Bank bosses called to meeting with Reeves over impact of Iran war on UK economy

The bosses of Britain’s “big five” retail banks have been summoned to a meeting with the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, this week to discuss how to limit the economic impact of the crisis in the Middle East triggered by the US and Israel’s attacks on Iran.The chief executives of HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, NatWest and Santander have been asked to attend an emergency summit on Wednesday, amid increasing acceptance that a major economic hit from the Iran war is unavoidable.Talks will focus on how to protect those most vulnerable to the ripple effect, according to a source familiar with the plans, with borrowers who are braced for mortgage rate increases a particular area of focus.This will include an update on banks’ commitment to support 1.6m customers whose fixed-rate deals end between now and the end of the year, under the government’s mortgage charter

Falling fertility, debt and AI: is the US headed toward a population crisis?

Americans having fewer kids plus an ageing population could be a recipe for disaster that further erodes social stabilityRemember environmentalist Paul Ehrlich’s 1960s-vintage prediction about how overpopulation would deplete the Earth’s resources and condemn millions to starvation? His Malthusian condemnation of humanity’s voracious appetite has kept a grip on the debate over the future of the planet, even scaring the young out of having children.Ehrlich was wrong. Yet as we have come around to the thought that overpopulation won’t kill us all, we are being walloped by another demographic emergency: we are not having too many kids, we are having too few. This problem is real.The most recent scare came from government figures released last week suggesting the fall in US fertility – the number of children a woman will have over her lifetime – may be speeding up, hitting a record low of 1

Labour’s ‘crabwise’ approach to closer EU ties must address damage of Brexit | Heather Stewart

Rachel Reeves joined EU finance ministers for dinner in Washington last week, on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund spring meetings – the first time a chancellor had done so since Brexit.It was the latest symbolic step in Labour’s marked shift towards prioritising closer EU relations.That makes perfect sense against the backdrop of Donald Trump’s reckless Middle East conflict. But domestic politics and economics have increasingly aligned in favour of a lean towards the EU, too – or, rather, Labour has increasingly opened its eyes to them.As political scientists such as Rob Ford and Ben Ansell have been all but screaming for some time, Labour is losing many more voters to the left wing, pro-EU Greens and Liberal Democrats than to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK

‘I don’t want to waste the gas’: Uber and Lyft drivers reeling as fuel prices soar

Drivers for Uber and Lyft across the US are spending hundreds more dollars on fuel each month after the US-Israel war on Iran triggered a sharp rise in oil prices.Support offered by the ride-hailing companies amounts to a “slap in the face”, drivers operating their services told the Guardian, as many are forced to choose between driving more to make the same money as previously – or cutting back their miles to reduce costs.The companies have both expanded rewards and discounts through financial services products in recent weeks, as average US fuel prices surged from $2.98 a gallon at the end of February to above $4.But gig workers at Uber and Lyft say such support is not enough, and “pretty hollow” compared to any increase in pay for drivers

Vodafone incentivised security staff to fine its own franchisees

Vodafone incentivised its security staff to increase “clawbacks” levied on its own franchisees, as part of a programme that led to the telecoms group fining its own shopkeepers millions of pounds for seemingly small administrative errors.The policy – which included one alleged case of a £10,000 penalty for a franchisee whose mistake cost Vodafone £7.08 – involved setting “key performance indicators” (KPIs) for the telecoms group’s internal employees to collect total annual fines of £1.5m from the small business people running the FTSE 100 company’s high street stores.The existence of the fines regime has proved controversial for years and forms part of a high court claim brought by 62 former Vodafone franchisees in 2024, who allege the mobile phone company “unjustly enriched” itself by up to £85m by using tactics MPs have compared to the Post Office Horizon IT scandal

More Britons opt to holiday in UK this summer amid uncertainty over flights

Holiday companies have predicted a surge in bookings for UK summer breaks after a jump in interest from Britons fearful of flight cancellations linked to the Iran war.Summer bookings are expected to rise in the coming weeks amid warnings of possible jet fuel shortages and resulting cancellations by airlines across Europe.Raoul Fraser, the chief executive of Lovat, a holiday park operator with sites across south-west England, said traffic to its website had increased after reports of jet fuel warnings last week. “It is definitely having a positive impact for us,” he said.“Our holidays bookings are up over 30% this year