Financial news

• All UK families ‘to be worse off by 2030’ as poor bear the brunt, new data warns

  22-03-2025 20:48 via theguardian.com
  
  Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow to his living standards pledge in advance of the spring statementLiving standards for all UK families are set to fall by 2030, with those on the lowest incomes declining twice as fast as middle and high earners, according to data that raises serious questions about Keir Starmer’s pledge to make working people better off.The grim economic analysis, produced by the respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), comes before the chancellor, Rachel Reeves,
  
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• Reid Hoffman: ‘Start using AI deeply. It is a huge intelligence amplifier’

  22-03-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The co-founder of LinkedIn and Democrat donor remains confident that AI can be good for all of us – if its introduction is handled in the right wayReid Hoffman is a prominent Silicon Valley billionaire entrepreneur and investor known for co-founding the professional social networking site LinkedIn, now owned by Microsoft. He’s also staunchly anti-Trump. The longtime Democrat donor threw his support behind Kamala Harris in the race for the White House. Hoffman spoke to the Observer ab
  
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• Chris Riddell on stagflation rearing its ugly head before Rachel Reeves’ spring statement – cartoon

  22-03-2025 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Hopes of growth hang deflated, borrowing takes its toll and spending cuts loom• You can buy a copy of this cartoon Continue reading...
  
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• Energy secretary orders investigation into Heathrow disruption – live

  22-03-2025 18:32 via theguardian.com
  Miliband said he wanted ‘to understand any wider lessons to be learned on energy resilience for critical national infrastructure’Willie Walsh, the International Air Transport Association’s director general, criticised Heathrow airport in as a result of the disruption, reports the PA news agency.“This is yet another case of Heathrow letting down both travellers and airlines,” he said. Walsh added:From that arises the question of who bears the costs of taking care of
  
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• Did AI mania rush Apple into making a rare misstep with Siri? | John Naughton

  22-03-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  The company that prides itself on announcing products only when they’re ready grossly underestimated the demands of personalising its virtual assistantAfter ChatGPT broke cover in late 2022 and the tech industry embarked on its contemporary rendering of tulip mania, people started to wonder why the biggest tech giant of all – Apple – was keeping its distance from the madness. Eventually, the tech commentariat decided that there could be only two possible interpretations of this
  
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• A temple to extravagance. And that goes for Manchester United’s new stadium, too | Rowan Moore

  22-03-2025 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Could Norman Foster’s £2bn design for the club, which will be seen 25 miles away, turn out to be a case of hubris before ruin? There’s a phenomenon in architectural history whereby great empires build their grandest monuments just before they fall. The Parthenon was completed just before Athens embarked on the devastating Peloponnesian War. Manhattan’s most celebrated skyscrapers went up on the brink of the Great Depression. The British inaugurated the imposing government
  
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• England Women in dispute again with FA over bonuses

  22-03-2025 16:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Lionesses in talks over payments for Euro 2025FA’s offer believed to be lower than other countriesEngland Women are facing another impasse with the Football Association over bonuses, with the squad yet to agree to the terms they have been offered for their European Championship defence this summer.A dispute over bonuses interrupted the Lionesses’ preparations for the World Cup two years ago, with the FA initially refusing to offer performance-related payments after Fifa introduced in
  
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• ‘Wellbeing’ isn’t a joke – it’s a tool for tackling populism

  22-03-2025 16:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In Britain, the Treasury is taking the idea of social happiness surprisingly seriously – and the chancellor needs to as wellLast week’s International Day of Happiness lives on. Not so much in the US, where the chaotic uncertainty engineered by Donald Trump and his Project 2025 supporters is creating misery, and not just for the public servants fired or suspended from their jobs.It might also be difficult to see how the goal of happiness is rated in Whitehall when the UK sits only one
  
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• ‘Tax exile’s half-baked scheme’: Jim Ratcliffe challenged over Man Utd plan to use public funds for £2bn stadium project

  22-03-2025 15:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Club co-owner’s request for hundreds of millions of pounds to help regenerate local area labelled ‘outrageous’ by criticsJim Ratcliffe, the co-owner of Manchester United, has been challenged over the proposed use of hundreds of millions of pounds of public funds to deliver his vision of building the “world’s greatest stadium”.Ratcliffe, who has an estimated fortune of about £12bn, quit the UK for tax-free Monaco in 2020. He is now urging ministers to hel
  
