Business

Train passengers have been warned to expect disruption on rail networks as a strike hits services on some of Britain’s busiest routes today. Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union working for Avanti West Coast are staging a 24-hour walk-out in a dispute over rosters. Commuters have been warned to expect a “significantly

Moody’s rating agency has cut its UK’s financial outlook to negative but maintained its sovereign rating at Aa3. On Friday, the agency lowered the UK’s outlook to negative from stable, citing policy uncertainty amid high inflation and weaker growth prospects. Moody’s said the government’s “ability to engender confidence in its commitment to fiscal prudence” will

Elon Musk is finally buying Twitter, promising – or to some, threatening – sweeping changes for one of the world’s biggest social media platforms. With a self-proclaimed remit to ensure everyone’s timeline becomes the ultimate home of free speech, and a vague long-term goal to transform it into “X, the everything app”, the billionaire is

Just when you thought it was safe to step back into the gilts market… things are getting nervy again. Around lunchtime on Friday the odds on Boris Johnson winning the Conservative leadership battle rapidly shortened. For a moment, the former prime minister was favourite, on Betfair’s betting markets, to become the next PM. Johnson backed

The iPhone and iPad are both getting a bunch of new features courtesy of a software update today. Apple is releasing iOS 16.1 – adding to the functionality which arrived with the iPhone 14 range last month – and iPadOS 16, which comes ahead of the launch of new tablets this week. Starting with the

The country’s biggest supermarket chain has raised the price for its popular lunchtime meal deal for the first time in more than a decade as costs soar. Tesco revealed that the package, typically a sandwich, packet of crisps and a soft drink, would rise from £3.50 to £3.90 for customers who are not Clubcard holders.

The latest official data on the state of the public finances and consumer spending makes for grim reading as the country awaits its next leader, with financial markets reflecting renewed jitters over the contenders for PM and the economy. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that public sector net borrowing came in at £20bn

Almost six in ten UK adults are struggling to keep up with their bills, according to new research from the City regulator. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) estimated that 7.8 million people were struggling to keep up with their bills – an increase of around 2.5 million people since 2020 – when around 5.3 million

The final straw for Liz Truss’s premiership was a collapse of confidence among Conservative MPs, but the underlying cause is an economic crisis she first ignored, then deepened, and will now define her successor’s time in office. The Conservatives are about to discover that they can change leaders but not the economic hole they have

More rail strikes have been announced for 3 and 5 November – this time involving 14 train operating companies. The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) has announced the strikes at the train operating companies – which run the trains – on the same days as other members of the union are planning walk outs

Two adverts from HSBC publicising its role in the green transition have been banned for omitting information about its own contribution to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions. The posters, seen on bus stops in Bristol and London in October 2021, showed images of waves crashing on a shore and tree growth rings with the

New figures are expected to show inflation returned to double figures in September due to still-rising food prices. The Office for National Statistics will reveal the latest increase in the cost of living for UK households on Wednesday morning. And economists have predicted it will show Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation increased to 10% in

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has been ordered by the UK competition regulator to sell the GIF library Giphy. The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said the ruling was a “final decision”. The move followed a protracted effort by Meta to overturn a CMA ruling last year that the takeover, which completed in

The head of Britain’s electricity and gas systems’ operator has told households to prepare for blackouts between 4pm and 7pm on weekdays during “really, really cold” days in January and February if gas imports are reduced. John Pettigrew, the National Grid chief, said blackouts would have to be imposed during the “deepest darkest evenings” in

The pound has edged higher against the dollar in anticipation of a key statement from the new chancellor tasked with sorting out the fallout from the government’s mini-budget. Sterling had fallen to a record low against the dollar at the end of September, after the short-lived then chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng unveiled the biggest programme of

Financial markets have reacted positively to the new chancellor’s cull of more costly measures in his predecessor’s disastrous mini-budget. Jeremy Hunt revealed in a televised statement that he would no longer be proceeding with almost all the controversial package, including the reduction in the basic rate of income tax from 20% to 19% from next

Unions are close to organising co-ordinated strike action “very soon” following the “horror story” of the past few weeks, a union boss has told Sky News. Sharon Graham, general secretary of Unite, accused the government of “aiding and abetting” employers earning millions in profits but not handing that to workers. She confirmed Unite, the UK’s

The government is pressing ahead to introduce legislation which will require transport workers to run a minimum service when strikes are taking place. It comes after commuters have been plagued by months of travel chaos caused by industrial action by railway workers, who are calling for better pay, working conditions and job security. But trade

So farewell, then, Trussonomics. The demise of the country’s second shortest-lived chancellor also brings with it the demise of the country’s shortest-lived economic movement. Liz Truss came into office promising to boost the country’s growth rate through a forensic combination of tax cuts, reforms to the country’s supply side (for which read: things like planning

The Bank of England has purchased £19.3bn of UK government bonds and concluded part of its extraordinary intervention to prevent a collapse in the pensions industry. Just five days after the former chancellor unveiled his mini-budget on 23 September, the Bank took unprecedented action to purchase long-dated UK government bonds, known as gilts, that are