‘Grenfell was caused by corporate greed’: report calls for far stronger penalties over unsafe cladding

Companies who are found responsible for unsafe cladding should face unlimited fines and permanent bans from public contracts, according to a report that also says England’s existing laws have not gone far enough to prevent future tragedies.The thinktank Common Wealth said the law fails to effectively hold companies to account for corporate negligence, leaving the door open for another disaster like the Grenfell fire, which killed 72 people in June 2017.The report’s author, Leela Jadhav, said England was falling behind other countries which have stronger due diligence laws.“The Grenfell Tower fire was a disaster caused by corporate greed, not an accident,” she said. “Justice in real terms means sanctions, prosecutions and a more robust and enforceable accountability regime

M&S ‘praying for sun’ but full recovery from cyber-attack unlikely this summer

The bosses at Marks & Spencer will surely be praying for sun.As UK temperatures rise over the coming week, M&S will be hoping it prompts shoppers to fill their virtual baskets with shorts, swimwear and sandals to get its summer sales back on track.After six weeks of costly disruption as the result of a cyber-attack, the retailer started taking internet orders again on Tuesday, making a selection of its fashion ranges available for standard home delivery in England, Scotland and Wales.However, the partial resumption of online services does not mark the end of the website woes. Shoppers in Northern Ireland were told they would have to wait a little while longer before theycould place orders, while click-and-collect and next-day-delivery services would only become available again in the coming weeks

Oil and gold prices soar and stock markets fall after Israel’s attacks on Iran

The price of oil and gold has soared and stock markets have fallen after Israel’s strikes against targets in Iran.The escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, the focal point of global oil production, prompted a sharp increase in wholesale prices. Brent crude surged by more than 7% after news of the attacks broke, briefly moving above $75 (£55) a barrel to its highest level since April.Stocks fell on Wall Street, with the Dow Jones dropping 1.8%, the S&P 500 falling 1

Oil surges after Israel’s attack on Iran, risking ‘stagflationary shock’ – as it happened

The jump in the oil price today, following Israel’s attack on Iran, is a “bad shock for the global economy at a bad time”.That’s the warning from Mohamed El-Erian, President of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and advisor to insurance giant Allianz.Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, El-Erian explains that a higher oil price can lead to a “classic stagflationary shock”, undermining economic growth and fuelling inflation.El-Erian says:For the average consumer, they will be looking at more income uncertainty. They will be looking at higher petrol prices, and in the UK, they’re probably looking now at higher risk of taxation in October

P&O Ferries hires tiny four-person accounting firm to replace KPMG

P&O Ferries has hired a tiny four-person auditing firm to replace the Big Four accountant that resigned from approving its annual accounts in March.The move appears to raise further questions over the governance and financial health of the company, which has attracted a string of negative headlines after its controversial sacking of 786 mainly British ferry workers in 2022 – whom it then replaced with low-cost agency staff from countries including India, the Philippines and Malaysia.The ferry operator’s 2022 accounts were almost 11 months late when they were belatedly published in November of last year and showed that the company spent more than £47m on jettisoning its UK seafarers.Its 2023 numbers are now eight months behind schedule and in March KPMG, the UK’s fourth largest accounting firm, resigned as P&O Ferries’ auditor. In its resignation letter, the accountants said: “It has not been possible to complete an audit of the 2023 accounts to the required standard within management’s desired timetable

Credit Suisse was ‘warned’ about Greensill three years before firm collapsed

Bosses at Credit Suisse were warned against dealing with the Australian financier Lex Greensill’s eponymous company three years before the collapse of his Greensill Capital, which once employed the former UK prime minister David Cameron as an adviser.The “character judgment” of senior Credit Suisse managers was challenged in anonymous messages they received as early as 2018, which raised concerns over the Swiss bank’s dealings with Greensill, according to a report by the Swiss regulator Finma, released under a London court order after a request by the Guardian and other media.The document showed senior managers were warned several times about the risks involved in its business dealings with Greensill and his firm, the 2021 collapse of which contributed to Credit Suisse’s shocking demise in March 2023.A message from an anonymous tipster raised “strong doubts” over the bank’s strategy of packaging up Greensill’s loans into $10bn (£7.4bn) worth of investable funds for wealthy clients