British Museum ends ‘deeply troubling’ sponsorship from Japanese tobacco firm
The British Museum has ended a controversial sponsorship deal with a Japanese tobacco firm after reports that the government had raised questions about the deal, which some critics said was “deeply troubling”.The Guardian understands that the museum’s board chose to not renew the 15-year partnership with Japan Tobacco International (JTI), which ended in September.The pressure group Culture Unstained submitted a freedom of information request earlier this year, which it says revealed correspondence sent in January in which the government raised questions about the details of the deal.The Times reports that the Department of Health and Social Care told the Department for Culture, Media and Sport that the deal could be a breach of the World Health Organization’s framework convention on tobacco control (FCTC).The framework bars states from advertising and promoting smoking products.
JTI’s name was recently removed from the museum’s website, a move that coincided with the release of a report published by the Tobacco Control Research Group that said the sponsorship deal was a key part of the firm’s lobbying strategy,JTI still sponsors the Royal Academy of Arts and the London Philharmonic Orchestra,The move was welcomed by critics, who had been calling for an end to the deal since 2016, when 1,000 experts signed an open letter to the British Museum and the Royal Academy over what they called the morally unacceptable sponsorship by JTI,Dr Allen Gallagher, the co-director of the Tobacco Control Research Group at the University of Bath, said such agreements “enable a deadly industry to use UK cultural institutions as a way to try and improve its public image”,The Labour MP Dr Simon Opher, who is a GP, said: “I find it deeply troubling that a national cultural institution has been sponsored by a tobacco company for 15 years in clear breach of WHO guidelines.
”He said there were no circumstances in which public bodies should be “legitimising an industry that profits from harm”.A British Museum spokesperson said the institution was grateful for JTI’s support and that sponsorship was a crucial way for it to secure its financial future.“The museum operates on public and private funding, which ensures the magnificent collection remains free and accessible to the public for centuries to come,” they said.“As a public body we have an obligation to ensure the long-term financial stability of the museum by securing funding from a number of sources.Their support enabled the museum to significantly increase accessibility and engagement with the collection for under-represented adults.
”The decision again highlights the controversies surrounding sponsorship of cultural institutions in the UK, which have often centred on the British Museum,Sign up to First EditionOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what’s happening and why it mattersafter newsletter promotionThe organisation was heavily criticised when it signed a 10-year £50m deal with BP in 2023 that was called “astonishingly out of touch”,The Guardian understands the museum is not conducting a review of current sponsorships, but the BP deal continues to hang over the museum,When it held its inaugural Pink Ball in October, which raised £2,5m, protests about the BP sponsorship disrupted the event.
Climate activists have previously held several other protests in the museum,The museum’s leadership has continued to defend the deal,Its director, Nicholas Cullinan, has said he uses two criteria to weigh up donations and sponsorship,“One is: was the money legally acquired? The other is: will accepting it cause us reputational damage?” he said shortly after starting at the museum,“I think you have to have very good, clear reasons for turning down money that would help to keep the British Museum free to the public.
”Members of the Museums Association, an industry body, voted last month to adopt a code of ethics that expects museums to transition away from sponsorship by “organisations involved with environmental harm – including fossil fuels – human rights abuses, and other sponsorship that does not align with the values of the museum”.
Europe’s economy is geared towards a disappearing world, says ECB’s Lagarde
Europe’s economy is “geared towards a world that is gradually disappearing”, according to a warning from Christine Lagarde that the EU needs reforms to spur growth.The president of the European Central Bank (ECB) said the EU’s dependence on international trade had left it vulnerable, as major partners had turned away from the trade that made the bloc’s exporters wealthy.Donald Trump has led a global turn towards protectionism and against globalisation, with steep tariffs imposed on almost every trading partner. At the same time, China has used its dominance of production of certain critical materials and products to exert pressure.Lagarde argued that Europe was vulnerable because of a “dependency on third countries for our security and the supply of critical raw materials”
UK government borrows more than expected in setback before budget
Rachel Reeves was urged to use next week’s budget to create significantly more headroom against her fiscal rules, after official figures showed the UK government borrowed almost £10bn more than forecast in the year to October.In the final snapshot of the public finances before the chancellor’s crunch budget, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said borrowing – the difference between public spending and income – was £17.4bn last month.That was lower than the same month last year, but still the third-highest October deficit on record.In the fiscal year so far, borrowing was running at £116
Wetherspoon to open first pub in Spain – offering garlic prawns and beer from 6am
Wetherspoon’s is to open its first pub outside the UK and Ireland, serving alcohol from 6am every day to sun-seeking Britons waiting for their plane in the departure lounge at Alicante airport.The opening in Spain, scheduled for January, will be the first foray on to continental European soil for the pub chain, which said it expects to pursue more footholds on the continent in the coming years.The expansion into mainland Europe comes nearly a decade after the outspoken Wetherspoon’s founder and chair, Tim Martin, celebrated Britain’s vote to leave the EU, a policy he vocally backed.The airport pub, named Castell de Santa Bàrbera after a culturally significant medieval coastal fortress in Alicante, expects to cater to holidaymakers travelling home from Spain’s Costa Blanca tourist hotspot.Alongside its usual dining fare, such as fry-ups, burgers and pizzas, the departure lounge pub will also serve traditional local dishes such as garlic prawns and Spanish omelette
Asos turns to AI stylists to win back shoppers after sales slide 12%
Asos has turned to online stylists powered by artificial intelligence as it attempts to win back customers and reverse a fall in sales.The online fashion retailer said sales had fallen 12% in the year to 31 August, and City analysts predicted another year of declining sales ahead.The company is testing “Styled for You”, which uses AI trained on its database of 100,000 curated outfits to suggest items that could go together with those a shopper has already bought or has searched.If a shopper signed up to its loyalty programme is seeking advice on buying a dress, for example, the AI stylist on the Asos app may suggest how the item can be complemented with a jacket and heels or given a more casual look with a sweater and trainers.The choices offered up are picked from Asos ranges based on consumer trends, and the shopper’s history and preferences are expressed when they sign up to its app
UK retail sales drop unexpectedly as shoppers await Black Friday and budget
Sales at UK retailers slumped unexpectedly last month as shoppers waited for Black Friday deals, and uncertainty over the upcoming budget dampened consumer confidence.Retail sales fell 1.1% month on month in October, the first fall since May, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Economists had been expecting sales growth to be flat on the previous month.Supermarkets, clothing stores and online mail order companies suffered sales declines, which some retailers said was due to consumers delaying purchases in the run-up to the annual Black Friday sales, according to the ONS
AI bubble fears return as Wall Street falls back from short-lived rally
Fears of a growing bubble around the artificial intelligence frenzy resurfaced on Thursday as leading US stock markets fell, less than 24 hours after strong results from the chipmaker Nvidia sparked a rally.Wall Street initially rose after Nvidia, the world’s largest public company, reassured investors of strong demand for its advanced datacenter chips. But the relief dissipated, and technology stocks at the heart of the AI boom came under pressure.The benchmark S&P 500 closed down 1.6%, and the Dow Jones industrial average closed down 0
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