Close Brothers: How the motor finance scandal reshaped one of ‘Europe’s least cost-efficient lenders’ January 18, 2026 Nearly two years ago Close Brothers chief executive said the bank would take “decisive actions” to strengthen its financial standing. The bold overhaul of the lender’s capital structure came amid the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) review into the motor finance industry – a sector which made up 20 per cent of its £9.5bn loan book [...]
Kemi Badenoch joins protesters calling for Government to stop China mega-embassy January 17, 2026 Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called for the Government to stop China’s proposed central London “mega-embassy” when she spoke at a protest on Saturday. The Government is facing mounting calls to reject Beijing’s plans for the embassy at Royal Mint Court over security concerns. Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the site on Saturday afternoon, some [...]
The Jenga Effect: Why professional rugby’s collapse has already happened January 17, 2026 Professional rugby is not approaching collapse; it is recognising one that already occurred and mistaking that recognition for failure. What we are watching across leagues, unions and competitions is not chaos, bad luck or incompetence finally catching up, but the delayed visibility of a structural outcome that was locked in years ago. What feels sudden [...]
ChatGPT to trial adverts for some users for the first time January 17, 2026 Online AI tool ChatGPT will begin to show users adverts for the first time, as it looks to recover from financial losses. Open AI, the bot’s developer, said it would start displaying adverts in the coming weeks based on what people ask ChatGPT as well as personal data the tool stores on users. Relevant ads [...]
‘He’s an idiot’: Musk and Ryanair boss trade insults in Starlink row January 17, 2026 A spat over in-flight Wi-Fi has spiralled into a verbal brawl between Elon Musk and Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary. The clash tumbled into the open after O’Leary dismissed Musk and his satellite internet business Starlink in a radio interview on Ireland’s Newstalk, calling him “an idiot”. The verbal row widened to O’Leary telling listeners [...]
Sack Streeting, cabinet ministers urge Starmer January 17, 2026 Sir Keir Starmer has faced calls from cabinet ministers to follow Kemi Badenoch’s playbook and sack health secretary Wes Streeting for disloyalty. Ministers are becoming increasingly frustrated about Streeting’s forthright public criticisms of the Labour party, with some privately accusing him of putting his leadership ambitions first and “attacking No 10”. One cabinet minister told [...]
UK ready to mirror US with female athletes becoming investors January 17, 2026 For three consecutive years, not a single female athlete has appeared among the world’s 100 highest-paid athletes. The bar keeps rising. In 2025, the threshold jumped to $53.6m, up 19 per cent year on year. Coco Gauff, the highest-earning female athlete in the world, made $34.4m and still fell nearly $20m short. Meanwhile the global [...]
Tough year ahead as businesses face compliance and investigation storm January 17, 2026 A wave of complex regulations and cross-border probes is set to test the resilience of businesses worldwide in the coming year; at the same time, resource constraints expose vulnerabilities. A staggering 82 per cent of global businesses fear being hit by cross-border or multi-agency investigations this year, according to a new report by law firm [...]
Why are London’s house sellers losing money? January 17, 2026 London’s housing market is known for offering vast mansions and leafy avenues to wealthy buyers from across the world. So why are more sellers in the capital suffering losses than anywhere in the country? It is London’s most affluent and sought-after locations where the profitability of home-selling is taking the biggest hit, with Chelsea and [...]
Exclusive: Rachel Reeves to lead start-up delegation at Davos January 16, 2026 Rachel Reeves will lead a delegation of entrepreneurs in charge of some of Britain’s fastest growing start-ups to the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, Morning Wire can reveal. The troupe of UK-based founders will join the Chancellor and business secretary Peter Kyle in the Swiss Alps as part of a concerted push by [...]