Your three-minute digest
1 Labour has promised to cut the record number of people who are economically inactive due to long-term sickness. Liz Kendall, the shadow work and pensions secretary, said British businesses were “desperate to recruit” and pledged better mental health care, improved skills training and more opportunities.
2 Apple has been fined €1.8 billion by European regulators for not allowing its music-streaming rivals to promote lower prices. The fine is the third-largest to be issued by the European Commission. Apple plans to appeal.
3 A wind farm owned by EDF has been ordered to pay £5.5 million into a fund for vulnerable customers after the energy regulator found that it had overcharged the grid to switch off. Ofgem said the Dorenell wind farm in northern Scotland had charged “excessive prices” to reduce its generation.
4 The temporary directors of the Telegraph newspapers have been rebuked by the government for breaching an order to make no significant changes to the board during an investigation into a possible sale to an Abu Dhabi-based investor. The chief executive and chief financial officer have both departed.
5 Economics will matter less than politics in the budget because Jeremy Hunt’s fiscal plans are likely to be driven by electoral calculations rather than the medium-term future of the country. Hunt and his officials have spent two months modelling how much they can afford to give voters in tax cuts tomorrow.
6 Retailers have called on the government for help to “kick-start a spending revival” on the high street after retail sales rose by 1.1 per cent year-on-year last month, compared with 5.2 per cent in February 2023. The wettest February on record was partly to blame.
7 KPMG has been fined for “serious failings” in its audit of the 2018 accounts of M&C Saatchi, the advertising agency. The Financial Reporting Council was especially critical of KPMG for not displaying “sufficient professional scepticism” when signing off the accounts.
8 Aviva is returning to the world’s biggest insurance market after almost a quarter of a century via a £242 million deal to acquire the Lloyd’s of London player Probitas.
9 The boss of one of Britain’s biggest car dealers hailed the return of “a sensible used car market”, but said the demand for new vehicles was still uncertain. Robert Forrester, the founder of Vertu Motors, described the slump in car values as a “once-in-a-decade event”.
10 The Hipgnosis song portfolio is worth closer to $1.8 billion than the $2.6 billion figure put on it last September, an analysis concluded. The fund said it would reduce debt and would not return to paying dividends as a result.
