Octopus overtakes British Gas as Britain’s largest household energy supplier
Octopus Energy has become Britain’s largest household energy supplier for the first time, toppling British Gas almost four decades after it was privatised under Margaret Thatcher.The energy company grew its share of the market to 23.7% of households in Great Britain by the end of last year, according to latest figures, less than a decade after it was founded by its chief executive, Greg Jackson.Octopus confirmed that it gained almost 1m new gas and electricity accounts from its rivals last year alone. It now has 12
‘He’s one of the best’: the economist shaping Rachel Reeves’s growth plans
The economist John Van Reenen lacks the public status of Gordon Brown’s “two Eds” – Balls and Miliband – who ranged across Whitehall in New Labour’s first term, enforcing the Treasury’s will. But ask today’s Labour apparatchiks about Rachel Reeves’s approach to growth, which she will set out in a speech later this month, and they often point to the chair of her council of economic advisers.Currently on leave from the London School of Economics (LSE), where he ran the Centre for Economic Performance, Van Reenen has spent his professional lifetime probing the weak spots of the UK economy.Now he is based in an office next to Reeves’s at the Treasury, with his three fellow advisers. One Labour source says they struggle to remember a consequential meeting at which Van Reenen has not been present
China’s economy hits 5% growth target but rate among slowest in decades
China’s economy grew by 5% in 2024, in line with government targets but at the slowest rate since 1990 outside the Covid pandemic, according to official data.Growth accelerated through the year, with an expansion of 5.4% in the final quarter, up from 4.6% in the third quarter, according to Beijing’s National Bureau of Statistics.The bureau reported “steady progress amid stability” but pointed to a “complicated and severe environment with increasing external pressures and internal difficulties”
Food stores in Great Britain have worst Christmas since 2013
Retailers in Great Britain experienced a surprise fall in sales volumes last month, as supermarkets and other food stores had their worst Christmas since 2013, according to official figures.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said sales volumes fell 0.3% month on month in December, as the crucial retailing “golden quarter” of trading for the sector proved to be weak this year. Economists had expected sales to grow 0.4%
Ofcom enforces ban on ‘nasty surprise’ mid-contract telecoms price rises
Millions of consumers will be protected from “nasty surprises” from Friday as new rules take effect that mean telecoms firms must tell people upfront – in “pounds and pence” – about any future price rises.It means mobile phone, broadband and pay-TV companies are now banned from imposing mid-contract price increases linked to unknown future rates of inflation.The changes come 18 months after a Guardian investigation exposed “greedflation” in the telecoms sector, with millions of people facing mid-contract rises in monthly payments of up to 17.3%.Ofcom, the telecoms regulator, is forcing firms to set out upfront, in clear monetary terms, details of any expected rises throughout the duration of their deals
Memo for Rachel Reeves: regulators cannot produce growth out of thin air | Nils Pratley
“Every regulator, no matter what sector, has a part to play by tearing down the regulatory barriers that hold back growth,” said Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, after summoning the overseers of the railways, aviation, water and energy industries and more for a pow-wow at No 11. You’d almost think the UK would be transformed into a high-growth paradise if only these regulatory plodders would allow companies to embrace risk-taking.The reality, sadly, is more nuanced. First, most of these regulators – the likes of the Competition and Markets Authority, Ofcom, Ofwat, Ofgem, the Environment Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority – have had a secondary “growth duty” since 2017. The political urging to take the obligation more seriously may be louder these days, but the duties themselves have not changed
Apple suspends AI-generated news alert service after BBC complaint
UK TikTokers say goodbye to US followers as ban looms: ‘It’s a really beautiful community’
Elon Musk knows little about UK and Germany and should not interfere – poll
Donald Trump reportedly weighing up TikTok ban delay
UK Meta staff ‘concerned’ over scrapping of factcheckers and DEI programmes
Stronger age checks to come into force for online pornography sites in UK
Bank of England delays rules designed to avoid banking crash by a year
The Bank of England will further delay capital rules meant to prevent another 2008-style crash, as it weighs the impact of Donald Trump’s return to the White House and the chancellor Rachel Reeves’s call for regulators to help drive UK growth.The Bank’s regulatory arm said it was delaying the date by which banks had to implement Basel 3.1 rules by a year, to January 2027.The Bank’s regulator, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), said it made the decision after consulting with the Treasury, and that it had taken “competitive and growth considerations” into account.It marks the third delay by the central bank, which is buying time to see how far the Trump administration will go in watering down regulations
IMF upgrades UK growth forecast and takes swipe at Trump plans
The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its forecast for UK growth this year in an update to its biannual assessment of the global economy, while taking a swipe at plans by Donald Trump’s incoming US administration for the potentially destabilising effect of large-scale tax cuts, import tariffs and weaker regulations.In a fillip to the Labour government, the Washington-based organisation said it expected the UK economy to grow by 1.6% in 2025, up from an earlier forecast of 1.5%.The IMF judged that Labour’s increase in investment spending, improved household finances and a series of interest rate cuts by the Bank of England would give the UK economy a lift this year
Can Donald Trump circumvent a TikTok ban?
