Financial news

• 'I craved stability and wasn't getting it from modelling'

  24-08-2019 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Vanessa’s ‘lightbulb moment’ was making African inspired lampshades – on her own termsName: Vanessa Agyemang
  Age: 30
  Occupation: Artist and online retailer
  Income: £32,000I’m definitely good with money. My grandmother was an excellent saver and ended up building a mansion in Ghana. On the other hand, my parents were terrible with money. I saw how they handled financial situations and I just thought that can’t be my life. So I chose my grandmother as my r
  
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• Why did I get a £100 parking fine when charging my electric car?

  16-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The charger firm claimed the site operated 24 hours a day, but the parking operator had different ideasI charged my electric car at the 24-hour Mer EV charging station in my local B&Q car park.I then received a £100 parking charge notice (PCN) from the car park operator, Ocean Parking. It said no parking is allowed on the site between 9pm and 6am. Continue reading...
  
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• Rural drivers to face steepest bills under UK’s mileage-based electric vehicle tax

  16-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Analysis reveals big regional disparities as critics say Labour’s proposed levy could slow uptake of EVsDrivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour’s mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data.The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers s
  
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• Bank of England should cut rates to boost consumer spending, says TUC

  16-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Union analysis finds consumers lag behind international peers as some rate-setters remain anxious about inflationThe Trades Union Congress is urging the Bank of England to cut interest rates and rekindle economic growth, pointing to analysis showing that cash-strapped consumers are lagging their international peers.The Bank’s monetary policy committee voted 5-4 to leave borrowing costs unchanged this month, after six cuts since mid-2024. Continue reading...
  
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• What technology takes from us – and how to take it back – podcast

  16-02-2026 06:00 via theguardian.com
  Decisions outsourced, chatbots for friends, the natural world an afterthought: Silicon Valley is giving us life void of connection. There is a way out – but it’s going to take collective effortBy Rebecca Solnit. Read by Laurel Lefkow Continue reading...
  
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• Makers of AI chatbots that put children at risk face big fines or UK ban

  15-02-2026 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Starmer to announce ‘crackdown on vile illegal content created by AI’ after scandal involving Elon Musk’s Grok toolMakers of AI chatbots that put children at risk will face massive fines or even see their services blocked in the UK under law changes to be announced by Keir Starmer on Monday.Emboldened by Elon Musk’s X stopping its Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people in the UK after public outrage last month, ministers are planning a “crackdow
  
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• The Guardian view on AI: safety staff departures raise worries about industry pursuing profit at all costs | Editorial

  15-02-2026 18:25 via theguardian.com
  Cash-hungry Silicon Valley firms are scrambling for revenue. Regulate them now before the tech becomes too big to failHardly a month passes without an AI grandee cautioning that the technology poses an existential threat to humanity. Many of these warnings might be hazy or naive. Others may be self-interested. Calm, level-headed scrutiny is needed. Some warnings, though, are worth taking seriously.Last week, some notable ground-level AI safety researchers quit, warning that firms chasing profits
  
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• Welsh munitions factory seen as crucial to boosting UK stockpiles and aiding Ukraine is yet to open

  15-02-2026 16:16 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Delay at Glascoed is latest setback for armed forces and for UK’s capacity to supply shells to UkraineA new factory in Wales seen as crucial to boosting UK munitions production remains unopened more than six months after its planned launch, adding to a string of delays dogging the armed forces.The explosives facility at Glascoed, south Wales, was expected to bring a 16-fold increase in Britain’s capacity to make artillery shells, replenishing dwindling stock and increasing
  
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• Even amid rising economic uncertainty, now is not the time to hug your job | Gene Marks

  15-02-2026 16:00 via theguardian.com
  In a rapidly changing job market, it’s not necessarily good for workers to cling to their current employmentAfter all the employee protests over the past few years – the “great resignations”, the “quiet quittings”, the “bare-minimum Mondays” and “coffee badgings” – we have finally arrived at “job hugging”.Amid all the economic uncertainty and the rising costs of everything, people aren’t feeling as confident as t
  
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• Starmer has chance to put overseas aid and debt relief on G20 agenda | Heather Stewart

  15-02-2026 14:16 via theguardian.com
  Reclaiming Labour’s internationalist heart could also stop disillusioned voters drifting towards Lib Dems and GreensIf Keir Starmer wants to win back disillusioned voters deserting his party for the Liberal Democrats or the Greens, he could do worse than rediscover Labour’s longstanding moral commitment to international development.Since cutting the overseas aid budget to fund higher defence spending – losing the excellent Anneliese Dodds in the process – Labour has had l
  
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• Trump touts climate savings but new rule set to push up US prices

