Category Archives: Business

Boris Johnson plans Saudi Arabia visit to seek oil supply increase

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MPs voice deep concerns over trip after mass execution by regime and its continuing role in Yemen war

Boris Johnson is facing scrutiny over a planned trip to Saudi Arabia to push for an increase in oil output amid an outcry over the regime’s biggest ever mass execution and growing fears the prime minister may try to limit media scrutiny of the visit.

Downing Street would not confirm Johnson’s likely trip to Riyadh, but sources have said he wants to appeal to the Gulf state to increase its oil output to replace supplies from Russia.

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Severn Trent and Anglian Water pledge to do more to protect rivers

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Water firms commit to improving sewage discharge practices after government pressure

Severn Trent and Anglian Water say they will accelerate efforts to protect rivers after the government and regulators called on the sector to do more.

Last month, the environment minister Rebecca Pow called on water companies to significantly improve their practices in England and Wales to support the local environment.

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Tenants face having to find extra £1,000 for 2022 rent and bills

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Hamptons expects sums to become 54% of post-tax income for average rented household in Great Britain

Tenants already struggling with the cost of living crisis typically face having to find an extra £1,000 this year to cover higher rent and essential bills, research shows.

The estate agent Hamptons said tenants’ finances faced a record squeeze as higher rents and energy bill increases combined to pile more pressure on households in Great Britain.

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White House faces oil standoff with Saudi Arabia and UAE as prices soar

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Analysis: Disputes with Biden administration mean Riyadh and Abu Dhabi are likely to drive hard bargain

Joe Biden’s hardline stance on Russia has won him widespread plaudits, but with the most serious oil shock in decades now a reality, the US president’s attempt to cushion the blowback continues to meet resistance from the two allies he needs most.

Saudi Arabia’s de facto leader, Mohammed bin Salman, and his counterpart in the United Arab Emirates, Mohammed bin Zayed, are yet to agree to a phone call with the west’s most powerful man – a scenario all but unthinkable during previous administrations.

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Australia’s unemployment rate could hit 4% even as cost of living pressures grow

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Economy bounces back from Omicron wave, but economists expect east coast floods to be reflected in March jobs figures

The unemployment rate could hit 4% when the latest labour force figures are released this week, as the economy recovers from the impact of the Omicron variant.

The jobless rate touched 4% in February 2008 and again in August of that year under Kevin Rudd’s Labor government, but has never been lower according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures stretching back to 1978.

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Uber fares to rise in UK as 20% VAT rate is applied

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Change comes after high court ruling that Uber should be regarded as a contractor, not an agent

Uber fares across the UK are to rise sharply from Monday night when VAT of 20% will be applied to rides booked via the app.

The change comes after a high court ruling last December that Uber could not be viewed as simply an agent but should be regarded as the contractor.

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Fertiliser company urged to halt plans to remove Burrup Peninsula Indigenous rock art

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Environment minister Sussan Ley asks Perdaman not to go ahead until a review is carried out after traditional owners raise concerns

The federal government has asked a multinational fertiliser company to stop work on plans to remove Indigenous rock art from a world heritage-nominated area in the Burrup Peninsula after traditional owners raised concerns.

Perdaman is planning to build a $4.5bn fertiliser plant in Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula. The company is already contracted to buy gas used to make the fertiliser from Woodside Energy’s Scarborough gas field.

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British American Tobacco halts Russia sales after U-turn

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Owner of brands including Rothmans had said it would still sell products – but will now pull out

British American Tobacco has reversed its decision to continue selling cigarettes and other nicotine products in Russia, putting the sudden change of heart down to its “ethos and values”.

The owner of brands including Rothmans and Lucky Strike said it would pull out of Russia after all, two days after breaking ranks with companies such as Nestlé, Unilever, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s by refusing to quit its operations there.

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Pressure mounts on Morrison government to include flooding in $10bn reinsurance pool

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Politicians at state and federal level back calls to expand Northern Australia cyclone scheme to other natural disasters across the country

The federal government is under increasing pressure to expand its reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to include flooding, with calls for the Coalition to pass the legislation in the final days of parliament before the looming election.

Politicians across the political divide, at state and federal level, have backed calls to expand the $10bn Northern Australia reinsurance pool for cyclone damage to cover more natural disasters, across the country. Several Coalition members – including Warren Entsch, one of the scheme’s principal advocates, and Kevin Hogan, representing the Lismore-based electorate of Page – have thrown their weight behind the changes, as well as north coast MPs Janelle Saffin and Tamara Smith.

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US inflation rises to new 40-year high of 7.9%; Abramovich sanctioned by UK – as it happened

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Rishi Sunak is also facing intense pressure from Conservative colleagues to take action in this month’s spring statement to alleviate the cost of living crisis, which has been dramatically exacerbated by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, write our political editor Heather Stewart and political correspondent Peter Walker.

Asked about the impact of sanctions on Russia for consumers at home, the business secretary, Kwasi Kwarteng, told MPs on Wednesday he believed the public was “willing to endure hardships” in solidarity with the people of Ukraine.

The crisis is likely to have a negative impact on investment intentions of UK firms following Brexit and Covid. This is the worst timing possible, as business investment intentions were high coming into 2022. So the Government must move now to stimulate business investment to maintain UK growth, thereby demonstrating true independence from Russia.

