Category Archives: Business

Council tax in Scotland to reach record high with 15% rise in some areas

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Levies on tourists and cruise ships considered by some local authorities in attempt to plug funding gaps

Council tax costs in Scotland will hit record levels next month after local authorities agreed to raise rates by up to 15%, with some planning new levies on tourists and cruise ships.

All of Scotland’s 32 local authorities have announced council tax increases from April of at least 6%, with the majority raising them by about 10%, after years of successive cuts to their grant funding.

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Welfare recipients told to perform mutual obligations as Tropical Cyclone Alfred bears down on Queensland

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Disability employment provider Help asked jobseekers to perform telephone appointments before later clarifying they were voluntary

Private employment agencies across Queensland have given jobseekers the impression they still need to perform their mutual obligations, despite there being a pause across large swaths of the state while it prepares for Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The mutual obligations scheme forces jobseekers to complete tasks such as applying for jobs or attending training, or risk their payments being stopped.

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Australia news live: Victoria to tighten bail laws; man shot dead by police in Queensland

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The Victorian premier said she would be introducing legislation to' ‘bring about that change … very soon’. Follow today’s news live

Chalmers defends Australian defence spending as Trump administration says nation should spend more

Jim Chalmers has defended Australia’s defence spending as having already gone up “considerably”, amid suggestions from the Donald Trump administration that Australia should spend more.

That is a very, very substantial pick-up in defend spending and one of the reasons we’re doing that is to be able to work more effectively with our allies and partners like the United States … We do pay our own way on defence. We are substantially increasing defence spending.

We have got a good relationship with the Americans, particularly that economic relationship which is of mutual benefit, and these are the sorts of things that we have been talking about with our American counterparts as they finalise some of the policies on things like tariffs.

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River campaigners to sue Ofwat over water bill rises

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Group claims regulator signed off on ‘broken system’ making customers pay for industry’s neglect

An environmental group is to take legal action against Ofwat, the water regulator, accusing it of unlawfully making customers pay for decades of neglect by the water industry.

River Action will file the legal claim this month, arguing that bill rises for customers that have been approved by the regulator could be used to fix infrastructure failures that should have been addressed years ago.

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Jack Daniel’s maker says Canada pulling US alcohol off shelves ‘worse than tariff’

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CEO Lawson Whiting calls Canada’s move ‘disproportionate response’ to levies imposed by Trump administration

The Jack Daniel’s maker Brown-Forman’s CEO Lawson Whiting said on Wednesday Canadian provinces taking US liquor off store shelves was “worse than a tariff” and a “disproportionate response” to levies imposed by the Trump administration.

Several Canadian provinces have taken US liquor off store shelves as part of retaliatory measures against Donald Trump’s tariffs.

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Trump temporarily spares carmakers from US tariffs on Canada and Mexico

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After a call with top executives at GM, Ford and Stellantis, president approves one-month exemption from tariffs

Donald Trump has temporarily spared carmakers from sweeping US tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, one day after an economic strike on the US’s two biggest trading partners sparked warnings of widespread price increases and disruption.

The US president extended his aggressive trade strategy at midnight on Tuesday by targeting the country’s two closest neighbors with duties of 25%.

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European markets soar as Germany moves to lift ‘debt brake’ and raise defence spending

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Berlin’s ‘big bazooka’ proposal sends industrial stocks surging but fiscal sea change also hikes borrowing costs

European financial markets have rallied sharply and German borrowing costs have soared after the country’s prospective leaders announced a historic deal to loosen its “debt brake” rule to boost spending on defence.

The yield – in effect the interest rate – on 30-year German government bonds rose by about 25 basis points to 3.08% in its biggest daily increase since October 1998.

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Tesla’s UK sales rise despite threat of backlash over Musk’s political role

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Sales of battery-powered cars jumped in February, with Model 3 and Model Y most popular after Mini Cooper

Sales of Teslas in the UK rose by more than a fifth last month as demand for battery-powered cars increased, despite the prospect of a buyer backlash over Elon Musk’s controversial and divisive behaviour since becoming a key figure in Donald Trump’s administration.

Almost 4,000 Teslas were sold in the UK in February, with the Model 3 and Model Y proving the second and third most popular after the Mini Cooper, according to the latest new car registration figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

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Green light for £1.2bn ‘bulk mail’ claim against Royal Mail owner to go to trial

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Class action accuses International Distribution Services of abusing ‘dominant position’ in market

A £1.2bn class action claim accusing the owner of Royal Mail of abusing its “dominant position” in the market for sending bulk mail has been given the green light to proceed to trial by UK competition authorities.

Bulk Mail Claim Ltd, a recently formed company representing an estimated 290,000 customers who claim they were overcharged as a result of Royal Mail’s behaviour, has won clearance to proceed with its legal challenge from the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

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Foxtons boss says firm has ‘more to do’ on workplace culture

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Comments follow report alleging that estate agency company’s junior staff faced inappropriate behaviour

The chief executive of Foxtons has admitted that the company has “more to do” on workplace culture, after a report alleging that junior employees at the real estate agent had faced unwanted touching and other forms of harassment.

Guy Gittins, who started his career at Foxtons in 2002 and returned as chief executive three years ago, said that the company remained “steadfast in our commitment to an inclusive, professional and respectful culture”, as it reported its full-year results for 2024.

