Financial news

• Martin Lewis issues 'very worried' plea to Rachel Reeves

  04-12-2025 14:42 via express.co.uk
  The money-saving expert discussed financial issues with the Chancellor of the Exchequer
  
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• Brighton owner Tony Bloom faces questions over allegations he bet on his own teams

  05-12-2025 18:17
  Exclusive: Billionaire is claimed to be anonymous figure behind $70m of wins in US legal case. He denies betting on his own teamsTony Bloom, the billionaire owner of Brighton & Hove Albion FC, is facing questions over claims he was an anonymous gambler behind $70m (£52m) in winnings – which allegedly included bets on his football teams.Bloom – one of the world’s most successful professional gamblers – is claimed to be the “John Doe” referred to in a
  
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• BP to scrap paid rest breaks and most bank holiday bonuses for forecourt staff

  05-12-2025 16:49
  Exclusive: Plans to offset increase in minimum ‘fair pay’ set by Living Wage Foundation will affect 5,400 employeesBP is ditching paid rest breaks and most bank holiday bonuses for 5,400 workers in its petrol forecourts as it attempts to offset a planned rise in the independent living wage.The company has told workers in its 310 company-run forecourts that it will be changing their benefits in February. Workers at a further 850 BP-branded forecourts run by partners are on different p
  
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• Jamie Oliver to relaunch Italian restaurant chain in UK six years after collapse

  05-12-2025 16:46
  Celebrity chef will start with branch in London’s Leicester Square, backed by Prezzo owner Brava Hospitality GroupBusiness live – latest updatesJamie Oliver is to revive his Jamie’s Italian restaurant chain in the UK, more than six years after the celebrity chef’s brand collapsed.Jamie’s Italian is poised to be relaunched in the spring, starting with a restaurant in London’s Leicester Square. Continue reading...
  
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• Netflix agrees to buy Warner Bros Discovery studio and streaming business in $83bn deal

  05-12-2025 16:23
  Streaming service to gain control of studio behind Harry Potter and Batman, as well as HBO, home to The White Lotus and Game of Thrones Business live – latest updatesNetflix has agreed to buy Warner Bros Discovery in an $82.7bn (£62bn) deal that will dramatically reshape the established Hollywood film and TV industry.The streaming company will take control of WBD’s prize assets such as Warner Bros, the studio behind franchises including Harry Potter, Superman and Batman, as wel
  
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• UK-EU youth mobility scheme could let tens of thousands live and work abroad

  05-12-2025 15:50
  Ministers want to secure deal by end of 2026 as part of a broader reset of Britain’s relationship with Europe UK politics live – latest updatesTens of thousands of young British and European citizens would be given the right to live and work in each other’s countries under plans for a scheme that ministers are aiming to finalise within the next year.Ministers want to secure a youth mobility scheme with the EU by the end of 2026, as part of a broader reset of Britain’s rel
  
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• The Liz Truss Show will confront the big issues of the day. For example: who on earth would watch Liz Truss? | Marina Hyde

  05-12-2025 14:46
  Everyone’s favourite former PM is back! Her mission? To save Britain from its current ‘doomloop’ with, you guessed it, a YouTube talkshowWill you be seeing a pantomime this year? Birmingham’s got Gok Wan and Biggins in Robin Hood, Bradford has Sinitta in Snow White, while Bromley landed Su Pollard for Beauty and the Beast. And at the end of YouTube’s infinite pier, there’s The Liz Truss Show, starring She’s-Behind-You herself. Curtain up on that one is t
  
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• Putin vows oil shipments to India will be ‘uninterrupted’ in defiance of US

  05-12-2025 14:38
  Narendra Modi says energy security is ‘pillar of the India-Russia partnership’ as two leaders meet in DelhiVladimir Putin has told the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, that Russia is ready to continue “uninterrupted” shipments of oil to India, signalling a defiant stance to the US as the two leaders met in Delhi and affirmed that their ties were “resilient to external pressure”.The statement, made on Friday after the annual India-Russia summit, appeared t
  
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• Labour has a groundbreaking plan for child poverty. Finally, this government has found its mission | Polly Toynbee

  05-12-2025 13:13
  The new strategy lays out Britain’s social disgrace in painful detail. But it also offers hope and a clear way forward that is worthy of a leftwing partyOnce Labour set up a child poverty taskforce, it was predestined that the two-child benefit limit would be abolished. Every authority consulted confirmed it as the fastest way to rescue the most children from a life of direst poverty. Every authority, that is, except the general public, who oppose removing the cap by 56% to 31%, YouGov fin
  
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• Edinburgh airport resumes flights after services suspended due to IT problem

  05-12-2025 13:07
  EasyJet, British Airways and Ryanair passengers among those caught up in cancellations caused by air traffic control problemsBusiness live – latest updatesFlights have resumed at Edinburgh airport after it suspended operations on Friday morning because of an IT issue in air traffic control.Planes were beginning to take off at about 10.40am, according to a statement posted by the airport on social media. Continue reading...
  
