Marketing Newscast

(Edited 11 December 2024)

Farmers are protesting in central London again today, the second mass rally in their ongoing campaign against the Labour Government’s introduction of a tax raid on family farms. Other protests are also taking place outside the Welsh Senedd and in towns and cities across the country. Save British Farming founder Liz Webster said the protest would get underway during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) in the House of Commons this lunchtime. The PM "is pulling the rug from under farmers' feet, aiming to dismantle British farming as we know it," she said, comparing the removal of full inheritance tax relief from family farms as the "straw that broke the camel’s back". "But farmers are resilient and united in this fight," she added. National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw, whose group is not officially involved today, said: "These events reflect the strong feelings across the agricultural community. We hope they are well-attended and farmers' voices are heard." Tractors were already heading into London earlier, some sporting slogans decrying "Starmer the farmer harmer" and "Keir Stalinarmer, global laughing stock - stop the death tax," GB News reports.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked Government departments to identify 5% "efficiency savings" over a three-year period in what she calls a crackdown on Government waste to ensure key public services can be prioritised for funding. The BBC says it is understood departments will be able to reallocate money saved within their budgets, but that The Treasury expects them to prioritise spending on policies that contribute towards the "plan for change" set out by the prime minister in a speech last week, including "milestones" to deliver before the next election such as building more homes, clearing hospital waiting lists and ensuring children are ready for school. Speaking to BBC 5 Live 's Matt Chorley, Reeves said the situation was very different to the austerity set out under the 2010 Conservative-Liberal Democrat government. "The difference here is we are not asking for cuts because we've set real term increases to government spending, George Osborne cut government spending," she claimed. Overall government day-to-day spending is set to rise by 4.3% in real terms this year, paid for by tax rises announced in October’s Budget, which Reeves claims will bring in an extra £40bn.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has confirmed the UK’s first full-scale carbon capture power station will be built on Teesside, with construction due to begin next year. The proposal will cost the taxpayer £22bn in public subsidies. Miliband claims it will create 2,000 jobs and pave the way for further projects; another is already planned on Merseyside. Energy giants BP, Equinor and Total will build and co-fund the project, which is expected to be in operation from 2028. The plan involves building a large gas-fired power station but, instead of emitting its waste gases to the atmosphere, they will be captured and compressed into a liquid which will then be liquefied and pumped out into the North Sea for permanent burial in subsea rock formations. Miliband said of the project: “This investment launches a new era for clean energy in Britain … This is the Government’s mission to make the UK a clean energy superpower in action – replacing Britain’s energy insecurity with homegrown clean power that rebuilds the strength of our industrial heartlands.” However, there is no guarantee it will work. “Such technologies have never been used at such a scale before and critics have warned they may only be 50% to 60% efficient at capturing CO2,” The Telegraph’s Jonathan Leake writes, adding: “Capturing CO2 itself also consumes a lot of energy, meaning the electricity generated will be far more expensive than other forms of generation”.

Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), told the House of Commons Treasury Committee yesterday that unhappy car buyers who feel their loan was mis-sold to them should complain to their lenders. The FCA is exploring whether buyers should be compensated in cases where dealers received commission payments from lenders without the knowledge of the purchaser, following a Court of Appeal ruling earlier this year. Such commission arrangements were banned in 2021, but the court decision means the finance sector has been flooded with thousands of historic complaints, potentially exposing banks and other lenders to billions in compensation costs. Rathi also told the MPs that scandal may be as big as the one which engulfed payment protection insurance (PPI), which cost British banks £50bn. Dame Meg Hillier, the Committee Chair, called the situation “one unholy mess”. Meanwhile, S&U Chair Anthony Coombs said the motor finance scandal has impacted its financial performance. The specialist motor finance lender described “chaotic market conditions” following the Appeal Court decision, saying it was one issue among others which meant the firm has seen pre-tax profit down by half on last year. “It is very important that the Government, our regulators and the courts collaborate with industry participants to ensure an environment in which S&U and the sector as a whole can maintain responsible lending and consumer access to fair credit,” he said in a trading update. Some 2m new and second-hand British cars are bought under finance agreements each year. Close Brothers and South African bank FirstRand, the lenders involved in October’s court ruling, have said they will appeal to the Supreme Court.

