Hike in capital gains tax will spark tech exodus from UK, investor says

Tech entrepreneurs will leave the UK “en masse” if the chancellor announces a significant increase in capital gains tax at this month’s budget, according to a leading industry investor.Harry Stebbings, a British podcaster turned investor who raised a $400m (£310m) fund this week, said the UK was “a bad place to do business” because of its tax environment.The Guardian reported last week that the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, was considering raising capital gains tax (CGT) to between 33% and 39% in the budget on 30 October.Stebbings said plans to scrap the non-dom tax regime had also sent a negative signal but an increase in CGT – which is levied on the sale of assets such as shares and second homes – would pose the most serious concern to entrepreneurs.“The stance on capital gains tax is by far the biggest [issue],” he told the Guardian

ECB’s Lagarde: ‘We’re breaking the neck of inflation’ after cutting interest rates – as it happened

Over at the Bank of Slovenia, in Ljubljana, the European Central Bank is holding a press conference to explain why it has lowered eurozone interest rates today.ECB president Christine Lagarde begins by running through the statement issued half an hour ago (it’s online here).She’s explaining that the ECB’s governing council decided to lower the three key ECB interest rates by 25 basis points, because data shows that the disinflationary process is well on track.As flagged earlier, Lagarde says that inflation is expected to rise in the coming months, before declining to target in the course of next year.And she insists that the Governing Council is “determined” to ensure that inflation returns to its 2% medium-term target in a timely manner

Meta fires staff for ‘using free meal vouchers to buy household goods’

Meta, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, has reportedly fired about 24 staff at its Los Angeles offices for using their $25 (£19) meal credits to buy items such as toothpaste, laundry detergent and wine glasses.The tech firm, which is worth £1.2tn and also owns the messaging platform WhatsApp, is said to have dismissed workers last week after an investigation discovered staff had been abusing the system, including sending food home when they were not in the office.That included one unnamed worker on a $400,000 salary, who said they had used their meal credits to buy household goods and groceries such as toothpaste and tea.On the anonymous messaging platform Blind, they wrote: “On days where I would not be eating at the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was grabbing dinner with friends, I figured I ought not to waste the dinner credit

UK’s Alan Turing Institute launches redundancy consultation process

The UK’s national institute for artificial intelligence and data science has launched a consultation process that could lead to redundancies among its 440 staff.In a memo sent to staff this month the Alan Turing Institute gave an update on its new strategy, under which it will concentrate on fewer projects.It was addressed to “affected employees” and stated that the government-backed institute “may need to consider making redundancies”. According to informal calculations by staff, the memo could have been sent to as many as 140 people.The internal document said the institute – which carries out research with universities, the private sector and government entities – was working on 111 live projects and needed to “move away from engaging in large numbers of individual projects”

First Nations Championship rugby finals to be hosted in London then Qatar

Rugby union’s powerbrokers have reached a staging agreement for the Nations Championship that will mean the first set of finals are held in London, before moving to Qatar and then possibly the United States, in a major global expansion of the sport.Under radical plans expected to be signed off later this month, Twickenham would stage the first Nations Championship final in 2026, before the biennial six-match series moves to Qatar two years later, with a further option to go to America in 2030.Qatar had hoped to stage the first four Nations Championship finals and were granted exclusive negotiating rights by the 12 biggest unions this summer after offering ­guaranteed returns of £800m, but their bid was blocked by the Irish and French unions due to uncertainty over attendances and concerns over the country’s human rights record.The new blueprint disclosed is seen as a compromise, with staging the first final at Twickenham regarded as a crucial concession to those worried the sport is being sold to the highest bidder. The Six Nations and southern hemisphere unions are understood to be close to signing a heads-of-terms agreement on an initial four-year contract that will confirm the 2026 and 2028 hosts as London and Qatar respectively

Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 draw: champions New Zealand to face Ireland

The defending Women’s Rugby World Cup champions, New Zealand, will go up against Ireland in next year’s tournament, which is being held in England, after being drawn in the same pool.England’s pool opponents include Australia, while Wales and Scotland have been drawn together.Ireland, who did not qualify for the last World Cup, have the best win ratio against New Zealand of any team in the world. The two teams have played each other only three times but Ireland have come out on top twice, most recently in last month’s WXV 1 match. Ireland also beat New Zealand in the 2014 World Cup pool stage