Network Rail workers secure inflation-linked pay rise, RMT says
Network Rail workers have voted to accept a pay deal their union said was worth 3.8%.
The Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT) said the deal was linked to the retail price index (RPI) measure of inflation, and also came with a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies. More than three quarters of its members accepted the offer, RMT said.
General secretary Eddie Dempsey said:
I congratulate our Network Rail members and negotiators for securing this pay rise, which protects against the rising cost of living.
Following the successful deal secured on London Underground and now Network Rail, we will now be demanding similar proposals from the train operating companies - and we expect employers to deliver.
Trades unionism is about winning for members in the workplace and that is what RMT will continue to do wherever we are organised.”
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Farage expected to attend Davos next week - reports
Nigel Farage is reportedly expected to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, as the leader of Reform UK prepares to gather in the Swiss Alps alongside some of the most powerful politicians and business people in the world.
Farage is expected to appear at the event, the Financial Times has reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
The FT notes that Farage’s planned attendance comes despite his several previous criticisms of the annual event.
In 2024 he said Reform UK would “reject the influence of the World Economic Forum”, and in 2023 he described Sir Keir Starmer, who was leader of the Labour opposition at the time, as a “full on globalist, hanging out with his mates at the WEF”.
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Global economy could weaken this year, say half of world's top economists
Just over half of the world’s top economists think global economic conditions will weaken this year, a report by the World Economic Forum has found.
Its survey found that 53% of chief economists expect global economic conditions will weaken in the year ahead – which marks an improvement compared with 72% who said so in September 2025.
There is a lot of uncertainty around the stock market too: 52% said they expect AI-related stocks to fall, but 40% think that there will be further gains.
Nearly a third of the economists polled said they were concerned about sovereign debt crises in advanced economies.
Most of the economists said they expected either moderate or strong growth in South and East Asia, but more than half believed Europe faces “weak” growth in the year ahead.
There was however wide agreement that defence spending will increase this year, with 97% of chief economists anticipating rises in advanced economies and 74% in emerging markets.
Saadia Zahidi, managing director at the WEF, said:
The chief economists survey reveals three defining trends for 2026: surging AI investment and its implications for the global economy; debt approaching critical thresholds with unprecedented shifts in fiscal and monetary policies; and trade realignments.
Governments and companies will have to navigate an uncertain near-term environment with agility while continuing to build resilience and invest in the long-term fundamentals of growth.”
The report surveys chief economists at some of the biggest banks, businesses and consultancies in the world, including Barclays, Deloitte and S&P Global.
It comes ahead of next week’s Davos summit, which will see thousands of senior figures from politics, business and civil society, including more than 60 heads of state or government, gather to discuss the state of the global economy at the event in the Swiss Alps.
This year’s theme is “a spirit of dialogue”. US president Donald Trump is expected to attend, as well as other senior politicians such as the German chancellor Friedrich Merz, Chinese vice-premier He Lifeng, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Argentine president Javier Milei.
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BoE's Bailey: Policymakers should 'challenge' populists
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has said policymakers should “challenge” populists who try to discredit them.
In a speech published today, Bailey told the Bellagio Group of economists, central bankers and finance officials that populism affects the international system.
He said on Tuesday:
Part of the purpose of international agencies is that from time to time they have to tell us what we don’t want to hear, let alone act upon.
Of course, they have to be accountable for the accuracy and quality of the assessment. But, accepting that, we have to call out messenger shooting.
…The rise of so-called populism makes the whole task harder. Three features of populism stand out in this respect. First, a tendency to emphasise domestic production and wealth distribution as in opposition to international openness rather than as complementary. Second, a tendency to attribute unfavourable conditions to outside forces, rather than to point to shared challenges. And, third, encouraging a decline in trust such that institutions – domestic and international – are viewed as distant, unresponsive and acting for the benefit of powerful and uncontrollable interests.
For those of us who are institutionalised, the answer is that we have to challenge back, in deeds more than just words. But, we have to ensure our houses are in order too.
