Lloyds bank faces £66m court battle with car loan customers

Lloyds Banking Group is facing a court battle with 30,000 aggrieved car loan customers who are to abandon the City regulator’s official redress scheme amid fears it will shortchange consumers and favour lenders.The claims law firm Courmacs Legal is planning to file a £66m omnibus claim on behalf of borrowers who believe they were financially harmed by car loan contracts set up by Lloyds’ motor finance arm, Black Horse.The grievances are part of a much wider car loans commission scandal, in which drivers were overcharged for their loans due to unfair commission arrangements between lenders and car dealers.However, the omnibus case, which is expected to be filed in the coming weeks, means consumers are deciding to pre-emptively waive their rights to the Financial Conduct Authority’s (FCA) estimated £11bn compensation scheme, even before the final details are due to be set out on Monday. That is despite claims law firms such as Courmacs taking a 28% cut of any potential payout

UK government borrowing costs hit 5% as Iran war fuels bond market sell-off

UK government borrowing costs have risen above 5% amid an intensifying global bond market sell-off fuelled by the Iran war.The yield – or interest rate – on 10-year debt hit its highest level since the 2008 financial crisis, rising 13 basis points to 5.081%, as investors acted on concerns about the economic fallout from the conflict.Borrowing costs also rose for the US and eurozone governments, underscoring growing turbulence in the global financial system after Donald Trump’s extension of a deadline for a peace deal failed to soothe jittery investors.Financial markets worldwide slumped on Friday, extending falls seen since the outbreak of the war, with losses in London and across major US and EU trading hubs

Italy investigates beauty brands over concerns about young girls’ mental health

Italian regulators are investigating Sephora and Benefit Cosmetics over the apparent use of “covert marketing strategies” to sell beauty products to young girls that might be fuelling an unhealthy skincare obsession known as “cosmeticorexia”.The Italian Competition Authority said it was looking into promotions for skincare products such as face masks, serums and anti-ageing creams that in some cases appeared to target girls under 10.“These practices are linked to the broader issue of ‘cosmeticorexia’ – an obsession with skincare among minors,” the authority said.The cosmetics brands, which are both owned by the French luxury group LVMH, appeared to have adopted a “particularly insidious marketing strategy”, it said. This involved using “very young micro-influencers who encourage the compulsive purchase of cosmetics among young people, a particularly vulnerable group”

Ministers should ‘start doing stuff’ to help farmers and cut fuel costs, says Asda boss

Asda’s executive chair has called on the government to “stand up and start doing stuff” to support farmers and ease the price of fuel as he warned that food prices would inevitably rise as a result of the conflict in the Middle East.Allan Leighton said farmers were under pressure but the supermarket chain had so far received “a trickle of requests not an avalanche” of cost price increases from its suppliers, as they were under pressure from higher fertiliser, energy and fuel costs.“I do believe it will create inflation,” he said, adding that the pace of cost increases was volatile and quite different across the various commodities.Leighton also warned of “temporary shortages’” at petrol stations, as supplies are squeezed by the conflict in the Middle East, with the RAC reporting on Friday that the average price of unleaded petrol in the UK had risen to 150p a litre.Leighton accused the government of benefiting from £3bn of income from fuel duties as prices rose and said it should ease these duties or support farmers on energy or other costs

‘It’s fired people up’: support grows, including within Labor, for new gas tax to curb wartime profits

The gas industry is mobilising in opposition to a potential new tax on the sector as political momentum builds – including among Labor MPs – for the government to use the May budget to prevent producers profiting from the Middle East war.The Australian Energy Producers (AEP) chief executive, Samantha McCulloch, claimed a new tax would punish the same Asian trading partners Australia was leaning on to supply more fuel amid the global energy crisis.The gas sector was blind-sided by revelations the Treasury was modelling options for a new levy to capture windfall profits from gas and thermal coal companies, as well as potential changes to the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax (PRRT) and corporate tax.Government, industry and opposition sources believe the public mood on taxing the resources giants has shifted, giving the Albanese government cover to pursue changes it might have considered too politically risky a few months ago.The sources point to a campaign spearheaded by independent senator David Pocock, social media influencer Konrad Benjamin of Punter’s Politics fame and progressive thinktank the Australia Institute, which has highlighted how much tax gas companies pay

UK car production falls 17% as industry warns of ‘worrying’ decline

Fewer cars rolled off UK production lines in February in what the industry called an “extremely worrying” slump even before the impact of the Iran war was felt.Vehicle production was 17% lower last month on the same period in 2025, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, as exports dropped sharply.A further decline is expected in March, after the war sent global energy prices soaring and further dented consumer demand, a double blow for carmakers.Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, said: “Another decline for UK vehicle production and exports is extremely worrying, given these figures pre-date the crisis in the Middle East. While the sector has made efforts to build resilience into its logistics and supply chains post-Covid, the conflict adds further strain