German far-right firebrand in court for using Nazi slogan

Céline LE PRIOUX
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Bjoern Hoecke, the head of the far-right AfD party in Germany's Thuringia state, faces accusations of using a banned Nazi slogan (Ronny HARTMANN)

He is a former history teacher who is gunning to become the first far-right state premier in post-war Germany. But first, Bjoern Hoecke will have to appear in court on Thursday for publicly using a banned Nazi slogan.

Hoecke, 52, is the head of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in Thuringia, one of three former East German states where the party is leading opinion polls ahead of regional elections in September.

He stands accused of twice using the phrase "Alles fuer Deutschland" ("Everything for Germany"), once a motto of the so-called Sturmabteilung paramilitary group that played a key role in Adolf Hitler's rise to power.


The phrase is illegal in modern-day Germany, along with the Nazi salute and other slogans and symbols from that era.

The former high school teacher claims not to have been aware that the slogan "Everything for Germany" had been used by the Nazis, but prosecutors believe Hoecke uttered the phrase in full knowledge of its "origin and meaning".

The trial in the central city of Halle, set to last until mid-May, is one of several controversies the AfD is battling ahead of EU elections in June and regional elections in the autumn.

If convicted, Hoecke faces up to three years in prison. Following a guilty verdict, he could still stand in the regional election, but only if he engages in a drawn-out appeals process.

- 'Memorial of shame' -

Founded in 2013, the anti-Islam and anti-immigration AfD saw a surge in popularity on its tenth anniversary last year, seizing on concerns over rising migration, high inflation and a stumbling economy.

But its support has wavered since the start of this year as it battles scandals including allegations that senior party members were paid to spread pro-Russian positions on a Moscow-financed news website.

Considered an extremist by German intelligence services, Hoecke is one of the most controversial AfD personalities, having called Berlin's Holocaust monument a "memorial of shame" and urged a "180-degree shift" in the country's culture of remembrance.

At the trial on Thursday, Hoecke will have to answer to two charges.

He first stands accused of using the banned slogan at an election rally in Merseburg in the Saxony-Anhalt state in the run-up to Germany's 2021 federal election.

Then, at an AfD meeting in Thuringia in December, he allegedly shouted, "Everything for..." and incited the audience to reply: "Germany".

Born in western Germany near the city of Dortmund, Hoecke grew up in a right-wing family -- under the influence of his paternal grandparents, who were expelled from East Prussia when it was conquered by the Soviet Red Army in 1945.

The father-of-four later settled in Thuringia, where he became one of the founding members of the AfD in spring 2013 and local party chairman three months later.

In 2014, the AfD entered the state parliament in Thuringia with 10.6 percent of the vote and Hoecke became head of the party's parliamentary group -- a position he still holds today.

- Image problem -

Germany's domestic security agency has labelled the AfD in Thuringia a "confirmed" extremist organisation, along with the party's regional branches in Saxony and Saxony-Anhalt.

However, Johannes Kiess, a political scientist at the University of Leipzig, said the outcome of the trial was unlikely to dent support for Hoecke in Thuringia.

AfD supporters in the region are "convinced that the democratic institutions are out to get him", Kiess told AFP.

"It could even be good for him, because the media are talking about him," he said.

But the trial could sway voters in western Germany because it risks "damaging the party's image", Kiess continued.

"Potential voters do not want to be associated with this kind of statement."

Hoecke has been working to clean up his image ahead of the EU elections.

At a television debate last week with the conservative Christian Democratic Union party's candidate for Thuringia, Hoecke repeatedly argued that he had been misinterpreted when taken to task over some of his most controversial claims.

Among them was the party's concept of "remigration" -- short-hand in far-right circles for the mass expulsion of immigrants.

Instead, Hoecke argued that his party was seeking to bring back Germans living abroad.

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Six arrested over Canada’s ‘largest’ ever gold heist worth $20m

Michelle Del Rey
Wed, 17 April 2024 


Six people have been arrested over what officials say was the “largest” gold heist in Canada’s history.

The theft of 6,600 gold bars weighing more than 400 kilograms took place at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport a year ago. The loot had a value of $20m CAD.

“This story is a sensational one, and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series”, Chief of the Peel Regional Police Nishan Duraiappah said during a Wednesday news conference.


An investigative project team called “24 karat” determined that a group of organised crime members were able to easily pull off the robbery using their positions as employees of Air Canada.

The gold, along with foreign currency notes valued at $2.5m CAD, were ordered from a refinery in Zurich, Switzerland. The stolen goods were then transferred in the hull of an Air Canada flight bound for Toronto. Two of the people involved in the heist were employed by the airline, with one of them working in a managerial role.

When the gold arrived in the country, it was offloaded from the plane and brought to an Air Canada cargo facility. One of the suspects later entered the facility with a five-tonne truck, using a fraudulent air waybill from the day before for a seafood shipment.

A truck used to transport stolen gold is displayed at a press conference regarding Project 24K a joint investigation into the theft of gold from Pearson International Airport, in Brampton, Ontario, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 (AP)

The duplicate bill was printed off an Air Canada printer, Detective Sergeant Mike Mavity said at the news conference, standing in front of the truck used in the crime. Later, a forklift loaded the gold and foreign currency into the suspect’s vehicle. The man drove away.

Investigators have so far been able to recover $90,000 CAD out of the $20m CAD in gold.

Detective Sergeant Mavity said his team believes that the gold was melted down and sold off to purchase firearms. Additionally, investigators have recovered $430,000 CAD, thought to be some of the proceeds from the sales, six gold bangles valued at $89,000 CAD, smelting posts cast and moulds.

Lists recovered during the investigation show where the money was distributed when the gold was sold, the detective said.

Five people have been arrested in connection with the crime: Parmpal Sidhu, 54, an Air Canada employee at the time of the crime; Amit Jalota, 40; Ammad Chaudhary, 43; Ali Raza, 37 and Prasath Paramalingam, 35.

The men have been hit with various charges, including theft over $5,000 CAD, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence and possession of property obtained by crime, among others. The suspects have been released on conditions and will appear before in court at a later date in accordance with Canadian law.

Police officers open the back of a recovered truck during a press conference regarding Project 24K a joint investigation into the theft of gold from Pearson International Airport, in Brampton, Ontario, on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 (AP)

Search warrants have been issued for the following individuals: Simran Preet Panesar, 31, a former Air Canada employee; Archit Grover, 36 and Arsalan Chaudhary, 42.

Durante King-Mclean, 25, the driver of the truck is currently in US custody on firearms-trafficking-related charges. Canadian charges have also been issued for the suspect.

In a statement, a representative for Air Canada said, “We thank the police for their diligent efforts in investigating this matter. As this is now before the courts, we are limited in our ability to comment further”.

