11-2024 07:00
  
  The DWP confirms that draconian ‘savings’ are coming down the track. Are we a nation that will repair hospitals, but not help a nurse with long Covid?In the days after the budget, the headlines were dominated by talk of Rachel Reeves’s “tax and spend” bonanza. The message was clear: austerity is officially over. When there was concern about squeezed incomes, it was solely for workers. As the Mail front page put it: “Reeves’ £40bn tax bombshell for
  
  Read more

• People on Universal Credit given £153 after being slapped with DWP fine

  05-11-2024 06:00 via express.co.uk
  
  Benefits claimants who have been fined can be given payment help
  
  Read more

• Exact temperature that triggers DWP's Cold Weather Payment

  05-11-2024 05:00 via express.co.uk
  
  The DWP's Cold Weather Payment scheme has re-opened - here's everything you need to know.
  
  Read more

• Stamp duty £11,250 warning as homebuyers face April deadline

  05-11-2024 03:46 via express.co.uk
  
  The Chancellor has decided not to continue with an extension to stamp duty concessions that were put in place by the last Conservative government.
  
  Read more

• UK retail sales growth slumps as shoppers wait for Black Friday deals

  05-11-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Later October half-term break and budget uncertainty also led to lower spending, says industryGrowth in UK retail sales slumped in October, according to industry figures that suggest shoppers have put off spending in anticipation of Black Friday promotions and because of a later school half-term break.Figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) show total sales grew by 0.6% year on year in October, significantly weaker than September’s and less than half the three-month average growth
  
  Read more

• Britain’s green energy pledge ‘credible’ if planning fixed, says system operator

  05-11-2024 01:01 via theguardian.com
  State-owned Neso says Britain could be net exporter of green electricity by end of decade at no extra costA plan to create a clean electricity system by 2030 promised by Labour before the election is “immensely challenging” but still “credible” if ministers take urgent action to fix Britain’s sluggish planning system, the energy system operator has said.Britain could become a net exporter of green electricity by the end of the decade at no extra costs to the energy
  
  Read more

• Is your air fryer spying on you? Concerns over ‘excessive’ surveillance in smart devices

  05-11-2024 01:00
  
  UK consumer group Which? finds some everyday items including watches and speakers are ‘stuffed with trackers’Air fryers that gather your personal data and audio speakers “stuffed with trackers” are among examples of smart devices engaged in “excessive” surveillance, according to the consumer group Which?The organisation tested three air fryers, increasingly a staple of British kitchens, each of which requested permission to record audio on the user’s pho
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!