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• Alienated fans fear money-driven ticket exploitation is pricing out regulars

  22-03-2025 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Dash for cash runs risks of damage to atmosphere and core local support the Premier League prides itself onIt is the time of year when season-ticket holders receive an email from their club spelling out how much it will cost to follow them through thick and thin once again. The email often lands without warning of an increase, that bit saved for lower down after explaining the financial challenges and how the owner wants to invest to bring success. Generally it will say it was a “tough but
  
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• How did it come to this? Labour’s journey from landslide victory to ‘deep unhappiness’

  22-03-2025 12:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Rachel Reeves’s speech next week is being crafted as a ‘re-education’ on Labour’s achievements amid gloominess and sinking poll ratingsWhen Rachel Reeves takes to her feet in the Commons to deliver her spring statement next week, she will try to pull off what her inner circle describe as a “re-education” exercise over how Labour has used its early days in power.“We want it to be a re-education on all the good things we’ve already done in office,&rd
  
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• Gold has surged amid economic uncertainty. Should you buy some?

  22-03-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  As Trump escalates a global trade war, looking to gold to shield cash might not be the worst optionAs economic uncertainty roils the US, the price of gold has roared to record highs amid investors seeking a place to shield their cash from Donald Trump’s scattergun trade wars.A single ounce of gold cost $3,051.99 on Wednesday, compared with $2,160 in 2024, and gold has historically been seen as the safest place to invest in financially turbulent times. Continue reading...
  
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• Egg prices have tripled, chicken has doubled: the cost of US inflation in 10 items

  22-03-2025 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Egg prices are up 310% since 2005. But it’s not the only staple with soaring pricesEgg prices have got a lot of attention in recent months as avian flu made this staple a luxury for US households. But the trend of food inflation in the US is a longstanding one.Since January 2005, egg prices have grown 310%, from $1.21 a dozen to nearly $5 a dozen, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But it’s not the only household item to see a dramatic rise. Beef prices increased
  
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• Meta to stop targeting UK citizen with personalised ads after settling privacy case

  22-03-2025 11:20 via theguardian.com
  
  Facebook and Instagram owner reaches legal agreement with human rights campaigner in case that could set precedent for millionsThe owner of Facebook and Instagram has agreed to stop targeting a UK citizen with personalised adverts after agreeing a settlement in a landmark privacy case that could set a precedent for millions of social media users.Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta also said it was considering charging UK users for an advert-free version of its platforms after the legal agreement that a
  
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• What new UK rules on pension inheritance may mean for you

  22-03-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Most workplace pensions will attract inheritance tax from 2027, so older people should consider their optionsRich retirees splashing pension lump sums to avoid ‘IHT raid’At the moment, pensions tend to be outside people’s estates for inheritance tax (IHT) purposes. But last autumn Rachel Reeves announced that money left in a defined contribution (AKA money purchase) pension after your death will be pulled into the IHT net from April 2027. Continue reading...
  
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• Splashing the cash: how wealthy retirees are avoiding ‘inheritance tax raid’

  22-03-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Wave of spending is triggered by Rachel Reeves’s removal of IHT exemption on pensions from 2027What new UK rules on pension inheritance may mean for youFinancial companies are reporting a “huge” increase in well-off older people withdrawing sizeable sums from their pensions to splash out on family holidays and give to their children.This wave of spending and gifting has been triggered by the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to launch what some have called an “inh
  
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• Exclusive: 20% of Americans support boycott of firms aligning themselves with Trump agenda

  22-03-2025 11:00 via theguardian.com
  
  New poll also shows that a significant share of Americans will avoid companies that drop social-inclusion policiesOne in five Americans plan to turn their backs for good on companies that have shifted their policies to align with Donald Trump’s agenda, according to a new poll for the Guardian.As high-profile brands including Amazon, Target and Tesla grapple with economic boycotts, research by the Harris Poll indicated the backlash could have a lasting impact. Continue reading...
  
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• State pension horror as Rachel Reeves tax raid drags incomes below minimum needed to live

  22-03-2025 10:55 via express.co.uk
  
  The state pension isn't enough to live on. Yet that won't stop Chancellor Rachel Reeves from driving it lower.
  
