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☆ EU's von der Leyen to travel to UK for Northern Ireland Brexit talks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - The leaders of Britain and the European Union will hold face-to-face talks in London on Monday as they seek to finalise a new deal for Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements, the two sides said on Sunday. "President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rishi Sunak agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland," the joint statement said. "President von der Leyen will therefore meet with the prime minister in the UK tomorrow." London and Brussels have been engaged in talks for months to ease trading frictions in the British province but the test will be whether the changes will satisfy some Brexit supporters in the governing Conservative Party or the biggest unionist party in Northern Ireland. Reporting by William James; writing by Kate Holton, editing by Elizabeth PiperOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK issues export bans on every item used by Russia in war
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Britain marked the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine by issuing more sanctions against Russia, including export bans on every item it has used on the battlefield and import bans of iron and steel goods. It will also ban the import of 140 goods including iron and steel products processed in third countries. "Trade sanctions are working. UK goods imports from Russia have fallen by 99%, since before the invasion, and goods exports to Russia have fallen by nearly 80%," Business and Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch, said. The meeting of G7 leaders and Zelenskiy is expected to discuss further sanctions on Russia.

☆ Britain is confident China wants Ukraine conflict resolved - defence secretary
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Feb 24 (Reuters) - British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said the notion that China could supply arms to support Russia's invasion of Ukraine would not help resolve the conflict, an outcome he was confident China wanted. "It can't help the peace if China effectively supplies the one nation that has broken the international law on the sovereignty of Ukraine and been inflicting war crimes," Wallace told Sky News on Friday when asked about reports China could supply weapons to Russia. "But I'm also confident that China is pretty clear that it wants this (war) to stop," he added. Reporting by Farouq Suleiman, writing by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/3] A road sign at a roundabout on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland with directions to Belfast and Dublin is seen in Carrickcarnan, Ireland, May 19, 2022. REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File PhotoLONDON/BELFAST, Feb 24 (Reuters) - Britain's foreign minister James Cleverly said London would not sign off on a deal with the European Union over changes to Northern Ireland's post-Brexit trading arrangements without the backing of its biggest unionist party. Cleverly told Times Radio on Friday that Britain's negotiations around the Northern Ireland Protocol were focused on addressing the concerns of the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP). But London needs the support of the DUP if a deal is to restore Northern Ireland's power sharing government that the DUP is currently boycotting over its opposition to the protocol. Naomi Long, the head of the province's cross-community Alliance Party, told Reuters it was wrong to give any individual party what appeared to be a veto on Northern Ireland's future.

☆ UK commentator John Motson dies aged 77
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/5] Soccer Football - Premier League - Everton vs Crystal Palace - Goodison Park, Liverpool, Britain - February 10, 2018 Commentator John Motson leaves after the match Action Images via Reuters/Lee Smith/File PhotoLONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - British soccer commentator John Motson has died aged 77, his family announced in a statement on Thursday. "It is with great sadness we announce that John Motson OBE died peacefully in his sleep today (Thursday)," said a statement from Motson's family. "Deeply saddened to hear that John Motson has died," former England striker and current Match of the Day commentator Gary Lineker said on Twitter. Motson joined the BBC on a full-time basis as a sports presenter on Radio 2 in 1968, having been at BBC Radio Sheffield beforehand. John Motson was an ever present fixture in so many of our lives.

☆ New Rolls-Royce boss says more to come after profit beat
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Paul Sandle | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies FY op profit 652 mln stg, up 57%Profit beats consensusNew CEO says 2023 profit will riseLONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The new chief executive of Britain's Rolls-Royce (RR.L) forecast more profit growth in 2023 after last year beat expectations, and said the engineering company was capable of "much more" as his transformation plan starts to take shape. As Rolls-Royce announced a 57% rise in underlying operating profit on Thursday, he said his transformation programme was already underway and moving at pace. The company posted operating profit of 652 million pounds ($786.4 million) for 2022, beating an analyst forecast of 478 million pounds, helped by an improving performance in civil aerospace, its biggest division, as travel recovers from the pandemic. For 2023, Rolls guided to underlying operating profit of 0.8-1.0 billion pounds and free cash flow of 0.6-0.8 billion pounds, helped by the early benefits of the transformation. ($1 = 0.8291 pounds)Reporting by Paul Sandle; additional writing by Sarah Young and Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ British supermarkets confront their German discounting demons
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-22 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