As the app is on the brink of being expelled, the president-elect has been working to make good on his pledge to save itIn the run-up to the election, Donald Trump made a plea to his followers. “FOR ALL THOSE THAT WANT TO SAVE TIK TOK IN AMERICA, VOTE TRUMP!” he posted to his Truth Social account in September. Since then, he’s been working to make good on that pledge.He hosted TikTok’s CEO, Shou Chew, at his Mar-a-Lago estate in December, implored the US supreme court to delay a TikTok ban and he’s now reportedly considering an executive order to postpone the app’s disappearance. Chew is slated to join Trump at his inauguration in what appears to be a show of solidarity with the embattled executive
Russian hackers target WhatsApp accounts of ministers worldwide
Russian state-linked hackers have targeted the WhatsApp accounts of government ministers and officials around the world with emails inviting them to join user groups on the messaging app.The WhatsApp tactic marks a new approach by a hacking unit called Star Blizzard. Britain’s National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has linked Star Blizzard to Russia’s domestic spy agency, the FSB, and has accused it of seeking to “undermine trust in politics in the UK and likeminded states”.According to a blogpost by Microsoft, victims receive an email from an attacker impersonating a US government official, enticing the recipient to click on a QR code that gives the attacker access to their WhatsApp account. The code, instead of giving access to a WhatsApp group, connects an account to a linked device or the WhatsApp Web portal
Draper delighted hard work paying off after hat-trick of Melbourne marathons
Jack Draper says his trio of five-set victories at the Australian Open are evidence of the hard work he has put into his career, effort that is finally paying off for him in the biggest matches.“I still have a long way to go, but this is a huge drive forward, the fact that I’ve come through three five-set matches, mentally and physically, it doesn’t happen often,” said Draper. “That’s a testament to the work I’ve done and the place I’m in. So very, very proud of that.”At 12:55am on Saturday morning in Melbourne, Draper, the 15th seed, closed out his third five-set win in as many matches to reach the fourth round with a 6-4, 2-6, 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (8) victory over Aleksandar Vukic of Australia
Windsor embraces return of jumps racing with cash at the Million festival
When Windsor staged what was billed as its last ever jumps meeting in December 1998, the final race on the card was the Norwegian Blue Handicap Hurdle – a clear sign that as far as the track was concerned, jumping was no more. It had ceased to be.A generation later, though, it is suddenly showing distinct signs of life. There were just under 5,000 racegoers at Windsor last month for the first officially scheduled jumps meeting for 26 years, and the queues at the turnstiles on Friday – the first of two days as part of the first Berkshire Million festival, with the Clarence House Chase card at Ascot as the meat in the sandwich – suggested plenty of those fans had come back for more.There was a total of £18,299 in win prize money on offer for the seven races in 1998
Tories will consider means testing pension triple-lock, Badenoch says
KemiKaze’s ‘relaunch’ speech reveals a Tory leader already out of ideas | John Crace
UK politics: Kemi Badenoch describes Rachel Reeves as a ‘woman problem’ for Keir Starmer – as it happened
Only grant Trump a UK state visit if he agrees to Ukraine summit, say Lib Dems
Suspended Labour MP Mike Amesbury pleads guilty to assault
Labour staff balloted on pay freeze as election win hits party finances