How inflation can be control

Announcement of the results from BT Group strike ballots Sign up for FREE for the biggest new releases, reviews and tech hacks SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info According to reports, around 25,000 members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) at BT and Openreach and 9,000 BT call centre workers were balloted and overwhelmingly backed industrial action, the (CWU) recently said. BT employees have voted overwhelmingly in favour of holding a national strike for the first time in 35 years, sparking the latest industrial action dispute over wages. Related articles Where is the safest place in the UK during nuclear war? Top 20 areas Trade unions and Labour could split as 'summer of discontent' looms … [Read more...] about BT national strike threatens to severely hamper broadband as employees set to walk out

Britain is set to hand over an eye-watering £9.4 billion Brexit divorce payment to Brussels this year, according to official EU figures. The bumper bill will still leave the UK with a massive £26.6 billion left to pay under the terms of the withdrawal deal , the Commission says. It will swell the bloc’s coffers at a time when the UK and other European states are battling rising inflation and a cost of living crisis . Brussels’s calculation for this year’s payment is almost £3 billion higher than that forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility. It had been expected the cost would rise because of the weakening of the pound against the euro, which the settlement is paid in. The Treasury puts the final tally of the divorce bill at £35 billion to £39 billion, whilst the Commission has priced it slightly higher at £41 billion. It was agreed in 2019 and covers money that the UK had already pledged to EU schemes as a member, plus the pensions of British officials. But … [Read more...] about Britain must pay EU £9.4bn this year as weak pound swells Brexit divorce bill

Facebook’s parent company Meta is slashing hiring plans as Mark Zuckerberg warns of “one of the worst downturns in recent history”. The social media giant plans to hire as much as 40pc fewer engineers than it had earlier predicted, amid an economic downturn and as privacy changes hit its advertising business. Mr Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive , outlined the changes to staff on Thursday. "If I had to bet, I'd say that this might be one of the worst downturns that we've seen in recent history,” he told employees, according to a recording of the event leaked to Reuters. He said that Meta would hire between 6,000 and 7,000 engineers, compared to previous plans for around 10,000. Mr Zuckerberg’s comments echo those of fellow tech entrepreneur Elon Musk, who is in the process of cutting 3,500 salaried jobs because of a “super bad feeling” about the economy. Mr Zuckerberg said many staff who leave will not be replaced and bosses will be encouraged to identify employees not … [Read more...] about Mark Zuckerberg tells Meta execs to find staff ‘who shouldn’t be here’

Facebook should be forced to ­require advertisers to pass identity checks, a coalition of the world’s biggest brands has demanded amid rising concern over fraud and misinformation. The World Federation of Advertisers (WFA), which represents thousands of companies including top spenders such as Unilever, Vodafone and Volkswagen, has said forthcoming European laws should require social media networks to verify all advertisers. It is the latest case of big brands putting pressure on social media companies to clean up their services following a row over hate speech earlier this year and revelations that Facebook was ­providing faulty data about how ­effective adverts had been. In a submission to a European Union consultation on its forthcoming Digital Services Act, a new set of rules to ­govern the internet, the WFA said large companies that publish or carry online advertising should follow laws modelled on the “know your customer” rules that regulate banking. Illicit adverts … [Read more...] about Facebook should verify all advertisers to crack down on fraud, top brands demand

A UK digital regulator is needed to rein in the growing control Big Tech companies have on over our data , according to a new report. The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) claims the coronavirus pandemic has increased the economic and social power of major tech companies . “Covid-19 risks further increasing the economic and social dominance of Big Tech, with stock market valuations skyrocketing as society becomes more dependent on data through homeworking and increased medical surveillance," said James Meadway, an associate fellow at IPPR. Together, the six largest tech companies in the US - Facebook, Alphabet, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix and Amazon - have increased their value by 38pc $1.9 trillion (£1.45tn) since lockdown began. In the same period, the average value of stocks in the US has “remained roughly unchanged”. The European market has suffered a 16pc decline while the UK market has suffered a 22pc fall. “This Covid effect means their power to affect and … [Read more...] about UK regulator is needed to keep powers of tech giants in check

