Financial news

• Winter fuel payment cuts may force 100,000 pensioners ‘below poverty line’

  19-11-2024 23:06 via theguardian.com
  
  Analysis shows 50,000 more people will be in relative fuel poverty next year – and another 50,000 by 2030Cuts to the winter fuel allowance could force 100,000 pensioners in England and Wales into relative fuel poverty, government analysis has shown, as ministers come under mounting pressure over measures in last month’s budget.Internal government modelling shows the decision to remove the benefit from millions of pensioners will push about 50,000 more people into relative poverty nex
  
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• No hiding place for Labour’s farming minister as tweed army take over Whitehall | John Crace

  19-11-2024 20:14
  
  Farage cosplayed Mr Toad, Victoria Atkins troubled all fashion sense, but Steve Reed won the turnip for his flailing defence of inheritance tax changesIt was a very civilised protest. The sort of protest you might expect from roughly 10,000 asset-rich, cash-poor millionaire farmers from all over the country. The police officers there just to redirect the traffic. Only the occasional shouted slogans to punctuate proceedings; most people were just happy to be there. “What do we want?”
  
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• Retailers deserve a break – but they shouldn’t look to the chancellor for one

  19-11-2024 19:38
  
  A letter by 79 firms voicing ‘significant concerns’ over the budget is likely to do little more than irritate Rachel ReevesWhile the farmers took to the streets of Westminster, the shopkeepers protested in the old-fashioned way. They wrote a polite letter to the chancellor voicing their “significant concerns” over “the sheer scale” of budget measures that, they say, will push up their industry’s costs by £7bn next year and “make job losses in
  
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• Starmer denies mounting class war as farmers claim they have been ‘betrayed’

  19-11-2024 19:09
  
  Prime minister says government is taking balanced approach amid protest in Westminster over proposed inheritance tax changes Farmers protest in Whitehall – live updatesWhat are the tax changes affecting UK farmers?Keir Starmer has denied that he is mounting a class war by targeting wealthy landowners and private schools, after the head of the National Farmers’ Union accused the government of an extraordinary “betrayal” over inheritance tax changes.In an escalating war of
  
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• Retailers are right to warn of job cuts after Reeves budget, says Andrew Bailey

  19-11-2024 18:16
  
  Bank of England governor says number of roles could shrink by more than 50,000 after rise in employer NICsThe Bank of England governor, Andrew Bailey, has said retailers are right to warn of potential job cuts as a result of tax increases announced at last month’s budget.Bailey appeared before the cross-party Treasury select committee on Tuesday, after almost 80 retailers claimed rising costs would make “job losses inevitable, and higher prices a certainty”. Continue reading...
  
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• Martin Lewis reveals four conditions which can reduce council tax bill to £0

  19-11-2024 17:33 via express.co.uk
  
  You could see your Council Tax bill cut to £0 if you have one of these conditions, Martin Lewis said.
  
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• State pensioners can get £29 after pressing washing machine button

  19-11-2024 17:28 via express.co.uk
  
  State pensioners can get £29 back for making a washing and laundry change with one button.
  
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• HarperCollins to allow tech firms to use its books to train AI models

  19-11-2024 17:24
  
  Some nonfiction backlist titles will be used to train artificial intelligence with authors’ permissionPublisher HarperCollins will allow some of its titles to be used to train AI models, with the permission of authors.The company “has reached an agreement with an artificial intelligence technology company to allow limited use of select nonfiction backlist titles for training AI models to improve model quality and performance”, it said in a statement shared with the Guardian. Co
  
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• Jekyll and Hyde managers: why they’re worse than consistently horrible bosses

  19-11-2024 17:17
  
  New research proves what employees have always felt – that erratic behaviour from those above them in the hierarchy is the absolute pitsName: Jekyll and Hyde managers.Age: Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella, as you’ll know of course, was published in 1886. Since then, “Jekyll and Hyde” has been used to describe anyone who is sometimes a good egg and other times a very bad one. Including bosses. Continue reading...
  
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• Global stock markets fall and bonds jump as fears grow over Ukraine war

  19-11-2024 17:08
  
  Investors dash to safe-haven currencies after Putin updates nuclear doctrine and Ukraine fires missiles into RussiaRussia-Ukraine war – latest news updatesGlobal stock markets fell and bond prices have jumped after reports that Ukraine had fired a US-made long-range missile into Russia for the first time and Vladimir Putin approved changes to Moscow’s nuclear doctrine.Investors dashed into safe-haven currencies such as the US dollar, the Japanese yen and the Swiss franc on Tuesday, a
  
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• Six-week warning to all Asda shoppers over Christmas shopping deadline

  19-11-2024 17:05 via express.co.uk
  
  The deadline for spending Asda Christmas Saver Cashpot rewards is now mere weeks away
  
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• Pensioners urged how to avoid new inheritance tax with loophole

  19-11-2024 16:40 via express.co.uk
  
  Budget changes mean thousands more estates are set to become liable for inheritance tax.
  
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• Martin Lewis says council tax bill payers can call and get £174 back

  19-11-2024 16:27 via express.co.uk
  
  Money expert Martin Lewis says councils owe a slice of £141m to council tax bill payers.
  
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• Rachel Reeves tax raid blamed as higher interest rates 'spook the markets'

  19-11-2024 15:57 via express.co.uk
  
  A number of banks and building societies have raised interest rates on fixed rate mortgages in recent days
  
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• 'I'm an expert - this £20 hack can save you hundreds of pounds on your heating bills'

  19-11-2024 15:31 via express.co.uk
  
  An expert has shared what tips work to save you money on your heating bills, and which ones don't - even though people still keep doing them.
  
