Luton airport allowed to double capacity after UK government overrules planners

Luton airport will be allowed to almost double in capacity after the government overruled planning inspectors who recommended blocking the scheme on environmental grounds.The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, granted a development consent order for the airport’s plans to expand its perimeter and add a new terminal, allowing for a potential 32 million passengers a year.The approval comes despite concerns raised about ancient trees and the impact of more flights on the Chilterns, an area of outstanding natural beauty.Labour sources, however, said the promise of thousands of additional jobs had outweighed environmental considerations.Luton airport is also ultimately owned by the local council, meaning that a greater share of its profits are put back into local services

Zonal electricity pricing plan could add £3bn a year to GB bills, report finds

Plans to overhaul England, Wales and Scotland’s electricity market risk piling an extra £3bn on to household energy bills every year until the 2040s, according to the government’s own clean power adviser.New research has found that moving ahead with a plan to divide the national electricity market into different pricing zones could drive up the cost of building new windfarms as the government aims for a renewable energy boom before the end of the decade.Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, hopes to double Great Britain’s onshore wind capacity, triple solar and quadruple offshore wind farms to help create a clean power system by 2030.But uncertainty over the plans for “postcode electricity pricing” could mean that developers of renewable energy demand higher subsidies to offset the risk, according to the research, which could raise household energy bills or even delay clean energy investments.The report by the UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) warned that an upcoming auction for renewable energy subsidy contracts could clear at £20 per megawatt-hour higher than expected if the zonal market plans were adopted

Trump’s tariffs: the full list

The president displayed the top of his list from a podium in the White House Rose Garden, and later published a longer version. Note that the “tariffs charged to the USA” in Trump’s formulation include “trade barriers” so don’t necessarily align with the tariffs published by countries concerned.

Royal Mail takeover deal by Czech billionaire to be finalised this month

The £3.6bn takeover of Royal Mail’s parent company will be completed this month, nearly a year after it was first agreed, as the Czech billionaire Daniel Křetínský cleared the final regulatory hurdles standing in the way.International Distribution Services (IDS), the owner of the 508-year-old Royal Mail, said on Thursday the deal “may become or be declared unconditional” by 30 April, after a delay due to issues in Romania.The most pressing issue, UK government approval, was clinched in December after a state review of national security laws.However, Křetínský’s company had warned in March that the deal might not be finalised until the second quarter of this year due to regulatory issues relating to foreign direct investment in Romania

‘We introduced avocado to the high street!’ How Pret conquered London – and began eyeing the rest of the world

At 93-95 Victoria Street, Westminster, a blue plaque marks a piece of London history: the first ever branch of Pret a Manger opened on this spot on 22 July 1986. Nearly 40 years later, it is still going strong.It’s a nice story – but it’s not the whole story. Look closer and the plaque states that the first Pret sandwich shop opened “near here”. In fact, it was down the road, at 75b, now a branch of Toni & Guy

Trump’s tariffs could deliver a $27bn blow to Australia – and the cost of a global trade war would be far higher

Liberation days signal the end of a war, not the start of one.So it is with rich irony that the US president, Donald Trump, has declared victory even as he massively escalates his attack on the global trading system.As Trump attempted to recast the world’s richest nation as a victim of “perfidious” foreigners who have been taking advantage of the superpower for too long, he unveiled sweeping 10% tariffs on goods imported from Australia. Notably, pharmaceuticals – one of Australia’s top exports to the US – escaped tariffs, as did critical minerals that are not mined in the US.The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, nevertheless declared it “a dark day in the global economy” as he promised to release updated Treasury modelling of how bad the tariffs will be for Australia