Thursday newspaper round-up: Holiday prices, Qinetiq, Tesla

Prices for package holidays and flights to popular destinations have soared in the last year, according to research. A week-long trip to Greece costs about 30% more than it did last year, with holidays in Italy, Spain and Turkey up by a fifth or more. The sobering figures, from the consumer group Which?, could cause a rethink for those planning to escape the cost of living pressure with a holiday getaway.- Guardian

Qinetiq, the UK defence contractor, has signed a deal to help Australia develop a laser weapon to help it counter missile threats. The firm is already spearheading a plan to develop a hypersonic missile-killing directed energy weapon in the UK called Dragonfire, with partners including Leonardo UK and missile company MBDA. – Telegraph

Global investors are shunning Britain because the Government has no coherent economic plan and is failing to keep up with volcanic policy changes in the US and Europe, the head of British industry has warned. “Money is leaving the UK. Investors are freezing up and the heart of the problem is that we don’t have a strategy,” said Tony Danker, director-general of Confederation of British Industry (CBI). – Telegraph

Tesla boss Elon Musk “lied” when he said that funding was “secured” to take the company private, a lawyer for Tesla investors said yesterday, as an attorney for Musk argued that the billionaire merely used the “wrong words” when he tweeted about his plans in 2018. Tesla investor Glen Littleton is seeking damages on behalf of shareholders who traded the company’s stock in the days after Musk posted his plan to take the company private on Twitter in August 2018. – The Times

British boardrooms have been warned to brace for a further wave of investor activism after a record number of new campaigns at European companies propelled global activity by corporate raiders to its highest level since 2018. A report released yesterday by Lazard, the boutique investment bank, showed there were 235 new initiatives started by activist shareholders around the world last year, a 36 per cent increase on 2021 and a resurgence after three years of falling interventions. – The Times