Renault says ‘seismic shift’ in electric car interest after oil price shock – business live
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as French carmaker says electric car enquiries have soared since start of Iran war

Manufacturers in the UK have recorded one of the sharpest rises in business costs in more than thirty years, due to the economic fallout of the Iran war, a closely-watched survey has revealed.

The S&P Global purchasing managers’ index (PMI) said manufacturers’ input prices – such as raw materials, energy and labour – rose at one of the fastest rates since its survey began in 1992, outside of the post-pandemic inflationary surge in 2022.

Rob Dobson, the director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said:

Restrictions on transit through the strait of Hormuz are causing substantial disruptions to input deliveries, with supplier lead times lengthening to the greatest extent in almost four years. The resulting material shortages are exerting steep pressure on purchasing costs.

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Watchdog weighs investigation into Farage’s undisclosed £5m gift
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

Electoral Commission considers inquiry after Tories said Reform leader should have declared money from billionaire

• UK politics live – latest updates

• Analysis: Farage’s bid to get ahead of story only raises more questions

The UK elections watchdog is considering whether to investigate an undisclosed £5m gift received by Nigel Farage before he announced his candidacy at the last general election.

The Guardian revealed this week that the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne gave the Reform UK leader the money.

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UK house prices jump despite impact of Middle East conflict
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

Rise of 3% in April, the fastest annual pace in 11 months, leaves typical property worth £278,880, says Nationwide

• Business live – latest updates

House price growth in the UK has surprised estate agents and economists by jumping in April at the fastest annual pace in 11 months, according to Nationwide.

The UK’s biggest building society said its mortgage data showed that house prices unexpectedly rose by 3% in April on a year earlier, from 2.2% in March, leaving the typical UK property worth £278,880.

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Heavy traffic expected as RAC predicts busiest bank holiday for motorists in years
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

Drivers seem undeterred by high fuel prices and gloomy weather forecasts, while engineering works spell delays for railway passengers

Drivers have been told to expect the UK’s busiest May bank holiday traffic in years, despite high fuel prices and the looming end of the sunny spell threatening to dampen the long weekend.

More than 19m leisure trips by car were expected over the long weekend from Friday to Monday, according to research by the RAC motoring organisation – the most since 2016. Engineering works are also likely to disrupt rail journeys this weekend.

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‘Awkward and humiliating’: UK job hunters share frustration with AI interviews
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

People describe unnatural process as survey finds nearly half of job seekers have been interviewed by AI

Nearly half (47%) of UK job seekers have had an AI interview, research from the hiring platform Greenhouse has found.

In its survey of 2,950 active job seekers, including 1,132 UK-based workers, with additional respondents from the US, Germany, Australia and Ireland, it found that 30% of UK candidates had walked away from a hiring process because it included an AI interview.

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Tim Cook takes victory lap as Apple’s financial results soar past Wall Street expectations
Posted on Thursday April 30, 2026

Company details $111.2bn in revenue in first earnings report after announcement of Cook’s pending departure

Apple blew past Wall Street expectations in its first earnings report since it announced CEO Tim Cook would be stepping down.

Cook shared his thoughts about the leadership transition on Thursday, saying: “There’s no one on this planet I trust more to lead Apple into the future” than incoming CEO John Ternus. Asked by an investor what advice he has given Ternus, Cook said: “Never forget the north star for the company. You know, we’re about making the best products in the world that really enrich other people’s lives.”

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Guardiola shrugs off fixture pileup; Hürzeler backs Welbeck for World Cup; Salah still out: football – live
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

⚽ Buildup to the weekend’s action across the leagues
⚽ Things to look out for | Fixtures | Standings | Mail Luke

And with that, I’m handing over to Luke McLaughlin, who’ll take you through to lunchtime. Laters.

One of the biggest games of the bank holiday weekend doesn’t come until Monday night, when Hearts host Rangers knowing they could practically end the visitors’ title hopes – and massively boost theirs – with a win, turning the title race into a two-way fight with Celtic (IF the Hoops beat Hibs on Sunday). The Jambos’ manager, Derek McInnes, is trying not to think about it: “Every team in with a chance of the title will see themselves as right in it, which makes it even more exciting. We’ve got a good enough record in this fixture but we need to concentrate on ourselves and not focus too much about what the opposition are thinking.”

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Haas team principal Ayao Komatsu: ‘We shouldn’t be fourth. We’re the smallest F1 team’
Posted on Friday May 01, 2026

Coventry-supporting Japanese has used his rebel streak and risk-taking instincts to spur on Oliver Bearman this season

There is no one quite like Ayao Komatsu in Formula One. Haas’s Japanese team principal, a rugby-playing Coventry City fan who left his home country to escape the constraints of conformity, is F1’s rebel without a pause.

As Haas enter their first home race of the season in Miami this weekend, they are on no little roll. Fourth place in the championship is the highest position held by a US team after three races in the sport’s history and Komatsu has engineered it in a sport he once viewed as his great escape.

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