US-UK trade deal imposes conditions on ownership of British steel plants

The US deal on steel tariffs imposes conditions on the “nature of ownership” of British plants as part of its efforts to freeze out Chinese steel, it has emerged.It is understood Donald Trump’s administration pushed for requirements to be attached to the steel deal to ensure that the Chinese-owned British Steel plant in Scunthorpe was not used by Beijing as a backdoor to circumvent US tariffs.Government sources say Washington is understood to be reassured that Scunthorpe is now in effect controlled by Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, and is likely not to come back under the direction of Jingye Group, its Chinese owners.However, before the UK government took steps to seize control of British Steel last month the US had been concerned that the Scunthorpe plant could have been used as a base for processing Chinese steel to take advantage of lower tariffs.The US-UK deal, agreed on Thursday, has come as a relief to the car and steel industries, which had been worried about job losses, although some of the terms are still unclear

Metro Bank risks backlash over £60m bonus scheme for chief executive

Metro Bank is at risk of a shareholder backlash after two influential shareholder advisers warned about a complex bonus scheme that could hand the bank’s chief executive a £60m windfall.ISS and Glass Lewis, prominent proxy advisory services that suggest how shareholders should vote on company policies at annual meetings, are concerned that the new long-term bonus will be linked to the bank’s share price, which may climb regardless of how well bosses run it.The reports, published before Metro Bank’s annual shareholder meeting on 20 May, suggest it could lead to excessive, and potentially unwarranted, windfalls for bosses, including the chief executive, Daniel Frumkin.Under the new plan, a bonus would be paid out after five years depending on how high the share price climbs over the long term.Metro Bank’s share price currently sits at about 110p, and would have to climb above 120p in three years’ time for the bonus to kick in

‘Tone deaf’: US tech company responsible for global IT outage to cut jobs and use AI

The cybersecurity company that became a household name after causing a massive global IT outage last year has announced it will cut 5% of its workforce in part due to “AI efficiency”.In a note to staff earlier this week, released in stock market filings in the US, CrowdStrike’s chief executive, George Kurtz, announced that 500 positions, or 5% of its workforce, would be cut globally, citing AI efficiencies created in the business.“We’re operating in a market and technology inflection point, with AI reshaping every industry, accelerating threats, and evolving customer needs,” he said.Kurtz said AI “flattens our hiring curve, and helps us innovate from idea to product faster”, adding it “drives efficiencies across both the front and back office”.“AI is a force multiplier throughout the business,” he said

Leave them hanging on the telephone | Brief letters

Regarding dealing with cold callers (Adrian Chiles, 7 May), it’s irritating I know, but if you don’t mind your phone being inaccessible for a few minutes, why not say: “Hang on, I’ll go and get him/her”, and then leave your phone until the caller rings off? At least you will have wasted some of their day.Robert WalkerPerrancoombe, Cornwall Re fostering a love of reading in children (Letters, 6 May), one of my fondest memories of my teaching career was story time in the infant class in a local village school. Most of the children came quite a distance on buses. They adored Michael Rosen’s poetry. There were many afternoons when it was home time and they would shout: “Please read another Michael Rosen one, Mrs Mansfield, the driver won’t mind waiting

England Lion McCann fires up Notts but champions Surrey struggle

There was a to-and-fro scrap at Trent Bridge, the difference being Nottinghamshire’s 20-year-old England Lion Freddie McCann, who hit a wonderful century, already his third in the Championship. Kyle Abbott collected five wickets for the 43rd time in his career – it could have been more but Hampshire dropped five catches.The 2024 champions had a difficult day at Edgbaston. Tom Latham, who only arrived in Birmingham on Tuesday after recovering from a broken hand, frolicked to an unbeaten 139 on his Warwickshire debut. Alex Davies had set the mood, playing wantonly at the Surrey attack, slapping a couple of early sixes, until he was bowled by a full toss from Dan Lawrence

Pollock a proud Lion after ‘nailing it’ for Northampton and England

These are good times at Franklin’s Gardens. Five days after the squad celebrated one of the great victories against Leinster, four of them were picked by the British & Irish Lions. The atmosphere around the old ground has been electric ever since. And while you would expect the quartet, Fin Smith, Henry Pollock, Tommy Freeman, and Alex Mitchell, to be overjoyed, what’s more telling is how happy everyone else at the club seems to be on their behalf. The video of the team celebrating the news has already gone viral, and it turns out that on the night after the squad announcement, Fraser Dingwall had them all around to his house for a celebration dinner