The government has ordered an investigation into a £4bn takeover of British defence giant Cobham by a US private equity firm on the grounds of national security.
Business Secretary Andrea Leadsom said the government wanted to "support private sector innovation whilst safeguarding the public interest" but had ordered the intervention after "careful consideration".
The competition watchdog will now scrutinise the national security implications of the deal between Cobham and Advent International and report the results before 29 October.
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The government has stepped into a proposed £4bn takeover of British aerospace and defence firm Cobham. It comes after the Cobham's founding family raised concerns about the company's future under the ownership of Advent International.
Cobham supplies world-leading technology for the mid-air refuelling of planes.
At 9:30 today we have UK inflation data for August. The Consumer Prices Index is forecast to drop from 2.1 per cent to 1.9 per cent
Later this evening, the US Federal Reserve will announce it's latest interest rate decision. The Fed has faced a barrage of demands from Donald Trump to cut rates to support the US economy.
Water companies fined after sharp rise in complaints
A watchdog has warned four water companies to curb a sharp rise in customer complaints following service disruptions and billing problems.
The Consumer Council for Water (CCWater) is demanding urgent improvement from Thames Water, Northumbrian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water and Hafren Dyfrdwy as well as quarterly reports highlighting what action they have taken and what more they plan to do to reduce complaints.
Thames, England's largest supplier, had a 24 per cent increase in written complaints over the last year, while 10% more customers had to phone to resolve an issue.
Press Association
Gambling adverts banned
The advertising watchdog has banned two gambling ads which it said could encourage harmful behaviour.
In a YouTube video advert, BetIndex described its football gambling product as “basically the football stock market, where you buy and sell shares in footballers with real money and you can win daily pay-outs which we call dividends".
One viewer complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, saying that the ad implied that the product was an investment opportunity and potentially a reliable source of income.
A second advert for Coral has been banned for encouraging repetitive participation in gambling.
The television promotion aired in June said: "Free £5 bet every Sunday. When you bet £25+ Monday to Saturday."
Should the government step in to scrutinise deals like the Cobham takeover more often?
Our chief business commentator James Moore thinks so.
"There are so many bad things happening in Britain right now that the overseas takeover of yet another big British business, one that actually makes things and sells them overseas, seems barely to have been noticed," he writes.
"Another reason is perhaps that Cobham, an aerospace and defence business that has agreed to a £4bn bid from American buyout firm Advent International, is hardly a household name.
"It is perhaps best known as a pioneer of air to air refuelling tech, but it also supplies electronic and radar equipment to the civilian aerospace as well as the defence industry. Its kit can be found in just about every Airbus jet, for example."
Record numbers seek debt help
Debt charity StepChange says a record number of people - some 331,337 - made contact to seek help in the first half of the year.
Of all those who contacted the charity, 190,484 went on to receive full debt advice.
Phil Andrew, chief executive of StepChange Debt Charity, said: “These statistics provide a sobering assessment of the scale of problem debt in this country.
“Across the board, we are seeing red flags, including worrying proportions of new clients falling into debt due to reduced income, illness or because they rely on credit to pay for day-to-day living expenses.
“Clearly more and more households are struggling to hang on and are ill-equipped to deal with any economic shocks the future may hold.
“Clearly more and more households are struggling to hang on and are ill-equipped to deal with any economic shocks the future may hold.
Full story:
Not enough robots, say MPs
“The problem for the UK labour market and our economy is not that we have too many robots in the workplace, but that we have too few,” say MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee.
Their report published today after months of research says the UK lags behind G7 competitors in adopting robots.
Business and Economics Editor, Olesya Dmitracova:
Breaking: Inflation drops to 1.7 per cent in August - it's lowest since December 2016
That's below economists expectations of 1.9 per cent and well within the Bank of England's target of 2 per cent.
Ryanair and BA strikes latest
In what is turning into an autumn of discontent for the travel industry, passengers are once again caught in the middle of another bitter dispute between an airline and its pilots, writes Travel Correspondent Simon Calder.
British Airways is expected to cancel nearly 1,000 flights because of a strike by members of the British Airline Pilots’ Association (Balpa) on 27 September.
Food and drink prices rise
The ONS explains:
Food and non-alcoholic beverage prices rose by more between July and August 2019 than between the same two months of 2018.The effects were relatively small from all categories within this heading, with the largest upward ones coming from bread and cereals (from products such as dried potted snacks, breakfast cereal and packs of individual cakes), and meat (principally cooked ham).
Housing market slows down
Average house prices in the UK increased by 0.7% in the year to July 2019, down from 1.4 per cent in June 2019, the ONS has reported.
John Goodall, chief executive of buy-to-let specialist Landbay, said:
In the context of the political and economic uncertainty facing the UK, this dip in house price growth comes as no surprise. Many buyers are reluctant to bid and potential sellers are holding out ahead of the Prime Minister’s 31 October Brexit deadline.Of the transactions that are going ahead, an increasing proportion of sellers are having to accept offers below their asking price - good news for buyers!
