UK shelves £110m frictionless post-Brexit trade border project

The UK government has shelved a project to simplify trade border processes post-Brexit after spending £110m on a contract with Deloitte and IBM for it, according to reports.The last Conservative government promised in 2020 to create the “world’s most effective border” by 2025 as part of its plan for a new trade system after Britain left the EU.The government hoped a “single trade window” (STW) would simplify border processes by creating a single digital platform in which importers and exporters could upload all documentation linked to goods before they are transported. However, the STW project was paused in 2024 amid concerns over costs.Government responses to freedom of information requests submitted by the thinktank TaxWatch, seen by the Financial Times, now suggest no money has been spent on the project since January last year, with the Treasury writing that the programme had been “brought to an early closure”

Hyatt chair Thomas Pritzker steps down over Epstein links

The billionaire Thomas Pritzker has stepped down as executive chair of the hotel chain Hyatt, after revelations over his ties with the late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Pritzker said he had exercised “terrible judgment” in maintaining contact with the sex offender and Ghislaine Maxwell, who was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting and grooming underage girls.Files released by the US Department of Justice showed that Pritzker, 75, was in regular contact with Epstein after his 2008 plea deal for procuring a minor for prostitution.Pritzker, who had been executive chair of the hotel chain since 2004, said he had decided to step down after discussions with the board and would not stand for re-election.He said in a release from his family office, the Pritzker Organisation: “My job and responsibility is to provide good stewardship … Good stewardship includes ensuring a proper transition at Hyatt

EU to investigate Shein over sale of childlike sex dolls and weapons

The EU is to open a formal investigation into the Chinese retailer Shein over multiple suspected breaches of European laws including the sale of childlike sex dolls and weapons.The European Commission said on Tuesday it had launched the inquiry after demanding information from the fast-growing company last year.A senior EU official also pointed to reports of clothes, cosmetics, electronic products that were not compliant with EU law.The investigation will examine three areas of Shein’s service that have given cause for concern.Apart from the sale of illegal products, it will also look at the “addictive design of the service Shein is providing”, an EU official said, including bonus points programmes, gamification and rewards “that may lead to a risk of users’ mental well being”

UK unemployment rate hits five-year high of 5.2% as wage growth cools

Unemployment in the UK has risen to 5.2%, the highest level in nearly five years, while wage growth continues to slow, raising the prospect of another cut to interest rates in the spring.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate of unemployment was 5.2% in the three months to the end of December, the highest rate since the quarter to January 2021. This was in line with what economists had been expecting and was up from 5

Gloom for UK workers as incomes flatline and jobs market falters

Private sector pay increased on average by just 3.4% in December, according to the latest official labour market data released on Tuesday, the same as the rise in inflation at the end of last year.No wonder the vast majority of workers are feeling the winter blues. Their incomes, adjusted for rising shop prices, have flatlined, leaving them no better off than they were a year earlier.The most recent surveys of consumer confidence reveal a dismal picture of households worried about growing debts and shrinking savings now that their incomes have flatlined

Coles tells court its Down Down promotions were ‘fair dinkum’ and did not mislead shoppers

Coles has defended its promotional prices in a high-profile court case brought by the consumer watchdog, arguing that shoppers would understand the supermarket’s well-known “Down Down” promotion to be “fair dinkum”.The federal court battle between the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and Coles began this week, testing allegations the supermarket breached the law by offering “illusory” discounts on many everyday products.The legal argument will turn, in part, on what consumers understand Coles’ “Down Down” promotion to be, with the supermarket arguing that an ordinary consumer would perceive the promotion as a general, long-term discount.Sign up: AU Breaking News emailJohn Sheahan KC, representing Coles, said on Tuesday that consumers would accept the promotion as a real drop in price.“What they would be concerned with when they’re walking down the aisle trying to work out what to buy today for their shopping is whether the claimed discount … was fair dinkum,” Sheahan said