‘Hunt failed firms’: Warning of bleak outlook as businesses face 85 per cent drop in energy bill support – BCC March 31, 2023 Business leaders are stepping up warnings that firms will struggle to pay energy bills when a government relief scheme ends on Saturday.
Advantage Putin? Wimbledon U-turns to let Russia and Belarus stars like Sabalenka and Medvedev compete March 31, 2023 Russian and Belarusian players will be allowed to compete at Wimbledon this year, the All England Club has announced. Athletes from the two countries must sign declarations of neutrality and must not express support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while players who receive funding from the Russian or Belarusian states, including sponsorship from state owned [...]
Musk verification, laughing gas, webcam gaffes, ChatGPT and cyber crime pay: Here’s your week in tweets! March 31, 2023 The markets quietened this week, with European banking stocks recovering the losses they had posted in the week after Credit Suisse’s shotgun marriage with UBS. But the internet never sleeps and the news rumbles on, so Morning Wire have sorted through cyberspace to bring you the best of what you might have missed. 1. Elon [...]
What is the CPTPP trade bloc, why has Britain joined it, and is it really about ‘post Brexit freedoms’? The jury’s out March 31, 2023 Britain has formally joined a major Indo-Pacific trade bloc as prime minister Rishi Sunak said it allowed the UK to take advantage of “post-Brexit freedoms”. But does it really allow the UK to become a global player once again? The jury is out. The PM hailed the UK accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement [...]
UK to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc CPTPP in major ‘milestone’ March 31, 2023 The UK is to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade bloc, in a major “milestone” for post-Brexit trade, the government has confirmed. Ministers announced the deal making the UK the first European nation to join the major Indo-Pacific free trade bloc, worth a total of £11 trillion GDP, after negotiating [...]
Sunak says ‘fantastic progress’ made in talks to join Indo-Pacific trade bloc March 30, 2023 Rishi Sunak said “fantastic progress” has been made in talks on joining an Indo-Pacific free trade bloc, amid expectations that the UK could be welcomed into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) imminently. The prime minister said it was “a great benefit of Brexit” for the UK to be able to sign [...]
Confirmed: State pension age rise to 68 paused as life expectancy increase slows, but decision branded ‘politically expedient’ March 30, 2023 Government plans to raise the state pension age to 68 could be delayed due to a slowing of the increase in life expectancy, the government has said. Work and pensions minister Mel Stride told MPs “rapid rises” in life expectancy had slowed in the last decade, and plans for the date at which state pension [...]
Four ex bankers convicted over accounts with Putin-linked man who’s ‘part of system that managed his offshore wealth’ March 30, 2023 Four former bankers with the Swiss affiliate of a key Russian bank have been found guilty of failing to properly check accounts opened in the name of a Russian cellist with long-time ties to President Vladimir Putin. The defendants were handed suspended sentences in Zurich district court that, if violated, could lead collectively to hundreds [...]
Tory row erupts over response to US green subsidies after Hunt refuses to go ‘toe to toe’ with Biden March 30, 2023 Conservative MPs are divided over plans for the UK’s response to the US green subsidies scheme after the Chancellor said Britain would not go “toe to toe” with president Joe Biden. Net zero secretary Grant Shapps today unveiled proposals to ‘power up’ Britain with new energy security measures, in what was expected to be a [...]
Treasury hunts for a new cybersecurity boss – guess how little they are paying? March 30, 2023 Protecting the UK Treasury from a whole host of cyber threats sounds like quite an important role, and one that you might think warrants a decent salary in order to secure someone with the technical skill and professional track record who is able to take on the task. Well, not quite. Despite claiming the UK [...]