Southern Rail comes under fire for fining passengers forced to stand in first class carriages of overcrowded trains May 20, 2015 Southern Rail, the train operator with the second-worst punctuality record in the country and the dubious honour of running the “train of shame” has come under fire for fining passengers for standing in the first class carriages of overcrowded trains. Frustrated commuter Peter Boyland wrote to MPs Crispin Blunt and Sam Gymiah to complain [...]
UK rail strike: Talks go to the wire as Network Rail chief Mark Carne writes open letter warning passengers to plan for the worst May 20, 2015 UPDATE 2.45pm: The RMT has followed the TSSA union in suspending strike action after an improved offer from Network Rail. Talks between rail chiefs and union bosses are going to the wire over potential strike action taking place this bank holiday. Representatives of Network Rail and TSSA returned to Acas today after two days of talks that [...]
Labour leadership contest: Tristram Hunt rules himself out as he backs Liz Kendall in race May 20, 2015 Shadow education minister Tristram Hunt has ruled himself out of the leadership race contest, endorsing Liz Kendall, shadow minister for care and older people. Hunt held a press conference today in which he said he was not prepared to stand after “the bulk of MPs are already committed to just a couple of candidates” [...]
Hatton Garden jewel heist update: Police hunt for missing van after nine suspects arrested May 20, 2015 Update: Police have arrested a total of nine men in connection with the Hatton Garden heist – the oldest of whom is aged 76. Detectives from the Flying Squad arrested the men on Tuesday morning on charges of conspiracy to burgle. Read more: Hatton Garden heist images revealed by police More than 200 [...]
UBS to pay US authorities $545m over forex-rigging scandals May 20, 2015 UBS is to pay $545m (£351.7m) to US authorities to settle a series of investigations into the bank's alleged rigging of the foreign exchange markets and Libor. The Swiss bank confirmed the total, to be paid to the Department of Justice, the board of governors of the Federal Reserve and the Connecticut Department of [...]
UK national train strike: Network Rail issues legal challenge to TSSA bank holiday Monday walkout ballot as union votes to join RMT workers May 20, 2015 Negotations between business leaders and unions are rarely cordial, but the gloves have really come off in the row over the rail workers' strike this weekend. Network Rail has issued a legal challenge to the union calling for a strike over the bank holiday, claiming there are “numerous defects” in the ballot. Read [...]
HMRC wins challenge over Next’s “artificial” tax avoidance scheme May 19, 2015 HMRC has won its challenge against high street retailer Next over an "artificial" tax avoidance structure. The First-Tier Tribunal (FTT) has ruled in favour of the government, which brought the case against Next Brand, part of the wider group. The FTT found the scheme, known as a rate-booster, allowed the business to artificially [...]
Potus tweets, world listens: Barack Obama finally gets his own Twitter account May 19, 2015 Barack Obama is used to enduring long battles but even by his standards, a six-year wait to get a Twitter account must have been something of a slog. Still, he's made his point, gaining 1.77m followers in less than 24 hours, easily beating poor old David Cameron, who languishes down the table with * [...]
“Flash crash” trader Navinder Singh Sarao returns to court this week to fight bail setting May 19, 2015 The trader accused of bringing about the flash crash of 2010 is to return to London's High Court tomorrow. Navinder Singh Sarao, 36, remains in custody after failing to pay his £5.05m bail. He is fighting efforts by the US authorities to have him extradited, with the Department of Justice claiming he made £26m [...]
London Mayor 2016: Tessa Jowell focuses on housing for Labour bid May 19, 2015 Mayoral bids are like London buses. You wait for five years (or so it feels) and then two come along at once. Yesterday was the somewhat unorthodox launch of entrepreneur-turned-Tory candidate Ivan Massow, who opted for the “disarmingly honest” approach with his bid. Today it was the turn of Tessa Jowell, who stood [...]
