Legislation introduced by the UK government allowing employers to replace striking staff with temporary workers has been quashed by the High Court in a victory for trade unions. In a judgment on Thursday, Mr Justice Linden ruled that the approach taken by ministers in implementing strikebreaking regulations that took effect in July last year was
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The Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the 2020s are “a very risky” era for public finances as multiple shocks have left the country in a “vulnerable position” to tackle an ageing society, a warming planet and rising political tensions. In a report on Thursday, the UK’s fiscal watchdog said the rapid succession of shocks
European stocks edged higher on Thursday following gains in Asian markets, after a sharper than expected drop in US inflation triggered a dollar sell-off and pushed Wall Street stocks to their highest level in more than a year. Europe’s region-wide Stoxx 600 added 0.3 per cent in early trading, having climbed 1.5 per cent —
The UK economy marginally contracted in May as an extra bank holiday pushed activity down, but the decline was less steep than economists had expected. UK gross domestic product fell 0.1 per cent between April and May, following an expansion in the previous month, data published by the Office for National Statistics showed on Thursday.
“It’s like a declaration of war,” Robert Habeck, Germany’s vice-chancellor and economics minister, said last month. The object of his ire was not the Russian invasion of Ukraine nor Chinese military exercises around Taiwan. Instead, he was complaining about the raft of subsidies and tax breaks for manufacturers on offer in the US — Germany’s
While central banks in developed countries wrestle with stubbornly high inflation, China has the opposite problem — the world’s second-largest economy is flirting with deflation. Beijing revealed this week that consumer prices were flat in June compared with a year earlier while producer prices plunged at the fastest pace since 2016. That compares with a
Standing on the edge of the runway at London’s Gatwick airport on a busy morning last week offered a glimpse into the fine margins that air travel relies on. A plane lands or takes off every 62 seconds from the world’s busiest single runway airport, with aircraft queueing on the ground and stacked in the
Wagner is facing its first big test in Africa since Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed mutiny, as the Russian mercenary group attempts to shore up the Central African Republic’s ruler during a divisive referendum. President Faustin-Archange Touadéra has called a controversial vote on July 30 to override the CAR’s constitutional bar on running for a third term,
The writer is author of ‘Chip War’ China’s emergence as the world’s largest auto exporter caught many people — including the biggest carmakers — by surprise. Cars used to be a rare type of manufacture in which western companies retained durable technological advantages. The transition to electric vehicles has given Chinese companies an opportunity to
The $1.35tn US junk bond market has shrunk by almost $200bn since its all-time peak in late 2021, helping to anchor prices at levels that investors say could give false signals about the health of the world’s largest economy. A steep rise in interest rates since early last year has helped deter companies from selling
Junior doctors in England begin the longest single walkout by doctors in the NHS’s history on Thursday, a five-day strike that hospital bosses warned will further hamper efforts to tackle treatment backlogs. The strike escalates the stand-off with Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government, which is battling to contain inflation and has offered doctors a 5 per
Minimum salaries, a dedicated broadcast slot and “stringent” financial regulations are all needed to foster long-term sustainability in professional women’s football in the UK, according to an independent review published on Thursday. The sweeping study, led by former England player Karen Carney, welcomed the growth in the popularity of domestic women’s football, especially since England’s
7/12/2023, 11:33:30 PM What to watch in Asia today William Langley in Hong Kong South Korea: Economists expect the Bank of Korea to hold rates at 3.5 per cent for the fourth straight meeting. Meetings: The EU-Japan summit begins in Brussels, attended by European Council president Charles Michel, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen
Huw Edwards has been named as the BBC presenter facing allegations over payments for sexually explicit images, as the Metropolitan Police said they had found no evidence of any criminal offence. The decision to name Edwards by his wife Vicky Flind on Wednesday night brings to an end days of speculation over the identity of
An independent UK consumer watchdog has accused the energy industry regulator of failing to act in the interests of customers by planning to allow household gas and electricity suppliers to make higher profits. Citizens Advice said Ofgem’s plans to enable the profit margins of power providers to rise from 1.9 per cent to 2.4 per
Rishi Sunak is expected on Thursday to back pay rises of about 6 per cent for public sector workers in 2023-24, but only after ministers were ordered to find significant savings from their Whitehall budgets. The prime minister said any pay rises for this year had to be responsible and could not be funded by
US inflation dropped to 3 per cent in June, lower than expected, in the latest sign that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate rises are having an effect on price pressures. The annual increase in the consumer price index slowed from 4 per cent in May to 3 per cent, the slowest rate of inflation since
At Nato’s summit this week, allies were careful to stress their staunch support for Ukraine in the face of Russia’s invasion, and for its leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy. But after Zelenskyy blasted Nato for its “absurd” lack of a clear timeline for Ukraine’s entry, tensions began spilling into the open. Referring to Kyiv’s long military wish
The head of the CBI attended an event chaired by a UK minister on Tuesday in her first known high-level government engagement since the business lobby group was boycotted over a misconduct scandal in April. Rain Newton-Smith, director-general since April, was among invitees at a “roundtable” meeting on Tuesday morning between City minister Andrew Griffith
Wall Street stocks and US government debt rallied on Wednesday while the dollar tumbled after inflation fell more than expected in June, easing pressure on the Federal Reserve to keep raising interest rates. Wall Street’s benchmark S&P 500 stock index rose 1 per cent to its highest level since April 2022, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq
The boss of Channel 4 has said the broadcaster’s management would have been quickly notified about the sort of complaint made to the BBC over the behaviour of its suspended presenter, describing it as a “very difficult situation” for the national broadcaster. BBC bosses have been criticised this week for their handling of allegations that