Nikhil Rathi further suggested yesterday that the Court of Appeal ruling regarding the car finance mis-selling scandal could have implications for other sectors, but would not be drawn on which other "big ticket" purchases made on finance might be impacted.

The price of coffee has hit a record high. Yesterday, the price for Arabica beans, which account for most global production, topped $3.44 (£2.70) a pound (0.45kg), having jumped more than 80% this year. The world's two largest producers, Brazil and Vietnam, were hit by bad weather this year, and the popularity of coffee continues to grow worldwide.

Train travel in the UK is the most expensive in Europe, it has been revealed. A study by campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E) said that among all UK rail franchises, Great Western Railway (GWR) Eurostar and Avanti West Coast were the costliest by ticket price. GWR fares are around two and a half times greater than the European Union (EU) average, while Avanti West Coast passengers pay one and a half times more, despite long-running complaints about poor service. Eurostar fares cost nearly twice the price of other European operators on routes of comparable length, a gap T&E said could not be “attributed solely to costs associated with the Channel Tunnel.” T&E also claimed prices driven up by “private monopolies.” Eurostar, and the Department for Transport disputed the findings, while the Rail Delivery Group, which represents UK rail operators, said: “We’re glad to see customer numbers rising and demand for rail travel growing year on year. Our aim is to sustain this growth by attracting more people while delivering a more reliable and sustainable service with a better overall experience for our customers”.

Avanti West Coast train managers have voted to go on strike for three days over the Christmas period, the RMT trade union says. The walkouts have been scheduled for 22^nd, 23^rd and 29^th December for the London to Scotland service after they rejected the train company's proposals for "rest day working arrangements". A spokesperson for Avanti West Coast said that at "one of our busiest and most important times of the year" customers "will now face significant disruption because of these strikes". Around 300 train managers are expected to join the walkout.

Heathrow Airport has had another record month, serving 6.5m passengers in November, up 6.1% year-on-year, and seeing eight of its key destinations join a select few which have served over 1m passengers so far in 2024. Britian’s busiest airport is also predicting that December will be another record month, saying it expects to see close to a quarter-increase in passenger numbers on Christmas Day.

Thames Water has defended paying out £770,000 in executive bonuses despite the firm being on the verge of technical bankruptcy, requiring a £3bn loan to survive, and a 40% increase in pollution incidents in the six months to 30^th September, as reported here yesterday. "Competitive packages" are needed to attract talent, Chris Weston said. "I completely understand that there are customers out there who struggle with their bills," he added, pointing to bill support offered to about 377,000 customers in the last year. The water utility also wants to increase bills for its customer by 59%, a demand water regulator Ofwat will rule on by 19^th December.

Boots owner Walgreens Boots Alliance, which has owned the UK High Street chemist since 2014, is reportedly in discussions with American private equity giant Sycamore Partners about a takeover deal that could value the company at as much as $10bn (£7.8bn).

Cineworld is closing another six of its cinemas – the sites in Castleford, Leigh, Middlesbrough, Northampton, Poole and Weymouth – completing its restructuring process. The cinema chain did not disclose how many jobs will be impacted by the closures. In September 2022, the firm filed for bankruptcy in the US as a consequence of Covid lockdowns on both sides of the Atlantic. When it emerged from bankruptcy in July 2023, it de-listed from the London Stock Exchange as part of a debt restructuring plan agreed by lenders, leaving shareholders empty-handed.

Boeing resumed production of its 737 MAX jetliners last week, it has been reported. In the course of this year, the airline has been beset by problems, among them technical issues including a terrifying mid-air panel blowout on an Alaska Airlines flight in January which forced an initial shutdown by the US transport regulator, who then capped production at just 38 jetliners a month. Boeing has also faced supply chain issues and, latterly, a seven-week strike by 33,000 factory workers. However, three sources have told Reuters Boeing has finally begun to clear the backlog of more than 4,000 orders for the aircraft, although there is no news on when the production cap might be lifted. The news boosted Boeing’s stock price by nearly 5% on Wall Street yesterday.