A majority of Americans want to see oil and gas companies held to account for lying about the climate crisis and contributing to global heating, according toa new YouGov poll commissioned by the Guardian, Vice News, and Covering Climate Now.
The Premier Inn hotel chain is making a quicker than expected recovery and could return to pre-pandemic profits by next year, as it boosts wages and offers one-off bonuses to tackle staff shortages in the hospitality industry.
The owner of Ikea has bought Topshop’s former flagship store on Oxford Street, once the jewel in Sir Philip Green’s retail empire, for an estimated £378m, creating a new central London home for the Swedish furniture brand.
Heathrow airport has warned that air travel may not recover to pre-Covid levels until 2026 despite improving passenger numbers in the past three months, as it reported that losses since the start of the pandemic have reached £3.4bn.
Treasury documents have suggested that a return to home working, a key plank of Boris Johnson’s “plan B” proposal to deal with rising Covid-19 cases, would cause up to £18bn of damage to the UK economy over five months.
UK shoppers have racked up more than £4bn in outstanding debt so far this year after taking advantage of “buy now, pay later” deals during the pandemic, according to a new study.
And consumer confidence in the US has improved, according to the Conference Board.
Its consumer confidence index increased in October, following declines in the previous three months. The index rose to 113.8 (1985=100), from 109.8 in September.
The Present Situation Index — based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions — rose to 147.4 from 144.3 last month. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions — improved to 91.3 from 86.7.
Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board, said:
Consumer confidence improved in October, reversing a three-month downward trend as concerns about the spread of the Delta variant eased.
While short-term inflation concerns rose to a 13-year high, the impact on confidence was muted. The proportion of consumers planning to purchase homes, automobiles, and major appliances all increased in October — a sign that consumer spending will continue to support economic growth through the final months of 2021.
Likewise, nearly half of respondents (47.6%) said they intend to take a vacation within the next six months—the highest level since February 2020, a reflection of the ongoing resurgence in consumers’ willingness to travel and spend on in-person services.
Meanwhile, US annual house price inflation has eased somewhat, according to the latest official figures.
BREAKING! US house prices rose by 19.66% YoY in August. This marks the first decline in the year-on-year price increase since May 2020. pic.twitter.com/5NWbFSYEhu
Natural gas prices have also soared to all-time highs.
The collapse of more than a dozen energy suppliers, crippled by surging wholesale costs, will add £100 to the bill of every home in the country, the boss of British Gas owner Centrica has warned, according to the Telegraph’s live blog.
Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea told a Lords committee that the cost of transferring customers to other suppliers would pile further pressure on prices, which are already rising sharply.
Households face a “plain grim” outlook as higher energy bills and petrol prices force them to find at least £442 extra to get through the winter, experts estimated earlier this month.
BlackRock, the fund management giant, has warned that there is a “high probability” of oil hitting $100 a barrel.
Brent crude climbed as high as $86.50 a barrel yesterday, a three-year high, and is currently trading at $85.77 a barrel, while US light crude is at $83.38 a barrel. Higher crude prices have pushed UK petrol prices to record levels – bad news for motorists.
Larry Fink, chairman and chief executive of BlackRock, said at an investment conference in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia:
We’re looking at a high probability of $100 oil.
His comments came after Goldman Sachs, the US investment bank, predicted that a strong rebound in global demand, as economies recover from the Covid crisis, could push Brent crude above $90 a barrel.
Speaking at the same conference, John Studzinski, vice chairman of the investment firm PIMCO said inflationary pressures were likely to persist in coming years – contrary to the US Federal Reserve’s expectation that high inflation is likely to ease next year as pressures from the pandemic fade.
Oil prices are rising again and are close to the multi-year highs hit yesterday, amid rising demand and tight supply.
Brent crude is up 23 cents or 0.27% at $86.22 a barrel, after rising as high as $86.50 yesterday, which was the highest in three years. US light crude is 39 cents higher at $84.15, up 0.47% on the day.
UK shoppers rack up £4bn in 'buy now, pay later' deals
UK shoppers have racked up more than £4bn in outstanding debt so far this year after taking advantage of “buy now, pay later” deals during the pandemic, according to a new study, reports Rupert Jones, deputy editor of the Guardian’s Money section.
An estimated 7.7 million Britons have accumulated “significant” outstanding balances with buy now, pay later (BNPL) companies averaging £538 for each user, according to Credit Karma, a financial website that offers people access to their credit score and credit report.
Britishvolt, a start-up build a £2.6bn electric car battery factory in Blyth, Northumberland, is close to securing at least £200m in government funding, reports the Financial Times.
The battery manufacturer, which is backed by FTSE 100 mining group Glencore, is in advanced talks to finalise the government financial support “within weeks”, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions.
The government has set aside £850m for attracting electric vehicle battery production to the UK, laying the foundation for electric automotive investments as the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars looms in 2030.
Currently the only other ‘gigafactory’ in the country is a plant in Sunderland that supplies Nissan. Its Chinese owner Envision plans to expand the factory significantly and become one of the biggest electric vehicle facilities in Europe, reported the Guardian’s Jasper Jolly.
🚨SCOOP: Britishvolt in talks for more than £200m gov support for Blythe plant🚨
⚡Deal possible in weeks
⚡BV in talks with Stellantis to supply batteries for UK & Europe
⚡Other customer talks include Arrival, Tevva Motors & Lion Electric
No VAT cut on household energy bills in the Budget
VAT on household energy bills will not be cut in the Budget on Wednesday, despite calls to support families hit with record high energy costs.
