UK households cut back spending at fastest rate in 16 months, Barclays says
Households cut back on their spending in April at the fastest pace in 16 months, as the conflict in the Middle East provoked fears of another cost of living crisis, a report from one of the UK’s biggest banks has suggested.Barclays, which processes nearly 40% of the UK’s credit and debit card transactions, said its data showed there had been a 0.1% fall in card spending last month compared with a year earlier.This was the first year-on-year fall since November 2024.The bank, which analyses the hundreds of millions of transactions made on its debit and credit cards each month, said non-essential spending fell by 0.
3% as consumers cut back on discretionary spending.Travel spending fell by 5.7% in April, after a 3.3% decrease in March, with airlines down 8.3%, while spending on eating and drinking flatlined in April.
However, perhaps in a sign that households were choosing to stay in and save money, spending on digital content and subscriptions rose 9.2% in April compared with a year earlier, which Barclays said was “helped by the popularity of TV series Euphoria, The Testaments and The Pitt”.Essential spending rose by 0.3% as spending on fuel increased 10.4% – the greatest rise since December 2022 when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine caused a spike in petrol and diesel prices.
The figures follow a slew of surveys and reports that suggest consumers and businesses are preparing for harder times ahead as the Iran war rattles energy markets and disrupts global supply chains.The Bank of England warned last week that higher inflation in the UK was “unavoidable” as a result of the Iran war, with typical energy bills likely to rise 16% to £1,900 by the summer and food prices to rise 7% by the end of the year.A survey conducted by Barclays alongside its spending data found that 72% of consumers expect tensions in the Middle East to impact their cost of living throughout 2026, with energy bills, inflation and food prices the greatest causes for concern.Confidence in non-essential spending dropped to 49%, its lowest level since March 2023, but 52% say they feel able to manage their day-to-day finances without significant stress.Jack Meaning, the chief UK economist at Barclays, said: “The key unknown for the UK outlook is how long this uncertainty will last.
If confidence remains subdued for too long, and consumers continue to limit their spending as a result, it will be a challenge for households and businesses to weather the storm,”A separate report from the British Retail Consortium and the consultancy KPMG said retail sales fell 3% in April, compared with growth of 7% in April 2025, with food sales falling 2,5% yearon year, against a growth of 8,2% in April 2025,However, this data was skewed by the timing of Easter, with the run-up to the holiday falling in the March figures this year but in April in 2025.
Helen Dickinson, the chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: “April’s sales fall was largely driven by the Easter shift, with food hit hardest.But weak consumer confidence also played a role as fears about the Middle East conflict driving up living costs led shoppers to rein in … With the World Cup coming, retailers hope it will provide a lift, and early signs show demand for TVs and sound systems picking up.”
Google announces raft of free upgrades for Android phones
Google has announced a range of features coming to Android phones this year, including a new Gemini Intelligence AI system and a tool to help users avoid distracting apps.Revealed in a livestreamed “Android Show” event, the free upgrades are scheduled to arrive in waves over the next year for high-end new and old phones alike, including Samsung and Pixel devices. Google also revealed that a new lineup of laptops will arrive in the autumn.Gemini Intelligence will combine the company’s top AI tools into one system aimed at being more proactively useful.It will be able to automate tasks by directly interacting with the apps already on a phone
Head of Microsoft’s Israel branch to step down after inquiry into dealings with Israeli military
The head of Microsoft’s Israeli subsidiary will step down in the wake of an inquiry that has scrutinised its business dealings with the Israeli military.Microsoft ordered the inquiry last year in response to a Guardian investigation revealing the military had used the company’s technology to operate a powerful surveillance system that collected Palestinian civilian phone calls on a mass scale.The joint investigation with the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call found the military’s elite spy agency, Unit 8200, had used Microsoft’s Azure cloud platform to store a vast trove of intercepted calls from Gaza and the West Bank.The inquiry commissioned by Microsoft is understood to have recently concluded. Its findings are unclear; however, sources familiar with the situation said they prompted an announcement last week that Microsoft Israel’s general manager, Alon Haimovich, would leave the company
GameStop’s $55.5bn bid for eBay rejected as ‘neither credible nor attractive’
The board of eBay has rejected the US video games retailer GameStop’s surprise $55.5bn bid (£41bn) for the online marketplace, describing the proposal as “neither credible nor attractive”.Earlier this month, GameStop made an unsolicited bid for eBay, publishing a letter on its website outlining a half-cash, half-stock proposal.This was despite the US games company – which became a global household name during the meme stock craze of 2021 – being worth far less than its takeover target. GameStop had a market valuation of roughly $12bn before its bid, almost a quarter of eBay’s $46bn valuation
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech
Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor at the Guardian.Donald Trump is headed to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla’s CEO, Elon Musk, would join Trump
Trump heads to China to spread the gospel of American tech while emulating Xi Jinping on AI
Donald Trump is heading to China this week. If his guest list is any clue, he wants to discuss technology with Xi Jinping, though perhaps after the war in Iran.On Monday, news broke that outgoing Apple CEO, Tim Cook, as well as SpaceX and Tesla CEO, Elon Musk, would join the US president. Other guests from the tech sphere include Meta’s recently appointed president, Dina Powell McCormick; Sanjay Mehrotra, CEO of computer memory maker Micron; Chuck Robbins, CEO of longtime telecom giant Cisco; and Cristiano Amon, CEO of semiconductor maker Qualcomm, according to a White House official.Jensen Huang, Nvidia’s CEO – who is close to Trump but criticized the US’s limitations on chip sales to China in an April interview, saying that he didn’t want a “loser mentality” to cost the US its edge in AI – will not be joining the president
Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat)
Royal Opera House calls for release of Georgian bass singer jailed over democracy protests
‘Using his Terminator voice, Arnie said: “Your song. Give it to me. Now”’: Bad to the Bone’s creation – and aftermath
What is a ‘Scientology speedrun’ and why is social media suddenly obsessed with it?
Joseph Fiennes on parenting, politics and banning children from social media: ‘Stand up, Keir, this is your kids’ generation’
The Guide #242: Everyday Hollywood film comedies have faded but can they make a comeback?
Ah, ah, ah, ah - I saved my dad’s life with a little help from The Office and the Bee Gees