Cost of electricity for running trains alone is expected to increase from £595m to £885m in 2023-24
Network Rail is bracing for a £1bn energy bill for the first time in the history of Britain’s railways, as the energy crisis is forecast to increase its costs by more than 50% over the next financial year.
The cost of traction – providing the electricity for running electric trains – is expected to increase to £885m in 2023-24, Network Rail said, up from £595m this year.
Continue reading...PPF in line to acquire shares in Allwyn Entertainment, whose UK arm won lottery licence from Camelot
A Czech investment firm with significant interests in Russia could end up owning a 5% stake in the company behind the UK’s national lottery, it has emerged.
První Privatizační Fond (PPF) is poised to acquire shares in Allwyn Entertainment AG via the listing of an investment vehicle in New York in September. Allwyn’s UK subsidiary won the licence to operate the lottery from Camelot this year.
Continue reading...What can be done about rising prices – and would nationalising gas and electricity firms help?
Governments across Europe have been funding relief measures to help people with energy and petrol bills. The UK announced a £15bn package in May, largely in the form of cash payments to households, while EU member states are estimated to have spent €280bn (£243m) over the past year on everything from subsidies and price caps to one-off payments. But bills for households and businesses are reaching unsustainable levels, with further increases expected next year, sharpening the debate over whether ministers should be intervening directly in energy markets to help bring prices down.
As Russia threatens to further reduce gas supplies, politicians in Italy, Spain, Greece and the Czech Republic are among those pushing for coordinated action. The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, said on Monday Brussels was considering measures to be adopted by the 27 member states. What are the options?
Continue reading...Funding still needs to be approved but could offer breathing space amid country’s economic turmoil
The International Monetary Fund has tentatively offered Sri Lanka a $2.9bn (£2.5bn) loan to help the country recover from the worst economic crisis since it gained independence from Britain in 1948.
The funding is meant to provide some breathing space for Sri Lanka, which is scrambling to restructure nearly $30bn in debt to creditors including China, India and a string of international banks.
Continue reading...After successful unionization drives, experts say companies will ‘fight to the end’ to prevent the next step
Over the past year, workers at Starbucks, Amazon, Trader Joe’s and Apple have all achieved historic, hard-won union victories, but now many of these newly unionized workers fear they might face an even bigger challenge: negotiating a first union contract.
Exhibit A for that challenge is the slow pace of progress at Starbucks. Unions have won elections at more than 220 stores. Many baristas are upset that Starbucks has begun negotiations with workers at only three of them.
Continue reading...Royal commission found bank and blank cheques had been exchanged for chips at Crown in Melbourne in breach of restrictions
Victoria’s casino regulator has taken action against Crown Resorts for the third time this year, launching an investigation into the use of bank and blank cheques by gamblers that could result in a fine of up to $100m.
The Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) is investigating Crown after findings by a royal commission that it provided credit to gamble at its Melbourne casino, which is against the law in Victoria.
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Continue reading...The first day of the jobs and skills summit is under way in Canberra. This blog is now closed
Every Australian ‘holds a stake’ in outcome of jobs and skills summit, PM says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, finishes his opening address at the jobs and skills summit on a note of wanting to promote unity. He says:
Australians have conflict fatigue.
Every Australian holds a stake in the outcome of our discussion.
The work of building a stronger economy should include everyone, should lift everyone up.
Continue reading...Politicians wait to see whether Russia switches back on Nord Stream 1 gas supply to Europe
Russian state-backed energy firm Gazprom is poised to hand a bumper £8.6bn payout to the Kremlin after notching up record profits.
The company reported a net profit of 2.5tn roubles (£35.8bn) for the first six months of this year. Oil and gas prices soared during that period, pushed higher by concerns over supplies after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Continue reading...Business Council and ACTU agree on need to boost paid parental leave, reform migration skills lists and set up an authority to support the clean energy transition
Big business and unions have agreed on three big ticket items ahead of the jobs and skills summit, including a boost to paid parental leave.
The Business Council of Australia and Australian Council of Trade Unions released their shared policies on Thursday, which include the need to extend paid parental leave, reform migration skills lists and set up an authority to support the clean energy transition.
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Continue reading...Five-sticker packs for football tournament in Qatar are 12.5% more than for Russia 2018
Inflation has come for the football sticker album. Collecting and completing the official Panini Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022 album will cost fans an average of about £870.