Mr King-Mclean was stopped by Pennsylvania State Police in September for minor traffic violations. He attempted to flee the area on foot but was caught. Authorities discovered 65 illegal firearms in his truck that they said were heading to Canada.

A photo of firearms seized is displayed during a news conference regarding an investigation into the theft of gold from Toronto’s Pearson International airport, in Brampton, Ontario, Canada on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 (AP)

“What we've come to learn from the service over and over is it always comes down to guns and organised crime”, said Nando Iannicca, chairman of the Peel Police Services Board. “This isn't just about gold. This is about how gold becomes guns”.

Following the incident, Brinks, a Miami-based transport and security services provider, sued Air Canada for negligence. The company had been hired by a Swiss bank to move the stolen goods from Zurich to Toronto.

Six men arrested in Toronto gold heist that ‘belongs in a Netflix series’

Leyland Cecco in Toronto

THE GUARDIAN
Wed, April 17, 2024 

The Peel regional police chief, Nishan Duraiappah, speaks about an investigation into the theft of gold from Toronto’s Pearson international airport on Wednesday.Photograph: Arlyn McAdorey/AP


Police investigating a brazen multimillion-dollar gold heist at Toronto’s main airport have arrested six men and seized dozens of firearms linked to the case which officers said “belongs in a Netflix series”.

Six thousand six hundred gold bars, worth C$21m, and C$2.7m in cash were stolen from a cargo facility at Toronto’s Pearson international airport a year ago in the country’s largest-ever gold heist.

On Wednesday, Peel regional police were joined by members of the US Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to announce developments linked to a “vast and complex” investigation that spanned the two countries. Investigators have arrested six people – five in Canada and one in the US – laid 19 charges and issued three Canada-wide warrants.


The thieves, who arrived at the airport with a five-tonne truck, were able to abscond with the gold after presenting a genuine airline waybill – but one that had been used for a seafood order the day before.

“This story is a sensational one and one which probably, we jokingly say, belongs in a Netflix series,” said the Peel regional police chief, Nishan Duraiappah, standing in front of the truck used in the heist.

Police say the gold, which had recently arrived from Zurich, was later melted down and allegedly used to fund the purchase of firearms intended for sale in Canada as part of a trafficking ring. Smelting pots, casts and moulds were seized as part of the investigation.

Related: Legal dispute rages over unsolved C$24m gold heist at Toronto airport

Among those arrested were Parmpal Sidhu, a 54-year-old Air Canada employee. A second employee, Simran Preet Panesar, 31, is the subject of a nationwide warrant, prompting police to call the heist an “inside job”. The suspected driver of the truck, Durante King-Mclean, is in custody in the US. He was pulled over during a traffic stop in Pennsylvania and was found with 65 firearms in his possession. Police say two of the guns had been modified to have fully automatic capabilities and five of the guns had been stripped of their serial numbers.

None of the charges have been proven in court.

The airline and armoured car company that handled the cargo are still locked in a bitter lawsuit over the theft, with each saying the other is to blame for one of Canada’s largest ever heists. Brink’s, the armoured car company, says that because of this lax security, thieves were able to leave with a haul of gold weighing 400kg and stacks of cash weighing more than 50kg. Air Canada alleges Brink’s shipped the gold and cash from Zurich to Toronto without declaring its value, failing to add any insurance and declining to pay extra for added security.

Both companies have invoked the Montreal convention, which regulates international shipments and sets a compensation limit for the loss of cargo. None of the statements or allegations filed in the lawsuit documents have been tested in the federal court which is hearing the case.

Biden administration to halt major mining project over tribal hunting concerns

John Bowden
Wed, 17 April 2024

 (NPS/Ken Hill)

The Department of Interior is set to announce a ruling that would effectively halt a major mining development in Alaska over concerns that dozens of local tribes will be disrupted by the project.

The Biden administration was set to issue a “no action” ruling for the federal land previously set to be the site of Ambler Road, a proposed 211-mile industrial road deep through the Alaskan wilderness, multiple news outlets reported.

The project was set to go through the Arctic National Park and Preserve, a major piece of protected land in the northern half of the state.

The news could end a years-long battle between local tribes who opposed the project due to its impact on subsistence hunting, which is a major part of some tribal lifestyles across the state.

The project was also a controversial issue for the tribes as it was approved just days before Donald Trump left office by an Interior head who Politico found to have covered up environmental and tribal impacts studied as part of the planning process.

Now, it looks like the project is dead; the refusal of the federal government to allow construction of a road means there remains no plan for a supply chain to be set up to allow access to large copper and zinc deposits known as the Ambler Mining District in Alaska’s northwest. The minerals are key components in batteries and engines for electric vehicles.

The Tanana Chiefs Conference, a tribal group representing dozens of villages, had long fought the project and warned that the road and associated mines would “have devastating impacts on all fish in-migration and out-migration, spawning and rearing habitat, and will especially compromise species at risk like Chinook” due to the sheer number of rivers and estuaries the project would be expected to cross.

“The Ambler Road will pierce the heart of the hunting and fishing lands that our people have depended on for thousands of years,” reads a website the Conference set up in opposition to the project.

It continues: “The road alone would cause harmful impacts along 125 miles and 200,000 acres of public lands managed by the State in trust for its people. The Ambler Road project would be one of the biggest and most destructive in the State’s history.”

In a statement obtained by Politico, the company focused on the development of the mines and called the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) move “an unlawful and politically motivated decision”. It is expected to be challenged by a state agency, the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.

The move was also condemned by Alaska’s entire bipartisan congressional delegation. Democrat Mary Peltola issued a lengthy statement calling the Biden administration’s ruling “disappointing” and writing that the resources were crucial for clean energy development — while also posing an economic opportunity in a region bereft of many.

“The Ambler Access Road is necessary to access the Ambler Mining District, the development of which could create new, good-paying jobs in a region of the state that has limited economic opportunity. Our nation relies on foreign governments for many of the critical minerals used in clean energy development, national security, and everyday electronics,” wrote the congresswoman.

“Alaska has a wealth of natural resources that can be responsibly developed to help boost domestic manufacturing and innovation, but we need to be able to access those deposits. In this time of heightened international and geopolitical conflict, we must not arbitrarily preclude Alaskans’ ability to access deposits like Ambler.”

The Interior Department’s final ruling is expected to be released later this week.

Australia rises to second in world budget management rankings, IMF data shows


Peter Hannam Economics correspondent

THE GUARDIAN
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers at a press conference about the 2023/2023 budget. The IMF’s fiscal monitor found Australia’s budget balance is the second strongest among G20 nations

.Photograph: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Australia’s overall budget balance is the second strongest among G20 nations, behind only Canada, according to the International Monetary Fund’s latest fiscal monitor.