And the discounters' supermarket sweep still has a long way to run, industry executives say, with Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley pledging Britain's lowest prices "no matter what". "Over the Christmas period alone shoppers switched 58 million pounds ($70 million)(of purchases) to Lidl from Tesco and Sainsbury's," Lidl GB CEO Ryan McDonnell told Reuters. Tesco and Sainsbury's are now matching Aldi prices on hundreds of key items and using customer loyalty schemes, while they have accepted a profit hit to keep prices down. Sector executives, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the further rise of Aldi and Lidl is inexorable. "Nobody's going to take Tesco out but at some point somebody might take Sainsbury's out," the sector veteran said.

The talks follow weeks of media speculation that a deal was close with the EU to revise the Northern Ireland protocol, which was agreed when Britain left the bloc three years ago. Speaking earlier in Munich, Sunak said a new deal was "by no means done," adding that Brussels and London had an understanding of how the problems could be resolved. "We're working through them (the issues) hard and we will work through them intensely with the EU, but we are by no means done." Sunak reassured the audience at the conference that Britain wanted to have a positive relationship with the bloc. Reporting by Muvija M and Kate Holton; Editing by Jane Merriman and David HolmesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ King Charles's coronation to feature 12 new pieces of music
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Twelve newly commissioned pieces of music will play at the coronation of Britain's King Charles at Westminster Abbey this May, including Greek Orthodox music, Buckingham Palace said, with the 18th century "Zadok the Priest" also to be featured. Six orchestral commissions, five choral commissions and one organ commission have been composed for the occasion, the palace said on Saturday, including a new Coronation Anthem by musical theatre impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber. Music by Elgar, Parry, and Williams were also performed at the crowning of Charles's late mother, Queen Elizabeth II, in 1953. Handel's coronation anthem "Zadok the Priest," which was composed for the coronation of King George II in 1727, will be played at the ceremony, the palace said. I hope my anthem reflects this joyful occasion," composer Lloyd Webber said of his coronation anthem in the statement.

☆ Britain will help any country willing to send fighter jets to Ukraine, Sunak says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MUNICH, Feb 18 (Reuters) - Britain stands ready to support any country that was willing to send fighter jets to Ukraine right now, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on Saturday, as he urged allies to maintain their support in the war against Russia. Britain has offered strong support to Ukraine since Russia's invasion nearly a year ago, including through the delivery of weapons and training of troops. It has so far refused to send fighter jets, saying the lengthy time needed to train pilots and substantial support crews required meant they would be of little immediate use, but Sunak told the annual Munich Security Conference on Saturday that Britain could help in other ways. "We will happily provide a system to any country that is able to provide Ukraine with fighter jets right now. Reporting by Muvija M and Kate Holton in London; editing by Jane Merriman and Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Scottish First Minister Sturgeon to resign - BBC
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Nicola Sturgeon is expected to resign as the first minister of Scotland later on Wednesday after eight years in the job, the BBC reported. Sturgeon became the leader of the ruling Scottish National Party (SNP) in the wake of its 2014 independence referendum when the country voted 55% to 45% to remain as part of the United Kingdom. She had recently become embroiled in a row over transgender policies after Scotland passed a Gender Recognition Reform Bill, making it easier for people to change their legal gender. The Scottish government declined to comment. Reporting by Kate Holton and Muvija M, Editing by Paul SandleOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Scotland's Sturgeon to quit, will remain until a successor has been found
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Nicola Sturgeon said on Wednesday she would resign as Scotland's first minister after eight years in the job. Sturgeon told a news conference in Edinburgh that she would remain leader of Scotland's devolved government until a successor is found. "This decision comes from a deeper and longer term assessment," she said, adding she had been wrestling with the decision for weeks. "Giving absolutely everything of yourself to this job is the only way to do it," Sturgeon said. Reporting by Muvija M and Sachin Ravikumar; editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UK training Ukrainians to fight in 'Western way' with less ammunition - minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Britain is training Ukrainian soldiers to fight in a more "Western way" and use less ammunition than the traditional Soviet way of fighting, British Defence Secretary Ben Wallace said on Wednesday. Britain along with other Western allies has been training Ukrainian soldiers and providing weapons and ammunition to support Kyiv in its battle with Russia. "Ukraine uses huge amounts of ammunition to defend itself, partly that's why we're training them to fight in a Western way," Wallace told Times Radio. "At the same time we're training to make sure it's used in a way that's very productive and accurate," he said. "The Russian or the Soviet way of fighting is very ammunition heavy, massive artillery barrages, and that's never how we have organised ourselves to fight in NATO," he said.