Panini, which first produced a World Cup sticker album for the 1970 tournament in Mexico, has priced five-sticker packs for the Qatar 2022 album at 90p each. That is a 12.5% increase on the 80p cost of a five-sticker pack for the Russia 2018 album. For Euro 2016 a pack cost 50p.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese will meet with premiers and chief ministers today for the national cabinet in Sydney
Jobs summit should support apprenticeships in female-dominated trades, independents say
Independents are calling for more investment in female-dominated trades like textiles and floristry ahead of the government’s jobs and skills summit to be held tomorrow.
This jobs summit must not become fixated on getting only the high-vis industries out to work and leave the pink workforce at home yet again … We have women who want to work. We must enable them.
There’s been too narrow a view of what are the apprenticeships and trades, it’s been a very bloke-centric approach.
Continue reading...Prices in shops rose by 5.1% in August, British Retail Consortium finds, as the war in Ukraine pushes up prices up for farmers
The rapidly rising price of food including milk, margarine and crisps pushed August shop price inflation to the highest levels since 2008 as the war in Ukraine raised costs for farmers.
Prices in shops rose by 5.1%, a big increase from 4.4% in July, as food producers passed on increases in the cost of fertiliser, wheat and vegetable oils, large amounts of which are produced in Ukraine and Russia, according to data from the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and market research firm NielsenIQ.
Continue reading...European Commission says it is working ‘flat out’ on emergency intervention and on longer-term structural reform
The wholesale price of gas has dropped sharply in a rare respite from recent highs on signs that Europe is preparing to intervene directly in energy markets.
The European Commission said it was working “flat out” on an emergency package, and on a longer-term “structural reform of the electricity market” to combat soaring prices while efforts to fill gas storage facilities appear to be ahead of schedule.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan accepts ‘far from ideal’ settlement but says it secures long-term future for transport network
Tube fares will rise and more bus services will be cut in the capital, the mayor, Sadiq Khan, warned, after Transport for London agreed to accept a £1.2bn funding settlement from the government.
The deal, slightly improved from a “final offer” made in July by the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, was welcomed by TfL as allowing it to avert the “managed decline” of its transport network.
Continue reading...Government urged to ensure thousands living in park homes in Great Britain receive £400 payments
Gypsy and Traveller groups are calling on the government to ensure thousands of households living in park homes are not excluded from its energy bills support scheme this winter as bills soar.
The scheme will pay out a total of £400 to all households in Great Britain with a domestic electricity connection between October and March, with monthly payments administered by their energy supplier.
Continue reading...Spike in inflation and threat of rising energy prices likely to add to cost of living crisis, say analysts
Credit card borrowing jumped in June at its fastest annual rate in 17 years as struggling households appeared to rely on extra borrowing to cope with the escalating cost of living.
Credit card borrowing rose by £740m month on month, 13% higher than the year before, according to Bank of England figures that showed the biggest year on year rise since October 2005.
Continue reading...High-speed rail firm blames departure from EU and Covid for decision to halt service next summer
Eurostar has decided to stop direct services from London to Disneyland Paris from next summer, citing the fallout from Brexit and Covid.
The high-speed train operator said on Tuesday it was scrapping trains running from the British capital to the Disneyland site in Marne-la-Vallée, in the eastern Paris suburbs.
Continue reading...Aloha Petroleum’s case against AIG could set precedent as to whether firms are protected against climate damage claims
A fossil fuel firm is suing its insurer for refusing to cover a climate lawsuit in a case that could affect the wider industry’s ability to defend itself from litigation.
Aloha Petroleum, a subsidiary of the US-based Sunoco, filed a claim against AIG’s National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh earlier this month, arguing it had failed to protect Aloha from the mounting costs of defending climate-related claims by local governments in Hawaii.
Continue reading...Billionaire becomes first Asian person to break into the top three of world’s wealthy
The Indian tycoon Gautam Adani has been named the world’s third richest person with an estimated $137bn (£117bn) fortune and becomes the first Asian person to break into the top three of world’s wealthy.
Adani, 60, who founded the mining-to-energy conglomerate Adani Group after dropping out of university, was on Tuesday ranked third on the daily-updated Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Continue reading...Independent calls for PM to ‘protect’ potential Icac from government interference
The independent MP Helen Haines, has called on the prime minister to “protect” a potential federal Icac from any future government interference.
We need more detail around how it will be funded to make sure, in subsequent governments, that the powers of this commission can’t be eroded away. And we need to make sure that the broad definition of corruption can really capture anyone who attempts to improperly influence government decisions.
The other part of it that I haven’t seen, and I would like to see, is what the government plans to do to encourage a pro-integrity culture. And I haven’t seen anything about that thus far.
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