The executive order that Donald Trump signed against social media companies last week is unlikely to directly do much damage. The decree, prepared in a fit of anger after Twitter fact-checked two of the President’s tweets, seeks to remove a legal shield enjoyed by social media companies if they suppress content “in bad faith”. Although it may carry some political value, it clashes with how US courts have interpreted the law and is unlikely to stand up to any legal challenge. Most internet lawyers say it is not worth the paper it is written on. Despite this, Trump’s order, however rough, is potentially a turning point for something . The golden age for internet companies, in which they were largely unaccountable for the material that users hosted on their services, is coming to an end. The modern web – outside the US as much as in it – has been built on a 1996 law that is often misunderstood but has had immense consequences. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, … [Read more...] about 24-year-old law that built the internet is under threat

Has Kwasi Kwarteng gone too far already? The new Business Secretary has spent the first few days in the job busily playing down the widely-held perception that he is a Right-winger. He has distanced himself from the more extreme free-marketeer views he espoused in the 2012 pamphlet entitled Britannia Unchained, which outlined his vision for the country. As a newly elected MP, Kwarteng – along with Liz Truss, Dominic Raab, Priti Patel and Chris Skidmore – denounced the UK’s “bloated state, high taxes and excessive regulation”, and described British workers as “among the worst idlers in the world”. And, despite being appointed less than a month ago, he has already executed his first U-turn, abandoning a post-Brexit review of workers’ rights after he was attacked for wanting to water down protections. When we meet (virtually, of course), he is adamant that much of the criticism was baseless: “People say we want to abolish workers’ rights; nothing could be further from the … [Read more...] about Kwasi Kwarteng: Brexit is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity we must take advantage of

Bosses have lashed out at a government plan to impose fines and bans on directors for inaccuracies in their companies’ accounts, claiming it will add an unwanted burden to strained firms and deter qualified candidates from joining boards. Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng is preparing to publish long-awaited proposals to clean up the audit industry and improve the quality of company accounts following scandals at the likes of Carillion and Patisserie Valerie . A swathe of prominent business figures questioned whether the changes would place an unreasonable burden on directors and protect auditors from being held accountable. Sir Martin Sorrell, founder of advertising firm S4 Capital, said it did not make sense to “strangle initiative” at companies trying to survive the pandemic. Charlie Mullins, chairman and founder of Pimlico Plumbers, said: “What’s the point of having auditors to sign off accounts if they’re going to make directors do porridge or pay huge fines when … [Read more...] about Bosses hit out at plans to fine and ban directors for accounting errors

Every so often, it becomes apparent that ministers are as perplexed as anyone about the operations of government. Most civil service work, after all, takes place entirely without political supervision. By and large, this is acceptable – except when the Civil Service goes wildly off track and starts devoting manpower to tasks that are irrelevant or contrary to the Government’s programme or beliefs. One such example from the Coalition era was the existence of “pilgrims” – trade union officers paid a full Civil Service salary to work mostly on union work instead of government business. Lord Pickles famously outlawed the practice. But “pilgrims” now have a worthy heir: a type of employee we might dub the “staff network pilgrim” or “wokers”, as opposed to workers. The Telegraph has published data from the Taxpayers’ Alliance showing that some departments allow civil servants to devote an entire day of the week to workplace activism. For some wokers, however, this may be a minimum. … [Read more...] about Civil Service ‘wokers’ are more interested in activism than serving the public

The average UK house price hit a new record high in June but there are “tentative signs of a slowdown”, according to an index. Prices were up by 10.7% in June, slowing from 11.2% in May, Nationwide Building Society said. Across the UK, the average house price in June was £271,613, up by 0.3% month on month. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The price of a typical UK home climbed to a new record high of £271,613, with average prices increasing by over £26,000 in the past year. “There are tentative signs of a slowdown, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchases falling back towards pre-pandemic levels in April and surveyors reporting some softening in new buyer inquiries. Recommended Over £130m handed to housing providers named and shamed by regulator “Nevertheless, the housing market has retained a surprising amount of momentum given the mounting pressure on household budgets from high inflation, which has already … [Read more...] about Average UK house price hits new record high but there are ‘signs of a slowdown’