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Turbulent times: Australian air fares predicted to soar as bans on Russian oil lift jet fuel prices

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Qantas chief says airlines have no choice but to increase prices and believes travel will be impacted

Travellers are facing steep air fare hikes as bans on Russian oil cause jet fuel prices to surge, Australian aviation experts warn.

Qantas chief executive, Alan Joyce, has said the average fare would increase by 7% as a result of the increased crude oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but others predict the price rises could be higher.

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UK has ‘sleepwalked’ into dysfunctional children’s social care market, says regulator

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CMA finds local authorities are being forced to pay excessive fees for substandard privately run services

The UK has “sleepwalked” into a dysfunctional market for children’s social care with local authorities forced to pay excessive fees for privately run services that often fail to meet the needs of vulnerable children, an official report has concluded.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) called for an overhaul of the £6.5bn UK market for children’s residential and foster care, saying it had found “significant problems” with the provision of the privately dominated services.

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M&S boss Steve Rowe to step down after close to 40 years with retailer

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Rowe to be replaced by head of food business Stuart Machin, with Katie Bickerstaffe as co-chief executive

Marks & Spencer’s chief executive, Steve Rowe, is stepping down in May after nearly 40 years at the business he joined straight from school.

Rowe, who has spent six years overseeing the beginnings of a turnaround in the retailer’s fortunes after years in the doldrums, is to be replaced by the boss of its food business, Stuart Machin.

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US inflation jumped to 40-year high of 7.9% last month

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The rise was propelled by increased prices for gas, food and housing in the sharpest spike since 1982

Propelled by surging costs for gas, food and housing, consumer inflation jumped 7.9% over the past year, the sharpest spike since 1982 and likely only a harbinger of even higher prices to come.

The increase reported Thursday by the labor department reflected the 12 months ending in February and did not include most of the oil and gas price increases that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Since then, average gas prices nationally have jumped about 62 cents a gallon to $4.32, according to AAA.

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Russia-Ukraine war latest: strike on children’s hospital ‘ultimate evidence that genocide is happening’ – Zelenskiy

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Ukrainian president calls bombing in Mariupol ‘beyond atrocity’ and urges world to ‘stand united in condemning Russia for this crime’

The New York Times will have no reporters on the ground in Russia for the first time in a century after the news organisation joined those pulling out of the country.

Russian authorities made reporting from the country impossible when it recently criminalised the act of describing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a “war” with those who commit the offence facing up to 15 years in prison.

As a result Russian media outlets have been forced to close, while global news organisations have pulled out their teams owing to the risk of arrest.

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Sky Vegas fined £1.2m for sending free casino ‘spins’ to recovering addicts

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Messages from online casino occurred during industry’s Safer Gambling Week

Sky Vegas has been fined £1.2m for sending free casino “spins” to recovering addicts during the industry’s annual Safer Gambling Week.

The fine comes at a sensitive time for the British gambling industry, which has been at pains to show it has improved its attitude to social responsibility.

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States on borrowing binge as Morrison government predicts $1tn in net debt by 2024-25 fiscal year

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Pandemic and other disaster recovery efforts will further power state debt, says rating agency

Australia’s states and the ACT have almost doubled their borrowings in the past three years, placing them on track to hit the half-trillion dollar debt mark by mid-year, according to rating agency S&P Global.

The borrowing binge comes as the Morrison government projects almost $1tn in net debt by the 2024-25 fiscal year, with commonwealth outlays on the economy and health during the Covid pandemic amounting to more than 14% of gross domestic product.

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Saudi Arabia and UAE leaders ‘decline calls with Biden’ amid fears of oil price spike

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The Gulf nations have capacity to pump more oil to ease supply fears but relations with the US have chilled under Biden

The de-facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have declined to arrange calls with US president Joe Biden in recent weeks as the US and it allies have sought to contain a surge in energy prices caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Wall Street Journal, citing Middle East and US officials, both Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the UAE’s Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan have been unavailable to Biden after US requests were made for discussions.

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Energy crisis: UK could learn from Fukushima response, MPs told

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Japanese measures including turning down the heating and slower trains could ease pressure on British households, say experts

Britain could learn from Japan’s response to the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster by reducing energy consumption to deal with soaring global gas prices after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, academics have said.

Suggesting a coordinated response to record gas prices could help ease the pressure on households, experts told MPs on the Commons business committee that steps to reduce national demand for gas-fired power next winter could be deployed.

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Foreigners travelling to Ukraine to fight invasion will be given citizenship – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Follow our live coverage of the Russian invasion here.

Stoock markets have been struggling again today with no sign of any let up in the adverse economic impact of the war.

Brent crude is on the rise again – up 2.48% to $126.26 – after see-sawing violently yesterday when it touched almost $140.

Griffiths urged all sides to ensure that civilians, homes and infrastructure in Ukraine were safeguarded.

“This includes allowing safe passage for civilians to leave areas of active hostilities on a voluntary basis, in the direction they choose,” he said, after Ukraine rejected an earlier deal that would only allow its civilians to evacuate into Russia or Belarus.

The meeting came as Ukraine and Russia seek an agreement on creating “humanitarian corridors” out of pummelled cities, as the civilian toll from the Russian assault mounts.

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