The Bank governor did not call out any specific countries or people, although earlier this week he and 9 other central bank governors issued a joint statement offering “full solidarity” to the US Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, who has come under attack from the Trump administration.
Powell is facing a criminal investigation by the US Department of Justice over alleged “abuse of taxpayer dollars” linked to renovations to the central bank’s headquarters in Washington.
Powell has suggested the allegations are baseless and are a punishment for not cutting interest rates as fast as Trump would like.
Bailey in his speech also emphasised that now was “not the time to close the world to the benefits of trade” and encouraged economic openness, as well as the importance of an international rules-based system.
Read the full story here:
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Weight-loss jabs will be a good thing for Leon, founder says
Turning back to the weight-loss jab frenzy, John Vincent, the founder of the fast food chain Leon, said that the rising use of the drugs would benefit the business.
He told the BBC:
I think there is an opportunity for any brand, I think Marks & Spencers has responded to it quite well already. I think there is definitely an opportunity for Leon type food, which is typically made with good fats not bad fats, low sugar not high sugar and lots of great flavour with herbs and spices.
We are actually seeing that the type of food we enjoy eating at Leon…is actually the sort of food that people on weight-loss jabs want to eat.
Things like can we help people get enough protein, and how their body maintains their muscle mass, is just as important as calories, I think.”
The food chain has struggled in recent years, faced with rising costs and interest rates, as well as tough competition.
Vincent, who sold Leon in 2021, bought back the business for a rumoured £30m-£50m last year– significantly less than the £100m he sold it for.
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Water restored to most homes across Kent and Sussex
Water access has been restored to most homes in the Tunbridge Wells area after almost a week of disruption, the provider South East Water has said.
The outage began on Saturday, which SEW blamed on Storm Goretti causing burst pipes and power cuts. It forced many of the affected households in the Tunbridge Wells area to pick up bottled water from makeshift distribution centres and travel out of the area to wash and use flushing toilets.
This morning SEW’s incident manager Matthew Dean has told the Press Association:
Water supplies have now been restored to the 6,500 properties in Tunbridge Wells area.
Some customers may be experiencing low pressure as the water levels continue to build this morning throughout the area’s pipeline network.
Continuous supplies have been restored to the town after we implemented our recovery plan which involved keeping local booster pumps switched off for 36 hours so our drinking water storage tank could fill.
We are very sorry to every single one of our customers who have been affected.
We know and understand how difficult going without water for such a long period of time is and how difficult it makes everyday life.”
It comes as SEW’s chief executive David Hinton faces criticism over his pay, as he is in line for a £400,000 long-term bonus regardless of his performance.
Hinton is set to receive the payout if he stays on until July 2030. You can read the full story by my colleagues Jasper Jolly and Helena Horton here:
Meanwhile the regulator Ofwat confirmed this week that it had launched an investigation into whether SEW had “complied with its obligation to provide high standards of customer service and support for its customers”.
Weight-loss drugs could save US airlines hundreds of millions of dollars, say analysts
Wall Street has found another potential winner from America’s weight-loss drug boom: airlines.
Airlines could end up saving hundreds of millions of dollars in fuel costs, as slimmer passengers mean lighter planes, analysts at the broker Jefferies have said.
A slimmer society equals lower fuel consumption. Airlines have a history of being vigilant around aircraft weight savings, from olives (pitless, of course) to paper stock. Passenger waist lines have thus far been out of their control.
As weight-loss drugs become more accessible and with obesity rates falling, major airlines such as American Airlines, Delta, United and Southwest could be in for big savings, the analysts said.
Together the four airlines are expected to consume 16 billion gallons of fuel this year alone, at an average fuel price of $2.41 per gallon, Jefferies estimated. It gives the airlines a combined fuel bill of nearly $39 billion, or 19% of their total expenses.
Jefferies thinks that a 10% reduction in average passenger weight would lead to roughly 2% total aircraft weight savings, up to 1.5% in lower fuel costs and as much as a 4% boost to earnings per share.
