Hereditary peers to lose their seats in the House of Lords
Hereditary peerages will be abolished before the next king’s speech after a deal was struck granting life peerages to some Conservatives and cross-benchers losing their seats,On Tuesday evening the upper chamber accepted a final draft of the House of Lords (hereditary peers) bill, marking the end of its passage through parliament and clearing the way for it to be added to the statute book,The Lords leader, Angela Smith, confirmed the government would offer life peerages to some of those who would otherwise lose their seats,As a result, the Tories withdrew their opposition to the bill,Since 1999, up to 92 hereditary peers have been able to sit in the upper house and cast their votes in the lobbies but the bill effectively reduces this quota to zero.
Hereditary peers who have not been made life peers will no longer have a right to sit in the Lords once the current parliamentary session ends, expected later this spring.Lady Smith said: “This has never been about the contribution of individuals but the underlying principle that was agreed by parliament over 25 years ago that no one should sit in our parliament by way of an inherited title.“Over a quarter of a century later, hereditary peers remain while meaningful reform has stagnated.We have a duty to find a way forward.”The lord speaker, Michael Forsyth, offered his thanks to hereditary peers for their service in the upper chamber.
Lord Forsyth of Drumlean said: “I would like to thank hereditary peers from all parties and none for their work in the House of Lords over many years.“Whatever views people may have of this constitutional change, it is sad to say goodbye to friends, who in many cases have contributed significantly to debate and scrutiny and to our institutional memory.“Recognising their contribution is not about party politics but acknowledging the value of service and commitment, and I am proud to do so and to thank them.”The king’s speech is expected to take place in the second week of May, days after elections across Britain on 7 May.
Aramco warns of oil market ‘catastrophe’ unless strait of Hormuz reopens soon
Saudi Arabia’s state oil company has warned of “catastrophic consequences” for the world’s oil markets if the US-Israeli war with Iran continues to block shipping in the strait of Hormuz.The world’s biggest oil exporter expects to be able to supply the market with about 70% of its usual crude output despite the stranglehold on the vital trade artery, but its chief executive warned that there would still be “drastic” consequences for the world economy if the disruption continued.Oil shipments from the Middle East have been blocked from passing through the narrow waterway since the US strikes on Iran 11 days ago, erasing about 20m barrels of oil from the global market every day.Despite the warning, oil prices fell on Tuesday after Donald Trump suggested the war could end “very soon”.The price of a barrel of Brent crude, the international benchmark, was down 14% on Tuesday evening, at about $85
Time for UK regulators to act against Saba Capital’s siege tactics | Nils Pratley
A year ago, the sometimes sleepy world of UK investment trusts – companies that invest in other companies – had a moment of genuine drama. A loud New York raider, Boaz Weinstein of hedge fund Saba Capital, bought significant stakes in seven trusts and lobbed insults at their boards, generally about poor investment performance or a failure to close the gap between the value of the assets and the share price.For all the fireworks, the campaign was a flop. Saba filed a variety of shake-’em-up motions at what it called the “Miserable Seven” and lost the lot. A 7-0 defeat, you’d think, would prompt Weinstein to slink away in embarrassment but, as quickly became clear, that’s not his style
Musk’s xAI wins permit for datacenter’s makeshift power plant despite backlash
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company xAI won approval on Tuesday to run 41 methane gas turbines at its “Colossus 2” datacenter in northern Mississippi. That’s nearly double the amount it has been operating.The turbines will help power xAI’s massive datacenters, which house the company’s “AI supercomputers”, or giant arrays of advanced chips, which in turn power the controversial AI tool Grok, the company’s most recognizable product.The decision, made by the Mississippi department of environmental quality, MDEQ, comes amid major public opposition to the datacenter, which demands enormous amounts of electricity. Community members and environmental advocates say the cluster of gas generators will contribute to hazardous air pollution in Southaven, Mississippi
UK Society of Authors launches logo to identify books written by humans not AI
The Society of Authors (SoA) has launched a scheme to help identify works written by humans in a market increasingly flooded by AI-generated books.The scheme is the first of its kind launched by a UK trade association, and allows authors to register their books and download a “Human Authored” logo to display on their back cover.The SoA said the absence of any government measure to compel tech companies to label AI-generated output meant readers were struggling to distinguish between books written by a human, and machine-generated work based on AI models trained on copyrighted work without permission or payment.It mirrors a similar scheme launched by the Authors Guild in the US at the beginning of 2025.Mary Beard, the classicist, is one of several high-profile authors who have backed the scheme and plan to register their works on the Human Authored website
Michael Johnson accused of taking $500,000 from debt-ridden track league
Michael Johnson has been accused of paying himself $500,000 (£372,000) eight days before his Grand Slam Track project collapsed before the final event in Los Angeles, leaving athletes and creditors owed millions. The claim is made by vendors in a legal filing in which they have also sought permission to sue individual leaders of GST, including Johnson and the main investor, Winners Alliance.When GST was launched Johnson promised it would “bring fantasy to life” and transform athletics – with track’s biggest stars facing off regularly against each other for huge prize money. But the writing was on the wall after the first event in Jamaica last April was sparsely attended, and it collapsed shortly after its third event in Philadelphia on 1 June.The filing, at the US bankruptcy court for the district of Delaware, also shows that Johnson was owed $2
‘Stupid money’ well spent: Lossiemouth saunters to Champion Hurdle win
There was a definite tremor in the voice of Rich Ricci, belying the image of the hard-nosed former banker, after his grey mare, Lossiemouth, had galloped to an authoritative success in the Champion Hurdle here on Tuesday. “It’s a privilege to have a horse like this,” Ricci said. “This game continues to excite me, to entice me and to make me spend stupid money.”The accountant in Ricci had probably been telling him to stick to a tried-and-trusted path at the festival as he and Willie Mullins, Lossiemouth’s trainer, were deciding last week whether to attempt a third straight win in the Mares’ Hurdle on Thursday, or roll the dice in the main event two days earlier.The gambler prevailed, however, putting a hugely popular seal on the festival’s opening day as Lossiemouth, the 7-5 favourite came home six and a half lengths clear of Brighterdaysahead (7-2), with The New Lion, at 3-1, another half-length away in third
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