RFU accused of betraying game over Premiership promotion criteria
Top officials at the Rugby Football Union have been accused of betraying and misleading the game by the former England international who has been helping to negotiate the sport’s future below the Premiership.Simon Halliday, part of England’s 1992 Five Nations grand slam-winning side, has also called for a review into the “significant” failings of some RFU executive directors.Halliday, who was chair of European Professional Club Rugby for seven years until 2021, has latterly been representing Championship clubs seeking greater funding and firm guarantees from the RFU over promotion and relegation.In an excoriating letter sent to the RFU’s chair, Tom Ilube, seen by the Observer, he alleges the existing tier 2 clubs “have been stalled, misled and misinformed” and warns recent poor governance “threatens the game” in England.In particular, Halliday alleges RFU executives have reneged on assurances given at a council meeting in mid-June to talk further about softening the Premiership minimum standards criteria to make it more feasible for sides to be promoted to the top tier.
“With the help of our own legal advisers … I made it quite clear that some matters were not agreed and needed further debate,” Halliday wrote.“This was signed off by the RFU executive and I have the written evidence, as well as that of our lawyer.Since then, we have been stalled, misled, misinformed and there is no sign of a more progressive approach to this fundamental part of the game.”A two-leg playoff between the Championship’s top side and the Premiership’s bottom team had been hailed as a means of retaining promotion and relegation.But a crucial tweak to the small print now requires sides lacking an existing ground with a capacity exceeding 10,000 to have advance planning permission and financial assurances in place guaranteeing their stadium expansion work will happen within four years, in effect leaving every Championship club, bar ninth-placed Doncaster, unable to go up.
Halliday, who stepped down in August as chair of the Championship board, has urged Ilube either to “make a statement clarifying that promotion and relegation is dead” or to “conduct an immediate review” before the 1 December deadline for applying for a facilities audit.“You potentially have no club which can be sustainably promoted,” wrote Halliday.“How is this acceptable? It is the RFU who is expected to look after the whole game.Instead, you are alienating the very clubs … for whom you are responsible.”The letter also claims that efforts by the Tier 2 Board to negotiate fair and reasonable criteria for ground capacity were circumvented by decisions taken at a Professional Game Board meeting that was allegedly not quorate.
Halliday believes “the legality of what has taken place is clearly questionable” and says aspiring Championship clubs have been left in “an unacceptable position” by the RFU.“Your executive directors have failed in significant fashion to take care of this process,” he told Ilube.“Recent actions by the RFU legal team seem to have been [about] obfuscating and protecting the status quo which is clearly not consistent with [RFU] Council decisions.This threatens the game in our country given its seriousness.Further, the commitment by Bill Sweeney and the [RFU] executive to discuss in good faith the funding gap between the promoted club and the existing Premiership clubs has not been fulfilled despite numerous requests.
”Sign up to The BreakdownThe latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewedafter newsletter promotionThe RFU is already under fire on several fronts, with significant year-end financial losses due to be reported imminently and the national team having lost seven of their past nine Tests.There are also fears the financial situation at Twickenham may frustrate a plan by the Rugby Players’ Association to extend much-needed welfare support to tier 2 players.In response the RFU stressed that a new Tier 2 Board with an independent chair was now in place.“It is through this board that all matters relating to rugby’s second tier are raised and managed,” said a spokesperson.“The board members are working collaboratively to deliver a reimagined tier 2 from next season.
