UK sanctions directors of oil trading group over Russian ties
LONDON, May 9 (Reuters) - Britain on Friday announced a package of sanctions aimed at Russia, including placing asset freezes on several directors of oil trading company Coral Energy Group, which is now known as 2Rivers Group.
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The Independent
34 minutes ago
- The Independent
Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves in stand-off over Labour's spending plans
Angela Rayner and Rachel Reeves are at loggerheads over the crucial spending review as the deputy prime minister's department passed an unofficial deadline to settle its budget until the next general election without securing an agreement. With the spending review set to be unveiled on 11 June, departments have told The Independent that the Treasury wanted their plans agreed by the start of this weekend. But The Independent understands that Ms Rayner's Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is one of a number of departments yet to settle with Ms Reeves and her deputy Darren Jones. The clash at the top of the Labour government comes as ministers resist cuts to their departments and marks a distinct clash over political philosophy between the two most senior women in the government. Ms Rayner wants a more progressive higher tax approach with fewer cuts, while Ms Reeves is being accused of wanting ' austerity 2.0'. Ms Reeves has also been struggling to reach deals with Yvette Cooper's Home Office; Steve Reed's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; and Ed Miliband's Department for Energy Security and Net Zero. Only defence with a spending package of 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product, and health budgets are protected, with others expected to find efficiency savings to help Ms Reeves balance the books. Sources have said that claims Ms Rayner stormed out of a meeting last weekend, slamming the door, were 'not true', but admitted conversations, while 'cordial', have 'not been easy'. Now it is understood that her demands for a proper settlement for local government in England, as well as funding for the affordable homes scheme beyond 2026, have left her at loggerheads with the chancellor. Trade unions are also taking a very close look at the settlement for councils which will be tied closely to pay demands over the coming years. Already councils like Birmingham have been facing potential bankruptcy because of tight budgets and wage demands. The stand-off comes just a week after a memo from Ms Rayner to Ms Reeves was leaked to the Daily Telegraph in a move which allies of the deputy prime minister described as 'poisonous'. In it she suggested eight different wealth taxes as an alternative to cuts as well as limiting benefits for migrants and reintroducing a payback scheme for middle class families claiming child benefit which was originally introduced by former Tory chancellor George Osborne and then ditched by Jeremy Hunt. An ally of the deputy prime minister noted that 'she is at least make the progressive case' for an alternative to Ms Reeves' strategy. The row comes amid concerns by Labour MPs that Ms Reeves is 'pushing for austerity 2.0'. Already the chancellor has been forced into accepting a U-turn on cutting winter fuel payments to pensioners. She and Sir Keir Starmer are also facing a rebellion from Labour backbenchers on cutting disability benefits. The chancellor has also had her hand forced on investment for red wall constituencies where Labour MPs are under threat of losing their seats to Reform. There have been reports that she plans to splurge on projects in the north of England and midlands by tweaking her strict borrowing rules. Ms Reeves is under added pressure because of the strict borrowing rules she has imposed on herself to maintain economic credibility as well as the election promises not to raise employee national insurance contributions, income tax or VAT. A Treasury source noted: 'More than half of departments have settled [funding agreements] three weeks out from the spending review, which is pretty unusual and the fact you'd always expect negotiations to go on.'