The IMF’s half-yearly update, released on Wednesday night, found Australia’s overall budget balance came in at -0.9% of gross domestic product in 2023, with only Canada’s budget position (-0.6%) faring better.

Australia has shot up the rankings in the latest data, having placed equal 14th in 2021 and seventh in 2022, when it fared worse than countries such as Korea, Russia and Saudi Arabia.

Related: Australians’ spending softened in March after Taylor Swift concert splurge

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the finance minister, Katy Gallagher, hailed what they described as a “remarkable achievement” in Australia’s budget management since they took office. The balance includes the budgets of the states and the commonwealth.

“Our responsible management is ensuring that fiscal policy is taking the pressure off inflation when it is at its highest,” the ministers said in a statement.

“The Albanese government delivered Australia’s first surplus in 15 years in 2022-23, achieving a $100bn turnaround in the forecast inherited from the former government. A second surplus in next month’s budget remains within reach.”

Use of Australia’s overall budget balance is just one gauge of economic management. By net debt, Australia’s tally amounted to 28.3% of GDP in 2023, placing it fourth among the G20 nations that the IMF was able to track.

Still, Australia’s economy has fared better than most counterparts coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, even if it might not have scaled the heights of 2011, when Euromoney magazine dubbed Wayne Swan – Chalmers’ boss at the time – as the best treasurer in the world.

Australia’s current silver placing among G20 nations may not last long.

On the IMF’s projections, the country will slip to fourth in 2024 for its general government balance – at -1.3% of GDP – even if the commonwealth notches back-to-back budget surpluses of its own. Canada, Korea and even crisis-hit Argentina should deliver better balances this year.

The IMF said that while the global economy was stabilising, many nations would “continue to struggle with the legacies of high debt and deficits while facing new challenges”.

It encouraged more “fiscal tightening” to support the “last mile” of disinflation.

“Slowing growth and financial turbulence in China could weigh on global growth and trade, posing fiscal challenges for countries with strong trade and investment linkages,” the IMF said, without naming nations.

Chalmers said on Wednesday that China, which is easily Australia’s largest market, “has been a big feature of our discussions as we put the budget together”.

“The property sector in China has been a really significant factor in the slowing of the Chinese economy,” Chalmers told ABC’s RN Breakfast. “And obviously given the structure of our economy and our trading relationships with China, we’re not immune from the way that the Chinese economy has slowed considerably.”

Related: Rhetoric with no policy, vision with no detail: Dutton and Albanese have big gaps to fill

The IMF also noted 2024 was shaping up as the “Great Election Year”, with 88 economies or economic areas, representing more than half of the world’s population and GDP, holding elections.

“Support for increased government spending has grown across the political spectrum over the past several decades, making this year especially challenging, as empirical evidence shows that fiscal policy tends to be looser, and slippages larger, during election years,” the IMF said.

Most commentators expect the Albanese government to hold off elections until 2025 when its term expires.

WALES

Pioneering male midwife set for glowing retirement after nearly 20 years

Sallie Phillips
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Mark Smart (centre) Newport's only male midwife is retiring after almost 20 years and was celebrated in a surprise party from colleagues last week (Image: Emma Bridge)

THE ONLY male midwife in Newport is set to retire after almost two decades in the industry.

Mark Smart began working at The Royal Gwent Hospital in 2005 after first becoming interested in midwifery seeing the home birth of his brother.

However, during the 1970s, it was not possible for men to become midwives, but thanks to some tireless campaigning from male nurses, in modern times, men are now allowed entry into the profession.

South Wales Argus: Newport's only male midwife Mark Smart is retiring after nearly 20 years


Newport's only male midwife Mark Smart is retiring after nearly 20 years (Image: Emma Bridge)Since 2005, he has delivered thousands of babies and worked with dozens of patients, with his most recent role bringing him to the induction side of midwifery patient care.

The Induction ward where Mr Smart has most recently worked alongside colleagues is where patients come to be induced for many different reasons, from being unwell to being post due date.

As a stalwart of the hospital, he has long encouraged those from all backgrounds, especially men, to apply to be a midwife with the right skills and qualifications.

When talking about what he loves most about the job, Mr Smart said: “Just to see new life coming into the world and you’ve just been a tiny little part of it and just to pick that baby up hand them to mum, it’s fabulous.”

Despite deciding now is the right time to retire, Mr Smart believes the excitement and nerves that come with being a midwife “never leave you”.

Mr Smart says the birth of his daughter was a “trigger” in encouraging him to go into nursing and later midwifery once the door had been opened for men.

Despite some initial raised eyebrows when he went into the profession, he says he has experienced little resistance and has found it to be a “very positive experience”.

Having waited 25 years from leaving school to beginning his midwifery training, Mr Smart has no doubt he made the right decision to follow his earliest career instincts.

Speaking to the Argus in 2012, he said: "When I was at school, I was fascinated by the idea of being a midwife, but I couldn't do it.

"I've always had a real passion for it, and that has stayed with me into this job. I know I made the right decision and I think I'm very lucky."

A beloved figure among the patients and staff at the Royal Gwent Hospital where he trained in 2000 and has worked ever since, Mr Smart “will be missed dearly” by his team and patients alike.

South Wales Argus: Colleagues at the Royal Gwent Hospital have said Mark will be missed dearly

Colleagues at the Royal Gwent Hospital have said Mark will be missed dearly (Image: Emma Bridge)Past patients have described him as “amazing”, “great and helpful” and “a wonderful human being”.

One patient even said they “couldn’t’ve asked for better care and support”.

Mr Smart was thrown a surprise retirement party on Friday, April 12, attended by many of his colleagues from the Royal Gwent.

South Wales Argus: Mark was thrown a surprise retirement party by his colleagues

Mark was thrown a surprise retirement party by his colleagues (Image: Emma Bridge)

In a heartfelt speech, he shared a final thank you with his “family”.

He said: “It’s been absolutely awesome. Thank you all for the last 20 years, its’s been completely brilliant.

“I can’t put it into words, but it has been absolutely amazing.

“We’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve cursed, but most of all we’ve been a family – all of us, the whole team.”

As part of the celebrations, Mr Smart was presented with gifts included a driving experience, a Mount Blanc fountain pen and cartridges, vintage whiskey from the year he was born and a glass and a book of messages from colleagues.

Starmer to set out plans for ‘historic’ £1.8bn investment in Britain’s ports


Christopher McKeon, PA Political Correspondent
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Labour plans to kick-start a “historic investment” in Britain’s ports as part of its green spending plans.

The party has already committed to spending £1.8 billion over five years on upgrading the UK’s port infrastructure if it wins the next election as part of its flagship Green Prosperity Plan.