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• Halifax 14-day ISA warning to customers who 'only need £1'

  22-03-2025 10:48 via express.co.uk
  
  Allowances will reset soon
  
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• US tourism industry faces drop-off as immigration agenda deters travellers

  22-03-2025 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Westerners increasingly hesitant to travel to US out of fear of arrests and detentions as Trump enforces crackdownA string of high-profile arrests and detentions of travellers is likely to cause a major downturn in tourism to the US, with latest figures already showing a serious drop-off, tourist experts said.Several western travellers have recently been rejected at the US border on increasingly flimsy grounds under Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown, some of them shackled and held in de
  
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• Stamp duty: removals firms swamped as thousands of Britons race to complete

  22-03-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Pressure on movers and lawyers as more than 75,000 buyers in England and NI forecast to miss deadline‘Desperately hoping’: the buyers who risk paying thousands moreA stampede to complete property purchases before the 31 March stamp duty cliff-edge has caused a shortage of removals services, with more than 75,000 buyers forecast to miss the deadline and pay thousands of pounds more.The property website Rightmove is calling for a short extension to the stamp duty deadline by the govern
  
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• Manchester’s Bee Network introduces tap-in travel on buses as well as trams

  22-03-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Andy Burnham hails ‘truly integrated, London-style’ system with fares calculated and capped automaticallyManchester will enjoy a transport network on “a footing with London, New York and Madrid” when contactless tap-in fares launch across its buses from Sunday.The Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, said that the switch would mark the moment when the city would “realise our ambition of a truly integrated, London-style transport network”, allowing people to
  
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• ‘Desperately hoping’: the Britons who risk paying thousands more if they miss stamp duty deadline

  22-03-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  First-time buyers among tens of thousands in England and NI rushing to complete purchases before AprilRemovals firms swamped as buyers race to complete“We just don’t have the money,” says Ben of the extra £6,000 to be found if the newlyweds don’t get the keys to their two-bed terrace before the stamp duty cliff-edge at the end of this month.The special needs teacher and his partner Claire, a human rights solicitor, are among the more than 75,000 buyers in England an
  
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• Brexit a key factor in worst UK medicine shortages in four years, report says

  22-03-2025 08:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Nuffield Trust says supply chains have shifted, with drugs for epilepsy and cystic fibrosis among those now scarceDrug shortages in the UK have risen to their worst level for four years, official figures show, with Brexit considered a key reason so many medications are scarce.Drug companies notified the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) about disruptions to supply 1,938 times during last year – the highest number since the 1,967 seen in 2021. Continue reading...
  
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• Wales’s 20mph speed limit has cut road deaths. Why is there still even a debate?

  22-03-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Research suggests the scheme may be more popular than thought, with consultations dominated by a loud minority Even with the caveats about limited data and untangling causation and correlation, the statistics are striking: the first year of a scheme in Wales where the speed limit on urban roads was lowered to 20mph resulted in about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured.Introduced in September 2023 as a major road safety project of the Labour-run Welsh government, it made 20mph the defaul
  
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• Mutiny brews in French bookshops over Hachette owner’s media grip

  22-03-2025 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Booksellers take stand against influence of conservative billionaire by limiting orders of his company’s books and placing them on lower shelvesA conservative Catholic billionaire and media owner is facing an independent bookshop rebellion in France over his influence in the publishing world.Dozens of independent booksellers are trying to counter the growing influence of Vincent Bolloré, whose vast cultural empire includes television, radio, the Sunday paper Le Journal du Dimanche,
  
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• HMRC issues warning for millions of self-employed workers over income tax changes

  22-03-2025 06:22 via express.co.uk
  
  HMRC is urging all self-employed workers to be aware of changes to income tax which are due to come into effect in April 2026. Here's what you need to know
  
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• State Pension payments can still be boosted before April deadline

  22-03-2025 04:00 via express.co.uk
  
  HMRC has issued a warning on National Insurance payments for Brits who want to boost their state pension before next month
  
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• PIP new rules mean you could need help with these daily tasks and still not qualify

  22-03-2025 02:03 via express.co.uk
  
  The Government is tightening the eligibility criteria in efforts to curb its benefits spending
  
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• The obscure Jimmy Lai ruling that exposed the erosion of Hong Kong’s rule of law

  22-03-2025 01:30 via theguardian.com
  
  The moves that barred the media mogul’s choice of lawyer are immune from legal challenge, giving the national security committee what one expert called ‘the powers of a police state’The dwindling freedom in Hong Kong over the past few years has been described as “death by a thousand cuts”. Critics have been jailed, elections have been transformed into “patriots only” affairs, journalists have been harassed and hundreds of thousands of people have left.Th
  
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