The Sun
42 minutes ago
- The Sun
Department store chain shutting last shop TODAY after 140 years as it's wiped off high street due to Budget tax hikes
AN ICONIC department store has been forced to shut its last branch after 140 years of trading due to Rachel Reeves' Budget hikes. Beales has confirmed its last ever shop, located in the Dolphin Centre shopping mall in Poole, Dorset, will be closing for good today. 2 It marks the end of an era for the one of the oldest faces of the British high street, which first opened in Bournemouth in 1881. Struggles began for the retailer when it entered administration in January 2020, forcing the closure of 22 of its 23 shops. The shop in Poole reopened the same year after relocating to the shopping centre and remained the only Beales store standing. Despite weathering the financial storm for the past five years, Reeves' economic policies proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the iconic departmental store. Beales hit back at the Chancellor's economic policies by announcing a " Rachel Reeves ' Closing Down Sale". On social media, the popular chain joked that it had fallen victim to the Budget "black hole". The closure will also affect an NHS clinic, which is located on the top floor of the Poole store. It was set up in 2021 to reduce waiting times, but will now move to St Mary's hospital on June 5. The death of the high street is the death of communities Beales chief executive Tony Brown explained that business had become "unviable" following the Chancellor's Budget last October. He said: "This, coupled with the risks and uncertainty of further tax increases in the coming years, have left us no other option. "We have been working with the Dolphin Centre, who have been supportive, along with our investors to ensure an orderly exit. "Our team has been informed, as have our suppliers. We will ensure the exit is managed and no one will be left with a financial loss." Below the advert for the " Rachel Reeves Closing Down Sale", which included discounts of up to 80%, the high street favourite launched a scathing attack on the Chancellor. A caption on the store's Facebook page read: "Our closing sale is almost over (cheers for the help, Chancellor) - and we've just dropped hundreds of lines to 80% OFF or more! "Grab a bargain before we vanish into the budget black hole. #FinalSale #80Off #LastChance #WhenItsGoneItsGone." UK Retail Shake-Up: Superdry and More It has struggled to cope with rises in national insurance contributions and higher minimum wage which came into effect last month. Like many other businesses, Beales faced higher employer NI contributions, which have risen from 13.8% to 15%. Additionally, the threshold at which these contributions must be paid has been lowered from £9,100 to £5,000. It came as the national minimum wage was notably increased, rising to £12.21 per hour. For workers aged 18-20, the minimum wage increased to £10 per hour from £8.60. These changes to the tax system were confirmed by the Chancellor in the Autumn Budget last October and came into effect on 1 April. The British Independent Retailers Association (Bira) warned this closure could be the first of many as retailers continue to struggle with mounting costs. Commercial director Jeff Moody said he was "deeply saddened" to hear about Beales shutting up shop. Why are retailers closing stores? RETAILERS have been feeling the squeeze since the pandemic, while shoppers are cutting back on spending due to the soaring cost of living crisis. High energy costs and a move to shopping online after the pandemic are also taking a toll, and many high street shops have struggled to keep going. However, additional costs have added further pain to an already struggling sector. The British Retail Consortium has predicted that the Treasury's hike to employer NICs from April will cost the retail sector £2.3billion. At the same time, the minimum wage will rise to £12.21 an hour from April, and the minimum wage for people aged 18-20 will rise to £10 an hour, an increase of £1.40. The Centre for Retail Research (CRR) has also warned that around 17,350 retail sites are expected to shut down this year. It comes on the back of a tough 2024 when 13,000 shops closed their doors for good, already a 28% increase on the previous year. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the CRR said: "The results for 2024 show that although the outcomes for store closures overall were not as poor as in either 2020 or 2022, they are still disconcerting, with worse set to come in 2025." It comes after almost 170,000 retail workers lost their jobs in 2024. End-of-year figures compiled by the Centre for Retail Research showed the number of job losses spiked amid the collapse of major chains such as Homebase and Ted Baker. It said its latest analysis showed that a total of 169,395 retail jobs were lost in the 2024 calendar year to date. This was up 49,990 – an increase of 41.9% – compared with 2023. It is the highest annual reading since more than 200,000 jobs were lost in 2020 in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced retailers to shut their stores during lockdowns. The centre said 38 major retailers went into administration in 2024, including household names such as Lloyds Pharmacy, Homebase, The Body Shop, Carpetright and Ted Baker. Around a third of all retail job losses in 2024, 33% or 55,914 in total, resulted from administrations. Experts have said small high street shops could face a particularly challenging 2025 because of Budget tax and wage changes. Professor Bamfield has warned of a bleak outlook for 2025, predicting that as many as 202,000 jobs could be lost in the sector. "By increasing both the costs of running stores and the costs on each consumer's household it is highly likely that we will see retail job losses eclipse the height of the pandemic in 2020." He added: 'This is not just the loss of another shop. "It represents the end of a retail institution that has served communities for nearly one-and-a-half centuries. 'This closure starkly illustrates the devastating impact that recent tax increases are having on our retail sector.' At its peak, Beales operated 41 stores across the country, selling a range of furniture, cosmetics, fashion products and toys. The high street chain shut its store in Southport last September just three years after the site reopened. FAMOUS NAMES GONE FROM THE HIGH STREET Beales is not the only brand that's been wiped from the high street in recent years. Ted Baker, fell into administration last March after years of turmoil. At the time it had 46 shops in the UK employing around 975 people. The last stores shut in August after failing to secure a full rescue. It was relaunched as an online brand in the UK and Europe after a partnership with United Legwear & Apparel Co. Flooring retailer Carpetright filed for administration in July after efforts to turnaround the struggling firm were derailed by a cyber attack. The business had 1,800 staff and 273 shops across the country before going bust. Around 54 stores were snapped up by its arch rival Tapi Carpets & Floors, which also bought its brand name and continues to run the brand online. LloydsPharmacy, once the UK's second biggest community pharmacy chain, went into liquidation in late January 2024 with debts of £293million. The previous year it had closed all of its pharmacies inside Sainsbury's and divided its 1,000 pharmacy estate into packages of hundreds of stores that it then sold to rivals in smaller deals. There are no more LloydsPharmacy-branded sites on the high street, but it continues to operate online.
