Wikipedia will not comply with any age checks required under the Online Safety Bill, its foundation says. Rebecca MacKinnon, of the Wikimedia Foundation, which supports the website, says it would “violate our commitment to collect minimal data about readers and contributors”. A senior figure in Wikimedia UK fears the site could be blocked as a […]
The UK government’s pledges on reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming and land use fall short of promises made in its net zero strategy, analysis has found. Using figures from the government’s carbon budget delivery plan, analysts from WWF found that the total projected emissions reductions from now until 2037 for agriculture and land use […]
The number of cars built in the first three months of the year rose by 6 per cent, but the overall volume of vehicles produced remains lower than before the pandemic. Production totalled 219,887, according to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders. The trade group said that the global shortage of […]
Business confidence reached its highest level since May last year as bosses become more optimistic about the wider economy, a new survey has found. Confidence reached 33 per cent on the monthly index this month, up from 32 per cent in March, the latest monthly sentiment index by Lloyds Bank showed. The survey of businesses […]
Ministers are to dramatically scale back the number of EU laws to be scrapped by the end of the year as part of Rishi Sunak’s bonfire of Brussels rules and regulations. In a concession to opponents of the Retained EU Law Bill, Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, is to publish a list of 800 laws […]
The bank holiday for the King’s Coronation promises to be a bumper weekend for the UK hospitality industry. New research from SevenRooms reports that the Coronation will create an additional £2.6 billion for the hospitality industry through consumer spending in restaurants, pubs and bars across the UK, with an average spend of £88.51 per head. […]
Netflix has spent $6bn (£4.8bn) making TV shows and films in the UK since 2020, $2bn more than originally planned, as the streaming giant doubled down on must-watch content amid a global slowdown in new subscribers. In a rare public announcement on content-spend levels, Netflix has said that it had spent on average almost $1.5bn […]
Plans for minimum service levels during rail strikes could worsen industrial relations and outcomes for passengers, train operators have told MPs, while unions said the proposed laws were a “recipe for disaster”. Legislation that would force some staff to work during strikes is going through parliament, sponsored by the business secretary, Grant Shapps. Questioned by […]
Ocado Group is to close its oldest warehouse, in Hatfield, putting about 2,300 jobs at risk. The online grocer, which runs the Hertfordshire site in a joint venture with Marks & Spencer, said it hoped to redeploy as many staff as possible to other customer fulfilment centres, including its new Luton site, which is expected […]
Bitcoin could reach $100,000 by the end of next year, an analyst at Standard Chartered has claimed. Geoffrey Kendrick said he expected investors to pile their money into cryptocurrency markets now that the “crypto winter” was over. This month the digital currency’s value rose above $30,000 for the first time since June, although it has […]