MPs in call to halt Drax’s £2m-a-day subsidy over sustainability doubts

Ed Miliband is under pressure from MPs to suspend subsidies worth £2m a day paid to the owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire after court documents cast doubt on the company’s sustainability claims.A cross-party group of 14 MPs and peers have called on the energy minister to halt the subsidies for Britain’s biggest power plant while the financial watchdog investigates the company’s claims about how it sources the millions of tonnes of wood pellets burned to generate electricity.In a letter, seen by the Guardian, the politicians said they were “deeply concerned” that Drax may have been given “substantial billpayer subsidy” while the company “may have knowingly and consistently concealed information” about the green credentials of its wood sources.The FTSE 250 owner of the Drax power plant gets about £2m a day in renewable energy subsidies, paid by consumers, on the condition it generates electricity from biomass pellets made from waste or low-value wood from sustainable forests.Drax, Britain’s single biggest source of carbon emissions, imports millions of tonnes of wood pellets from across the Atlantic every year and is projected to receive £11bn in subsidies by the end of 2027

British Gas owner pauses share buyback as profits plummet

The owner of British Gas has seen a sharp fall in profits as warmer than normal weather allowed households to turn down their thermostats and more customers switched to cheaper fixed price deals.British Gas reported lower profits for 2025 despite modest growth in its customer base after milder than expected weather meant households used less gas and electricity.Meanwhile, more of its customers are taking advantage of cheaper fixed rate tariffs to buy their energy leading to lower revenues for the supplier. About a third of its customers are now on fixed rate deals, up from a quarter at the end of 2024, the supplier said.As a result its adjusted profits fell to £309m for the year, from £364m the year before, even as the number of household customers grew by 1% to almost 8m accounts

Retailers in UK plan to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs

UK retailers are planning to cut staff hours and jobs amid rising employment costs and pessimism about the economy.More than half (52%) of finance bosses at retail companies said they planned to reduce working hours or cut overtime, according to the latest survey from the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the trade body that represents most big retailers. Almost half (48%) said they would cut head office jobs and 32% said they would reduce jobs in stores.The potential job cuts are likely to add to pressure for political action on work for young people who are particularly affected by the lower availability of entry-level jobs in retail and hospitality.The retail sector has shed 74,000 jobs in the past year partly owing to new technology, from AI marketing and stock management tools to automated tills

Coles’ shameless ‘Down Down’ promotions have been exposed. So why aren’t they even trying to rebuild trust? | John Quiggin

Like millions of Australians, I shop at Coles. I’m not as careful as I should be, but I try to buy things advertised as being discounted, or on special. But after following a recent case before the federal court, I’ll be checking my old receipts before accepting such claims. In particular, I’ll be avoiding “Down Down” promotions. On the evidence before the court, such promotions are routinely used as a way of implementing price increases

Trump’s immigration siege is rattling hospitality industry, workers say

Donald Trump’s immigration policies are having a chilling effect on the hospitality industry, where nearly a third of workers are immigrants, according to the largest hospitality union in the US.The number of employed hospitality workers dropped by 98,000 from December 2024 to December 2025, according to a report from Unite Here, which represents 300,000 workers across the hospitality, food and tourism industries in the US and Canada.Union leaders say the Trump administration’s brutal immigration crackdown has not only scared workers but has also discouraged international tourism. The US saw a decline of $1.2bn, or a 5

‘By the end of the day we’re just knackered’: business booms for UK’s south Asian jewellers as gold prices soar

“With everything that’s going on in the economy and Donald Trump banging his chest against the world, we’re finding there’s no trust in the banks because we don’t know what’s going to happen,” Sandeep Kanda says.Kanda is the owner of Sunny Jewellers, situated along a stretch of Leicester known as the Golden Mile, and is a beneficiary of consumers seeking alternative investments amid the uncertainty.The business is among a dozen or so south Asian jewellers in the area that have been facing relentless demand for gold since the precious metal began soaring in value at the end of last year.“By the end of the day we’re just knackered,” Kanda says. “We are seeing a lot of people buying and selling