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• UK households face £1,300 fines for fireplace and chimney mistakes

  19-11-2024 15:13 via express.co.uk
  
  Households could face fines for fireplace and chimney mistakes this winter.
  
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• Farmers march into central London to protest against new inheritance tax – video

  19-11-2024 15:04
  Thousands of farmers from across the UK protested in central London against changes in the 2024 budget that will mean some farmers paying inheritance tax. Farmers were previously exempt. The farmers, who were joined by Jeremy Clarkson and seveal MPs, fear the new levy will affect food prices and harm their businesses Continue reading...
  
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• Starmer pledged a ‘laser-like focus on growth’ - now he's zapped UK economy stone dead

  19-11-2024 15:01 via express.co.uk
  
  To win power, Labour PM Keir Starmer promised voters he'd have a "laser-like focus on economic growth". He didn't tell us that meant destroying it.
  
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• US justice department plans to push Google to sell off Chrome browser

  19-11-2024 14:40
  
  Authorities seek to dismantle monopoly on search market and also want action related to AI and AndroidBusiness live – latest updatesUS justice department officials plan to ask a judge to force Google to sell off its Chrome browser to dismantle the monopoly it has over the internet search market, in a major intervention against one of the world’s biggest tech companies.The Department of Justice (DoJ) last month filed court papers saying it was considering enforcing “structural r
  
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• ‘People don’t get the power of the podcast. But Trump does’: broadcaster-turned-investor Harry Stebbings

  19-11-2024 14:00
  
  The twentysomething podcaster and venture capitalist talks about his $400m investment fund, his mum – and the power of new media to influence politicsIf you’re going to discuss the significance of Donald Trump’s presidential election win for the tech industry, then a podcast studio is as good a location as any.Harry Stebbings, the 28-year-old podcaster-turned-investor, is used to asking the questions around the studio table in London, having interviewed an array of tech founder
  
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• Black Friday 2024: how to find a deal and not get ripped off

  19-11-2024 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  When is a bargain not a bargain? And how do you avoid overspending? Here’s how to make Black Friday work for youBlack Friday didn’t exist when I was a kid. In the 80s, the fourth Friday in November was just another chalk mark on the run-up to Christmas. But Black Friday, which falls on 29 November this year, is now an autumn staple. We spend billions in an attempt to … save money. Therein lies the irony of sales. The spectacle of people fighting over stuff they wouldn’t
  
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• BA’s ‘better world’ just got worse after my child needed emergency surgery and couldn’t fly

  19-11-2024 10:00 via theguardian.com
  For insurance,I needed confirmation from the airline that we didn’t board the plane – but it hasn’t respondedI was due to fly to South Africa for a family wedding in August. On the day of departure, my three-year-old son had an awful accident and was admitted to hospital for emergency surgery.My travel insurer asked for confirmation from BA that I didn’t fly on my outbound flight. Continue reading...
  
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• Mulberry cuts a quarter of HQ staff after sales slump and bigger losses

  19-11-2024 09:05
  
  CEO says he will launch review to make company ‘leaner, more agile’ and the firm will ‘renew its relevance’Business live – latest updatesMulberry is cutting a quarter of its head office staff, as the beleaguered British luxury handbag maker reported that half-year sales slumped by almost a fifth and losses had widened.The company, which last month rejected a £111m bid from 37% shareholder Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, is in the process of cutting 85 roles
  
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• Minecraft enters real world with $110m global theme park deal

  19-11-2024 08:00
  
  Exclusive: Block-building game to appear in theme parks, hotels and stores, starting in UK and USThe global gaming phenomenon Minecraft is coming to the real world for the first time in a global deal to open themed rides, attractions, hotel rooms and retail outlets, starting with the UK and US.Minecraft has struck a deal with UK-headquartered Merlin Entertainments – Europe’s largest theme park operator and the second biggest globally after Disney – which runs more than 135 attr
  
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• Starling Bank staff resign after new chief executive calls for more time in-office

  19-11-2024 07:00
  Exclusive: Staff complain Raman Bhatia is creating ‘grey corporate hellscape’ and offices already lack desk spaceStaff have resigned at Starling Bank after its new chief executive demanded thousands of workers attend its offices more frequently, despite lacking enough space to host them.In his first major policy change since taking over from the UK digital bank’s founder, Anne Boden, in March, Raman Bhatia has ordered all hybrid staff – many of whom were in the office onl
  
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• In Kent, Labour has a fight on its hands – and a make-or-break test for its housing revolution | Polly Toynbee

  19-11-2024 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  If it wants to build 1.5m homes, the government will sometimes need to be brave enough to reject local feeling – as it has done in SwaleWatch what happens in Swale, as it’s a tale that will be repeated often in the next few years. Here in Kent is a test of Labour’s determination to plough through local planning decisions in order to build the homes everyone knows are needed in a national housing crisis. The issue is this: in a time when localism is in vogue, who’s in char
  
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• Housework to green energy: the new markers of growth in rival metric to GDP

  19-11-2024 06:00
  
  Sustainability-focused inclusive income formula accounts for non-monetary factors overlooked in GDP, says ONSFor generations, the economy’s progress has been measured by a single figure: gross domestic product (GDP). But the UK’s official number cruncher, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), is developing an alternative way of judging what constitutes economic growth, with a view to declaring whether the way we are doing business is more or less sustainable than the previous yea
  
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