Earlier this month the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk launched the first pill version of the blockbuster GLP-1 weight loss drugs in the US, at a lower cost than jab varieties.
TikTok to strengthen age-verification technology across EU
TikTok will begin the rollout of new age-verification technology across the EU in the coming weeks, as calls for an Australia-style social media ban for under-16s grow in countries including the UK.
ByteDance-owned TikTok, and other major platforms popular with young people such as YouTube, are coming under increasing pressure to better identify and remove accounts belonging to children.
The system, which has been quietly piloted in the EU over the past year, analyses profile information, posted videos and behavioural signals to predict whether an account may be belong to a user under the age of 13.
TikTok said accounts flagged by the system will then be reviewed by specialist moderators rather than face an automatic ban, and may then be removed. The UK pilot led to the removal of thousands of accounts.
There aren’t many dramatic movers on the FTSE 100 this morning, but over on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index, shares in the biotech business Genus have shot up by as much as 10% this morning.
The animal genetics company beat expectations for its half-year trading update, forecasting about £50m in actual currency for its adjusted pre-tax profit.
The £1.8bn company, which is headquartered in Basingstoke, helps farmers breed animals with certain traits such as disease resistance and faster growth.
Analysts at the broker Peel Hunt credited its earnings beat to strong performance in its pig breeding business.
Copper prices sink after reports of Chinese clampdown on trading
Copper prices are falling by about 2% this morning after reports Chinese regulators have ordered exchanges to remove servers operated by high frequency traders from their data centres.
The Shanghai Futures Exchange, a major metals trading platform, has told brokers they need to get equipment for high-speed clients out by the end of the month, according to a report by Bloomberg. Other clients will need to do so by the end of April, it reported.
The news has taken the wind out of some of the metals rally this week, which has seen both precious metals such as gold and silver, as well as industrial metals such as tin and copper, all rise.
It is weighing on the FTSE 100 too, with London’s listed miners among the worst performers in the City this morning. Shares in Endeavour Mining, Antofagasta, Fresnillo, Rio Tinto and Anglo American are all down by more than 1%.
Introduction: UK's housing stock hits highest level in 8 years, Zoopla says
Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.
The stock of homes for sale in the UK has hit its highest level in more than eight years, the property portal Zoopla has found.
The average estate agent started the year with 32 homes for sale, the highest level in early January in Zoopla’s research, which dates back to 2018.
The greatest growth in housing for sale is in London, up 16% compared with last year, followed by the south east, up 9%.
Not all the properties however are “brand new” to the market, Zoopla added – 33% were previously listed in 2025, with sellers coming back to the market after some of the uncertainty around the budget starting to fade.
But the growth is evidence that appetite in the property market is starting to improve, Richard Donnell, a director at Zoopla, said.
Growing numbers of homes for sale is evidence of a strong underlying appetite to move home for many households.
Across much of southern England, there is a much greater choice of homes for sale. Buyers are price-sensitive and have more choice, so achieving the best result depends on setting a competitive asking price and attracting early interest. Homes priced too high often take longer to sell and at the risk of achieving a lower price. It is important that homeowners price carefully and seek the advice of agents to plan the right strategy for their home sale.
Across the rest of the country there is a degree of scarcity, but sellers need to remain realistic over pricing. The market is stable rather than booming. Buyers are active but careful, which means pricing correctly from the outset is crucial. Homes that are well-presented and realistically priced continue to sell, while those priced optimistically will take longer and may need price reductions to attract interest.”
Elsewhere this morning, the FTSE 100 has slipped 0.15% as the commodities market starts to pull back. Copper, nickel and tin prices are down this morning, as well as gold, although it is still trading above $4,600 per ounce.
Oil prices are however rising slightly as investors continue to consider risks around supply, even after the US said it would hold off on any attacks on Iran. Brent crude rose by 0.2%, to $63.92 per barrel, while US West Texas Intermediate rose 0.2% to $59.37 per barrel.
The agenda
2.15pm GMT: US industrial production and manufacturing output stats
