Apple seeks to appeal against £1.5bn ruling it overcharged UK customers
Apple is seeking to overturn a landmark £1,5bn court ruling on behalf of millions of UK customers, which found the company overcharged them for years in its App Store,The iPhone maker has applied to the court of appeal to challenge a verdict that campaigners heralded as the start of a “tidal shift against big tech”,It is one of a cluster of cases heading towards trial in 2026 as consumers realise the mounting cost of paying up to 30% commission – what campaigners call the “Apple tax” – on apps and in-app purchases, which more people rely on for activities from fitness to dating,The appeal, if allowed, involves one of several class action suits against Apple and Google in which consumers, small businesses and entrepreneurs are demanding over £6bn in combined compensation.
The class action cases use an opt-out system that means millions of people can be represented at once in claims of breaches of competition law.“It’s definitely a tipping point,” said Dr Rachael Kent, an academic at King’s College London who won the £1.5bn case against Apple on behalf of 36 million UK consumers.“People are pushing back against the harms from digital worlds, which they have to be living in and through every day and the financial implications of that,” she said.Kent added that the win in October still felt “a bit pinch me”.
If Apple’s appeal fails, every person in the UK who made App Store purchases between 2015 and 2024 could be entitled to a payout,In the suite of class action cases, Apple and Google are accused of overcharging British consumers and developers in their app stores and, in the case of Apple, of “trapping” and overcharging customers with its iCloud data storage service,Instead of up to 30%, Apple should be charging commission of 17,5% when selling apps and 10% on in-app purchases, while app developers should pay 10%, the competition appeal tribunal found in Kent’s case,Another of the cases is being brought by Barry Rodger, a law professor at the University of Strathclyde, on behalf of more than 2,000 app developers who he argues are collectively entitled to up to £1bn in compensation.
“Small and medium-sized app developer businesses have suffered as the result of excessive profiteering by the App Store and Google Play,” he said,His case alleges Google Play has charged “excessive, arbitrary and discriminatory commissions” against developers, with the makers of dating and games apps particularly affected,His suit is expected to reach trial at the competitions appeal tribunal in October 2026, and will be jointly managed with a claim for about £1bn on behalf of 19 million Google Play customers, who are alleged to have been overcharged,That case is being brought by the consumer activist Liz Coll and accuses Google of “excluding competition and/or charging an unlawfully high level of commission on digital purchases”, breaching competition law,Coll said: “These types of large collective proceedings are new in the UK, but I’m really excited about the potential of the Kent decision to not only make people aware they were paying too much for apps through opaque commission but also that there is now a clear route to getting that put right.
Where we need consumers to get really active now is in claiming back the money they’re owed.”A Google spokesperson said: “Android provides more choice than any other platform and our fees are the lowest of any major app platform.We’ll defend these cases vigorously.”Google argues that the class action cases seek to upend a system that has lowered prices and increased choice and that, if successful, would make downloading and using apps on Android phones more complicated and less safe.And in the largest of all the claims, November saw the consumer campaign group Which? announce a £3bn claim against Apple over its iCloud services, claiming it is “trapping” customers with Apple devices into using it.
Apple called the Which? claims unfounded and said no customers are required to use iCloud,The company said it strongly disagrees with the ruling in Kent’s case over the App Store, and the tribunal took a flawed view of the “thriving and competitive app economy”, with other platforms providing “vigorous competition”,It said most apps are subject to a 15% commission, and the App Store helps drive the UK’s digital economy, facilitating billings and sales of over $55bn (£41bn) in the UK in 2024,Kent said that people are “waking up to the harms of digital life and how it can be detrimental mentally, physically and financially”,“There is a tidal shift that is happening against big tech,” she said.
“Consumers are looking at all of the tools that they have to use every day.Covid really accelerated our reliance on technology and many of us went from using five apps in a week to perhaps 10 apps in a day to manage food shopping, food delivery, retail, fitness and diet tracking, keeping in close communication with friends and family, much more social media, increased screen time.“A big part of the last six years working the case has been about educating people that this is actually happening.That’s what tech giants and marketeers like Apple are so brilliant at.It’s creating an ecosystem where we are foreclosed into decision making and we don’t even realise that this is actually how it’s happening.
