Key event
Time to wrap up....
Camelot’s legal fight to avoid losing its licence to operate the national lottery has failed but the Canadian-owned company will press ahead with a damages claim that could cost the government £600m.
The company launched a high court challenge in April, claiming the Gambling Commission had got its decision “badly wrong” by naming the rival firm Allwyn as its “preferred applicant” for the next 10-year licence to operate the national lottery.
The lawsuit forced a temporary suspension of the licence award, causing a delay that could have “severe consequences for the national lottery and good causes”, said the commission.
Vladimir Potanin, known as the “Nickel King” and Russia’s second richest person, has become the latest Russian oligarch to be subjected to sanctions by the UK as ministers target “Putin’s inner circle”.
The government and National Grid have played down concerns that Britain may stop supplying gas to mainland Europe if the country is hit by extreme shortages in the coming months.
There’s no relief in cost of living crisis, with petrol prices hitting records yesterday.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said:
“We can see absolutely no rhyme or reason why average forecourt prices are still going up, given that the wholesale price of both fuels has been falling for weeks.
Drivers up and down the country have a right to know why they’re having to pay what they are for fuel when the costs to retailers right now are so much less they were a few weeks ago.
Shoppers have been hit with the highest increase in prices in over 13 years:
Britons have also suffered a rise in authorised push payment fraud (APP), where victims are tricked into making a payment.
Overall, more than £1.3bn was stolen by con artists last year, figures from UK Finance reveal.
Nottingham has been named Britain’s broadband “outage capital”.
Across the UK, almost 11 million consumers have suffered a broadband blackout lasting more than three hours over the last year (no fun if you’re trying to work from home).
The chief executive of Ofgem has insisted that bills will not rise for consumers, as the regulator laid out plans to plough £20bn into upgrading Great Britain’s regional electricity networks
British defence manufacturer Meggitt has moved closer to being acquired by US industrial conglomerate Parker Hannifin, after the UK government has signalled it is likely to accept the £6.3bn deal.
Whitbread, the owner of the Premier Inn hotel chain, has appointed the current boss of Domino’s Pizza to replace Alison Brittain.
BT has requested an extension to the UK government’s deadline for removing Huawei equipment from its network, following a ban on using the Chinese company’s equipment because of data security concerns.
MPC-appointee Dhingra: room for very gradual appraoch to rate rises
While Jerome Powell was sounding hawkish in Sintra, the Bank of England’s next new policymaker was taking a more dovish line in parliament.
Swati Dhingra, who is due to join the Monetary Policy Committee in August, told MPs the Bank of England should move very gradually to tighten monetary policy.
Dhingra argued there was “some room for a very gradual approach here”, given signs that the economic slowdown is much closer than previously thought.
Dhingra, an associate professor of economics at the LSE, also warned that the UK faces significant challenges, citing the risk of worsening global conditions on top of the cost of of living crisis.
Dhingra will replace the hawkish Michael Saunders on the MPC. which has raised interest rates five times in a row.
She warned that inflationary pressures will continue “in the short term” due to high energy prices, global supply disruptions, and “the accumulation of growth constraints such as the shortfall in business investment and increased inactivity in the labor market.”
Dhingra also cautioned that many of the sources of the problems pushing up UK inflation and hitting consumer confidence “are expected to continue or even accelerate in the short term.”
"Now I think there is some room for a very gradual approach."
— David Milliken (@david_milliken) June 29, 2022
LSE academic Swati Dhingra, who joins the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee in August, tells @CommonsTreasury that the risk of a sharp slowdown should make BoE tread carefully on rates
Brexit trade deal probably added 3% to UK food costs and will lower real pay by around 1.8% in medium term, Dhingra says - drawing on recent research she did with @resfoundation https://t.co/gaveGAUoKq
— David Milliken (@david_milliken) June 29, 2022