☆ UK basic pay growth speeds up, but labour market cools a bit
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Pay excluding bonuses rose by 6.7%, its fastest since records began in 2001 apart from during the coronavirus pandemic when changes in incomes were distorted by furloughs of workers. However, total pay grew by an annual 5.9% in the October-to-December period, the slowest increase since the three months to July last year. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the ex-bonuses measure to increase by 6.5% and total pay to rise by 6.2%. The pace of pay growth in Britain is being monitored closely by the BoE as it gauges how much higher to raise interest rates. Vacancies in the November-to-January period fell for a seventh time in a row, down by 76,000 to 1.134 million.

Zelenskiy will arrive in London for only his second foreign visit since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, after Sunak pledged to expand the training of Ukrainian troops to include fighter jet pilots and marines. Britain said the training would ensure Ukrainian pilots were able to fly "sophisticated NATO-standard fighter jets in the future". In London, he is expected to tell Zelenskiy he will accelerate the delivery of military equipment to Ukraine. Britain has trained 10,000 Ukrainian troops brought to battle readiness in the last six months and will upskill a further 20,000 soldiers this year, the government said. London has so far refused to deliver fighter jets, saying it was not "the right approach" for now.

☆ UK PM Sunak expected to launch reshuffle to better suit his priorities
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 7 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is expected to launch a mini reshuffle on Tuesday, breaking up two departments to better suit his pledge to spur the economy and turn around his party's fortunes before an election expected next year. Sources confirmed reports from the Sun and the Times newspapers late on Monday that there were plans to break up the department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)and the department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS). He was also expected to name the new chair of the party, a position made ever more important before the next national election expected in 2024, after Nadhim Zahawi was sacked over his tax affairs. He has so far failed to reduce the commanding lead in the opinion polls held by the opposition Labour Party, which is increasingly presenting itself as Britain's next government. Reporting by Elizabeth Piper and Sinead Cruise; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Bank of England's Mann doubles down on backing for rate hikes
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Gergely Szakacs | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

After hiking interest rates to 4% last week, the BoE's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) signalled it was close to pausing a run of increases which began in December 2021. Mann, consistently the most hawkish member of the MPC, said the risk of under-tightening policy far outweighed the alternative. "In my view, a tighten-stop-tighten-loosen policy boogie looks too much like fine-tuning to be good monetary policy. "From a risk-management point of view, monetary policy has to lean against these upside biases since wage and price inflation are still so high," she said. At the other end of the MPC spectrum, Dhingra and Tenreyro say over-tightening risked sending Britain's economy into an unnecessarily severe downturn, with the full force of the BoE's rate hikes yet to feed through.

☆ In a health system in crisis, Britain's heart care suffers
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Alistair Smout | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Britain's cardiology departments are a microcosm of the problems that have spread through the system. In November, around 8,000 people like Cogan had been waiting more than a year for heart treatment, up from a couple of dozen pre-pandemic. Reuters GraphicsTeams were still trying to restore cardiac services to pre-pandemic levels, NHS England said. Pandemic disruptions to diagnosis and treatment, in addition to delays in emergency care, had an outsized impact on cardiological care, she said. On one visit to his local Colchester hospital, staff could not find a working ECG machine to read his heart's electrical activity when he felt a twinge.

