Marketing Newscast

(Edited 05 March 2025)

Apple has launched a legal battle against Home Secretary Yvette Cooper’s secret order [1] requiring it to install a backdoor to the iPhone so the Government has the power to snoop on owners’ iCloud-stored documents and photographs. Last month, Apple chose to withdraw from the UK market its opt-in Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature, which encrypts the iCloud online storage system, to prevent unauthorised access, rather than comply with Cooper’s order, saying it was “gravely disappointed” by it. “We have never built a backdoor or master key to any of our products or services and we never will,” Apple said. The Financial Times reports the tech giant has now lodged an appeal against her order with the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, the court which oversees Britain’s surveillance laws, arguing that that creating the backdoor Cooper requests would endanger millions of customers by making it easier for hackers to access their private information. The case could be heard in the next month, the FT says. Last week, US President Donald Trump criticised Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer over the order, saying: “We told them you can’t do this... We actually told him [Starmer] ... That’s incredible. That’s something, you know, that you hear about with China.” The US national intelligence director, Tulsi Gabbard, also called the demand “egregious” adding that she will look into whether the request complied with US-UK legal agreements.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s trade wars not only contributed to a significant slump in global stocks yesterday – the FTSE 100 posted its largest one-day fall of the year - but also to a drop in the US dollar. The dollar index, which tracks the currency against six peers, was trading at a three-month low yesterday. The pound, however, rose above $1.28 for the first time since December. The US President addressed Congress yesterday to declare he “just getting started” on trade tariffs, saying: “Tariffs are about making America rich again and making America great again”. “There’ll be a little disturbance, but we’re ok with that. It won’t be much,” he added.

Will the UK escape Trump’s tariffs? Chancellor Rachel Reeves told MakeUK’s National Manufacturing Conference yesterday that there is “every reason to be hopeful” about a trade deal with the US. However, Britain will be hit by the collateral damage from a Trump trade war, even if the UK itself is not slapped with tariffs, she added.

The Chancellor also suggested yesterday that a cut to public expenditure will pay for increased defence spending rather than tax hikes. Last week, the PM announced a cut in the foreign aid budget to fund the increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027, with an “ambition” to reach 3% within next parliament, at a cost of £14bn a year more. Asked whether households should be bracing themselves for more calls on their purse, Reeves said: “I will never play fast and loose with the public finances, and I will always explain where the money is going to come from. But I think you should note that it was through spending reductions elsewhere that we were able to fund this increase in defence spending. That was the choice that we made, rather than increasing taxation.” Meanwhile, Reeves is reported to have earmarked several billion pounds in draft spending cuts to welfare ahead of her Spring Statement on 26^th March. The Treasury will today put the proposed cuts to the government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). Speculation is also mounting this morning that Reeves is laying the ground to row back from her pledge not to allow public spending to outstrip tax income - Whitehall sources are telling media organisations that "the world has changed" since her October Budget.

Energy Secretary Ed Miliband is said to be facing a Cabinet backlash over his Net Zero plans, and rumours abound that he may be one of several Ministers sacked in a possible Cabinet reshuffle. The rebellion against his proposals is said be led by Rachel Reeves, who is concerned his plans are at odds with her promises to grow the economy and save industrial jobs. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds and Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander are also said to be at loggerheads with Miliband. The two are under pressure from car manufacturers who have hit out at ‘unreasonable’ electric vehicle sales targets stipulated by the Government’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, and the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland, which will lead to the loss of 500 jobs. The Telegraph says it has been told by sources in Whitehall that the Cabinet disagreements were not personal and amounted to a “genuine intellectual debate” about how to ensure the switch to green energy was used to boost the economy. “It’s about competing priorities,” the source said. “There is a jobs-first group of people who very much believe that the point of the green transition should be to reindustrialise Britain. But there’s another group that is less concerned about where things are made and more with cutting carbon. Ed has a mandate to cut carbon but others have a mandate to grow the economy and boost manufacturing – the question is how you square that circle.” They claimed that the concerns about manufacturing jobs were also shared by officials in Downing Street, including Morgan McSweeney, the Prime Minister’s chief of staff. A source close to Miliband declined to comment on internal conversations. The other Cabinet ministers said to be in line for the chop are Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson, Attorney General Richard Hermer, who has been at the centre of various conflict of interest allegations, including regarding the Chagos Islands deal; and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. Some political commentators are suggesting the Chancellor’s own position is precarious.

The number of foreign investors launching mergers and acquisition (M&A) deals for UK companies fell to its to its lowest level since Covid lockdowns in the fourth quarter of last year, with only £4.5bn spent by buyers from abroad, according to data from the Office for National Statistics. UK companies acquiring foreign companies also declined, falling from £3.9bn to £1.4bn. Domestic M&A deals increases however, from £1.9bn to £8.6bn.

Abrdn, the asset manager known formerly as Aberdeen Standard Life, is putting back the vowels it removed from its brand four years’ ago, presumably because it is fed up with being mocked repeatedly for the move by the media. In April last year, the firm’s chief investment officer complained it had been subjected to “corporate bullying” because of the branding. The group also announced yesterday that it had swung to a pre-tax profit of £251m in 2024, from a loss of £6m a year earlier, with adjusted operating profit up 2% to £255m.

And finally…. Brits spent almost £1bn on Valentine’s Day gifts such as flowers, toiletries, and perfumes, as well as on at-home meals, according to the latest NIQ Till Tracker. £962m was splurged by lovers on each other, however around a quarter of that spend was on goods on special offer, Mike Watkins, Head of Retailer and Business Insight NIQ said. “Retailers capitalised on the opportunities around Valentine’s Day… With the pinch of the cost of living, many shoppers dined in to save money this year, with premium food options growing and themed meals and gifts very much in vogue for treating loved ones,” he commented.