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Some British firms ‘stuck in neutral’ over AI, says Microsoft UK boss

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Survey of bosses and staff finds that more than half of executives feel their organisation has no official AI plan

Some companies are “stuck in neutral” in their approach to artificial intelligence, according to Microsoft’s UK boss, who said a significant number of private and public sector organisations lack any formal AI strategy.

A Microsoft survey of nearly 1,500 UK senior leaders across public and private sectors, as well as 1,440 employees, found that more than half of executives feel their organisation has no official AI plan. Roughly the same proportion report a growing gap in productivity – a measure of economic efficiency – between employees who use AI and those who do not.

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Crisafulli urges residents to prepare as storm approaches – as it happened

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This blog is now closed. Read the latest Cyclone Alfred news update here

Sandbag queues ‘about an hour’ in Brisbane – Wells

The federal sports minister, Anika Wells, also spoke on the Today Show this morning from Brisbane and said it was the “calm before the storm”.

At the moment that’s the shortest it’s been in 24 hours. It’s a big couple of days ahead for south-east Queensland. We’re more than up to the task, but everybody’s doing their bit.

So everyone’s doing their bit and we thank them for it.

We know that there’s going to be damaging winds, there is going to be powerful surf, coastal erosion, and it will be followed by significant rain that can last a couple of days. So we’re really urging people to be alert, to be prepared, just like the SES is.

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Hong Kong firm to sell stake in Panama ports amid Trump pressure

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Deal with US finance giant BlackRock, valued at almost $23bn, comes amid push to curb perceived China influence

CK Hutchison Holdings, the Hong Kong-based logistics giant, announced plans to sell a majority stake in a business that controls ports in Panama to investors including the US financial giant BlackRock in a deal worth almost $23bn.

The sale of a 90% interest in Panama Ports Company, which holds the contract to run the ports of Balboa and Cristóbal until 2047, is part of a wider deal for Hutchinson Port’s global business. The deal comes at a time Donald Trump has piled on pressure to end what he sees as China’s influence and control over the Panama canal.

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Media, supermarkets and banks: what is the average salary at the big companies and how big is the gender pay gap?

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Radio 2GB Sydney has industry’s worst gender pay gap at 51.1%, while the size of supermarkets helps to narrow their differential

Which Australian radio station pays men twice as much as women? Which bank has a pay gap nearly double the national average? And which large supermarket chain pays the best?*

The answers to these questions – and many more – have been laid bare after the government’s Women’s Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) published its second annual report of company-level gender pay gaps this week.

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UK ban on zero-hours contracts ‘to include agency workers’

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Government to expand coverage of employment rights bill, according to report

Agency workers will reportedly be included in a ban on “exploitative” zero-hours contracts as part of changes to the UK government’s employment bill.

Under the new rules, employers will have to offer agency workers a contract that guarantees a minimum number of hours every week, the BBC reported.

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Communities warned to prepare as weather system takes right turn – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Why should Australia trust president Donald Trump, given how he’s treated Ukraine’s president at the Oval Office? Richard Marles said the government’s focus was on supporting Ukraine:

That’s where Australia lies. That’s the decision that we have to make. And Ukraine can absolutely rely on Australia’s ongoing support in their defence, and we will work with international partners.

We’ve obviously worked with the United States over the last three years, and we’ll continue to do that, but we’ve worked with the United Kingdom, and we’ll continue to do that as well, and with European partners, and look at the best way in which we can provide support.

We have established a timeline with [the] Ukrainian government about the delivery of those tanks to Ukraine. Now, for operational reasons, won’t go into the detail of that timeline.

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UK rail passengers may lose patience as problems take years to fix, says minister

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Lord Hendy says important changes are happening but they follow ‘six years of torpor’

Passengers may lose patience with the government before it can make the changes needed to fix the railway, the rail minister, Lord Hendy, admitted, as he promised that action was coming after “years of torpor”.

The government is midway through a consultation on plans for a reformed, integrated Great British Railways (GBR), with legislation to enact it coming later in 2025, Hendy said.

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Mental health crisis ‘means youth is no longer one of happiest times of life’

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UN-commissioned study in UK, US, Ireland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand finds satisfaction rises with age

For more than half a century, the midlife crisis has been a feature of western society. Fast cars, impulsive decisions, and peak misery between the age of 40 and 50. But all that is changing, according to experts.

In a new paper commissioned by the UN, the leading academics Jean Twenge and David Blanchflower warn that a burgeoning youth mental health crisis in six English-speaking countries worldwide is upending the traditional pattern of happiness across our lifetimes.

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China likely to target US agriculture, state media reports, as Trump tariff deadline nears

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Global Times signals Beijing’s likely countermeasure after US president threatened a further 10% duty to come into force on Tuesday

China is preparing countermeasures against fresh US import tariffs that are set to take effect on Tuesday, China’s state-backed Global Times reported, with American agricultural exports likely to be targeted.

Donald Trump last week threatened China with an extra 10% duty, resulting in a cumulative 20% tariff, while accusing Beijing of not having done enough to halt the flow of fentanyl into America, something China said was tantamount to “blackmail”.

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UK awarded its lowest ranking for workplace gender equality in a decade

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‘Sluggish’ pace in tackling gender pay gap and worsening employment levels push UK back to 18th in PwC index of OECD countries

Women’s worsening unemployment and participation in the workforce has pulled the UK behind Canada to its lowest ranking for workplace equality among large economies in a decade.

The “sluggish” pace of change on women’s earnings relative to men’s – which means closing the gender pay gap could take more than 30 years at the current pace – has knocked the UK back one place to 18th in the Women in Work Index produced by advisory firm PwC.

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