BBC News
44 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Martin or Ancelotti just one of the questions Rangers can't get wrong'
For much of the past week, Davide Ancelotti, son of the great Carlo, was seen to be ahead in the race to be the new manager of bookmakers shortened him to odds-on. Word from Spain was that Ancelotti was first choice. On Thursday night, a source closer to the scene in Glasgow supported that Friday, the vibe appeared to flip in Russell Martin's favour. Caution is strongly advised - this thing is fluid and capable of change from night into day - but Martin looks to be a slight favourite right names have flitted across the landscape. Brian Priske, the former Feyenoord manager, Francesco Farioli, previously of Ajax. All respected characters. Steven Gerrard was heavily touted from the get-go but according to a source close to the decision making, Gerrard was never the frontrunner that people made him out to is the surprise. He interviewed brilliantly and, says a source, "gave the board an awful lot to think about".Ancelotti versus Martin. You'd struggle to find two candidates with such different back stories. Ancelotti has worked as a coach under his father at Bayern Munich, Napoli, Everton and Real Madrid. Martin (briefly a Rangers player in a torrid era) has been manager at MK Dons, Swansea and Southampton, who he took to the Premier League last season before losing his job in has had a safe, stable and apparently glamorous upbringing. Martin has spoken powerfully about the domestic violence of his youth and how it passed from his grandfather to his father, how his dad physically abused his mum and how his father lost the family home through his addiction to gambling."I look back at stuff that I found normal as a kid and now realise it was not normal," he told the Sunday Times in November would be a tougher sell to Rangers supporters. His coaching is driven by his admiration for the possession football of Barcelona, Manchester City and took Southampton into the Premier League via the play-offs (in the final they beat Leeds United, whose chairman Paraag Marathe is now also vice-chairman of Rangers in the new regime announced on Friday), but his name doesn't appear to be setting hearts fluttering on the Broomloan Cavenagh (the new Rangers chairman and the senior figure in the takeover), Marathe (new Rangers vice-chair, chairman of Leeds and president of San Francisco 49ers Enterprises), Gretar Steinsson (technical director at Leeds and now a significant influence at Ibrox), sporting director Kevin Thelwell and chief executive Patrick Stewart are the key people in the mystique and mystery of Ancelotti or the more experienced management and known track record of Martin? They cannot afford to get it wrong. An announcement is expected next week. Perhaps very early next week. Change is everywhere at Rangers but can they get it right this time? From Alastair Johnston to Craig Whyte, from Malcolm Murray to Sandy Easdale and onwards to David Somers, Dave King, Douglas Park and beyond, Rangers are now on their 13th chairman since David Murray packed it in for good almost 16 years has taken the place of Fraser Thornton, who was only in the post since mid-December last year. Thornton, however, remains on a board that's now a decade and more, Rangers have gone through any amount of chairmen, chief executives and managers. There isn't enough wall space at Ibrox to picture them all. Not that many of them, in the eyes of Rangers people, deserve to be has been a constant part of Rangers over the past decade - and there's more change now. Profound change. A new chairman, a new vice-chairman, five new American board members coming in with three old ones moving out. Thelwell, starts on Thelwell and the new manager, plus the new manager's assistants, there will be a significant reimagining of the football operations department, a huge piece of work needing to be done on a failing sector. As one executive put it when talking about Auchenhowie, the Rangers training base: "The place needs to be gutted."There will also be a squad re-build, or an attempt at one. Conservatively, Rangers need five new first-team starters. Maybe six. Some might argue they need more. They need to find young gems for small money while establishing a functioning player trading model, which is the centrepiece of the new from bedding in a new board, a new sporting director, a new management team, a new playing squad, a new scouting and recruitment department and new thinking on the academy, it's, er, business as usual. There's at least continuity in the canteen staff - we think. The new forces at Ibrox, draped in the stars and stripes Cavenagh