On a visit to the North East of England on Thursday, Sir Keir Starmer is expected to say the money will lead to the most significant upgrade of Britain’s ports in a generation and billions more pouring into the UK’s energy industry from the private sector.

Before his visit, the Labour leader said: “The legacy of 14 years of Conservative rule is Britain’s industrial strength reduced to the rubble and rust of closed-down factories.

“They have let good jobs go overseas and done nothing about it – and every community has paid the price.

“A Labour government will reindustrialise Britain, from the biggest investment in our ports in a generation to a British jobs bonus to crowd billions of investment into our industrial heartlands and coastal communities.”

Coastal constituencies have been identified as a key weathervane for the next election, having disproportionately backed winning parties over the last 40 years, and polling suggests voters living near the sea have swung behind Labour.

The planned investment in port infrastructure will form part of Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan, which had originally come with a total price tag of £28 billion per year before the party rowed back from that figure, claiming the current Government had damaged the public finances too badly.

Labour sees such investment as crucial to its plans to decarbonise electricity generation by 2030, with ports playing a key role in delivering offshore wind power among other parts of the net zero transition.

But the Conservatives have criticised the plans as unrealistic and unaffordable, claiming they would mean higher taxes or more borrowing.

Sir Keir is expected to be joined by shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves and shadow net zero secretary Ed Miliband on Thursday.

Sir Keir Starmer and Ed Miliband (Jane Barlow/PA)

Ms Reeves said: “Ports are critical hubs for our nation, providing over 90% of trade into the country, connecting people, providing services for maritime energy facilities and delivering value for local communities.

“Ports will be at the centre of Labour’s plans to make Britain a clean energy superpower.”

Mr Miliband echoed this point, saying clean energy “requires flourishing national ports”.

Overall, Labour has said its plans for green investment will deliver up to 650,000 jobs over the next decade, including 35,000 in the North East, and will be funded by closing “loopholes” in the windfall tax on oil and gas companies.

Ms Reeves said: “Labour’s Green Prosperity Plan is central in our mission to grow the economy. It will deliver tens of billions of pounds of private sector investment in the industries of the future, create hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs across the country and put more money in people’s pockets.”

Claire Coutinho, the Energy Security Secretary, accused Labour of using the announcement to distract from questions about Angela Rayner’s tax affairs.

She added: “And once again they are committing to their unfunded decarbonisation promise, which Labour themselves say costs £28 billion a year, but they have no plan to pay for it.

“Straight from the same old Labour playbook, Ed Miliband’s unfunded spending commitments will take families and businesses back to square one with higher borrowing and higher taxes.”

The £28 billion figure originally committed to by Labour, but now abandoned, was for the entirety of its Green Prosperity Plan, of which decarbonising the energy grid was only part.

Labour urged to support oil and gas sector to enable green transition

Jonathan Bunn, 

PA Political Reporter
Wed, 17 April 2024 


A Labour government should commit to supporting the UK’s oil and gas industry to aid the UK’s transition to green energy and boost the economy, a leading sector figure has said.

David Whitehouse, chief executive of the 400-member trade association Offshore Energies UK (OEUK), told the PA news agency that fossil fuels will remain crucial as millions of homes will still be reliant on oil and gas by the end of the decade, which is Labour’s “clean power” deadline.

Mr Whitehouse added that a failure to protect domestic production would leave the UK reliant on more expensive and greater-polluting imports, and threaten thousands of jobs, particularly in small communities.

When asked to comment on Labour’s energy policy and what the party should do if it wins the next election, Mr Whitehouse said: “In the debate about homegrown energy transition, we should be promoting our own jobs and our own skills. We should be promoting our own companies.

“We should be creating real value here. We should not be seeking to import energy from elsewhere. We produce it cleaner here than those other areas.

“In a world where there is a genuine cost-of-living crisis, we need economic value in our society, and if the path forward is economic growth then we want policies that recognise that and support all sectors.”

“This will not only support our small communities up and down the country, but actually will be critical to delivering on our climate change ambitions.”

The oil and gas sector is worth £20 billion a year to the UK economy and supports 200,000 jobs, including 90,000 in Scotland, across the supply chain.

Currently the industry provides about half the UK’s fossil fuel needs, with three-quarters of domestic energy dependent on oil and gas.

Labour has said it would scrap investment relief in the windfall tax on North Sea producers and halt new oil and gas licenscs, but will not end any already in place.

Mr Whitehouse said the UK can ill-afford to allow domestic oil and gas production to dwindle as significant demand is expected to last for decades to come.

He added: “By the end of the decade we will still have millions of homes reliant on gas for heating and cooking and if we don’t continue to invest in domestic supplies then will we will be relying on somewhere in the region of at least 80% on imports.

“If you look at the geopolitical world that we are in at the moment, then there will be a real concern the UK will struggle.”

The comments came as a report commissioned by OEUK found the oil and gas sector’s supply chain has between 60 and 80% of the capabilities required to develop the UK’s low carbon energy provision from floating wind power, hydrogen and carbon capture storage.

The report identified an urgent need for “strategic action” to enable supply chain companies to seize a projected 4% annual increase in spending on these new technologies.

Mr Whitehouse said it is important that both renewable energy and fossil fuel supply chains are supported so that different sectors can collaborate to “create a path for a really successful energy transition”.

He added: “There are many areas where the UK should be world-leading and the report highlights the capability that we already have in our existing oil and gas supply chain.

“If we embrace that then we can amplify those skills, build in areas we already have strength, recognise some of the bigger opportunities it starts to anchor real value in the UK economy.

“So the energy transition goes from being something we need to do from a climate change perspective to something that can also be a real driver of economic strength and the driver of high quality jobs up and down the country.

“We have got this great supply chain already, let’s use it.”

TUC calls for AI to be regulated in the workplace

Alan Jones, PA Industrial Correspondent
Wed, 17 April 2024 



The UK is losing the “race against time” to regulate AI in the workplace, unions are warning.

The TUC said employment law is failing to keep pace with the rapid speed of technological change, leaving many workers vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination.

The union organisation published a “ready-to-go” legal blueprint for regulating AI in the workplace, with a suggested Bill developed in partnership with legal experts.

It sets out new legal rights and protections including a legal duty on employers to consult trade unions on the use of high risk and intrusive forms of AI in the workplace and protections against unfair dismissal by AI.


The TUC called on all political parties to support AI regulation in the workplace, describing it as an “urgent national priority”.

AI is already making high-risk, life-changing decisions about workers’ lives, such as line-managing, hiring and firing staff and is being used to analyse facial expressions, tone of voice and accents to assess candidates’ suitability for roles, said the TUC.

