Rishi Sunak calls for ‘radical’ action as NHS on ‘knife-edge’ January 7, 2023 Rishi Sunak has urged health leaders at an emergency meeting to take “bold and radical” action to alleviate the winter crisis in the NHS. The Prime Minister told them during Downing Street talks on Saturday that a “business-as-usual mindset won’t fix the challenges we face”. Critics said the discussions would be just a “talking shop” [...]
Shareholders and investors row before crunch vote on Topps Tiles chairman Darren Shapland January 7, 2023 Topps Tiles has accused one of its top shareholders of misleading other investors with contradictory statements ahead of a crunch boardroom vote. MS Galleon, which owns 29.9 per cent of the tile retailer, last month requisitioned a vote to oust Topps’ chairman Darren Shapland and called for two new non-executive directors to be appointed. The [...]
TSB: Quarter of fraud payment victims denied money back in new scheme as regulator urged to rethink January 7, 2023 TSB is urging a regulator to reconsider proposals which could mean one in four people who are tricked into transferring money to a fraudster being denied their money back. The bank said the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) should reconsider the plans for a new bank transfer fraud refund mechanism that would allow banks to exclude [...]
Labour: Work from home but reverse pandemic retirement, over-50s urged January 7, 2023 Labour is hoping to tempt over-50s out of early retirement with the right to work from home. The shadow work and pensions secretary, Jonathan Ashworth, has outlined plans to entice over-50s to take up employment again. Speaking with The Daily Telegraph, Keir Starmer’s spokesperson on the issue, Ashworth, said Labour will launch a series of [...]
Fintech overhaul: Jack Ma to relinquish control of Chinese giant Ant January 7, 2023 Ant Group’s founder Jack Ma will give up control of the Chinese fintech giant in an overhaul that seeks to draw a line under a regulatory crackdown that was triggered soon after its mammoth stock market debut was scuppered two years ago. Ant’s $37bn IPO, which would have been the world’s largest, was cancelled at the last minute in November [...]
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group reduces stake in Hugo Boss as shares dip January 6, 2023 Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group, the owner of brands such as Sports Direct and House of Fraser, has reduced its stake in Hugo Boss after previously upping its investment into the luxury fashion house. Frasers Group said it now owns 3.9 per cent of Hugo Boss’s total share capital, a decline from the 4.3 per cent [...]
Putin’s 36-hour Ukraine truce will ‘do nothing’ for peace, James Cleverly warns January 6, 2023 Vladimir Putin’s plans for a 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine over the Russian Orthodox Christmas holiday period will “do nothing to advance the prospects for peace”, the UK’s Foreign Secretary has said. Russia’s President Putin has ordered Moscow’s armed forces to observe the 36-hour ceasefire in Ukraine this weekend, when the Russian Orthodox Church, which uses [...]
Truce or a trap? Putin calls ‘Christmas Truce’ in Ukraine War January 5, 2023 Vladimir Putin has ordered a so-called Christmas Truce in the war on Ukraine for the Orthodox Christmas period – but Ukrainian officials fear a trap. The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, a Vladimir Putin ally, had called for both sides of the war in Ukraine to observe a Christmas truce. Many Orthodox Christians, including [...]
Thames Water launches a live sewage discharge map – see if your local drain is overflowing January 5, 2023 Thames Water have launched a map of its sewage discharge points to mark the new year – and those living in the area won’t be very impressed. The map appears to show a host of monitors registering live discharge as of 1:40pm, with many focussed around Oxford and out into the Berkshire countryside. The company [...]
Under-pressure Putin to Ukraine: Give up territory before I’ll join negotiations January 5, 2023 President Vladimir Putin told Turkey’s Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday that Russia was open to dialogue over Ukraine but that Kyiv would have to accept the loss of territories claimed by Russia, the Kremlin said. “Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Russia’s openness to a serious dialogue, provided that the Kiev authorities fulfill the well–known and repeatedly voiced requirements [...]