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Manchester Arena plotter’s alleged prison attack sparks call for US-style rewards system
A long-awaited report that examined how the Manchester Arena plotter was able to carry out an alleged violent attack on prison officers has recommended a new punishment and rewards system for the most dangerous inmates, similar to that used in a US Supermax jail.David Lammy, the deputy prime minister, is facing demands to publish the report, which looks into why Hashem Abedi, who was jailed for life for helping his brother carry out the 2017 bombing, was able to target staff at HMP Frankland with boiling oil and homemade weapons in a planned ambush.Jonathan Hall KC, the independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, was commissioned to carry out the review in May by the then lord chancellor, Shabana Mahmood. She requested that it be returned “promptly”.Sent to the lord chancellor’s office in August, the report is understood to recommend that lessons be learned from the US so that for the most dangerous prisoners privileges can be earned or taken away depending on closely monitored standards of behaviour
Young care leavers in England to get free prescriptions, dental and eye services
Young people leaving care in England will receive free prescriptions, and dental and eye services up to their 25th birthday, the government has said.A pilot to trial paid internships for care leavers in the NHS and a guaranteed interview scheme for NHS roles also forms part of a package of measures announced by the Department of Health and Social Care.A separate three-year pilot aims to improve access to mental health support for children in care, the DHSC said.There were about 53,230 care leavers aged 17 to 21 in 2025 and a further 44,430 care leavers aged 22 to 25, although this may be an underestimate, the DHSC said.The health and social care secretary, Wes Streeting, said: “Those in care face the toughest start in life and as a result suffer from a barrage of health inequalities, hampering their chances of going on to lead a happy, successful and fulfilling life
Britons reported to be drinking less, as data shows consumption at record low
People in Britain are drinking less alcohol than in previous years, according to reports.The average UK adult consumed 10.2 alcoholic drinks a week last year, the lowest figure since data collection began in 1990 and a decline of more than a quarter from the peak of 14 two decades ago, according to figures published in the FT from research company IWSR.However, total abstention is not on the rise despite the decline in consumption, which suggests more moderate drinking habits have driven the trend.“The population is ageing and older consumers physiologically can’t drink as much,” Marten Lodewijks, the IWSR president, told the newspaper
Resident doctors say they will resume talks to avoid further strikes with ‘can-do spirit’
Resident doctors have said they will approach talks with Wes Streeting with a “can-do spirit” to avoid further strikes in the new year, as their five-day action ended on Monday morning.The British Medical Association called on the health secretary to come to the table with the same “constructive” attitude, saying the tone of 11th-hour talks before their stoppage had been encouraging but too late to avoid the strike in England.Streeting also signalled his determination to get back to the talks, saying he did “not want to see a single day of industrial action in the NHS in 2026”, and that he would “be doing everything I can to make this a reality”.“My door remains open, as it always has done, and I’m determined to resume discussions with the BMA in the new year to put an end to these damaging cycles of disruption,” he said.Streeting and Keir Starmer have taken a tough line towards the strike, with the prime minister saying it was “beyond belief” that it should go ahead when the flu-hit NHS was facing its worst crisis since Covid
One in eight of 14- to 17-year-olds in Great Britain say they have used nicotine pouches
One in eight teenagers aged 14 to 17 have used nicotine pouches, a survey has found, adding to health experts’ concern about their growing popularity.Users hold the small sachets, which look like mini-teabags and are often flavoured, in their mouths to enjoy the release of the nicotine they contain. They are also known as “snus”.Unlike smoking the pouches do not raise the risk of cancer, but they have caused alarm because of the fear that users could become addicted to nicotine and suffer mouth and dental problems.A survey of 500 teenagers aged 14 to 17 in England, Scotland and Wales found that 13% have used a nicotine pouch, of whom 30% said they did so at least once a week
Christmas burnout: why stressed parents find it ‘harder to be emotionally honest with children’
Advent calendars, check. Tree and decorations, check. Teachers’ presents, nativity costumes and a whole new ticketing system for the PTA’s Santa’s grotto, check. But the Christmas cards remain unwritten, the to-do list keeps growing, and that Labubu doll your child desperately wants appears to have vanished from the face of the earth.If you’re feeling frayed in the final days before Christmas, you’re not alone
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