Market Buzz
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, O2 , BT/TalkTalk, Meta
John Healey is planning a major intervention to cut energy bills for poorer households in this month’s budget, after ministers became alarmed at forecasts that show bills rising by hundreds of pounds in January. The chancellor is working on plans to spend more than £1bn to help energy consumers, the bulk of which is likely to go towards increasing the discount given to households on certain benefits. - Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: FCA, housebuilders, Panmure Liberum
A top UK regulator has launched an investigation into how it handled a whistleblower – who highlighted alleged ties between the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and the US commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick – after he took his own life. The British banker Simon Andriesz died late last month aged 57, the campaign group Transparency Task Force, of which he was a member, confirmed over the weekend. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: North Sea strikes, BT/TalkTalk, bank taxes
A looming strike by oil workers in the North Sea could “severely disrupt” UK fuel supplies, the Unite union has said, adding that staff were left with no choice after a breakdown in pay talks with the Texas oil company Apache. The union said Apache workers had “emphatically” backed strike action after being given what it said was an unacceptable pay offer that amounted to a real-terms pay cut for many employees, at a time when the company was “raking in eye-watering profits”.
Friday newspaper round-up: BBC, airlines, OpenAI
The BBC has started a redundancy process in its TV and streaming division, heightening staff fears that Matt Brittin will announce the closure of the poorly performing BBC Three and BBC Scotland channels next week. The corporation’s director general, who has repeatedly said that linear TV and radio services may have to shut as audiences move online, is expected to inform staff on Wednesday of the latest stage of a plan to save £500m and shed up to 2,000 jobs. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: New oil and gas projects, Micron, ElevenLabs
An internal watchdog said the Federal Reserve mismanaged costs associated with a $2. 4bn renovation of its Washington DC headquarters, but noted that no criminal violations occurred, according to a report released on Wednesday. For over a year, Donald Trump has centered his attacks against the Fed and former chair Jerome Powell around the renovations, including a months-long Department of Justice criminal investigation that was dropped in April. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: BrewDog, Barclays, Grant Thornton
BrewDog’s new owner has urged drinkers to give the ailing brand “a second chance” as it invests more than £50m in improving the company’s beers, pubs and working conditions. The US cannabis and drinks company Tilray bought BrewDog for £33m in March this year, after the company collapsed into administration after five years of losses and a series of controversies relating to the treatment of workers under the founder James Watt. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: BT, borrowings costs, RBA, tariffs
BT has been blocked from offering rival broadband providers discounted access to its network over concerns that the plans would threaten competition. Openreach, BT’s infrastructure division, proposed discounts of up to £9. 50 per month to companies such as Vodafone, Sky and TalkTalk for using its broadband network. It had said this would allow broadband providers to offer households value for money. – Telegraph.
Monday newspaper round-up: Heathrow, diesel cars, empty homes
Plans for a third runway at Heathrow are once again up in the air after the prime minister refused to say whether he backs the “contested” project which is delayed by up to four years. Over the weekend it emerged that Heathrow no longer expects to meet the original 2035 deadline. Instead, the airport hopes to secure planning permission by 2029 and then open the runway “within a decade”, meaning it would not be operational until 2039. – Guardian.
Friday newspaper round-up: Food and drink trade deficit, datacentre project, Meta, Morgan Stanley
The gap between Britain’s food and drink exports and imports has neared its highest this century, as a combination of Brexit, war in the Middle East and US tariffs dented deliveries overseas while imports soared. The UK’s food and drink trade deficit has risen to more than £21bn – the largest since 2000 – in what industry leaders said was a “wake-up call” for the government to protect homegrown produce in the interest of national security. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Defence contractors, Bentley, McDonald’s
Defence contractors have promised to create 40,000 apprenticeships, work experience placements and jobs for young people each year, as Wes Streeting claimed to be overseeing a “ministry for growth”. Labour is keen to demonstrate that the rapid increase in defence spending planned for the coming years, which may necessitate tax rises, will result in jobs in the UK. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: state pension, pharmaceutical companies, BMW
A thinktank linked to Reform UK has called for the abolition of the state pension and £75bn worth of sweeping tax cuts in a “radical” report likely to influence the party’s platform for the next election. The Centre for a Better Britain’s (CFABB) report – which also calls for weaker rules for UK banks and Trump-style investment accounts offering £1,000 to newborns – will be formally launched at a private event with City executives on Wednesday. – Guardian.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Airlines, Paramount, Bank of England office
Airlines have called for “action and accountability” over the UK’s air traffic control services after a technical issue led to flights being disrupted for the second time in a fortnight. Dozens were cancelled and others severely delayed after a fault on Monday morning at National Air Traffic Services (Nats), this time at its second control centre at Prestwick in South Ayrshire. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: Meta, capital gains, rare earth minerals...
