Labour must seize the moment to show child poverty matters in push for growth | Heather Stewart

“Many of us had moments when we felt overwhelmed in sharing our stories. However, we pushed through, with the hope of changing policies that will improve the living standards of the many families living on low incomes who struggle in silence.”Tayyaba Siddiqui was one of a group of parents and carers who sat around a table in Downing Street last month with the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, and the employment minister Alison McGovern to discuss the challenges of raising children in poverty – and what needs to change.The event was part of a comprehensive listening exercise, which has brought ministers and civil servants face to face with families and experts up and down the UK, to better understand the lives of the 4.3 million children living below the poverty line

‘A mess’: energy suppliers face scramble to install smart meters in UK homes

A small device in every home was supposed to be the key to solving Britain’s energy headaches: encouraging consumers not to waste power, preventing shockingly high bills and making the system greener. Instead, smart meters have become an emblem for the energy industry’s poor reputation as the costs of rolling them out approaches £20bn and the government project lags years behind its original schedule.Consumers who have the devices still face surprise bills, too, as some faulty meters go into “dumb” mode, where they stop automatically sending regular meter readings to energy suppliers, leaving households to send readings.“Honestly, it has been a mess from the beginning,” an executive at one major energy supplier says. “So many of the problems that we have encountered were predictable and preventable

Dreams ‘crushed’ as Ticketmaster cancels fans’ Oasis ’25 tickets

Oasis fans have said their “dreams have been crushed” after Ticketmaster cancelled their tickets to the band’s reunion tour, accusing them of being bots.Several people have received an email from the company that said bots were identified making their purchase for Oasis Live ’25 tickets, and urged them to fill out a form to rectify the issue.One fan who planned to see the band live with three friends at Heaton Park in Manchester on 19 July said she felt “crushed” after finding out her tickets were cancelled.Leighah Conroy, 24, from Cumbria, said her friend, who does not wish to be named, bought the tickets last August but received an email from Ticketmaster on Friday claiming it was “identified that bots were used to make this purchase”.Conroy said: “To say that we’re bots is totally out of order for Ticketmaster because we tried all day to get the tickets

Rare metal assets, 4,000 workers, a Canary Wharf HQ… but does this billion-pound firm really exist?

At first glance, there is nothing remarkable about Gofer Mining plc. It appears to be just another multibillion-pound corporate giant, with London headquarters in Canary Wharf and interests stretching from Tibet to Ukraine.Its lengthy financial accounts are full of prosaic details about ­mineral weights, rare metal assets and ­exploration plans.Yet the apparently innocuous ­multinational is not at all what it seems. In fact, it is linked to both a bizarre project to invent a new nation, as well as a very real attempt to seize control of a Ukrainian goldmine

Thames Water chairman accused of conflict of interest over £37m share dividend payment

The chair of Thames Water was ­suspected by government officials of ­holding a potentially “conflicted ­position” when his company made an “unjustified” dividend payment of £37.5m to its shareholders.The water provider, on the brink of bankruptcy, was in the high court last week seeking an emergency £3bn loan as it struggles to stay afloat under massive debts. It is under fresh scrutiny over its dividend payments.Thames Water – long accused of favouring the interests of its ­shareholders over its 16 million ­customers – faces an £18

Will the bonus bubbly still flow as reality bites for British banks?

The fortunes of Britain’s biggest lenders may well be reflected by a mix of celebratory champagne and commiserative pints by next week, as bankers with an eye on their bonus assess the fallout from a patchy earnings season.Bosses of the UK largest lenders are due to kick off the annual reporting period from Thursday, but their financial performance – and any resulting bonuses – will be overshadowed by corporate shake-ups and job losses.Of the big four bank bosses, NatWest’s Paul Thwaite has one of the easiest jobs ahead. While he is expected to report a 1.8% drop in annual pre-tax profits to £6