It warned that the UK is at risk of becoming an international outlier on AI regulation, highlighting that other countries such as the US, China, Canada and those in the EU, were implementing new laws for how AI should be used.

TUC assistant general secretary Kate Bell said: “UK employment law is simply failing to keep pace with the rapid speed of technological change. We are losing the race to regulate AI in the workplace.

“AI is already making life-changing calls in the workplace, including how people are hired, performance managed and fired.

“We urgently need to put new guardrails in place to protect workers from exploitation and discrimination. This should be a national priority.

“Other countries are regulating workplace AI – so that staff and employers know where they stand. The UK can’t afford to drag its feet and become an international outlier.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology said: “Harnessing the power of AI should not be at the expense of employment rights or protections – and that’s why the UK is leading the world on the safe and responsible adoption of AI, having held the first ever AI Summit at Bletchley Park last year.

“We’ve already taken steps to upskill workers for jobs both in and with AI through £290 million worth of investment since 2018 and are working with businesses and regulators on the safe and responsible adoption of AI in the workplace.

“Our response to the AI Regulation White Paper consultation backs our expert regulators to help us navigate the challenges of this technology, with a £10 million support package to deliver the skills, expertise, and institutions we need to ensure any legislation when introduced will be at its most effective.”

Newspaper state ownership rules to be watered down

Christopher Williams

THE TELEGRAPH
Wed, 17 April 2024 

telegraph newspaper

Curbs on foreign state ownership of British news outlets designed to block the UAE bid for The Telegraph are in line to be weakened following an outcry from owners including Rupert Murdoch.

Officials have been warned against the “unintended consequences” of new laws if drawn too strictly by lobbyists for the media mogul and his rival Lord Rothermere, the owner of The Daily Mail.

Mr Murdoch’s holding company News Corp, which is listed in New York, is understood to be concerned that its shareholders could inadvertently breach a proposed 5pc cap on foreign state shareholdings.

Both News Corp and DMGT, Lord Rothermere’s company, are also said to have protested that very strict legislation could cut them off from future opportunities for outside investment that would not involve state influence over their newspapers.

Media mogul Rupert Murdoch's company News Corp has raised concerns over strict ownership legislation - Mike Segar/Reuters

Titles owned by News Corp and DMGT, a potential bidder for The Telegraph, were vocal opponents of the UAE-backed bid from RedBird IMI. The fierce public controversy that led to the planned laws on foreign state ownership of the media, which have effectively killed the bid. The Telegraph is now expected to go up for sale again in the coming weeks.


Department of Culture officials are racing to draw up legislation after the House of Lords last month forced ministers to act against the takeover attempt. RedBird IMI is three-quarters funded by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice president of the United Arab Emirates, and there were concerns about what the bid could mean for press freedoms.

An amendment to the Digital Markets Bill is being prepared to outlaw foreign state control or influence over newspapers and news websites. However, exceptions are being prepared via secondary legislation and the details of this are the focus of wrangling.

Sources said that the Government was preparing a consultation on its plans in the coming weeks that is expected to lay the ground for a softer regime.

A source involved in the ongoing discussions said: “This is a narrow intervention meant to safeguard The Telegraph that has sector-wide consequences.”

Ministers previously told parliament that the only allowable exceptions would be for passive stakes capped at 5pc. News Corp is said to be arguing that the cap is too low, partly because US rules do not require investors to disclose stakes below 5pc.

News Corp previously won investment from a Saudi prince, Al Waleed bin Talal. The stake proved crucial in the battle for control that Mr Murdoch faced as a result of the phone hacking scandal, and ultimately won. Kingdom Holding, the vehicle for the investment, subsequently cashed in the stake.

There are broader concerns being voiced by DMGT about the fact that sovereign wealth, either directly or via investments in private equity funds, is a growing force in finance from which news publishers should not be completely cut off.

For instance the specialist online publisher Politico is owned by the German publisher Axel Springer, which in turn is controlled by the buyout giant KKR. In common with most large private equity firms, KKR has raised billions from sovereign wealth in recent years.

A DCMS spokesman said: “It is vital that we protect our newspapers and news magazines from foreign state interference given the unique role these publications play in our democracy.

“The new measures will only apply to foreign states, foreign state bodies and connected individuals and will include a specific exemption for state owned investments, for example sovereign wealth funds, of a very low level.

“The measures are still in active development, but we are committed to ensuring that they do not have undesired effects on wider foreign business investment in UK media.”

Spokesmen for News Corp and DMGT declined to comment.

GPs in England launch dispute over new contract with threat of industrial action

Ella Pickover, PA Health Correspondent
Wed, 17 April 2024



Family doctors’ leaders have announced they are entering into a dispute with the health service amid a row over the new contract for GP services in England.

The British Medical Association (BMA) warned that GPs could stage industrial action unless changes are made to the contract.

The union said the contract, which will see services given a 1.9% funding increase for 2024/25, means many GP surgeries will struggle to stay financially viable.

A referendum carried out by the union found that 99% of 19,000 GPs rejected the new contract.

Now the GP leaders from the BMA have written to NHS England to say they are entering into a dispute with the service.

The letter to NHS England’s national director for primary care and community services, Dr Amanda Doyle, says the BMA will be writing to local care bodies to “highlight this dispute and our advice to add potential GP action on to their system risk register”.


We have overwhelmingly voted to reject the Government and NHS England’s 2024/25 GP contract changes. More than 19,000 GPs and GP Registrars took part in the BMA’s referendum, with over 99% voting ‘no’. Our message can't be any clearer. https://t.co/VYNmj1p2Ur@doctor_katie pic.twitter.com/tK4wtdfLL6

— General Practice (@BMA_GP) March 28, 2024

Dr Katie Bramall-Stainer, chairwoman of the BMA’s General Practitioners Committee for England, who wrote the letter, said: “GPs and their patients want the same thing – we want patients to be able to see their family doctor, quickly and easily, in a practice that is local to them, well-staffed and resourced, and safe.

“This contract imposition will do untold damage to our profession, making it harder for surgeries to stay open and give the care our patients need.

“We don’t want to take any kind of industrial action and hope it can be avoided, but the further NHS England and the Government get from working with us on solutions, the closer GPs get to taking action.”

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “GPs and their teams are at the heart of our communities, and we hugely value their vital work.

“The Government listened to feedback from general practice and the new contract will provide the biggest reduction of unnecessary and burdensome bureaucracy in 20 years, so they can spend more valuable time with their patients, while also giving them greater autonomy to run local practices.

“Further pay uplifts may be made to the GP contract following the Government’s response to the independent Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists Remuneration.”

UK

Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance still owes Greensill Capital nearly £500m

Maria Ward-Brennan
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Photo credit JUSTIN TALLIS/AFP via Getty Images

The administrators for Greensill Capital are still owed around $587.2m (£472m) from Sanjeev Gupta’s GFG Alliance, it has been revealed.