is said to be demure, unflashy and unlikely to be appearing in the media all that often, if at all. He is, says somebody who knows him and the world he's about to enter, "the complete opposite to Dave King. He won't want to do interviews, doesn't want the limelight, but he's a football nut and this is his baby."That same person says that there is no way that Cavenagh, Marathe or any of the other newcomers can fully grasp what they are getting themselves madness of football life in Glasgow has to be experienced. Nobody can teach you about the suffocating nature of it when things aren't going has no experience of owning a football club, but that's where the machinery of the 49ers Enterprises group comes in. Marathe has been described as the driving force of the project, the razzmatazz to Cavenagh's and hard nosed, Marathe has performed wonders as Leeds chairman since 49ers Enterprises took full control at Elland Road. There are certain parallels between the Leeds that Marathe moved into as chairman in the summer of 2023 and the Rangers he's now involved had just been relegated after three seasons in the Premier League. The feeling of failure at Rangers after the season just gone is and the 49ers' leadership team knew that their first major decision was in appointing a new manager. The same applies now. He hit the jackpot with Daniel Farke. How Rangers people will hope that he can repeat the trick in Leeds of 2023 had a disconnect between the fans and the club and that's been the case for a while now at years of iffy decision making by others at Elland Road, recruitment and player trading was a huge challenge for Marathe and the 49ers group and they nailed it. The team was Rutter, Crysencio Summerville. Luis Sinisterra and Archie Gray were sold for eyewatering money. Between July 2024 and May 2025 they brought in more than £130m in transfer came many of the driven characters who won the Championship in early May, some for chunky fees, others for nothing or half-nothing. It was incredibly shrewd management. Rangers folk are entitled to feel excited. Marathe and the 49ers group don't just talk a good game. They've put it out there for all to Leeds supporters are entitled to ask why key figures at their club are now getting themselves so involved in the affairs of another. How far does £20m go when Celtic continue to accumulate cash? The bottom line of £20m investment into football operations is only part of the new owners' commitment. Various figures are floating around as to how much they actually spent in acquiring their 51% shareholder, but "north of £60m" is how it was described by a source. Some have put it as high as £ the £20m that has drawn the most attention, though. Is that it? Or is there more to come? A Rangers optimist might say that the new owners would hardly publicly announce a budget of double or treble that number for fear that selling clubs would see them coming and adjust their demands they can be quizzed - none of the five Americans on the board will be moving to Glasgow, which will be fine… as long as things are positive at Ibrox - we can't know how much is actually there to redo the squad. What we do know is that player trading is utterly essential to what the new owners are hoping to do. A level of ruthlessness is overdue at Rangers, for too long a soft have done well recently in reducing a wage bill that was described as "out of control" by a former director. Players who could have been sold for profit were not sold. Rangers talked about the necessity of a player trading model but never actually committed to it. This, it's believed, is going to there's an appealing offer for Nico Raskin (probably the club's most marketable player) then he'll be gone, same with Cyriel Dessers or anybody else. There's ongoing interest in the bottom line of £20m is small money - Celtic got more than that for Matt O'Riley - but it's how it is spent that matters. What the new owners are attempting to do is what Celtic have been doing for years. Find potential, develop it, sell it for profit. Rinse and there's a war chest, they're not talking about it. Most likely, there's prudence, common sense and, if they have the stomach for the fight, a long-haul doesn't look like a quick fix. It doesn't have the impression of an immediate threat to Celtic's dominance and to be get anywhere the new board are going to have hit the bullseye in trading the way they've done at Leeds. That's a Herculean years, though, a canny and influential figure at Parkhead used to ask what was happening "over the road" at Rangers and for many years - with the exception of one title-winning season - the answer was "not a lot".That's not the answer anymore.
