Business

The Post Office should be “handed over” to postmasters, its former chairman has said, accusing the government of using it as a “fig leaf” for stalling and evasion. In a letter seen exclusively by Sky News, Henry Staunton told the business and trade committee the government has “consistently hidden behind the Post Office’s skirts, spinning

Elon Musk, the multi-billionaire owner of Tesla and X, is suing artificial intelligence company OpenAI, accusing the firm of prioritising profit over developing AI for the public good. Mr Musk is bringing the suit against OpenAI, which he co-founded, and its chief executive, Sam Altman, for breaching a contract by reneging on its pledge to

The UK car industry has pleaded with the chancellor to help get the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) back on track when he delivers his budget next week, accusing the government of creating an own goal. The Society for Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said it was clear that the decision to delay the ban

Post Office Limited (POL) “intended to pervert the course of justice” by relying on knowingly flawed cash accounts, an inquiry submission filed today alleged. Sir Edward Henry KC, who represents former sub-postmasters Lee Castleton and Seema Misra, among others, in the Post Office scandal, made the remarks in a closing statement for the Horizon inquiry.

The Home Office immigration system statistics for 2023 tell a different story to the one that dominates the political discourse. While government commentary and policy has focused on illegal migration via small boats, the largest driver of rising immigration is people coming to work, primarily in a health and care sector that would not function

Vape ads across social media platforms “need to stop” and advertisers pleading ignorance is not an excuse, the advertising regulator has warned. The Committee of Advertising Practice (CAP) – which regulates non-broadcast adverts – launched a crackdown on e-cigarette advertisers, warning the law prohibits them from marketing vapes containing nicotine that are not licensed as

Labour will inherit the worst economic situation of any incoming government since the Second World War, Rachel Reeves warned today, accusing the Conservative Party of “burning the house down” during its time in government. Talking in the run-up to next week’s budget, the shadow chancellor said that while George Osborne had promised to “fix the

You might not trust the Post Office with your parcels but one thing it seems the disgraced organisation can still deliver is drama. After ITV’s Mr Bates vs The Post Office did what a decade of investigative journalism could not – and made the public and politicians give a damn about wrongly convicted postmasters –

MPs have raised concerns over the treatment of small businesses by major banks after figures showed more than 140,000 accounts were shut down by lenders over the past year. As part of an inquiry into access to finance, the Treasury Committee gathered information from eight banks, including the so-called big four, on how many business

The annual rate of shop price inflation has eased to its lowest level for almost two years, according to an industry reading that credits food and fashion prices. The British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Nielsen Shop Price Index showed the pace of price increases slowed to 2.5% over the 12 months to February from 2.9% the previous

The government has announced it will significantly increase the interim payment given to Post Office workers who have their convictions overturned, from £163,000 to £450,000. More than 900 sub-postmasters and sub-postmistresses were prosecuted between 1999 and 2015, after faulty accounting software called Horizon, made by Fujitsu, made it seem like money was missing from their

The UK has seen a “persistent under delivery” of new homes, according to the competition watchdog which has launched an investigation into eight housebuilders. Too few new homes are being delivered due to a “complex and unpredictable” planning system, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said. Its report into the housebuilding industry also identified “substantial

A former private secretary to Prince Andrew is playing a key role in the deliberations of a Chinese online retail giant over a possible bid for Currys, the high street electrical goods chain. Sky News has learnt that Amanda Thirsk, who quit as the Duke of York’s private secretary nearly four years ago, is working

Next has approached administrators to The Body Shop about a potential deal to purchase parts of the stricken cosmetics chain. Sky News has learnt that executives from the UK fashion retailing giant have contacted FRP Advisory to express an interest in acquiring assets as part of any sale process it decides to launch. There were

The worst airlines for customer satisfaction have been revealed The UK’s flag carrier airline, British Airways, ranked among the worst airlines in the survey. BA’s customer score for long-haul flights was the joint third lowest out of 17 carriers analysed by Which?, at 59%. The airline received just two stars out of five for boarding

As household energy bills are set to fall in April, Ian King talks to Sky’s business correspondent Paul Kelso. He also speaks to Bill Winters, the chief executive of Standard Chartered, about its $1bn share buyback. Erik Hirsch, co-chief executive of Hamilton Lane, a leading private markets investment firm, also joins Ian. Listen and subscribe

The energy price cap is to fall by £20 a month, the industry regulator has announced, but households are to face an additional “temporary” charge to help suppliers support struggling customers with record levels of debt. Ofgem confirmed a 12% price cap reduction will take effect from 1 April, taking the annual energy bill for

Paula Vennells, the former chief executive of the Post Office, has had her CBE formally stripped from her by the King for “bringing the honours system into disrepute”. Ms Vennells received the honour in 2019 but was widely criticised amid the fallout from the Post Office scandal. She had previously said she would give up

Overturning the convictions of guilty sub-postmasters to exonerate all those unfairly prosecuted due to the Horizon scandal is a “price worth paying”, according to the government. Under new legislation, the government says it will “quash all convictions which are identified as being in scope”. The Post Office minister says that possibly exonerating people guilty of

Vauxhall’s parent company has secured the future for its Luton plant but demanded more government aid to help drive the transition to electric vehicles. Stellantis confirmed on Thursday that the Bedfordshire site will produce “limited” volumes of electric vans for five of its group brands from 2025. They would include the Vauxhall Vivaro Electric, Peugeot