Jaguar boss defends new ad and rebrand amid ‘vile hatred’ online

The boss of Jaguar has defended the company’s move away from “traditional automotive stereotypes” after a clip of its new advert was met with a barrage of “vile hatred and intolerance” online.This week, Jaguar Land Rover, the luxury UK carmaker owned by India’s Tata Motors, posted a 30-second clip on X featuring models in brightly coloured clothing set against equally vibrant backdrops, without a car or the company’s traditional cat logo.“If we play in the same way that everybody else does, we’ll just get drowned out. So we shouldn’t turn up like an auto brand,” Jaguar’s managing director, Rawdon Glover told the Financial Times of the company’s “copy nothing” campaign.The new ad and rebrand prompted a backlash online, including on X where the platform’s chief executive, Elon Musk, posted: “Do you sell cars?”In response, Glover said, “Yes

Energy bills, mortgages, food: will cost of living surge again under Labour?

Labour swept to power in the wake of a cost of living crisis that hit households hard, with the price of food and energy rocketing alongside the impact of Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget on mortgage rates.At 2.3%, inflation is nowhere the 10% peak after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but it is creeping up, and could hit 3% in 2025, say forecasters.Here are some of the pressures households are likely to face in the coming months at a time when the government claims to be “fixing the foundations” of the economy.Ofgem announced its latest price cap on Friday morning, with average energy bills to increase by 1

I’ve joined Bluesky and it feels like a breath of fresh air – in some ways… | John Naughton

As I write, there’s a window on my laptop screen that is providing a live view of a stampede. It’s logging the numbers of people joining the social network Bluesky. At the moment, the number of registered users is 20.5 million. By the time you read this there will be more than 30 million of them, judging by the rate that people are currently joining

‘We live in a climate of fear’: Graphic novelist’s Elon Musk book can’t find UK or US publisher

A biography by a British graphic novelist of Elon Musk is struggling to find an English-language publisher due to feared “legal consequences”.Elon Musk: Investigation into a New Master of the World is the latest graphic novel by Darryl Cunningham, from West Yorkshire. Cunningham, 64, has written and illustrated seven nonfiction books on topics ranging from the 2008 global economic meltdown (Supercrash), to Russian leader Vladimir Putin (subtitled The Rise of a Dictator).His first book, Psychiatric Tales, which drew on his time working on an acute psychiatric ward, was called an “unsettling but rewarding experience” in an Observer review in 2010.Although his previous books have all found publishers in the UK and America, there has been silence on the Elon Musk project, despite the fact that it has already been translated into French and published in France to positive reviews

Royale Pagaille makes hay in the Haydock mud to win Betfair Chase

Royale Pagaille, a Haydock specialist who thrives in the mud, stayed on strongest of all from the final fence to land the Grade One Betfair Chase for the second year running here.The first Grade One contest of the winter campaign was a compelling advertisement for staying chasers, as a mud-spattered Grey Dawning, perhaps Britain’s best hope for a Gold Cup success at Cheltenham in March, came with what looked to be a winning challenge at the last fence. Charlie Deutsch on Royale Pagaille, though, dug deep again after being headed and fought back to lead well inside the final furlong before crossing the line two lengths ahead.“You always want that sort of head-to-head, fantastic finish,” Rich Ricci, the winner’s owner, said. “That’s what makes the sport so great and this fella, he’s not a Gold Cup horse maybe, but he tries and he loves this course

F1’s high-stakes gamble on Las Vegas GP is already paying out

The Strip is sprinkling its stardust on F1’s ambition to break America, with drivers, fans and locals buying into a project that already has a special feelWhen Formula One threw its weight behind promoting a grand prix in Las Vegas, the sport was taking no little gamble on success and on the bigger picture of finally breaking America. With the race in its second year, hosting a potential championship decider and the streets full of enthusiastic fans, every indication is that they have backed a winner.There was an enormous risk in hosting a grand prix, especially one that required a $700m investment and involved agreements between casinos, businesses and local government to allow it to run through the heart of the Nevada city. They pulled it off last year, albeit once past the initial PR disaster of a loose water valve cover smashing into Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari, prematurely ending first practice. The race that followed was one of the best of 2023, praised by drivers and fans