☆ Vodafone reports Q3 slowdown, hit by Germany, Italy and Spain
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Feb 1 (Reuters) - Vodafone (VOD.L) reported a slowdown in its group service revenue growth to 1.8% in the third quarter from 2.5% in the second, driven by declines in Germany, Italy and Spain. The mobile and broadband operator reported a worsening performance in Germany, it biggest market, with a fall of 1.8% in service revenue, reflecting customer losses after it was badly prepared for past changes in legislation. Intense competition in Italy and Spain also continued to hurt, reflected in falls of 3.3% and 8.7% respectively. Britain, however, continued to perform strongly, with a rise of 5.3% driven by good customer growth and price increases. Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Tesco's UK store management changes to impact 1,750 jobs
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Tesco said a new structure will see it introduce about 1,800 "shift leader" roles in its larger Superstores and Extra stores and also realign its store manager roles. Tesco said the 1,750 workers affected will have the option of moving to shift leader vacancies or taking redundancy. It said localised changes across the UK business will impact a further 350 jobs. Tesco said it also planned to close the meat, fish and deli counters in the small number of stores that still have them from Feb. 26. The group said it currently had around 2,000 vacancies across the business, in addition to the more than 1,800 new shift leader roles it will be introducing.

☆ UK economic forecaster to downgrade medium-term growth outlook - Times
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 25 (Reuters) - Britain's official economic forecaster has told the government that it overestimated the prospects for medium-term growth and that it intends to revise down its outlook, the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday. The Times said the OBR intended to reduce its forecasts by between 0.2% and 0.5%, without giving more details. Britain's economy is yet to return to its pre-pandemic size, held back by inflation above 10% and a tight labour market. The Times said the OBR also now thought any recession this year would be shorter and shallower than expected. ($1 = 0.8115 pounds)Reporting by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Primark sales up 15% in Christmas quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Associated British Foods (ABF.L) on Tuesday reported a 15% rise in sales at its Primark clothing business over the 16 weeks to Jan. 7, benefiting from "very strong" trading in the Christmas period. AB Foods said consumer spending had proven to be more resilient in the quarter than anticipated at the start of the financial year. "To date, Primark trading has been good in all our markets and was ahead of expectation," it said. The group said it continued to encounter significant cost pressures but inflation had become less volatile and recently some commodity costs had declined. ($1 = 0.8070 pounds)Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Energy support, debt interest help to swell UK borrowing
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Britain's government borrowed more last month than in any December since monthly records began 30 years ago, reflecting the huge cost of energy support, soaring debt interest linked to rising inflation. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said public sector net borrowing, excluding state-owned banks, was 27.4 billion pounds ($33.97 billion) in December, up from 10.7 billion pounds a year earlier. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to borrowing of 17.75 billion pounds for December. The ONS said the large figure for borrowing in December was "largely because of a sharp rise in spending on energy support schemes and an increase in debt interest." Borrowing for December was some 9.8 billion pounds more than the 17.6 billion pounds forecast by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).

☆ UK shoppers cut back on spending as inflation takes its toll
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-20 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 20 (Reuters) - Inflation-pinched British shoppers unexpectedly cut their spending in December, official data showed on Friday, dashing hopes for a Christmas shopping boost for the country's flagging retail sector. Retail sales volumes fell by 1% in December from November, the Office for National Statistics said. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.5% monthly rise in sales in the key Christmas month. "Retail sales dropped again in December with feedback suggesting consumers cut back on their Christmas shopping due to affordability concerns," Heather Bovill, the ONS's deputy director for surveys and economic indicators, said. In terms of value, spending was down by a month-on-month 1.2% from November.

☆ Online retailer Boohoo sales drop 11% in Christmas period
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - British online fashion retailer Boohoo (BOOH.L) said revenue fell 11% in its key Christmas trading period, hurt by delivery disruption and tough comparatives, as it broadly stuck to annual guidance. Its forecast for a 12% decline in annual revenue was slightly behind the downgraded guidance for a 10% drop it gave in September. The sales fall during the Christmas period, the four months to the end of December, was partly due to longer delivery times, said Boohoo, and its UK market, where sales were also down 11%, was against a tough comparative period, as last year, COVID-19 meant shoppers favoured online orders. Those retailers noted that store sales benefited from delivery problems in Britain, where postal strikes, made people worry about orders turning up in time. Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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