”
UK private sector is contracting as firms give ‘thumbs down’ to the budget, hitting pound – as it happened
Time for a recap.Evidence is growing that the UK economy is weakening, while the eurozone is also lurching deeper into trouble … as the US pushes ahead.UK business activity shrank for the first time in over a year this month, according to the latest poll of purchasing managers, in a sign that corporate confidence has been hit by last month’s budget.Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, says:Business optimism has slumped sharply since the General Election, dropping further in November to hit the lowest since late 2022.Companies are giving a clear ‘thumbs down’ to the policies announced in the Budget, especially the planned increase in employers’ National Insurance contributions
Spain fines budget airlines including Ryanair total of €179m
Spain has fined five budget airlines, including Ryanair, a total of €179m (£150m) for charging passengers for hand luggage and seat reservations, prompting the Irish carrier to say banning the practices would “destroy” the ability to offer cheap tickets.Spain’s Consumer Rights Ministry announced the sanctions on Friday, with Ryanair given the biggest fine, of €108m, and easyJet a penalty of €29m.Vueling, the low-cost operation of the British Airways owner IAG, has been fined €39m, and Norwegian Airlines and Volotea have been fined €1.6m and €1.2m
Budget blamed for first contraction in private sector for a year
Labour’s first budget in 14 years has been given the “thumbs down” by private sector businesses as it was blamed for the end to a 12-month run of expansion and a fall in retail sales.Many businesses said the first fall in business activity in November since the same month last year was a result of tax rises announced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, while official figures showed retail sales had dropped in October, the first month of the “golden quarter” for retailers that includes the Christmas rush.Manufacturers registered “a solid decline” in new work, and the rate of contraction accelerated to the fastest since February, according to a closely watched survey by S&P Global Market Intelligence.Chris Williamson, the firm’s chief business economist, said the contraction in November was only marginal but reflected deeper concern about the prospects for the year ahead.The S&P Global Flash purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell from 51
Bitcoin rises after SEC chair says he is to step down when Trump is inaugurated
Cryptocurrencies have risen sharply after one of the industry’s biggest critics, Gary Gensler, said he would stand down as the head of the US financial regulator when president-elect Donald Trump was inaugurated in January.In a post on X, Gensler confirmed he would resign from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on 20 January.Trump had previously said he intended to fire Gensler on “day one” of his presidency after the chair of the SEC took legal action against cryptocurrency trading and platforms.“I thank President Biden for entrusting me with this incredible responsibility,” Gensler wrote in the post on X.Gensler was appointed chair of the SEC in 2021 and immediately called on Congress to give him more powers to regulate the “wild west” crypto-sector, saying that it was “rife with fraud, scams and abuse”
The fierce reaction to Australia’s new Future Fund mandate reflects how much has changed since 2006 | John Quiggin
The announcement by the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, that Australia’s Future Fund would be directed to invest in areas of national priority, rather than pursuing a purely commercial investment strategy, has drawn a strong reaction from Peter Costello and John Howard who established the fund in 2006. The ferocity of this reaction is a reminder of how much the world has changed since that time.The fund was established at the high point of neoliberalism, initially using the proceeds of the privatisation of Telstra. The worship of financial markets, and the disdain for public ownership of any kind was at its peak. The guiding principle was the “efficient markets hypothesis” which, in its strongest form, states that the asset prices prevailing in financial markets are the best guide to the returns available to any investment, public or private
Defence firm Thales faces bribery and corruption investigation
The Serious Fraud Office (SFO) is investigating suspected bribery and corruption at Thales Group, a multinational aerospace and defence electronics contractor.The company, which is headquartered in Paris and has a UK subsidiary employing more than 7,000 staff, is known in defence circles for its varied businesses, which include making missiles and launchers, supplying sonar systems for the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines and designing the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.Investigators from the SFO and its French equivalent, Parquet National Financier (PNF), have informed the company of their joint investigation, with each agency concentrating on their respective jurisdictions.The economic crime agencies cooperated on an investigation into Airbus, which resulted in Europe’s largest aerospace multinational paying a record £3bn in penalties in 2020, after admitting it had paid huge bribes on an “endemic” basis to land contracts in 20 countries.Nick Ephgrave, the SFO director, said: “Working collaboratively with our international partners is a crucial factor in the fight against international corruption and with this case I hope to reinforce the SFO and PNF’s longstanding relationship, built on mutual cooperation and shared success
Tesla’s path in China clears as Musk courts both Trump and Xi
What does the US Department of Justice want Google to do?
Deus in machina: Swiss church installs AI-powered Jesus
Elon Musk to ‘summon MPs to US to explain threats to American citizens’
Google must sell Chrome to end search monopoly, says US justice department
Apple Watch Series 10 review: thinner, lighter and basically the same