Business

Government borrowing was less than expected in May, new figures have revealed. Net borrowing – the difference between public sector spending and income – was £15bn, an increase of £0.8bn on the same time last year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported on Friday. The amount is below the £15.7bn forecast by the Office

TikTok has launched a long-awaited legal fight to stop its Chinese owner being forced to sell the short video platform’s US operations, arguing it violates Americans’ rights to free speech. TikTok and Chinese parent ByteDance were told in April they had until January next year to divest TikTok in the US or face the prospect

The future of new oil and gas projects in the UK has been thrown into doubt following a landmark decision by the Supreme Court. The court concluded the environmental impact of emissions from burning fossil fuels must be considered in planning applications for new extraction projects – not just the impacts of the emissions produced

Wall Street’s biggest bank is lifting Brussels’ bonus cap for its London-based staff, weeks after rival Goldman Sachs fired the starting gun on a post-Brexit era in industry pay. Sky News can reveal that JP Morgan Chase was in the process of notifying staff on Wednesday that it would preserve some elements of the remuneration

UK inflation has eased to 2% – increasing the prospect of an interest rate cut this summer. The consumer prices index (CPI) rate for the year to May was confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Wednesday. The figure indicates that prices are still rising, but at the slowest pace since spring 2021.

There was “possibly a criminal conspiracy” at the Post Office, according to an independent forensic accountant drafted in to investigate the controversial Horizon accounting system. Ian Henderson, one of the two forensic accountants from Second Sight paid by Post Office (POL) to review sub-postmaster convictions involving Horizon in 2012, told the public inquiry into the

Grocery inflation has eased for the 16th month in a row, according to industry data released ahead of the general election also showing a price war aimed at luring fans during Euro 2024. Kantar Worldpanel – which tracks supermarket till prices, sales and market share – said its measure of grocery inflation slowed to 2.1%

China may target the European Union’s pork producers in retaliation for EU tariffs on its electric cars. The world’s second largest economy revealed on Monday that it had launched an investigation into imports of pork for human consumption from the bloc. The Commerce ministry inquiry was in response to a complaint by Chinese pork producers

Fuel retailers have been accused of using the “distraction” of the general election to keep petrol and diesel prices “persistently high”. The RAC said the cost of filling up at the pumps was “far higher” than would normally be expected as wholesale costs had fallen since the end of April. The average price of a

One of London’s most prominent venture capital investors will this week change its name following the death and resignation of its two co-founders. Sky News understands that Hambro Perks, which counts a stake in What3Words, the location-mapping service, among its holdings, is to rebrand as Salica Investments. An announcement about the change of name will

The founders of Melrose Industries, one of Britain’s most prolific and lucrative investment groups, are preparing to list a new vehicle in London next month as they hunt a new wave of takeover targets. Sky News has learnt that Simon Peckham is spearheading the launch of Rosebank Industries, with talks under way to raise more

Sandwich maker Greencore, a major supplier to UK supermarkets, has recalled some of its products because of the risk of E.coli, the Food Standards Agency said. The products were recalled as a precaution just a week after the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) announced there had been an outbreak of E.coli which left some people

Latitude Festival has dropped its sponsor, Barclays, after a number of musicians and comedians dropped out in protest over the bank’s ties to the Israel-Hamas war. Latitude Festival told Sky News: “Following discussion with artists, we have agreed with Barclays that they will step back from sponsorship of Latitude Festival”. Comedians Joanne McNally, Sophie Duker,

Wizz Air has been ranked the worst airline for UK flight delays for the third year running as passengers were landed with a fare hike. The low-cost operator’s departures from UK airports were behind schedule by an average of 31 minutes and 36 seconds in 2023, according to analysis of Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data

Demand in the housing market tailed off last month as hopes of a Bank of England rate cut faded, according to an industry report released just hours before a major housebuilder issued a profit warning. A monthly study by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) pointed to a drop in prices during May. At

Labour has promised its manifesto will have “wealth creation” at its heart, ahead of the document’s launch. Sir Keir Starmer will take to the stage in Manchester on Thursday in an effort to convince the public he has the right policies to earn the keys to Number 10. The Labour leader is expected to say

An investigation into the accounting software the Post Office used before its controversial Horizon system has begun contacting sub-postmasters and is due to report its findings in the autumn, it has been announced. Risk advisory and financial solutions company Kroll has been appointed to conduct an independent, forensic investigation into the system called Capture which

After a very strong start to 2024, during which the UK economy achieved its strongest growth for two years, things stalled again in April. That the economy flatlined during April was no surprise, though, given a couple of factors. One was the early timing of Easter, which will have led some consumer spending that would

Whether Conservatives judge the 2024 manifesto a success or not rather depends on their definition of success. For some, it will be enough that Rishi Sunak has not exploded his election campaign in quite the way Theresa May did with her pledge to impose extra taxes on people to pay for social care in her

Pro-Palestinian activists say they have attacked 20 Barclays bank branches across England and Scotland as part of a campaign aimed at damaging Israel’s war machine. The Palestine Action group, which has previously focused its campaign on Israel-based defence contractor Elbit’s UK operations, said its members were responsible for the vandalism. Images posted on X showed