Financial news

• Can baby bonds reduce childhood poverty? California thinks so

  21-02-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  A new initiative targets 58,000 kids who lost a caregiver or were in the foster system during the Covid pandemicDuring the pandemic, tens of thousands of children in California lost a caregiver due to Covid. Since then, these kids, who are predominantly Black, Latino and Indigenous, have experienced instability, economic precariousness and grief that will carry long-term impacts.This year, the state is launching an initiative aimed at helping them, as well as children who were in the foster syst
  
  Read more

• Bank offers ‘competitive’ 4.4% interest on savings account and earns ‘excellent’ rating

  21-02-2025 14:16 via express.co.uk
  
  The savings account offers a monthly interest option, which may entice those looking for a regular income boost.
  
  Read more

• Even Reform voters think the workers’ rights bill is good news. So why isn’t Labour shouting about it? | Polly Smythe

  21-02-2025 14:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Why would the government water down and downplay such a popular policy? Because the business lobby doesn’t like it At last year’s TUC conference, the employment rights minister, Justin Madders, described Labour’s workers’ rights package as “the sort of thing that would make you say to the person on the street: ‘It does matter who you vote for.’” Despite the bill’s initial offering having been diluted, he is right: day one employment rights, a
  
  Read more

• HMRC clarifies pension tax rules with four-month warning

  21-02-2025 13:47 via express.co.uk
  
  You can find out a lot of information about your tax situation by setting up a personal tax account
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• State pensioners set to lose out after cash ISA rule change

  21-02-2025 13:42 via express.co.uk
  
  Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reportedly considering a new annual limit on cash ISAs.
  
  Read more

• Virgin Money offering one-off £250 to customers before July

  21-02-2025 13:38 via express.co.uk
  
  Customers can get a one-off cash reward for making green improvements to their home.
  
  Read more

• Premium Bond saver becomes millionaire two years after purchase

  21-02-2025 13:33 via express.co.uk
  
  The winner became the fourth lucky Premium Bond holder of their city.
  
  Read more

• The ISA challenge to help you save £2,000 in 12 months

  21-02-2025 13:26 via express.co.uk
  
  Savers can have more success with this challenge by following a "neat tip", an investment expert has said.
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Martin Lewis issues standing charges update as daily fee axed with one change

  21-02-2025 13:10 via express.co.uk
  
  Money Saving Expert founder Martin Lewis has issued an update on the standing charges being scrapped.
  
  Read more

• Childcare changes set to save working parents money from April

  21-02-2025 13:00 via express.co.uk
  
  The government has confirmed changes to help "save working parents money" through new childcare funding rules, with penalties for providers who flout the rules
  
  Read more

• Rachel Reeves' move means businesses now cutting jobs faster than since lockdown

  21-02-2025 12:08 via express.co.uk
  
  Business leaders have directly blamed the oncoming hike in costs for their decision to cut jobs
  
  Read more

• UK posts largest January budget surplus on record as tax take jumps – business live

  21-02-2025 08:27 via theguardian.com
  
  UK public sector received more in taxes and other income than it spent, leading to a surplus of £15.4bn – £5.1bn less than expectedUK hiring on the rise as confidence lifts, research suggests
  Darren Jones, chief secretary to the Treasury, has responded to January’s public finances data, saying:“This Government is committed to delivering economic stability and meeting our non-negotiable fiscal rules.“We will never play fast and loose with the public finances, t
  
  Read more

• UK lenders paid car dealers cash upfront that may have led to costlier loans

  21-02-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Exclusive: ‘Advance commissions’ said to total millions of pounds allegedly pushed customers to certain providersUK lenders paid “advance commissions” to car dealers that may have encouraged them to push costlier loans on to consumers, legal filings linked to the motor finance scandal reveal.Court documents seen by the Guardian show that lenders, including Lloyds Banking Group, have paid commission to individual dealerships in lump sums upfront, which campaigners say tota
  
  Read more

• The ‘west’ is over. In the Trumpian era, Europe is on its own | Alexander Hurst

  21-02-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Trump and JD Vance are clear: the US is no longer an ally, but an antagonist to democratic valuesIn 1966, after years of friction with the US over whether France should have its own independent nuclear deterrent, the French president, Charles de Gaulle, withdrew his country from Nato’s integrated command (not, however, from the alliance itself – a common misconception) and asked all US forces stationed in France to leave. In response, the US secretary of state, Dean Rusk, asked de Ga
  
  Read more

• Family homes with gardens – in pictures

  21-02-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  From an 1840s former hunting lodge to a red-brick almshouse Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Let’s not leave the baby-making debate to Musk and Vance – the left has a stake in this too | Gaby Hinsliff

  21-02-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rightwingers calling for higher birthrates may be disturbing, but having children is the ultimate gesture of confidence in the future for us allRoses are red, violets are blue. Rightwing politicians around the world want women to have more babies, and if you find this idea the opposite of romantic – well, me too.Pronatalism’s cause is not exactly helped by having as its best-known figureheads JD “childless cat lady” Vance and Elon Musk, seemingly on a personal mission to
  
  Read more

• Britain lost 100 indie breweries last year, says trade body

  21-02-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Drop in 2024 is biggest recorded as small companies struggle with rising costs, and aggressive tactics from big brewersThe number of independent breweries in Britain declined at its fastest rate in 2024, figures from the “indie beer” trade body suggest.The UK had 1,715 breweries at the end of 2024, 100 fewer than at the start of the year, according to the data released by Siba, which represents independent brewing companies. The overall fall the previous year was just eight. Continue
  
  Read more

• DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation Announces Cancellation of Extraordinary General Meeting

  21-02-2025 05:05 via globenewswire.com
  
  New York, New York, Feb.20, 2025(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DT Cloud Acquisition Corporation (Nasdaq: DYCQU, DYCQ, DYCQR) (“DT Cloud” or the “SPAC”), a publicly-traded special purpose acquisition company, today announced that it has cancelled the extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders that was previously scheduled for 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on February 21, 2025 (the “EGM”), and has withdrawn from consideration by the shareholders the proposals set forth in
  
  Read more

• Taiwan holds its breath as Trump turns on Ukraine and upends US foreign policy

  21-02-2025 02:55 via theguardian.com
  
  The mood in Taipei is one of wariness as the new US president takes a blowtorch to diplomatic norms and assurancesIt’s a bustling morning at the Dongmen wet market, in inner-city Taipei. Mr Yu is shouting at passersby, trying to offload his boxes of freshly steamed dumplings. In between customers, the self-professed “dumpling king” and his wife, Ms Liao, discuss Donald Trump.“He’s very positive, energetic,” says Yu, handing flour-covered coins to a customer. L
  
  Read more

• UK hiring on the rise as confidence lifts, research suggests

  21-02-2025 01:01 via theguardian.com
  
  Companies increase hiring for first time since June, and households more optimistic about their financesCompanies have ramped up hiring in recent weeks while consumer confidence has started to rise, research suggests, in a boost for Rachel Reeves as the government looks for signs of economic growth.The chancellor has received a fillip after the market research company GfK’s consumer index improved from -22 in January to -20 in February as households said they were more optimistic about the
  
  Read more

Follow @financialnwsUK on Twitter!