Grant Thornton, the administrators for Greensill, published a report on Sunday, where it outlined how the firm is still in ongoing discussions with a number of debtors, including GFG Alliance, regarding outstanding balances owed.

Grant Thornton warned that as the firm is not able to recover the funds owned, it will “continue to consider the recovery options that are available to Greensill Capital UK under the security and guarantees granted by GFG in connections with the GFG programmes.”

“However, we are not able to provide the details of such strategies so as to not prejudice our position,” it added.

GFG Alliance was Greensill’s biggest client and it was reported at the time of the collapse that it had an exposure totalling $5bn.

A GFG Alliance spokesperson said: “Liberty Steel Group has signed a new framework agreement with its major Greensill creditors.

“The new framework comes after achieving major milestones in raising new capital including a successful US$350m bond issue through Jefferies LLC and a $350m Asset-Backed Term Loan through Blackrock and Silver Point Finance.

“Execution of the framework agreement will build on improvements made across the group since the collapse of Greensill Capital.”

Commenting on the report, Tim Symes, insolvency and asset recovery partner at leading law firm Stewarts, said: “Like any security, a guarantee to pay another company’s debts is only as good as the ability of the giver to actually pay it.”

“The GFG group of companies is complex and opaque, and so it remains to be seen whether the companies that have granted the guarantees are in fact the ones with sufficient value to be able to meet any payment demands from the administrators,” he added.

News of the amounts owed to Greensill by GFG Alliance comes after the Insolvency Service launched a director disqualification claim against Greensill’s director Lex Greensill. This move came after it was revealed that Greensill filed a lawsuit against the Department for Business and Trade over the alleged “misuse of private information”.

Greensill administrators threaten to seize Sanjeev Gupta’s assets after he fails to repay £472m


Matt Oliver
Tue, 16 April 2024 

Sanjeev Gupta's GFG reportedly owed Greensill £3.7bn at the time of its failure in 2021 - Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Administrators for collapsed finance firm Greensill Capital have warned they could attempt to seize assets from steel magnate Sanjeev Gupta to recover $587m (£472m) in unpaid funds.

GFG Alliance, a collection of companies headed by Mr Gupta, has been targeted by the administrators having been one of Greensill’s most prolific borrowers before its collapse.

As a specialist lender that advanced cash to companies so they could pay suppliers early, Greensill was reportedly owed £3.7bn from GFG at the time of its failure in 2021.

This includes $587m owed to the UK arm of Greensill Capital, which is yet to be repaid despite long-running negotiations, according to an update published by administrators at Grant Thornton.

Talks over repayment were ongoing but if these fail then Greensill’s administrators said they would “consider recovery options that are available” under security and guarantees given by GFG for various loans.

It is common for borrowers to put up certain assets as security for loans in the event they cannot make repayments, or offer up guarantees that a third party will pay on their behalf as a last resort.

However, the administrators declined to give further details “so as not to prejudice our position”.

They added that non-binding agreements had been signed with Mr Gupta and various GFG entities since 2022 but that no debt repayments had been made as of March 7.

Another agreement regarding debt repayments was struck on March 15 this year.

A GFG spokesman said the agreement comes after the company raised new funds, although it is understood that the amount owed by Mr Gupta’s companies remains in dispute.

GFG missed a previous repayment date agreed by both sides but this was because negotiations remained ongoing, a person familiar with the discussions said.

A company spokesman refused to confirm the new deadline for GFG’s debt repayments.

Prior to its failure, Greensill was valued at $3.5bn and counted Lord Cameron, the Foreign Secretary, as an adviser.

The company filed for insolvency in 2021 after buckling under billions of dollars in debt, with its collapse accelerated by a decision from Credit Suisse to suspend £7bn of funds.

At the time of its withdrawal, Credit Suisse cited concerns over the bank’s exposure to Mr Gupta’s businesses, which had borrowed billions of pounds to fuel a rapid expansion.

Greensill subsequently lost insurance coverage for its financing and filed for insolvency.

However, the company’s close relationship with Mr Gupta’s empire has come under scrutiny amid reports it lent money to GFG companies based on speculative invoices from customers they had never done business with.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for GREENSILL 

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for SANJEEV GUPTA

UK Trade union law in breach of workers rights, Supreme Court rules

“This is a badge of shame for the Conservatives. They are on the side of bad bosses – not working people.”

Jess Glass, 

PA Law Editor
Wed, 17 April 2024 

UK trade union law breaches workers’ rights and “encourages and legitimises unfair and unreasonable conduct by employers”, the Supreme Court has ruled.

On Wednesday, five justices at the UK’s highest court unanimously ruled the UK has breached its duties over the right to take part in lawful strikes in what Unison’s general secretary described as the “most important industrial action case for decades”.

Judges were considering the case of Fiona Mercer, a care worker who was suspended by her employer after taking part in a planned strike.

Ms Mercer previously took legal action against the Alternative Futures Group, a charity providing a range of care services across north-west England, after she was suspended in 2019.

In 2022, three Court of Appeal judges ruled against Ms Mercer, a member of Unison and a union representative, following an intervention on behalf of the Business Secretary, and overturned a ruling made by a judge sitting in an employment appeal tribunal.

But in a judgment on Wednesday, Lady Simler found the law had a “complete absence” of protection against sanctions short of dismissal intended to deter or punish trade union members from taking part in lawful strikes.

Lady Simler, whose ruling was supported by four other justices, said: “In my judgment the right of an employer to impose any sanction at all short of dismissal for participation in lawful industrial action nullifies the right to take lawful strike action.

“If employees can only take strike action by exposing themselves to detrimental treatment, the right dissolves.”

She continued: “It is hard to see what pressing social need is served by a general rule that has the effect of excluding protection from sanctions short of dismissal for taking lawful strike action in all circumstances.”

The judge added that the legislation at the heart of the case “both encourages and legitimises unfair and unreasonable conduct by employers”.

Lady Simler also said the protection in place was limited to strike action taken outside of working hours, adding that “to withhold labour at a time when the employer has no expectation of labour being provided is unlikely to have any consequence”.

She later said there have been no findings of fact about Alternative Futures Group’s intentions “nor about the reasonableness or proportionality of its actions”.

Following the ruling, Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “This is the most important industrial action case for decades.

“It’s a victory for every employee who might one day want to challenge something bad or unfair their employer has done.

Union chiefs said it was the most important case of its kind in decades (Yui Mok/PA)

“Rogue bosses won’t like it one bit. They’ll no longer be able to punish or ill-treat anyone who dares to take strike action to try to solve any problems at work.

