New laws to be considered after ‘harrowing stories’ from ex-Vodafone franchisees
The government will consider new laws to correct the power imbalance in franchise agreements in response to the “harrowing stories” of small business people running Vodafone stores.The move follows allegations of suicide and attempted suicide among shopkeepers who had agreed to deals to run retail outlets for the £18bn telecoms company, which were revealed by the Guardian on Monday.During Thursday’s business questions in the Commons, Justin Madders, a former minister, said: “I’m sure the department will have been aware of the coverage this week of some of the harrowing stories of the treatment of Vodafone franchisees … [The department] will no doubt recognise the power imbalance in that relationship and will they consider looking at some measures to redress that imbalance perhaps by a statutory code of practice or a national arbitration system?”Chris Bryant, a minister of state at the Department for Business and Trade, said: “I am happy to sit down with him and discuss whether there are specific proposals that we could bring forward which would address that issue of imbalance.”Outside the chamber another former business minister, Labour’s Gareth Thomas, added: “This case continues to raise disturbing echoes of the Post Office scandal and raises the question as to whether the law around franchising needs to be toughened up to ensure small-business owners are better protected.”On Monday, the Guardian revealed allegations that Adrian Howe, a former Vodafone employee who had agreed to become a franchisee in 2018, had taken his own life after becoming convinced his deal with the multinational company would prove financially disastrous.
Rachael Beddow-Davison and Dan Attwal also told the Guardian about how commission cuts by Vodafone in 2020 caused their franchising companies to run up huge debts, which they each said contributed to them attempting to kill themselves.A group of 62 former Vodafone franchisees brought a high court claim in 2024, alleging the telecoms company “unjustly enriched” itself by slashing sales commissions paid to the small business owners for running the stores in 2020.In September, Vodafone commenced offering financial settlements to a selection of former franchisees who are outside the group of claimants currently suing the business – as it launched its fourth investigation into the historical conduct within its franchising division.Vodafone says the ongoing legal claim is a “commercial dispute” but has previously apologised to claimants who blamed pressure from the telecoms group for triggering suicidal thoughts.A survey of franchisees during September 2020 resulted in 78 out of 119 respondents leaving overwhelmingly critical comments about the effects Vodafone’s actions had had on their mental health.
In response to the Guardian’s investigation, a Vodafone UK spokesperson said: “While we are sorry if any partners have had a difficult experience, we reject any suggestion that our franchisees were put under undue pressure,“We continue to run a successful franchise operation, and many of our existing franchisees have expanded their business with us by taking on additional stores,We encourage everyone to raise issues, and we will always seek to resolve them, and we remain open to further discussions with claimants to resolve the commercial dispute,”The company said it “wholly rejects” any suggestion that it “knowingly or recklessly or negligently” put anybody involved with its franchise stores under unreasonable pressure,In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.
org or jo@samaritans.ie.In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor.In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14.
Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
Dragon’s teeth and elf garden among 2025 additions to English heritage list
If Nazi tanks had ever attempted to invade Guildford, they surely would have been thwarted by concrete pyramid-shaped obstacles known as “dragon’s teeth”.Eight decades after the defences were installed in Surrey woodland, their history is being remembered by Historic England (HE), which has included them on its list of remarkable historic places granted protection in 2025.The heritage body publishes a roundup of unusual listings to draw attention to the diversity of places that join the national heritage list for England each year.As well as the anti-tank defences, this year’s list of 19 places includes a revolutionary 1960s concrete university block, a model boat club boathouse built in 1933 by men who were long-term unemployed, and a magical suburban “elf garden”.Claudia Kenyatta and Emma Squire, the co-CEOs of HE, said the listings provided a connection to the people and events that shaped communities
Jimmy Kimmel on Trump: ‘What a child he is’
Late-night hosts dug into Donald Trump’s back-pedaling over footage of the controversial Venezuela boat strikes and a White House UFC fight for his 80th birthday.On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host checked in on the US president’s economy talk, as he once again condemned use of the word “affordability”:“The reason he’s out talking about the economy is that he wants to convince us that it’s good, which it isn’t,” Kimmel explained. “But we also don’t know how bad it is because we stopped reporting job numbers. It’s like if the NBA just stopped keeping score. ‘We won
Discover Australia’s top 50 children’s picture books as nominated by Guardian readers
Put in your library reservations, plump up your beanbag: Guardian Australia can now reveal the best Australian picture books poll shortlist.Voting in the poll itself will open on 27 January at theguardian.com/bestpicturebook, which gives you a little under 50 days to read your way through these 50 nominees, the oldest of which was first published in 1973, and the newest in 2022.As a reminder, our eligibility criteria for nominees was:Primarily intended to be read aloud to children who don’t yet read independently.Able to be read in a few minutes – a child’s picture book, rather than a graphic novel or illustrated chapter book
Jon Stewart on Fifa’s peace prize: ‘An entirely fictitious golden butt plug’
Late-night hosts mocked Donald Trump for gleefully accepting the inaugural Fifa peace prize ahead of the World Cup in the US.On the daily show on Monday evening Jon Stewart roasted Donald Trump for accepting the inaugural Fifa peace prize at the World Cup draw on Friday. “Oh my God, he won the prize specifically created to appease him!” he joked. “The Fifa appease prize!“I don’t know if you guys got a good look at the trophy, but come on,” he laughed before a photo of the trophy, sculpted to appear as though several hands rising from below cupped the world.“I think its design somewhat reflects, in all likelihood, how it was conceived
Joyful, irreverent, endlessly quotable: why Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the perfect holiday movie
Picking a Christmas movie is hard work. It needs to be suitable for the entire family, which rules out Die Hard, and entertaining for the whole family, which rules out It’s a Wonderful Life. It has to be good, which rules out Love Actually, and it has to suit distracted viewing, which rules out Muppet Christmas Carol, of which it’s a sin to miss a single second.There is, however, no rule that says Christmas movies must include Christmas. Which is why Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople is the perfect Christmas movie
‘True activism has to cost you something’: Bridgerton’s Nicola Coughlan on politics, paparazzi and parasocial fandom
Back in 2008, when Nicola Coughlan was at drama school, a guy in her class swaggered over and, with all the brimming confidence of young men in the noughties, asked her, “Do the Irish think the English are really cool?” Coughlan, born in Galway, mimes processing the question. “Well,” she said, “it’s quite complicated. Like, there’s a lot of history there, between the two countries. Like, there’s a lot going on.”The Guardian’s journalism is independent
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