Unions have won a legal challenge against a law change which allowed companies to use agency staff to fill in the roles of striking workers. The change was introduced when Kwasi Kwarteng was business secretary under Boris Johnson in July last year. Mr Justice Linden was scathing in his written judgement. Politics latest: Rishi Sunak
Business
The UK’s national debt could hit 300% of GDP by the 2070s because of the string of major challenges still facing national governments after a “rapid succession of shocks”, according to a report for the Treasury. The independent Office for Budget Responsibility laid out how climate change, defence and the fact people were living longer
The economy contracted in May as the additional public holiday for the King’s coronation weighed on output, according to official figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed negative growth of 0.1% during the month, better than economists had predicted but continuing the yo-yo pattern seen throughout the last year that has left
Billions of pounds allocated to tackle Britain’s housing crisis has been returned to the Treasury because the housing department was unable to find projects to fund. Figures released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) was unable to find projects for the £1.9bn of funding budgeted
The Bank of England says it expects the proportion of income UK households spend on mortgage payments to remain below levels seen during the financial crisis. Its latest Financial Stability Report declared that squeezed households were proving resilient in the face of challenges posed by rising living costs and interest rate hikes to tackle high
The dispute between Royal Mail and staff represented by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) has officially come to an end after months of bitter exchanges. Members of the union have voted by 67% to accept a deal with Royal Mail that was reached in April. The CWU had recommended members accept the deal. More than
More dates have been announced for London Underground strike action this month. The trade union for train drivers, Aslef (Associated Society of Locomotive Engineers and Firemen), announced it is to stage walkouts on Wednesday 26 July and Friday 28 July. Strikes had already been announced by the RMT union, representing different grades and sections of
The pace of wage growth, already described as “unsustainable” by the governor of the Bank of England, has ticked up further, according to shock official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported average weekly earnings excluding bonuses hit an annual rate of 7.3% during the three months to May. That matched the highest level
Thames Water says it has secured a commitment for an additional £750m investment by shareholders, as the debt-laden company races to avoid the possibility of being placed in temporary public ownership. The country’s largest supplier used the publication of delayed annual accounts to announce further progress in its bid to raise cash to shore up
The escalating row between Boohoo and Revolution Beauty, the AIM-listed retailer, is poised to intensify with a complaint to the junior stock market regulator. Sky News has learnt that Boohoo is drafting a letter to the AIM regulatory authorities demanding that Revolution clarifies an earlier stock exchange announcement that the online clothing retailer had obstructed
Britain’s biggest water company is this weekend corralling its shareholders to support a major capital injection as it prepares to publish delayed annual accounts. Sky News has learnt that Thames Water has secured backing from investors including Omers, the Canadian pension fund, and the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) for a commitment to provide new equity. Further
BT Group has kicked off a formal search for a successor to Philip Jansen, its chief executive, as he weighs a number of job opportunities in the US. Sky News has learnt that BT is working with the search firm Spencer Stuart on a process to identify a successor to Mr Jansen, who took on
Wilko, one of Britain’s biggest discount retailers, is racing to secure a cash injection as it prepares to launch a financial restructuring aimed at securing its future. Sky News has learnt that Wilko, which is owned by its founding family and employs about 12,000 people, is working with advisers to raise tens of millions of
The Empire Cinemas chain has entered administration, leading to the loss of 150 jobs and the closure of six cinemas. Eight of the 14 cinemas in the group – under the Empire Cinemas and Tivoli brands – will remain open. But the locations that have been closed with immediate effect are: • Bishop’s Stortford• Catterick
Sky News has been testing the limits of Artificial Intelligence to see what effect it could have on the future of journalism. Our experiment with having computers research, write and edit the news gave us mixed results – from pitching sensible stories about affordable housing to the bizarre claim that spilling milk can help the
Money markets have begun to price in a Bank of England interest rate of 6.5%. The interest rate on ten year government bonds (the gilt yield as it’s sometimes called) exceeded the peak it hit after the mini-budget of September last year – that one which provoked a crisis in many parts of the bond
Higher wages are the “biggest driver of price rises” for two-thirds of businesses, according to the findings of a report which will do nothing to ease worries at the Bank of England that inflation is coming under control. The British Chambers of Commerce’s (BCC) economic survey of its members, covering April to June, showed that
The UK is now the only country in the G7 group of rich nations still dealing with rising inflation, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said. The Paris-based OECD – a club of 38 rich countries – said inflation in the UK rose to 7.9% in May, up from 7.8% in April,
The water industry regulator has admitted investors in crisis-hit Thames Water have become “more concerned about the turnaround of the company”, as it seeks £1bn to help shore up its immediate financial future. Ofwat chief executive David Black told a Lords committee that while talks were continuing, new shareholders may have to be sought if
The bosses of the country’s four main lenders are facing pressure to raise “measly” easy access savings rates. The Treasury Committee of MPs said it had written to the chief executives of NatWest, Lloyds, HSBC UK and Barclays to demand that savers are fairly rewarded. Lenders have been accused of being quick to reflect Bank
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