Press Round-Up Short (Premium)
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Sky, Tesla, Starbucks
Thousands of delicatessens and other specialist food shops have said new border rules that come in from Wednesday are likely to mean reduced choice of products for consumers. The Guild of Fine Food (GFF), which represents 12,000 businesses, has raised fears that European suppliers of specialist foods such as cheeses and meats will stop supplying the UK as a result of the additional red tape for imported goods. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Neuralink, BP, EY, VAT-free shopping
The UK has fallen to its lowest-ever position in Transparency International’s corruption perceptions index, which ranks countries by experts’ views of possible corruption in public services. The UK fell from 18th (out of 181 countries) in 2022 to 20th in 2023, its lowest position since the research was revamped in 2012. It means that, according to the research, Britain is seen as more corrupt than Uruguay and Hong Kong. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Train strikes, fuel poverty, Evergrande
Train drivers will keep striking to “raise the profile” of their dispute after half a decade without a pay rise, the Aslef union has warned, before another week of rolling strikes across England. Aslef’s general secretary, Mick Whelan, has said he believes that the government will make renewed efforts to see train companies use controversial new anti-strike laws, despite the union forcing a climbdown this time round. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: NatWest, China, Vodafone
The Chancellor is laying the groundwork for the sale of billons of pounds worth of shares in NatWest as soon as June. A contract to a market research company has been awarded to study the public's views, alongside a tender to public relations firms and advertising companies who would work on the marketing campaign. Nevertheless, sources inside the Treasury have played down recent speculation in the City that Jeremy Hunt might announce the decision in his 6 March budget.
Friday newspaper round-up: Car insurance, Vodafone, The Telegraph
Car owners who pay for their insurance monthly rather than with a one-off lump sum are being charged interest of more than 30%, research has found, in what has been described by campaigners as a “poverty premium”. Insurers give customers the choice of paying one annual premium or breaking it up and paying over the course of the year. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Telegraph, AstraZeneca, Boeing
The government has said it intends to launch a second investigation into the Barclay family’s complex deal to transfer control of the Telegraph, after its Abu Dhabi-backed consortium partner revealed a last-minute corporate structure change that has raised public interest concerns. The culture secretary, Lucy Frazer, said she was “minded to” issue a new public interest intervention notice (PIIN) to call in the regulators Ofcom and the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to look at RedBird IMI’s move to create a new UK holding company to house the Telegraph and its sister magazine, The Spectator, when it takes control of the titles.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Boeing, Hinkley Point C, IDS
Fake reviews and unavoidable hidden online charges – which cost consumers £2. 2bn a year – are to be banned under new laws to force businesses to be more clear with shoppers. Under the new rules, which will become law as part of the digital markets, competition and consumers bill currently progressing through parliament, mandatory fees must be included in the headline price or at the start of the shopping process, including booking fees for cinema and train tickets.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Prepayment meters, The Telegraph, Vertical Aerospace
London is capturing an ever-bigger share of the UK’s record service sector exports and government action is needed to ensure other big cities keep pace with the capital, a report says. The Resolution Foundation said London accounted for almost half of the UK’s service sector exports, with its share of the total rising from 38% to 46% between 2016 and 2021. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Homeowners, UK stock market, Compass
Homeowners in England and Wales who sold their property in 2023 netted an average profit of £102,000 despite house prices falling last year, according to new data. The data, issued by estate agent Hamptons, shows that while 2023 was challenging for the UK property market, years of strong price growth meant those who sold a home last year typically banked a sizeable profit or had a decent sum to put towards their next purchase. – Guardian.
Sunday newspaper round-up: Sainsbury's, British Steel, DeSantis
Sainsbury's chief Simon Roberts gave his support to the Financial Mail on Sunday's campaign for police to crack down on shoplifters as an epidemic of retail crime sweeps across the country. Roberts also said he backed making abuse or violence against retail staff a specific offence. He also noted that the grocer had been the first to offer all of its 150,00 staff body-worn cameras that can aid support teams at its stores. - The Financial Mail on Sunday.
Friday newspaper round-up: Tax cuts, Endeavour Mining, Google
Jeremy Hunt has dangled the prospect of big tax cuts in his March budget, in what is seen as one of the last opportunities for the Conservatives to claw back Labour’s huge opinion poll lead. In his first public comments on his budget strategy, the chancellor made clear that only unexpected bad news would prevent him from answering the call from Tory MPs for a substantial giveaway before an expected autumn general election. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Housing market, Tata Steel, electric cars
The housing market has had some “respite” in recent weeks as activity picked up amid easing mortgage rates after a challenging 2023, according to surveyors. Inquiries from new buyers are approaching a flatter trend, after falling in recent months, according to the December report from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Drax, BT, Royal Mail, Heathrow
Drax has received permission from the government to fit carbon capture technology to its wood-burning power plant, in a project that could cost bill-payers more than £40bn. The energy secretary, Claire Coutinho, on Tuesday approved the project to convert two of its biomass units to use the technology. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Shell, fuel retailers, Sizewell C
Shell’s board faces a shareholder rebellion as large investors including the UK’s biggest pension scheme prepare to back a climate activist resolution. Twenty-seven investors have agreed to back a resolution filed by the Dutch shareholder activists at Follow This that calls for the oil company to align its medium-term emissions reduction targets with the 2015 Paris agreement. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: House prices, gas network, Scottish power
UK house prices are on track to beat forecasts of a decline in 2024, a leading estate agent has said, as a mortgage pricing war and expectations of Bank of England interest rate cuts rekindle the property market. After a year of sustained price falls in 2023, the global property consultancy Knight Frank said it was updating its forecast for UK house prices to rise by 3% in 2024, up from an earlier estimate of a 4% drop. – Guardian.
Friday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Boeing, Tesla
The former UK boss of Fujitsu, the technology firm whose flawed IT system is at the heart of the Post Office Horizon scandal, received a £2. 6m payoff after standing down from the company in 2019, corporate filings suggest. Fujitsu has come under increasing scrutiny during the public inquiry into the Horizon scandal, which led to thousands of people who owned and ran smaller post offices being falsely accused or convicted of theft or fraud between 1999 and 2015. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Boeing, Darktrace
Pressure is mounting on the government to review more than £2bn in new contracts awarded to Fujitsu since a court ruling in 2019 found its Horizon IT system caused accounting errors that were blamed on more than 900 post office operators who were then wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office. The Japanese company, which continues to hold the prestigious status of being a key “strategic supplier” making more than £100m annually from government work despite the scandal, has won 101 new contracts worth £2.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Danone, Ryanair
MPs have called in bosses from Fujitsu to answer questions in parliament about the company’s role in the Post Office scandal. The Commons business and trade select committee has asked the company to take part in an evidence session in a week’s time after an ITV drama helped put the miscarriage of justice back in the spotlight. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Barclays, income tax revenues
Ministers have drawn up urgent plans to clear the names of hundreds of post office operators who were wrongly convicted of theft and fraud in the Horizon IT scandal as the government scrambled to get on the front foot over the major miscarriage of justice. The justice secretary, Alex Chalk, will hold talks with the senior judiciary to confirm how the convictions can be overturned as soon as possible, so victims can have speedier access to millions of pounds of compensation.
Monday newspaper round-up: Post Office, Channel 4, Rolls-Royce
The Post Office is suspected of wrongly prosecuting dozens more operators who took part in a pilot scheme of the faulty Horizon system, the Guardian has been told. Amid growing anger over the treatment of postmasters whose lives have been ruined in the scandal, Whitehall sources have confirmed that a precursor scheme was rolled out in 1995 and 1996 to hundreds of branches in north-east England. – Guardian.