Business

Starling pays out fivefold bonus sum despite FCA fine and Covid loan errors
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

Staff get £24.6m after year in which bank was penalised for ‘shockingly lax’ controls and profits fell 25% to £223mStarling Bank has handed its staff an almost fivefold increase in bonus pay despite an embarrassing regulatory fine and losses on government-backed Covid loans that the digital lender has blamed on its own weak controls.The digital-only challenger bank paid out £24.6m in bonuses for the 2024-25 financial year, compared with £5.3m a year earlier. Continue reading...

UK trade secretary to seek exemption from US steel and aluminium tariffs
Posted on Saturday May 31, 2025

Trump announced on Friday night that he planned to double rates on imported steel, piling more pressure on the industryThe UK’s trade secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will meet his US counterpart next week to thrash out a timeline for exempting the UK from US steel and aluminium tariffs after Donald Trump announced he would double them.British officials are seeking clarity on the implications of Trump’s announcement on Friday night that he planned to double the tariffs from 25% to 50% from Wedneday 4 June, piling further pressure on global steel trade. Continue reading...

Tide is turning in Europe and beyond in favour of nuclear power
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

Spain’s recent blackout and AI datacentres’ energy needs are leading politicians to reach for the restart buttonWhen millions of people across the Iberian peninsula were left without power last month the political fallout ignited debate over Europe’s renewable energy agenda, and fuelled the rising interest in nuclear power.Europe’s largest power blackout in decades, still largely unexplained, has raised questions about whether renewable energy can be relied on to provide a stable source of clean energy. It has also fuelled a renewed interest in the global nuclear power renaissance already under way. Continue reading...

When are people too old to do their jobs?
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

While half of people over 50 are being pushed out of their jobs, regulation changes are making people work longerOld people are making news. Just this past week in Denmark, the retirement age for collecting a government pension was increased to 70 years old, an issue that has caused much debate in that country. Here in the US, questions have been raised about Joe Biden’s mental acuity while he was still in office. Warren Buffett announced his retirement at the age of 94 from Berkshire Hathaway. Donald Trump’s behavior, at the age of 78, continues to raise concern, if not alarm.When are people too old to do their jobs? Continue reading...

British businessman accused of plotting to smuggle US military technology to China
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

John Miller and Chinese national Cui Guanghai are facing extradition in connection with an FBI investigationA British businessman has been indicted in the US with attempting to traffic sensitive American military technology to China and silence a critic of the Chinese president.John Miller, 63, was named by US authorities at the weekend after his arrest in Serbia, where he is facing extradition in connection with an FBI investigation. The Mail on Sunday reported that he was from Tunbridge Wells, Kent. Continue reading...

‘There’s a problem at your bank’: UK police raise alarm over courier fraud
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

Scam often targets vulnerable people and starts with call from someone posing as police or bank officialYou get a call with the bad news that something has gone wrong at your bank. The caller says they are from the police or the bank and that someone will be coming round to pick up your debit card. This courier takesthe card away and uses it, running up thousands of pounds in debt before you realise that something is wrong.The scam – known as “courier fraud” – is not new, but in recent months there have been warnings about it from police forces around the UK. The Met revealed this week that it had arrested 18 people, and had recovered £250,000 and hundreds of bank cards as part of a two-month crackdown. Continue reading...

Tory peer proposed delay on heated tobacco ban after Philip Morris visit
Posted on Sunday June 01, 2025

Industry giant paid for Lord Vaizey’s trip to Switzerland before he tabled amendment to tobacco and vapes billA Conservative peer proposed delaying the UK’s proposed ban on heated tobacco, weeks after a leading cigarette company paid for him to visit its research facility in Switzerland.The tobacco and vapes bill would gradually raise the age at which consumers can buy cigarettes and other tobacco products, making the UK the first major economy to chart a course towards phasing out tobacco altogether. Continue reading...