China accuses UK politicians of ‘arrogance’ in British Steel row

China has accused UK politicians of “arrogance, ignorance and a twisted mindset” as it defended British Steel’s owner, Jingye, after a barrage of criticism over the narrowly averted shutdown of its blast furnaces.Beijing’s embassy to the UK accused unspecified British public figures of slandering China’s government and businesses, in comments published on Wednesday on its website.It followed criticism of the actions of Jingye, British Steel’s Chinese owner since 2020, by the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds. Reynolds accused Jingye of not acting in good faith after it threatened to shut down British Steel’s furnaces at Scunthorpe within days, with the loss of 2,700 jobs.The government stepped in on Saturday to avoid the shutdowns with emergency legislation to take control of British Steel

EY being investigated over Post Office auditing during Horizon scandal

EY, one of the “big four” accounting firms, is being investigated over how it audited the accounts of the Post Office as the postal branch network wrestled with the Horizon software scandal that resulted in hundreds of post office operators being wrongly convicted.The UK’s accounting regulator, the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), said it had begun an investigation into whether the firm met its standards “with particular reference to matters related to the Horizon IT system”.The Horizon accounting software was developed by Fujitsu and was at the heart of the Post Office scandal, described as the UK’s most widespread miscarriage of justice, which has been the subject of a long-running inquiry that concluded its hearings in December.The FRC said: “So as not to interfere with the Post Office Horizon IT inquiry, the opening of this investigation follows the conclusion of the public hearings. While the inquiry was extensive, it purposefully did not encompass the role or knowledge of external auditors in its scope

Good news on UK inflation may be short-lived amid trade war and rising household bills

Cooling inflation, resilient wage growth, and an economy outperforming expectations. After the turmoil since Donald Trump’s “liberation day”, there are some signs that Britain entered the crisis in reasonable shape.The trouble is, the good news is unlikely to last long. The bigger-than-expected decline in inflation to 2.6% in March will come as a welcome reprieve for hard-pressed households

UK inflation falls to 2.6%, increasing pressure on Bank to cut interest rates

UK inflation dropped to 2.6% in March, increasing the pressure on Bank of England policymakers to cut interest rates next month as Donald Trump’s tariff wars cast an uncertain outlook.Prices growth was weak ahead of an expected rise in April as households begin to pay higher council tax and utility bills.Last month’s reading came in below City forecasts of a fall to 2.7%

UK government refuses to rule out redundancies at Scunthorpe steelworks

The business secretary has refused to rule out redundancies at the Scunthorpe steelworks, despite calls from trade unions to end the programme of job losses started by its former owners.Jonathan Reynolds said on Tuesday the plant might need to have a “different employment footprint” after the government’s takeover, even as he promised to try to save the plant’s two blast furnaces.Reynolds was speaking during a visit to Immingham docks to oversee coal and iron ore being unloaded on its way to the Scunthorpe plant. The government took control of the plant after finding out its Chinese owner, Jingye, was attempting to sell the supplies and hasten the closure of the furnaces.“What we need for the long-term future of British Steel is that private sector partner to work with us as a government on a transformation programme,” Reynolds said

Starbucks’s UK retail business paid no corporation tax last year

Starbucks’s UK retail business paid no corporation tax for last year as it dived to a £35m loss after paying £40m in royalty and licence fees to its parent company.The US-owned coffee chain said it made the payments despite sales declining 4% to £525.6m in the year to 29 September 2024, amid what it called a “challenging economic climate” and a consumer boycott linked to the Gaza conflict.Sales fell even though it opened 100 new British stores during the period. The previous year it had made a £16