Why is the UK investing in £6.45bn Kraken when it doesn’t need public money? | Nils Pratley

The state-owned multi-tentacled British Business Bank has never been a simple organisation to understand, but at least one could vaguely grasp its intended role in life. “Our mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK,” declares its website.Jolly good. For decades, complaints have been heard about gaps in the financing ecosystem for startups and for promising young UK companies, particularly those in tech-related and life science fields, or those spinning out of universities. So one can applaud the existence of a large and distinctly British source of capital to “crowd in”, as politicians like to say, private venture funds

Rollout of AI may need to be slowed to ‘save society’, says JP Morgan boss

Jamie Dimon, the boss of JP Morgan, has said artificial intelligence “may go too fast for society” and cause “civil unrest” unless governments and business support displaced workers.While advances in AI will have huge benefits, from increasing productivity to curing diseases, the technology may need to be phased in to “save society”, he said.Dimon said companies and governments could not ignore AI or “put your head in the sand”. The Wall Street lender would probably have fewer employees in five years’ time as it rolled out AI, he told an audience at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort of Davos.“Your competitors are going to use it and countries are going to use it,” he said

World would be a ‘better place’ if US took over Greenland, says Nigel Farage

The world would be a “better, more secure place” if America took over Greenland, Nigel Farage said at Davos, while insisting that he still believed in the sovereignty of nation states.During a panel at the World Economic Forum’s “America House” in the Swiss ski resort on Wednesday, the Reform UK leader said he had “no doubt” that the world would be safer if a “strong America” was in Greenland “because of the geopolitics of the high north, because of the retreating ice caps and because of the continued expansionism of Russian icebreakers, of Chinese investment”.Speaking just after Donald Trump appeared to rule out taking position of Greenland by force, while doubling down on his demand to annex the “big, beautiful piece of ice”, Farage insisted that while he “agreed strategically” with Trump he believed in “nation states … not globalist structures”.“[I]f you believe in the nation state and not globalist structures, you believe in sovereignty,” he said. “And if you believe in sovereignty, you believe in the principle of national self-determination

Middle powers assemble? Trump disorder prompts talk of new liberal alliances

Donald Trump has told the Davos economic forum “without us, most countries would not even work”, but for the first time in decades, many western leaders have come to the opposite conclusion: they will function better without the US.Individually and collectively, they have decided “to live in truth” – the phrase used by the Czech dissident Vaclav Havel and referenced by the Canadian prime minister, Mark Carney, in his widely praised speech at Davos on Tuesday. They will no longer pretend the US is a reliable ally, or even that the old western alliance exists.Trump’s threat to invade Greenland – half-withdrawn in his unnervingly rambling Davos speech on Wednesday – and his glorification of the use of tariffs to intimidate his allies have been the final straw. As such – on the first anniversary of his second term – the taboos around denying him the role of “leader of the free world” seem to have been broken

Nato chief urges ‘thoughtful diplomacy’ after US treasury secretary’s jibe at Denmark

Donald Trump has landed in Switzerland for the Davos global gathering as Nato’s secretary general said “thoughtful diplomacy” was the only way to deal with growing transatlantic tensions, remarks that came shortly after the US treasury secretary had dismissed Denmark as an irrelevance.The US president’s threats to seize Greenland, a largely self-governing part of Denmark, risk tearing the transatlantic alliance apart, while his promise to impose tariffs on European nations who oppose him could trigger a trade war with the EU.Speaking at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss town on Wednesday, Nato’s Mark Rutte said that there were “tensions at the moment” but that talks, and a concerted drive to bolster Arctic security, were the only ways forward.He dismissed fears that the Greenland crisis could unravel the 76-year-old alliance, and pushed back at repeated comments from Trump casting doubt on whether its European members would help to defend the US if asked, saying: “They will.”Speaking on the sidelines of the forum, the US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, earlier dismissed Denmark as “irrelevant” and brushed aside claims that European investors, such as Denmark’s pension funds, might pull out of the US market

Next buyout saves footwear brand Russell & Bromley but 400 jobs likely to be lost

Next has rescued the footwear retailer Russell & Bromley out of administration for £3.8m but about 400 jobs are likely to go at 33 shops not included in the deal.The British brand, founded in 1879 in Eastbourne, East Sussex, trades from 36 stores and nine concessions across the UK and Ireland. Next will take on only three stores – in Chelsea, Mayfair and the Bluewater shopping centre – and about 48 store staff, it is understood.The rescue deal, which includes Russell & Bromley’s brand and other assets including £1