Households struggling to pay energy bills are set to get emergency credit this winter – This is Money

Households struggling to pay for their energy will get emergency credit this winter under new regulations from the watchdog. Providers will now have to offer emergency credit to customers struggling to top up their prepayment meter to provide breathing space while working out alternative arrangements to pay. Ofgem is introducing the new licence rules for suppliers…

Matt Hancock orders inquiry after leaks over Greater Manchester’s lockdown tier – Manchester Evening News

Matt Hancock has announced he is launching a “leak inquiry” into inaccurate information reported about Greater Manchester moving into a Tier 3 lockdown. There was widespread confusion and chaos on Thursday morning as national media reported that the region would immediately face tougher rules, but this wasn’t the case. Last-minute talks between the government and…

Exploited workers in Leicester textile factories ‘denied millions every week in unpaid wages’ – Sky News

Exploited workers in textile factories in Leicester have been denied over £27m in lost earnings in the last three months, according to the British Retail Consortium. It wrote to the home secretary in July to urge the government to implement a licensing scheme to tackle illegally low paid and unsafe conditions in some garment factories….

Dow drops more than 500 points as Trump halts Covid relief negotiations – The Independent

The stock market saw an immediate drop-off on Tuesday after Donald Trump tweeted he was shutting down negotiations on another Covid-19 relief bill between the White House and congressional Democrats. Within a matter of minutes, the Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 500 points, from a daily high of over 28,350 to around 27,800….

Brothers from ‘wrong side of Pennines’ who took over Asda – The Times

About a fortnight ago one of the Issa brothers, the Blackburn-based petrol station tycoons, met a senior member of the local council and let slip that their consortium was the frontrunner to buy Asda. “Zuber kind of mentioned that he thought they were in pole position to buy Asda and I was tempted to say…

Self-made petrol station tycoons in £6.5bn bid for Asda – This is Money

Two self-made billionaire brothers from the North of England have stunned the City by moving into pole position to buy Asda.  Mohsin Issa, 49, and his brother Zuber, 48, built up their company EG Group from a single garage in Bury, bought for £150,000 in 2001, to a £9billion giant with 5,400 outlets and 35,000…

Cineworld swings to huge loss after virus closures – BBC News

Image copyright Getty Images Cineworld has warned it may need to raise more money in the event of further coronavirus restrictions or film delays due to Covid-19. It swung to a $1.6bn (£1.3bn) loss for the six months to June as its cinemas were closed under lockdown. “There can be no certainty as to the…

EU climate plan sets stage for an explosive rise in carbon prices – Telegraph.co.uk

Commodity traders are betting that Europe’s carbon futures will soon catapult higher as Brussels drains the glut of carbon allowances on the market. Prices are likely to smash the all-time record of €30 a tonne within months, profoundly reshaping the EU’s energy architecture  The killer detail in the European Commission’s 140-page climate impact report for…

BA boss: Firing and rehiring staff ‘off the table’ – BBC News

Image copyright EPA British Airways’ plan to get rid of cabin crew and then rehire them on inferior terms is now “off the table”, boss Alex Cruz has said. Unions and MPs had accused the airline of following a “fire and rehire” policy, which saw some employees facing pay cuts of up to 50%. Speaking…

Airport testing teams are standing idle while our Government sits on its hands – Telegraph.co.uk

These are the toughest times in the history of the aviation industry. Coronavirus has hit our business hard, and the sector is fighting for its very survival. British Airways can survive, but only if the Government will work with us, rather than against us.  In March, April and May we flew just five per cent…