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• Trump’s billionaire backers dress influence as generosity

  05-12-2025 13:00
  Michael Dell’s $6.25bn gift spotlights how the super-rich use ‘charity’ to win access, favour and influencePity the billionaire class. The 0.001% are so unpopular these days that when tech billionaire Michael Dell and his wife announced the donation of $6.25bn into the “Trump Accounts” of 25 million children, one of the largest single philanthropic donations in American history, Dell had to hurry to assure us that his was not at all about currying favor with Donald
  
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• Elon Musk’s X fined €120m by EU in first clash under new digital laws

  05-12-2025 12:25
  Ruling likely to put European Commission on collision course with billionaire, and possibly Donald TrumpBusiness live – latest updatesElon Musk’s social media platform, X, has been fined €120m (£105m) after it was found in breach of new EU digital laws, in a ruling likely to put the European Commission on a collision course with the US billionaire and potentially Donald Trump.The breaches, under consideration for two years, included what the EU said was a “deceptive&
  
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• Another Cloudflare outage takes down websites including LinkedIn and Zoom

  05-12-2025 11:58
  Web infrastructure provider says problem lasted half an hour and was not an attack, weeks after larger outageA host of websites including LinkedIn, Zoom and Downdetector went offline on Friday morning after fresh problems at Cloudflare – the company’s second outage in less than a month.Cloudflare said the outage came after it adjusted its firewall to protect customers from a widespread software vulnerability revealed earlier this week, and was not an attack. Earlier, it noted a separ
  
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• Tesla launches cheaper version of Model 3 in Europe amid Musk sales backlash

  05-12-2025 11:55
  CEO Elon Musk says lower-cost electric car will reignite demand by appealing to broader range of buyersBusiness live – latest updatesTesla has launched the lower-priced version of its Model 3 car in Europe in a push to revive sales after a backlash against Elon Musk’s work with Donald Trump and weakening demand for electric vehicles.Musk, the electric car maker’s chief executive, has argued that the cheaper option, launched in the US in October, will reinvigorate demand by appe
  
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• Slough’s Scott Davies: ‘We have a duty of care – a young player can be the perfect customer for bookmakers’

  05-12-2025 11:51
  Player-manager on his long road to recovery after a betting addiction, and leading the lowest-ranked team left in the FA Cup“It’s tough, it’s stressful, it’s completely draining … but I absolutely love what I do,” says Scott Davies, sitting in an empty dressing room waiting for his players to arrive for training. Since 2022, Davies has been the player-manager of Slough Town who, sitting third bottom in National League South, are the lowest-ranked team left in
  
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• Nigel Farage demands apology from BBC over racism allegations – video

  05-12-2025 11:31
  In an angry performance at a press conference in London, the Reform UK leader denied saying anything racist 'with malice' when he was a student at Dulwich college, but appeared to lose his temper as questions were asked about the allegation. Farage's comments came after the BBC’s Emma Barnett pressed Reform’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, on Farage’s 'relationship with Hitler'. Citing television shows including Are You Being Served? and It Ain’t Half Hot Mum, Farage accuse
  
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• UK first-time buyers in best position to snap up property in a decade, data shows

  05-12-2025 10:37
  Halifax says average price of house was a record £299,892 in November but that affordability is at its strongest since 2015Business live – latest updatesBuyers attempting to get on to the property ladder in the UK have received a lift, after figures from Halifax showed they are in the best position to snap up a home in a decade.Britain’s biggest mortgage lender said that the average price of a UK property hit a record high of £299,892 in November, after a marginal month-o
  
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• Give credit where it’s due: Labour is finally doing things its supporters actually want | Gaby Hinsliff

  05-12-2025 09:00
  From tackling child poverty to being honest about Brexit, the party seems to have recognised the growing electoral threat to its leftWhat does it take for a small child not to recognise their own name? I’ve been thinking about that for days, since reading the Local Government Association’s recent report on a growing crisis in early childhood. We’ve known for a while about children starting school still in nappies, or speaking in Americanisms absorbed from hours stuck in front o
  
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• Homes with exposed beams for sale in the UK – in pictures

  05-12-2025 08:00
  From a rose-coloured cottage in the centre of a historic market town to an old windmill on a hilltop with sweeping views Continue reading...
  