“No-one strikes on a whim. There are many legal hoops to be jumped through first. But when a worker decides to walk out, they should be able to do so, safe in the knowledge they won’t be victimised by a spiteful boss.

“The Government must now close this loophole promptly.

“It won’t cost any money and isn’t difficult to do. Today is a day to celebrate.”

Ms Mercer said: “I’m delighted at today’s outcome. Although it won’t change the way I was treated, it means irresponsible employers will now think twice before behaving badly towards their unhappy staff.

“If they single strikers out for ill-treatment, they’ll now be breaking the law.”

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak also welcomed the ruling, describing it as a “monumental victory”.

He added: “Judges have been clear as day. UK law fails to protect workers from bad bosses who punish staff for exercising their right to strike. It breaches international law.

“This Government is racking up embarrassing legal defeats over its attacks on the right to strike, after the High Court recently ruled its strike-breaking agency worker regulations were illegal.

“This is a badge of shame for the Conservatives. They are on the side of bad bosses – not working people.”

 

Thames Water creditor backs plan to break up business

Luke Barr
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Thames

A leading bondholder in Thames Water has backed plans to break up the business as it races to stave off collapse.

The prospect of carving up Thames Water is gaining momentum ahead of a rescue plan that bosses are expected to unveil on Friday.

Luke Hickmore, a fund manager at Abrdn who holds secured bonds in Thames Water, said he would support a split if it meant protecting creditors’ interests.

The Telegraph revealed earlier this month that bosses were exploring a potential break-up as part of a range of scenarios to avoid nationalisation.

Under the proposals being considered, Thames Water – which serves 16 million customers – could be divided into two separate smaller companies: one covering London and the other serving the Thames Valley and Home Counties regions.


Given its size, Mr Hickmore said Thames Water must reach a positive outcome for both “political and economic reasons”, as the risk of creditors losing out would knock confidence levels across Britain’s infrastructure sector overall.

He said: “They are one of the largest issuers in the UK. That’s a pretty important outcome for everybody, whether it be pensioners or insurance companies.”

It emerged on Tuesday that Thames bosses are also reportedly weighing a possible debt raise as it hunts for new cash to secure its future.

However, City sources played down the prospect, questioning why the beleaguered supplier would tap debt markets given it is already burdened by an £18bn debt pile.

One bondholder who recently sold out of Thames said: “It’s smoking something, right? The management team is panicking and thinking about how they can make it work and they can’t.”

A restructuring adviser involved in discussions added: “I find it mesmerising that any more debt could go in. No one would allow it. It seems crazy to my mind.”

Speculation around Thames’ finances comes weeks after parent business Kemble, which represents shareholders, confirmed it is cutting off fresh funds from the business over claims regulator Ofwat has rendered the business “uninvestable”.

It is understood there has been no dialogue between Thames Water bosses and Kemble since the announcement.

Shareholders’ refusal to fulfil a £500m funding package has pushed Thames Water closer to the brink, despite bosses’ claims that the company has £2.4bn of funds to see it through the next 15 months.

A collapse into special administration – where the Government steps in to keep the company operating – has grown increasingly likely in recent weeks, with the supplier yet to convince Ofwat that it must increase bills by 40pc in order to ensure long-term profitability.

According to sources close to the company, a taxpayer bailout could cost £5bn “just to keep the lights on”.

A Thames bondholder said: “We’re all running scenarios every morning and worrying about whether they are going to go through a special administration regime.”

It is understood that breaking up the business would make it easier for Thames’ operations to be sold on to a rival once stabilised.

Colm Gibson, managing director at Berkeley Research Group, said: “It is far from certain that Thames Water would emerge from special administration as a single large company. It is entirely possible that it could be broken up into a series of smaller water companies serving local areas.”

The Government is reluctant to intervene in the handling of Thames Water given the looming election, which could make it a problem for Sir Keir Starmer if Labour succeeds at the polls later this year.

This has already led to talk across the industry that Labour is in favour of a break-up, although the party rejected the speculation Wednesday.

Last week, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said it would be “utterly outrageous” for Ofwat to grant Thames Water’s demands for higher household bills.

He said shareholders in the company “had an obligation to sort out the mess” when asked whether they had a duty to inject more cash into the business.

Thames Water declined to comment.

Traders bet on Thames Water crisis contagion as firm races to agree survival plan


Lars Mucklejohn
Wed, 17 April 2024 

Rishi Sunak's government is facing a political headache as it may be forced to temporarily nationalise Thames Water

Traders at major US hedge funds are betting against the debt and equity of British water companies amid fears over their levels of debt and the risk of contagion across the sector sparked by the crisis engulfing Thames Water.

Millennium Management had disclosed a short position on northwest-focused United Utilities, while Arrowstreet Capital has bet against the southwest’s Pennon. United Utilities has the most debt of any UK water company behind Thames.

Bloomberg, which first reported the news, cited data from S&P Global Market Intelligence showing that short interest on United Utilities had jumped to almost seven per cent on 12 April from two per cent last July.


Meanwhile, short interest in Southern Water bonds jumped to 6.6 per cent this week from roughly 0.8 per cent at the start of the year.

Debt is commonplace across the water sector. Suppliers have collectively amassed more than £51bn in net debt in the 32 years between privatisation in 1991 to March 2023, according to research by the Financial Times.

Even as the sector has come under increasing scrutiny, debt has continued to rise. In the past two years alone, the figure has jumped £8.2bn.

The government is facing the costly prospect of having to temporarily nationalise Thames, which is the UK’s biggest water supplier with some 16m customers, to prevent it from collapsing.

The firm is struggling under a £15.6bn debt pile, which has become increasingly difficult to service amid higher interest rates.

Regulator Ofwat last month rejected Thames’ plan to hike bills by 40 per cent to help ease its debt pile, causing shareholders to pull £500m of emergency funding. The crisis worsened earlier this month when Thames’ parent company Kemble defaulted on around £1.4bn worth of debt.

Thames Water now has under two months to convince Ofwat that it has a feasible survival plan before it publishes a determination on how much water companies can charge customers on 12 June.

Whether Thames can strike a deal with the regulator will be a crucial signal on how likely it is to attract new equity investors and avoid falling into special administration.

Royal London, among the asset managers most exposed to Kemble’s bonds, has argued that if the government takes over Thames, and triggers losses for bondholders, it could deter much-needed investment from other infrastructure assets.

Kemble is expected to miss its repayment deadline for a £190m loan to a consortium of four banks, including two state-owned Chinese lenders, at the end of this month.

Thames has said it has £2.4bn of liquidity available and can still meet its commitments until at least May 2025. However, high borrowing costs and fines from Ofwat risk significantly shrinking this cash pile.

Thames declined to comment when approached by City A.M.

