The government’s retreat from Carillion audit reforms is feeble | Nils Pratley

The wait for the “long-awaited” government bill to reform the audit market is over. It is not because ministers have decided it’s embarrassing that eight years have passed since the collapse of Carillion, the massive corporate failure that reminded everybody that auditing is boring until it matters greatly that outsiders can trust the published numbers. Rather, it is because the government has given up on a reform bill. It would rather give another airing of its “pro-growth” refrain.“While the planned reforms would be beneficial, some would increase costs on business, and it would not be right to prioritise these over more deregulatory measures,” the minister for small business, Blair McDougall, formally told the business select committee

Davos: Reeves urges leaders to keep cool heads over tariff threat in free trade call – business live

Rachel Reeves, the UK chancellor of the exchequer, is now speaking at a Bloomberg session just outside the WEF congress centre.Asked about the tariff threats from the US, Reeves says that she would urge everyone to keep cool heads.The chancellor cites the trade deal between the US and UK which has brought down tariffs (although Trump is threatening to put them up again, and that deal was actually frozen in December).She also points to other trade deals either signed off or under negotiation, such as with India and South Korea.Reeves tells her audience:I believe in free and fair trade

Tell us: has a chatbot helped you out of a difficult time in your life?

AI Chatbots are now a part of everyday life. ChatGPT surpassed 800 million weekly active users in late 2025. Some people are forming relationships with these chatbots, using them for companionship, mental health support, and even as therapists. Has a chatbot helped you get through a difficult period in life? If so, we’d like to hear about it.You can tell us how an AI chatbot has helped you get through a difficult period in life using this form

Ed Zitron on big tech, backlash, boom and bust: ‘AI has taught us that people are excited to replace human beings’

His blunt, brash scepticism has made the podcaster and writer something of a cult figure. But as concern over large language models builds, he’s no longer the outsider he once wasIf some time in an entirely possible future they come to make a movie about “how the AI bubble burst”, Ed Zitron will doubtless be a main character. He’s the perfect outsider figure: the eccentric loner who saw all this coming and screamed from the sidelines that the sky was falling, but nobody would listen. Just as Christian Bale portrayed Michael Burry, the investor who predicted the 2008 financial crash, in The Big Short, you can well imagine Robert Pattinson fighting Paul Mescal, say, to portray Zitron, the animated, colourfully obnoxious but doggedly detail-oriented Brit, who’s become one of big tech’s noisiest critics.This is not to say the AI bubble will burst, necessarily, but against a tidal wave of AI boosterism, Zitron’s blunt, brash scepticism has made him something of a cult figure

Kasatkina frustrated after defeat on day of mixed fortunes for Australian players

Melbourne is known for its unpredictable wind and it blew both ways for Australian tennis fans on Tuesday. Torturous, late-night losses suffered by Daria Kasatkina and Kimberly Birrell came about 12 hours after Maya Joint’s straight-sets defeat, ending the Australian Open ambitions of the three highest ranked local female players.As the sun comes up on Wednesday morning, however, the country will have six women in the second round, the most at a grand slam since eight progressed at Melbourne Park in 1992. The last to secure their berth was qualifier Maddison Inglis, who defeated compatriot Birrell 7-6 (6), 6-7 (9), 6-4 in an all-Australian clash that lasted three hours and finished after midnight.Inglis broke down at the match’s conclusion, overcome with emotion after beating her close friend

Rob Key likely to survive but T20 World Cup crucial to Brendon McCullum’s fate

Rob Key’s position as England’s managing director of men’s cricket is looking increasingly secure after the initial stages of the England and Wales Cricket Board’s review of the Ashes defeat, but the future of Brendon McCullum as coach remains uncertain and will be heavily influenced by his side’s performances at next month’s T20 World Cup.Key is understood to have spoken to the ECB chief executive, Richard Gould, and chair, Richard Thompson, and taken responsibility for England’s poor preparation for the Ashes and some bungled selections while on tour. He is believed to have indicated a willingness to do things differently if allowed to stay on, a crucial concession that could end up saving him.It was reported after England’s defeat in the third Test in Adelaide last month, which gave Australia a 3-0 lead and retention of the urn after just 11 days of cricket, that the ECB wanted to avoid a mass cull. That remains the case despite the tourists slumping to a 4-1 defeat, with their only victory coming in the freakish two-day fourth Test in Melbourne on a sporting pitch