Labour had urged for the rate to be slashed from 5% to zero over the next six months to ease pressure on the public amid rises in the cost of living.
But Whitehall sources told the BBC such a move would be poorly targeted and other schemes would be better placed to help lower income households through the winter. Scrapping VAT on domestic energy bills would also deplete the Treasury’s revenue by about £1.5bn.
The cut to VAT would have allowed Boris Johnson to claim he has delivered a Brexit benefit, as VAT rates are set centrally within the EU. One of Vote Leave’s promises was that “fuel bills will be lower for everyone”.
A VAT reduction would let the government honour a Brexit referendum pledge, as EU rules prevent member nations from cutting VAT on domestic energy use below 5%. Photograph: Alamy
The cap on energy prices, which increased earlier this month for households in England, Scotland and Wales, is due to be reviewed again by the energy regulator Ofgem next April. Analysts have predicted the cap could jump by as much as 30% in 2022 if gas and electricity prices continue to soar.
Expectations for inflation jump to the highest since 2008 ahead of BoE rate decision
The British public’s inflation expectations over the next year have reached the highest since 2008, according to a YouGov poll commissioned by the bank Citi.
Expectations for inflation over the next 12 months rose to 4.4% in October from 4.1% in September, according to a gauge watched closely by the Bank of England, which will decide on whether to raise interest rates next Thursday.
Last month inflation dipped to 3.1% from 3.2% in August, but the Bank’s chief economist, Huw Pill, said the fall will soon reverse and by the end of the year, it will be heading back towards 5% – more than double the Bank’s 2% target.
Rising energy prices and household costs have contributed to record inflation growth, leading to warnings that the Bank will need to act imminently.
But the Bank’s policymaker Silvana Tenreyro said an interest rate rise before Christmas is unlikely, reported my colleague Phillip Inman. Tenreyro predicted a spike in prices over the next few months was likely to prove short-lived.
Economists at Citi said the Bank review a range of indicators when assessing inflation expectation risks and today’s survey reading on its own was unlikely to increase the pressure for a rate hike.
The owner of Ikea has bought Topshop’s former flagship store on Oxford Street, once the jewel in Sir Philip Green’s retail empire, for an estimated £378m, creating a new central London home for the Swedish furniture brand, reports our retail correspondent Sarah Butler.
The deal to buy the long leasehold on the building, which includes the now vacant 9,290 sq metre (100,000 sq ft) Topshop outlet as well as a Nike Town store and a shop used by footwear brand Vans, will complete in January after a conditional purchase contract was signed.
It completes the sell-off of the assets of Green’s Arcadia Group empire, which collapsed into administration in November last year.
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s budget from the chancellor: Rishi Sunak will end the public sector pay freeze for millions of workers and increase the national minimum wage in the budget on Wednesday, though economists warned the measures would not compensate for inflation rises and cuts to universal credit, as Jessica Elgot and Rowena Mason report.
At the same time, supply bottlenecks hit a new all-time high and, coupled with staff shortages, make it hard for retailers to plan for the winter ahead, the CBI said.
Global supply chain problems reduced retailers’ stock levels to the lowest level since records began in 1985.
CBI economist Ben Jones said:
The UK’s economic recovery has been pretty bumpy lately and the same seems true of the retail sector. Sales performance has jumped around in recent months, while stock shortages continue to bite.
Disruption to supply chains, combined with staff shortages and uncertain public health conditions mean retailers are finding it difficult to plan for the winter ahead.
It’s therefore crucial the government remains agile to support the sector. The chancellor has the opportunity at his upcoming budget [tomorrow] to signal the government’s intent to reform the outdated business rates system, starting with more frequent revaluations and removing any disincentives for investment in energy efficiency and decarbonisation.
Retail sales growth in the UK picked up in October, according to a closely-watched survey from the CBI.
Its retail sales balance rose to 30% from 11% in September. It measures the proportion of retailers saying sales increased, minus those reporting a fall in sales.
The expectations balance for November also improved, to 35% from 29% in October.
FTSE lifted by Reckitt after cold and flu medicine boost
The FTSE 100 index in London is now 41 points ahead at 7,26, a gain of nearly 0.6%, lifted by Reckitt Benckiser and Premier Inn owner Whitbread.
The consumer goods group Reckitt, which makes a host of household brands such as Strepsils, Mucinex and Nurofen along with disinfectants Dettol and Lysol, has reported bumper sales, thanks to strong demand for cold and flu medicines.
Like-for-like net revenue growth was 3.3% in the three months to September, beating analysts’ forecast of a 0.7% drop. This catapulted Reckitt’s share price 6% higher.
Reckitt upped its full-year guidance to 1%-3% revenue growth, from an earlier estimate of 0-2%, though this is still far below the 11.8% sales boom last year when the pandemic led to a surge in demand for hygiene products.
Demand for cleaning products such as Dettol and Lysol has fallen back, after soaring last year when the Covid pandemic first struck.
Woman with cold lying on couch. Photograph: Steve Prezant/Getty Images/Image Source
My colleague Rob Davies has looked at ‘Conditioning an entire society’: the rise of biometric data technology. He writes:
In a school canteen in Gateshead, cameras scan the faces of children, taking payment automatically after identifying them with facial recognition. More than 200 miles away in North London, staff at a care home recently took part in a trial that used facial data to verify their Covid-19 vaccine status. And in convenience stores around the country, staff are alerted to potential shoplifters by a smart CCTV system that taps into a database of individuals deemed suspect.
In each case, biometric data has been harnessed to try to save time and money. But the growing use of our bodies to unlock areas of the public and private sphere has raised questions about everything from privacy to data security and racial bias.
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