Thames Water to add to debt mountain in bid for survival


Alex Lawson and Anna Isaac
Tue, 16 April 2024 
The Guardian

Ongoing water pipe work in London. Thames Water already has £15.6bn of debt.

Photograph: Leon Neal/Getty Images

Thames Water is preparing to tap debt markets within weeks in an attempt to fund a rescue plan and repair its threadbare finances, the Guardian can reveal.

It is understood the embattled water company is planning to publish a revised five-year spending plan within days, before a deadline next month. Its board is expected to meet on Thursday to rubber-stamp the plan, and executives hope to release it on Friday.

Sources said the company then intends to wait for up to a week before approaching lenders to fund the proposals and has sought advice from City bankers and lawyers on the debt issuance. Financiers said the proposed timing of the fresh borrowing was surprising, given huge uncertainty around Thames’s future.

Britain’s biggest and most heavily indebted water company is fighting to secure its financial future, and has already said it only has cash reserves to fund its operations for the next 15 months without a substantial increase in bills.

Thames’s plans to raise fresh debt come despite it labouring under a £15.6bn debt pile. Its parent company, Kemble Water Finance, missed an interest payment earlier this month, and said it will not be able to repay a £190m loan due by the end of April.

Its shareholders also recently backtracked on plans to inject £500m into the business amid a standoff with the industry regulator, Ofwat. The investors, which include USS and Omers, said Thames’s original business plan was “uninvestible” (sic) and demanded Ofwat allow it to raise bills sharply, levy lower fines and pay dividends.

The company plans to republish the spending plan covering 2025 to 2030, which was first submitted to Ofwat last October, to allow regulators and investors to scrutinise it. Thames then intends to give markets a few days to settle and “absorb” the information before pushing the button on the debt plan, sources said.

Thames’s original plan was to raise bills by 40% to fund an £18.7bn investment programme. However, the size of its investment plan is expected to be revised upwards by between £1bn and £1.5bn, with the £1.5bn more likely.

It is unclear how much of the extra funds Thames hopes to raise through issuing new debt, but sources said it would have to be sizeable given the scale of its funding needs.

Sources said that Thames, which has 16 million customers across London and the Thames valley, hopes to price the bonds in late April, before issuing the debt formally in early May.

Lenders signing up to the debt issuance could be taking a gamble, however, as it is unclear how much Ofwat will allow Thames to raise through higher consumer bills.

Ofwat is due to publish its draft response to Thames’s plan on 12 June, with water companies’ plans not signed off until December. The Guardian revealed this week that the company had six weeks to convince the regulator that it had a credible survival plan for its business,before an Ofwat board meeting on 23 May.

Ofwat is understood to be sceptical that Thames’s current business plan is viable or fair on consumers and is demanding a separate turnaround strategy for reforms to its management and governance.

The company could be hamstrung by the relatively small pool of debt and equity investors in the UK water sector, and the high-profile concerns expressed over Thames’ future. Bonds in its parent company are trading at a steep discount after its default.

Other possible scenarios include a renationalising the company, an attempt to find new shareholders – potentially through a stock market float – a debt-for-equity swap and a breakup of the company.

Although Thames’s operating company has £15.6bn of debt, the wider group has borrowings of more than £18bn across in its byzantine corporate structure.

Thames’s financial troubles have drawn further attention to the stewardship of the company by Macquarie, the Australian bank that previously owned the water supplier and which has been heavily criticised for building huge debts at Thames while paying dividends to shareholders.

The company’s current backers include the Canadian pensions firm Omers; the UK university staff pension scheme; a subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund and China’s sovereign wealth fund.

Thames Water declined to comment.

UK rents are up by 9.2% in a record yearly rise

Pedro Goncalves
·Finance Reporter, Yahoo Finance UK
Wed, 17 April 2024 

The borough of Kensington and Chelsea has the highest rent in the UK (Empics Entertainment)

The average cost of rent in the UK rose by 9.2% in the 12 months to February this year – the highest annual increase since records began in 2015.

The average private rent in Great Britain was £1,246 in March, which is £104 more than a year ago, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Kensington and Chelsea remain at the top of the most expensive postcodes to live in the country, with the average rent hitting £3,305 in March. Outside London, Bristol had the highest rents, at £1,748.

In Wales, tenants were paying an average of £727 in March, up 9% or £60 from a year earlier.

Scotland saw rent prices jump 10.5% – some £90 more – in the past 12 months to hit £947 in March.


For Northern Ireland, the data only goes up to January, when rents increased by 10.1%.

The North East has the lowest rent in the whole of the UK, with tenants paying on average £662.

UK households were paying more rent for detached properties (£1,446), with flats or maisonettes coming in as the cheapest option, at £1,912.

The ONS also released data that showed average UK house prices falling 0.2% in the 12 months to February, slowing from a decrease of 1.3% in the 12 months to January.

Read more: The UK’s most expensive streets ranked

Across the UK, the average house price was £281,000.

In the 12 months to February, average house prices fell in England to £298,000 (a 1.1% decrease), were down in Wales to £211,000 (a 1.2% fall), but increased in Scotland to £188,000 (a 5.6% rise).

Average house prices increased by 1.4% to £178,000 in the year to the fourth quarter of 2023 in Northern Ireland.

UK
Billions vanish from retirement funds after pension providers shutter


Elliot Gulliver-Needham
Wed, 17 April 2024

As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the risk to pensions, FSCS has partnered with television presenter and football broadcaster Jeff Stelling.

Almost £2bn has been lost from UK pension pots in the last five years after the authorised financial providers and advisers managing them have gone out of business, with £800m unable to be refunded.

Over 43,000 claims have been made against companies who have gone bust and left people without a pension since 2019, data from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) has revealed.

While investors can sometimes get their money back, the FSCS is only able to refund pensions protected under FSCS compensation rules, which normally limit the compensation available to £85,000.

FSCS was able to pay back about £1.2bn in compensation over the last five years, meaning that investors were left with up to £800m in lost pension funds.


Among those who have lost money due to advisers going bust, 77 per cent were men, with 95 per cent of all claimants being between 45 and 75.

As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the risks around advisers going bust, FSCS has partnered with television presenter and football broadcaster Jeff Stelling.

The policy of pension funds going bust and leaving their customers without payouts famously came under scrutiny with the shutdown of Equitable Life in 2018, which saw 261,000 people sharing a payout almost two decades after it came close to collapse.

Martyn Beauchamp, interim chief executive at the FSCS, said: “The financial loss to people’s pensions that we see in our claims is substantial and has serious consequences for thousands of people every year.

“FSCS has long highlighted the importance of checking that your pension savings are protected, as these types of claims often come to us long after the financial harm may have occurred – and by that point it can often be too late to rebuild before retirement.”