UK economy on ‘stronger footing’ than expected before energy shock after February growth surge – business live
Posted on Thursday April 16, 2026

UK economy smashes forecasts with 0.5% growth in February, but economists fear growth will now slow sharply due to Iran war

The UK’s growth acceleration in February is likely to be “short-lived”, due to the Iran war, warns Andrew Hunter, associate director and senior economist at Moody’s Analytics:

“The 0.5% month-over-month jump in U.K. GDP in February, and slight upward revision to January’s data, echoes the earlier improvement in the surveys and suggests the economy had more momentum at the start of this year than previously thought.

However, with those surveys weakening quite sharply in March as the Middle East conflict sent energy prices soaring, this upturn is likely to prove short lived.

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Tesco warns profits could fall amid Iran war uncertainty
Posted on Thursday April 16, 2026

UK’s biggest supermarket voices caution for year ahead despite annual profits rising 8.5% to £2.4bn

• Business live – latest updates

Tesco has warned that profits could fall back in the year ahead amid “increased uncertainty caused by the conflict in the Middle East”.

The warning came after the UK’s biggest supermarket hit its highest share of the market in a decade.

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UK could face gaps on supermarket shelves by summer if Iran war continues
Posted on Thursday April 16, 2026

Ministers drawing up contingency plans for ‘reasonable worst-case scenario’ if supply of CO₂ is disrupted

• Business live – latest updates

The UK could face some gaps on supermarket shelves this summer if disruption caused by the Iran war continues, with shortages of carbon dioxide potentially hitting supplies of chicken, pork and fizzy drinks.

Government ministers are reportedly drawing up contingency plans for a “reasonable worst-case scenario” if the key shipping lane of the strait of Hormuz does not reopen, disrupting supplies of the CO₂ required by the food industry.

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Drax claimed record £999m in subsidies for burning trees in 2025, thinktank says
Posted on Wednesday April 15, 2026

Company has received about £8.7bn in renewable energy subsidies since 2012, despite claims wood pellets are not sourced sustainably

The owner of the Drax power plant in North Yorkshire received record subsidies of almost £1bn for burning trees to generate electricity in 2025, a climate thinktank has calculated.

The company was paid £999m last year for generating about 4.5% of Great Britain’s electricity from its biomass plant, costing each household £13 a year, according to analysts at Ember.

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MPs vote against social media ban for under-16s a second time
Posted on Wednesday April 15, 2026

Commons rejects proposal by 256 to 150 to side with government on plan to tackle online harms affecting children

MPs have rejected a proposal to ban under-16s from using social media for the second time, as the prime minister summoned tech bosses to demand tougher action on internet safety.

The House of Commons sided with the government against a Lords amendment to the children’s wellbeing and schools bill that imposed a new age limit on using social media platforms, amid pressure from parents and campaign groups for greater urgency in tackling online harms.

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AI is destroying jobs – and the energy crisis could make that much worse | Larry Elliott
Posted on Thursday April 16, 2026

Every wave of new tech has come with a doomsday scenario. But governments just aren’t planning a human response on the scale required

The transition to a world of artificial intelligence has given a whole new meaning to the concept that capitalism can only renew itself through creative destruction. This is the idea that clapped-out technologies have to be replaced by new ways of doing things, even though the process can be brutal.

That has been the way of things for every new wave of inventions since the dawn of the industrial age in the mid-18th century, but with machines now displaying cognitive skills, able to both think and learn, the potential for economic disruption is all the greater.

Larry Elliott is a Guardian columnist

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Ticket to ride? Fifa premium makes this the World Cup that actively hates you | Jonathan Liew
Posted on Thursday April 16, 2026

The $95 bus trip to Foxborough highlights a tournament unique in modern times – one that ultimately makes no secret of its disdain for the paying public

Like any journalist with an unerring nose for an offbeat feature, my interest was sharply piqued by this week’s announcement of the $95 bus ride. What magnificent accoutrements might conceivably justify the £70 fare for a half-hour journey from south Boston to Foxborough? An at-seat shiatsu? A pool deck? A five-course dining experience? A brief but moving Céline Dion set in the aisles? At the very least, I felt I owed it to my profession to find out for sure.

Alas upon closer investigation, the Boston Stadium Express being launched for this summer’s World Cup appears to be an entirely regular bus journey on an entirely regular bus with entirely regular bus seats. Your non-refundable ticket – no child concessions – entitles you simply to be dropped off a 15-minute walk from the ground, and picked up again from the same place. There is, in short, no more complex rationale for the Boston organising committee to charge £70 than the fact that they can, and the World Cup only comes once, and if you don’t want to pay then some other rube will.

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LIV Golf meeting in New York fuels speculation over rebel tour’s future
Posted on Wednesday April 15, 2026

• Funding for $5bn tour could be cut back

• Saudi focus now more on football and esport

The future of LIV Golf is in doubt, with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund preparing to cut funding for the $5bn rebel tour.

LIV executives were late arriving at the tour event in Mexico City this week after being called up to a meeting in New York, with uncertainty over the immediate future first emerging at the Masters in Augusta last weekend. Rumours that LIV could even be shut down had begun to circulate on social media on Tuesday evening, with officials from the tour declining to respond.

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