  15-02-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Critics accuse administration of ‘cooking the books’ by claiming US would save $1.3tn from climate finding reversalThe Trump administration claims its latest move to gut climate regulations and end all greenhouse gas standards for vehicles will save Americans money. But its own analysis indicates that the new rule will push up gas prices, and that the benefits of the rollback are unlikely to outweigh the costs.On Thursday, the president and his environmental secretary, Lee Zeldin, an
  
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• Weight-loss race: how switch from injections to pills is expanding big pharma’s hopes

  15-02-2026 13:00 via theguardian.com
  Tablets could make treatment more mainstream, with sector predicted to be worth $200bn by end of the decade“I just felt slow: I want to be able to do anything my kids want to do and not have weight be a factor. Even a ride or a water park – things have weight limits,” says Melody Ewert, 44, from Minnesota.Ewert has just switched from Eli Lilly’s Zepbound weekly injection to Novo Nordisk’s new daily Wegovy pill. Analysts believe the arrival of easy-to-take tablets co
  
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• UK’s gender pay gap ‘won’t close for 30 years’ at current rates

  15-02-2026 12:42 via theguardian.com
  Trades Union Congress says women have worked a month and a half for nothing this year and legislation is neededWomen in the UK will not be paid the same as men until 2056 at the current rate of progress, according to a Trades Union Congress report.The gender pay gap, which stands at £2,548 a year, means that women have in effect worked for nothing so far this year, the TUC said. Continue reading...
  
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• Firm that went bust owing £650k to HMRC offers staff Las Vegas trip after being bought by ex-owner

  15-02-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  Acquisition by Premier Group Recruitment boss Andrew Woosnam appears to be example of ‘phoenixism’A recruitment business that went bust owing the tax authorities and other creditors almost £3m has promised to send its staff on an all-expenses paid trip to Las Vegas after being repurchased by its former owner for an initial £10,000.Premier Group Recruitment went into administration in September with debts of £2.9m – including £647,000 owed to HM Revenue a
  
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• Shattered dreams: Why the battle for Sunderland’s glass centre has turned into a political flashpoint

  15-02-2026 08:28 via theguardian.com
  Custodian University of Sunderland says renovation costs of £45m are too high and building must be pulled down. Not without a fight, say locals, who believe they’re being taken for foolsThe “little pieces of Sunderland” produced by the city’s glassmaking factory for more than a century can be traced back to an even older story that began in the seventh century, when English glassmaking began at a monastery beside the River Wear, run by abbott and later saint Benedic
  
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• ‘It makes no sense’: the battle over plans for a windfarm by the Yorkshire Dales

  15-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  The fight for Hope Moor is set to be repeated across the UK as the government aims to hit its renewable energy targetsInstead of a slingshot, the Davids are brandishing a sculpture and a coffee table book. Their Goliaths are a Norwegian energy company and a UK energy secretary with renewable targets to meet.A fierce battle has begun over one of England’s tallest windfarms, proposed for deep peat moorland overlooking the Yorkshire Dales national park, in what residents say will mark the irr
  
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• Brushing fraud: Britons told to beware of mystery parcels as new scam soars

  15-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Fraudsters use stolen personal details to send out products, then post a fake verified and positive online reviewA package arrives but you can’t remember ordering anything.When you open it, you find some cheap, flimsy jewellery. Continue reading...
  
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• BrewDog could be broken up as craft beer business put up for sale

  14-02-2026 21:58 via theguardian.com
  Brewer last month said it was closing its distilling brands, prompting concerns for jobs at its Scottish facilityThe beer-maker BrewDog could be broken up after consultants were called in to help find new investors.The Scotland-based brewer, which makes craft beer such as Punk IPA and Elvis Juice, has appointed consultants AlixPartners to oversee the sale process. Continue reading...
  
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• US military used Anthropic’s AI model Claude in Venezuela raid, report says

  14-02-2026 17:15 via theguardian.com
  Wall Street Journal says Claude used in operation via Anthropic’s partnership with Palantir TechnologiesClaude, the AI model developed by Anthropic, was used by the US military during its operation to kidnap Nicolás Maduro from Venezuela, the Wall Street Journal revealed on Saturday, a high-profile example of how the US defence department is using artificial intelligence in its operations.The US raid on Venezuela involved bombing across the capital, Caracas, and the killing of 83 pe
  
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• Record 1,000 UK taxpayers under 30 earned more than £1m last year

  14-02-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  HMRC figures show 11% rise in young million-pound earners, with influencers and tech pay cited as keyTheir generation is often derided for being work-shy, self-centred and overly sensitive. But when it comes to making money, people under 30 are proving they are something else entirely: successful.A record 1,000 taxpayers under 30 earned more than £1m last year, an 11% increase on the year before, HMRC records show. Continue reading...
  
