Closing summary
Time for a recap…
The Bank of England has fired a warning shot at the financial markets not to get carried away with the recent fall in inflation, as it also faced criticism for “confusing” comments on interest rate moves.
Appearing before the Treasury Committee, BoE governor Andrew Bailey told MPs that he believes inflation is on track to fall back to the 2% target. But he warned that risks are to the upside, explaining:
“We are concerned about the potential persistence of inflation as we go through the remainder of the journey down to 2%.
I think the market is underestimating that.”
Bailey also welcomed October’s drop in inflation to 4.6% as “obviously good news”, but news which was largely expected.
He cited two risks; first, that domestic inflation remains high, and second that Middle East conflict drives up the oil price.
Fellow rate-setter Catherine Mann – who was in the minority voting for a rate rise to 5.5% this month – argued that tougher action was needed, saying:
I think actions speak louder than words, especially when you deal with the markets.
That is a key reason why I believe it’s important to have action, in showing commitment to the target.
Treasury committee chair Harriett Baldwin criticised the recent comments from the BoE She accused it of a “confusing running commentary”, after chief economist Huw Pill said expectations of rate cuts next summer were not unreasonable.
Elsewhere….
UK public sector net borrowing has hit its second-highest October level since records began in 1993, as inflation-linked debt interest repayments pushed up the deficit.
The UK borrowed almost £15bn to balance the books last month, but that still left borrowing since April nearly £17bn lower than expected.
Tax receipts rose, helped by rising pries and the ‘fiscal drag’ pulling more people into higher tax bands
This gives chancellor Jeremy Hunt some fiscal headroom ahead of tomorrow’s Autumn Statement.
Deliveroo riders do not have the right to collective negotiations on pay and conditions, the UK’s top court has ruled, in a blow to gig economy campaigners and the unions that represent them.
Analysis from Which? has found that just one in 50 Black Friday deals are at their cheapest price on the day of the sales extravaganza.
The UK faces the prospect of a battery “gigafactory gap” that will undermine the electric car industry unless the government offers the growing sector more help, MPs on parliament’s business committee have said.
Shell Energy has been fined £1.4m for failing to alert more than 70,000 phone and broadband customers to the end of their contracts or tell them what they could save by signing up to a new deal.
Capita, which runs services for local councils, the military and the NHS and manages the BBC TV licence fee, plans to cut 900 jobs as part of efforts to save costs, many of them in the UK.
Telegraph and Spectator sale paused
Just in: the sale process of the Telegraph and The Spectator is to be paused until early December.
In a brief statement, the Boards of the parent companies of Telegraph Media Group Limited and The Spectator have announced that the sales processes for each of the businesses shall be paused today until a crucial court hearing scheduled for 4 December.
Breaking: Telegraph and Spectator sale paused
— Thomas Seal (@TW_Seal) November 21, 2023
That court hearing is due to consider whether to liquidate a key holding company owned by the Barclay family.
The pause comes after the Barclay’s struck a deal with RedBird IMI, an Abu Dhabi-backed vehicle, to secure the funding they need to repay over £1bn owed to Lloyds bank, which was conducting an auction of the Telegraph and Spectator.
Yesterday, RedBird IMI said it is to take control of the Telegraph and Spectator after agreeing loans to repay the Barclay’s debts.
If the holding company company, called Penultimate Investments Holding Limited, was liquidated it would remove the Barclays from a role in the Telegraph’s future, and leave Lloyds free to pursue an unencumbered auction of the newspapers, Sky News reported.
A number of suitors had been questioning whether to invest further time and money in submitting offers given developments in recent days, Sky added this morning.