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• Christmas parcels: the best ways to send them in the UK – and the last posting dates

  05-12-2025 08:00
  From picking Royal Mail or a courier firm to avoiding post office queues, here’s how to have a stress-free experienceFor Royal Mail parcels within the UK, these are: 17 December for second class and second-class signed for; 20 December for first class and first-class signed for; 19 December for Tracked 48; 22 December for Tracked 24; 23 December for special delivery guaranteed. Continue reading...
  
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• ‘We can tell farmers the problems’: experts say seismic waves can check soil health and boost yields

  05-12-2025 07:00
  ‘Soilsmology’ aims to map world’s soils and help avert famine, says not-for-profit co-founded by George MonbiotGeorge Monbiot: Over a pint in Oxford, we may well have stumbled upon the holy grail of agricultureA groundbreaking soil-health measuring technique could help avert famine and drought, scientists have said.At the moment, scientists have to dig lots of holes to study the soil, which is time-consuming and damages its structure, making the sampling less accurate. Continue
  
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• Regulators to announce plans to bolster mutuals after Labour vows to double £223bn sector

  05-12-2025 07:00
  Bank of England and FCA to join city minister in Rochdale amid plans to streamline regulation and expand expert supportCity regulators have announced a package of changes aimed at bolstering growth across the mutuals and co-operatives sector after the Labour government promised to double the size of the £223bn industry.Top officials from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Bank of England will join the city minister, Lucy Rigby, in Rochdale – the birthplace of the UK’
  
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• Over a pint in Oxford, we may have stumbled upon the holy grail of agriculture | George Monbiot

  05-12-2025 07:00
  I knew that a revolution in our understanding of soil could change the world. Then came a eureka moment – and the birth of the Earth Rover ProgramReport: Experts say seismic waves can check soil health and boost yieldsIt felt like walking up a mountain during a temperature inversion. You struggle through fog so dense you can scarcely see where you’re going. Suddenly, you break through the top of the cloud, and the world is laid out before you. It was that rare and remarkable thing: a
  
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• Explaining UK debt with biscuits: Labour MPs get the hang of viral content

  05-12-2025 07:00
  Gordon McKee, whose explainer has racked up 3m views, leads way as party tries to harness power of social mediaUK politics live – latest updatesA perennial head-scratcher for progressives is how to craft a simple, compelling message on the economy. One Labour MP found the answer in a few packets of M&S biscuits.Gordon McKee, who represents Glasgow South, has racked up more than 3.3m views on X with an 101-second video in which he demonstrates the UK’s debt to GDP ratio using stac
  
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• Russia blocks Snapchat and restricts Apple’s FaceTime, state officials say

  04-12-2025 21:46
  Latest effort to control communications comes as regulator claims apps being used to ‘conduct terrorist activities’Russian authorities blocked access to Snapchat and imposed restrictions on Apple’s video calling service, FaceTime, the latest step in an effort to tighten control over the internet and communications online, according to state-run news agencies and the country’s communications regulator.The state internet regulator Roskomnadzor alleged in a statement that bo
  
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• Versace creative director leaves shortly after fashion house’s $1.4bn sale to Prada

  04-12-2025 20:32
  Dario Vitale exits after one season, having taken the helm from Donatella VersaceVersace has announced its creative director is leaving, less than nine months after taking on the role and two days after the deal to sell the brand to rival Italian fashion house Prada.Dario Vitale exits after just one season, having taken the helm from Donatella Versace. Prada said it would announce a replacement “in due course”. Continue reading...
  
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• The Guardian view on the crown estate inquiry: a necessary probe and a wider debate | Editorial

  04-12-2025 19:37
  Parliament’s ban on discussion of the royals is infantile. A committee of MPs has the chance to end the secrecy over their financesEveryone in Britain has views about the royal family. In many cases, lots of views. Britain’s parliament, however, never lets the subject pass its lips. By long tradition, the House of Commons prohibits itself from any mention, let alone any discussion, of the monarchy or the royal family. This self-imposed gag – in which a centuries-old constitutio
  
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• HMRC to pay Brits £1000s for snitching on friends and neighbours

  04-12-2025 15:45 via express.co.uk
  HMRC hopes it will encourage more members of the public to come forward.
  
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• Top 6 credit cards to spread the cost of Christmas with 0% interest

  04-12-2025 15:06 via express.co.uk
  A typical credit card charging 24.9% annual percentage rate can see debts mount quickly during the festive period.
  
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• What has gone wrong at Zipcar – and is UK car-sharing market dead?

  04-12-2025 14:52
  Vehicle hire firms have struggled to succeed in London but other European countries offer examples to followRotherhithe Community Kitchen in south London has been delivering hundreds of cooked meals a week for the last two years to pensioners and vulnerable residents. Yet the volunteer group’s plans have been thrown into disarray by the news that they will not have access to cars and vans on New Year’s Day.The group had relied on Zipcar, the car-sharing company that offered customers
  
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