Meta has launched a fresh legal challenge against Britain’s media regulator in the latest of a slew of actions by social media companies who are accused of using the courts to slow down implementation of the Online Safety Act. Lawyers for the parent company of Facebook served notice during the week in an appeal against placing WhatsApp and Instagram, which are also owned by Meta, in a category that subjects them to additional duties. – The Guardian.
Friday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, British Steel, OITS
Andy Burnham is under further pressure to take control of ailing Thames Water from a cross-party group of MPs who are calling for ministers to break off talks with the US hedge funds who are effectively running the company. Adding their voices to demands that the prime minister takes public control of the company, which has debts of £20bn and is being controlled by a group of 100 hedge funds and distressed-debt investors, the MPs said in a report that ministers should consider emergency legislation to take control of its financial affairs to stabilise the company.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Gambling advertising, diesel prices, Revolut founder
The UK should introduce a ban on almost all gambling advertising to protect public health, a cross-party group of peers has urged, prompting fury from the lobby group for bookmakers and casinos. In a 173-page report, the House of Lords liaison committee said the government had been “too passive” in response to an explosion of digital advertising and social media influencers promoting the gambling sector. – Guardian.
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Global defence bank, KPMG, Frasers Group
John Healey is in talks with the Canadian government about joining a new global defence bank intended to help allies rearm to counter mounting security threats, just weeks after Rachel Reeves rejected the move. The chancellor is understood to be actively considering a bid to join the proposed Canada-led defence, security and resilience bank (DSRB), which proponents say could help the UK fund defence projects at lower cost, before planned talks with his Canadian counterpart this week.
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Red Sea islands, BoE bond selling, energy imports
Yemen’s Houthi militants have seized two strategic islands in the Red Sea, reinforcing the Iran-backed group’s ability to control a key shipping route, as concerns mount that the world is facing a new oil supply crisis. The seizure of the islands of Greater and Lesser Hanish is the latest in the militant group’s swift advance across Yemen’s Red Sea coast, after the capture of the port of Mokha and Perim island in the Bab al-Mandab strait. – Guardian.
Monday newspaper round-up: hospitality businesses, rail passengers, Battersea Power Station
Hundreds of UK hospitality businesses, backed by celebrity chefs including Angela Hartnett and Heston Blumenthal, have asked Andy Burnham to lay out plans to lower VAT for the sector, urging him to make good on his previous pledge. More than 800 businesses have written an open letter to the prime minister as part of the #VATsTheProblem campaign, to warn that without a “fairer tax burden for hospitality”, there will be more closures and job losses, and fewer opportunities for young people.
Friday newspaper round-up: Energy bills, triple lock, ONS data crisis
Consumers will pay higher energy bills unless the UK government speeds up work on a vast programme of upgrades to the electricity grid to enable the switch to renewables, the public spending watchdog has warned. The National Audit Office (NAO) said that without faster action the extra costs associated with managing the ageing power network, which are ultimately passed on to the public, could reach £7. 8bn a year by 2030. – Guardian.
Thursday newspaper round-up: Migration, air traffic control, triple lock
Andy Burnham must overhaul Shabana Mahmood’s migration reforms or risk overstretching social care and fuelling far-right sentiment, the TUC general secretary, Paul Nowak, has warned. Speaking ahead of the TUC’s annual congress in Brighton next week, Nowak welcomed the “sense of optimism” around Burnham’s fledgling government, but he urged the PM to act in a series of areas, including migration and the cost of living. – Guardian.