Theresa May slams uncompromising populists in final major speech as PM July 17, 2019 Theresa May hit out at the growing “uncompromising absolutism” of politics as she reflected on her failure to deliver Brexit in her final major speech as Prime Minister. In what is set to be her valedictory address, May called for political discussion to move from the extreme fringes, and warned that “words have consequences”. She [...]
Premier Foods pay report passes despite shareholder anger July 17, 2019 Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods passed its executive pay recommendations this afternoon despite frustrated shareholders’ anger at the state of the company. Shareholder advisory firm ISS had recommended that investors oppose the remuneration report after the company paid former chief executive Gavin Darby a full salary of £864,000 in lieu of his notice period. Read [...]
Astrazeneca promises cash to back up £12m redundancy payments for former staff July 17, 2019 British-Swedish drugmaker Astrazeneca has promised to plug a £12m hole, if needed, to honour redundancy payments for a plant which it sold in 2016. The pharma giant said it would step in if workers do not get what they are owed from Avara Avlon, which bought the plant in Avonmouth, Bristol. Read more: GSK eyes [...]
NHS still running Windows XP on over 2,000 computers despite spate of cyber attacks July 17, 2019 The NHS has admitted it is still running Windows XP on over 2000 computers, even though the operating system stopped receiving security updates five years ago. In a written answer, health minister Jackie Doyle-Price said: “As of July 2019, approximately 2,300 National Health Service computers are using Windows XP from a total of around 1.4 [...]
FCA boss Andrew Bailey heckled by victims of financial scandals July 17, 2019 The head of Britain’s financial watchdog was heckled by aggrieved small-scale investors at a public meeting this afternoon, following a spate of corporate controversies that have cast a cloud over the body’s reputation in recent months. Andrew Bailey, the chief executive of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority, faced a grilling from victims of several high-profile [...]
Google suspends Viagogo from advertising amid claims ticket site has not changed its ways July 17, 2019 Google has today dealt a blow to controversial second-hand ticketing company Viagogo by suspending its website as an advertiser. It is the second setback for the firm this month. Earlier in July, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would take Viagogo to court. Read more: MPs warn consumers against using ticket reseller Viagogo [...]
Tory MP slams ‘con-artist’ Persimmon over Help to Buy faults July 17, 2019 A Conservative MP has branded property developer Persimmon a group of “crooks, cowboys and con-artists” after faults emerged in Help to Buy homes built by the firm. Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon Robert Halfon MP said he had met with constituents living in homes built by Persimmon that were “shoddily built, with severe [...]
ASA pulls the plug on Dyson’s ‘cordless’ fan advert July 17, 2019 A Dyson advert for a cordless fan was a lot of hot air, the UK’s advertising regulator has ruled. The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) today banned Dyson’s ad for the Pure Hot + Cool Fan, saying viewers could be misled about the need to plug the fan in. Read more: Sir James Dyson buys luxury [...]
Elon Musk reveals plans to connect human brains to computers July 17, 2019 Billionaire Elon Musk yesterday revealed plans to develop technology to allow human brains to connect with computers. Secretive “brain-machine interface” firm Neuralink was founded in 2017 to fight the “existential threat” of artificial intelligence developing further than humans. Read more: Tesla boss Elon Musk rebrands on Twitter as Daddy Dotcom At an event in California [...]
Google terminates Project Dragonfly, its censored search engine for China July 17, 2019 Google has “terminated” China’s controversial censored search engine, codenamed Project Dragonfly, a top executive has said. The project, which a former Google staffer had called “disturbing”, was shelved last December, but suggestions continued to circulate that the tech giant was still running it. Read more: Donald Trump hints at treason probe into Google Karan Bhatia, [...]