However, the threat of a general election continues to loom, causing further economic and political uncertainty. Given some of the more radical housing policies of a potential Corbyn government, it would be understandable if investors in the UK’s private rental sector took on a ‘wait-and-see’ approach until the political turmoil plateaus.
Slowest housing market since 2012
House prices fell in four of nine English regions: The South East, London, the East and North East.
Falling prices had largely been confined to London and the South East but the issue is now more widespread.
Wales was the strongest region with 4.2 per cent annual growth in July.
Pound falls after inflation data
The pound is down 0.42 per cent against the dollar on the back of lower-than-expected-inflation.
Sterling is at $1.245 and has dropped 0.27 per cent against the euro to €1.104.
Poorer areas hit hardest by disappearance of free-to-use cash machines
Free-to-use cash machines are vanishing more quickly in deprived areas than in affluent ones, according to consumer campaigners who are pressing Chancellor Sajid Javid to implement a cash guarantee.
Which? said its analysis shows nearly one in 10 (9 per cent) free cashpoints across the country had closed or switched to fee-paying during a 17-month period after changes to how the network is funded were set out.
Which? said its analysis shows nearly one in 10 (9 per cent) free cashpoints across the country had closed or switched to fee-paying during a 17-month period after changes to how the network is funded were set out.
The consumer group used data from ATM network Link to make the findings.
Reductions to the fees card issuers pay to ATM operators have sparked fears that "cash deserts" could be created, with bank branches also closing.
Press Association
'Helpful news for consumers'
Consumer price rises slowed down from an annual rate of 2.1 per cent in July to 1.7 per cent in August.
That's good for UK households, says Howard Archer of the EY Item Club.
August’s moderation in inflation to 1.7 per cent adds to the improvement in consumer purchasing power coming from annual earnings growth rising to an 11-year high of 4 per cent in the three months to July.Improved consumer purchasing power is particularly welcome news for an economy currently struggling markedly amid major Brexit, domestic political and global economic uncertainties – consumers have been the most resilient sector of the economy and their purchasing power will be critical to whether this resilience can continue.
UK inflation slows in temporary respite for consumers
"Inflation in Britain fell to 1.7 per cent last month - the slowest pace of price growth since December 2016 - after a surprisingly high rate of 2.1 per cent in July," writes The Independent's business and economics editor, Olesya Dmitracova.
"Economists had expected inflation to slow to 1.9 per cent in August.
"According to the Office for National Statistics, the largest pressure on inflation came from a drop in the prices of clothing and shoes and much slower inflation in recreational and cultural goods and services, which include toys and computer games, as well as in sea fares."
Here's the full story:
So what is more expensive, and what is cheaper?
Recreation and culture saw the biggest fall in price over the year to August. Within that grouping, games, toys and hobbies fell 5 per cent between July and August 2019.
Air fares rose by more in 2019 than in 2018 but sea fares rose by less.
A number of essential costs have also risen in price, including the cost of owning a home, energy bills, and council tax.
Clothes and shoes rose in price by 1.8 per cent.
How will lower inflation impact the Bank of England's interest rate decision?
Inflation is now well within the Bank of England's target of 2 per cent which could make the BoE more likely to cut rates when its Monetary Policy Committee meets tomorrow.
But many analysts think that is unlikely
James Smith, an economist at ING, points out that wages are rising at 4 per cent a year for the first time since 2008.
"This is the main reason why the Bank of England will likely retain its notional tightening bias at tomorrow's meeting and also suggests it's too early to pencil in rate cuts in the UK," he said.
"Equally though, the ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit, and mounting concerns over global growth, suggests the prospect of any further policy tightening is also still quite a long way off."
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, echoes that feeling, saying that the likelihood of a rate cut this year remains "slim".
"The 1.7% print actually exceeded the Committee’s August Inflation Report forecast of 1.6%," he points out.
"In addition, half of the sharp fall in the headline rate was driven by further volatility in the price of computer games. A renewed fall in clothing inflation to -0.9%, from 0.4% in July, accounted for a further one-quarter of the decline in the headline rate."
Core goods inflation likely will rise over the next nine months in response to the recent rise in import prices and the depreciation of sterling, Tombs says.
Cash-starved Air India putting crews on low-fat diet
NEW DELHI (AP) Cash-starved Air India is putting its crew on a diet, changing their inflight menu to special low-fat meals.
Dhananjay Kumar, the state-run airline's spokesman, said Wednesday that the objective is to provide healthy and cost-effective meals to crews on domestic and international flights.
Kumar declined comment on media reports that the cost per meal, mostly vegetarian, will come down to one-third of existing 500-800 rupees (up to $11) per meal.
The new menu was introduced Monday on flights originating from New Delhi and Mumbai and will be extended to other routes soon.
Associated Press
The chancellor is, unsurprisingly, upbeat about the the latest inflation figures.
Sajid Javid, said: “Low inflation and high wage growth means people's hard-earned cash is going further, helping them to provide for their families.
"We're helping with the cost of living by cutting taxes for more than 30 million people and ensuring that almost a million of our dedicated public sector workers - including our soldiers, teachers and doctors - get above-inflation pay increases."