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• Limited government shutdown likely to linger for at least 10 days as Congress takes break

  14-02-2026 15:57 via theguardian.com
  13% of federal civilian workforce is affected, although DHS – which spurred budget standoff – remains fundedA limited US government shutdown came into effect on Saturday – the third of Donald Trump’s second term – after negotiations between the White House and Democrats in Congress failed to agree on new restrictions for federal immigration agents.The shutdown affects about 13% of the federal civilian workforce and is confined to agencies under the umbrella of the D
  
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• Senior Reform UK figures attend launch of How to Launder Money book

  14-02-2026 15:33 via theguardian.com
  Co-author George Cottrell is close aide to party leader Nigel Farage and served several months in US prisonAs a choice for a book title, How to Launder Money certainly caught the eye. But then again, its co-author George Cottrell claims to know what he’s talking about.A close aide to Nigel Farage, Cottrell served several months in a US prison after being convicted there in 2017 for wire fraud – a chapter in his life he referred to at his book launch party on Thursday night. Continue
  
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• Starmer stresses ‘urgency’ of closer defence ties with Europe at Munich conference

  14-02-2026 13:17 via theguardian.com
  The UK prime minister says stronger security relies on greater cooperation and integration across the continentMunich Security Conference – live updatesKeir Starmer said there was an urgent need for a closer UK defence relationship with Europe, covering procurement and manufacturing, so that the UK would be at the centre of a stronger European defence setup.In a rare visit to the Munich Security Conference, the British prime minister told the audience, to applause, “we are 10 years o
  
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• UK migration could be negative this year – how will that hit the economy?

  14-02-2026 12:00 via theguardian.com
  Universities, builders and health trusts are feeling the squeeze, as thinktank says effect of zero net migration could be similar to Brexit‘It’s been life-changing’: young Britons on why they left the UKWhen Greenwich and Kent universities said this month they would merge to save money, the heart of their financial difficulties could be found in the UK government’s crackdown on immigration.Tough restrictions on foreign students have sent the number of university applicati
  
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• Learn this from Bezos and the Washington Post: with hypercapitalists in charge, your news is not safe | Jane Martinson

  14-02-2026 11:00 via theguardian.com
  His shameful stewardship of a once great title highlights how much we lose when private interest eclipses the public goodNot long after being made Time magazine’s Person of the Year in 1999, Jeff Bezos told me: “They were not choosing me as much as they were choosing the internet, and me as a symbol.” A quarter of an increasingly dark century later, the Amazon founder is now a symbol of something else: how the ultra-rich can kill the news.Job cuts in an industry that has strugg
  
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• Pension annuity sales hit record as average pot exceeds £80,000

  14-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax changes encourage more people to invest in previously unloved product The government’s “inheritance tax raid” on pensions has helped drive sales of retirement annuities to new highs.Industry data this week revealed they enjoyed a “record-breaking” 2025, with sales growing by 4% to £7.4bn and the average amount invested in an annuity surpassing £80,000 for the first time. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘My husband burned down our house – then the bank threatened repossession’

  14-02-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  A family struggled to rebuild their lives after an abusive marriage ended in tragedy and financial ruinFamily life ended for Francesca Onody on a late summer evening in 2022 when her abusive husband doused their cottage with petrol as police arrived to arrest him. She and her children escaped seconds before the building exploded. Her husband Malcolm Baker died in the blaze.That night, Onody lost her husband, her home, her pets and her possessions. Continue reading...
  
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• Race to find source of carcinogenic Pfas in Cumbria and Lancashire waters

  14-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: High levels of banned ‘forever chemical’ have been detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sitesA string of toxic pollution hotspots has been uncovered across Cumbria and Lancashire, with high levels of the banned cancer-causing “forever chemical” Pfos detected in rivers and groundwater at 25 sites.The contamination, spread across a large area, was uncovered by Watershed Investigations and the Guardian after a freedom of information request revealed high conce
  
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• There’s a cost to going cashless | Letters

  13-02-2026 18:48 via theguardian.com
  Readers respond to Sammy Gecsoyler’s article about his week without bank and contactless cardsI welcome Sammy Gecsoyler’s article (My week of only using cash: could a return to notes and coins change my life?, 10 February) while noting that he is young, employed and living in a city, and that he commented about the older cash-payers seen in charity shops.I am one of the many who live rurally. We rely on access to cash. Our lives still include paying small sums – £2.50 for
  
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• AI is indeed coming – but there is also evidence to allay investor fears

  13-02-2026 18:00 via theguardian.com
  Opinions are divided about the potential impact of artificial intelligence as the response to a recent viral essay showsUK ad agencies undergo biggest exodus of staff as AI threatens industryThe message from investors to the software, wealth management, legal services and logistics industries this month has been clear: AI is coming for your business.The release of new, ever more powerful AI tools has coincided with a stock market slide, which has swept up sectors as diverse as drug distribution,
  
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