UK has spent £12.5bn from energy bills on fossil fuel power plants in past decade

The UK has given more than £12.5bn from energy bills to fossil fuel power plants in the past decade through a government scheme to keep the lights on during winter, according to new analysis.The research found that, since 2015, the government has offered contracts worth £20bn through a “capacity market” to create a backup reserve of generators on standby, of which about 60% were fossil fuel power plants and a quarter were energy storage and power cable projects.This has included 90 gas power plants, which each clinched a contract of up to 15 years backed by a levy on consumers’ energy bills. It could mean households will still be paying for gas plants in 2040, a decade after the government has promised to eliminate 95% of fossil fuels from the UK’s electricity system

Rachel Reeves tells MPs of plans to go ‘further and faster’ in pursuit of growth

Rachel Reeves has told MPs the government needs to go “further and faster” to increase economic growth, as Downing Street sought to reassure people concerned about the environment that net zero and increasing output go “hand in hand”.The chancellor has unnerved some Labour MPs and green campaigners with her increasingly punchy rhetoric about growth being a priority over preventing climate change, as she strives to improve the UK’s anaemic forecasts and drive up living standards.In a speech on Wednesday, she is expected to outline her plans to radically alter planning rules and accelerate building and infrastructure projects, as well as backing airport expansion, despite fears it may put the UK in breach of its legally binding carbon budget.At a meeting of the parliamentary Labour party on Monday, Reeves made a direct pitch to MPs, telling them there would be “no easy routes out” to growing the economy, and the government must “start saying yes” to changes that could create wealth across the country.“Have we done enough? No

Coca-Cola recalls drinks in Europe over ‘higher levels’ of chemical chlorate

Coca-Cola has recalled its drinks in some countries across Europe after detecting “higher levels” of the chemical chlorate.Cans and glass bottles containing elevated levels of the substance were distributed in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands since November, the company said on Monday.It added that five product lines had been shipped to Britain at the end of last year and had already been sold.Affected products include the Coke, Fanta, Minute Maid, Sprite and Tropico brands, according to the Belgian branch of Coca-Cola’s international bottling and distribution operation.Chlorate can be found in foods as it derives from chlorine disinfectants widely used in water treatment and food processing

Gravity finally catches up with WH Smith on the high street

In its small way, WH Smith is one of the most remarkable retailing stories of the past 20 years. In the early 2000s, a likely fate for a business built on books, stationery, newspapers, CDs and DVDs looked to be “death by Amazon”. What transpired was a textbook display of pragmatic management.Under Kate Swann, chief executive from 2003 to 2013, WH Smith simply ensured that, however rapidly its sales fell on the high street, it always cut costs harder and replaced declining DVDs and so forth with higher-margin products such as greeting cards. Even as annual revenues dwindled from £1

WH Smith sale plan could turn some areas into ‘postal deserts’, says union

The planned sale of WH Smith’s high street stores could turn some communities into “postal deserts” because 200 post offices are operated in the retailer’s shops, a union has warned.“These potential closures are devastating, but they are sadly all too predictable,” the Communication Workers Union said.“For far too long, certain communities are being turned into postal deserts, and bad economic decisions are eroding high streets up and down the country.“Just like the Horizon scandal, Post Office staff are being put at the bottom of the pecking order – these workers and the communities they serve deserve an end to this instability.”The comments come as bosses from the UK-listed retailer WH Smith – which sells a wide array of products including magazines, books, stationery, toys, cards and confectionery – consider the potential £100m sale of the entire 500-store high street chain in order to focus on the expansion of its outlets in travel locations, such as train stations and airports, in the UK and internationally

Political interference in central banks risks economic harm, ECB president warns

Political interference in central bank policymaking could harm plans to bring down inflation, the head of the European Central Bank (ECB) has said.In a veiled warning to Donald Trump, after the US president last week demanded the Federal Reserve “immediately” lower interest rates, the ECB president, Christine Lagarde, said meddling by politicians could lead to greater economic volatility and sharply rising prices.Trump said last week that the Fed boss, Jerome Powell, should cut the cost of borrowing to boost economic growth. The US president also said he was ready to force a cut in oil prices to bring down inflation. This move would allow central banks to reduce interest rates “all across the world”