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The economic ripples from the US-Israel attacks will soon become waves, engulfing everything from energy prices to food suppliesIn retaliation for the US-Israeli missile attacks, Iran has launched what amounts to all-out economic warfare. Should the conflict continue even for another week, its impacts will start to be felt around the world as the third price surge since the pandemic washes through global markets.For Britain, a further turn of the screw on living standards arrives just as political instability mounts at home, with the Labour and Conservative parties facing existential challenges to their left and right. Continue reading......

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial newsMiddle East crisis live: Israel launches fresh strikes on Tehran; Iran claims to have targeted Kurdish groups in IraqShares in Wizz Air have fallen by 6% at the start of trading, as traders react to last night's profit warning (see here).Other airlines are down too, with this morning's rise in the oil price threatening to push up their costs. IAG, British Airways' parent company, are down 2.6% while easyJet has lost 2.9%. Continue reading......

Regulator says failures that hit nearly 300,000 customers made worse by utility's failure to maintain efficient supply systemBusiness live – latest updatesSouth East Water has been fined £22.5m by Ofwat for repeated supply failures in Kent and Sussex between 2020 and 2023 that affected more than 280,000 people.While the root cause of the water shortages was extreme weather, the water regulator for England and Wales found that they were “in part attributable to and/or exacerbated by failures by South East Water itself to develop and maintain an efficient water supply system”. Continue reading......

Iranian blockade of the strategic strait of Hormuz is hitting global fertiliser supply chainThe global fertiliser supply chain could face significant disruption if the effective closure by Iran of the strait of Hormuz persists, prompting concerns from analysts about crop production and food security.Passage through the waterway, located off Iran's southern coast, has mostly stopped since the US and Israel launched their attacks at the weekend. Continue reading......

An unreliable and volatile American president makes a compelling case for closer security and defence cooperation with continental alliesThere is truth to Donald Trump's declaration earlier this week that the UK-US relationship is “not what it was”, although there is no indication that he understands the reasons for the change.The US president is “very disappointed” that Sir Keir Starmer has been “uncooperative” in the war against Iran, offering only limited logistical support to American forces. The prime minister's concession that RAF resources can be involved in defensive operations does not compensate for the prior refusal to put Britain's military assets at American disposal. It came too late for Mr Trump, whose irritation turned to culture-war jibes about “windmills” ruining British landscapes and a false claim about the prevalence of sharia courts.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be ...

The UK should optimise North Sea oil and gas production while it transfers to renewables and nuclear developmentsThe chancellor's failure to reform or remove the energy profits levy (EPL) – aka the North Sea windfall tax – in her spring statement was a case of “political expediency and more to do with putting one byelection result ahead of the economic needs of the country”. Who said that? Some Tory or Reform politician being opportunist as war in Iran puts the UK's energy import dependency in the spotlight?Actually, no, it was the general secretary of the GMB union, Gary Smith, on Wednesday, demonstrating once again that views on the North Sea oil and gas do not fit neatly into a left/right divide. He has been making the principled case for an orderly transition in energy for ages, warning that decarbonising via deindustrialising costs jobs and will end up pushing voters rightwards. Continue reading......

Pretty coloured eggs from fancy breeds can now cost as much as £4.50 for half a dozen. But some people have found a sneaky way to avoid paying a premiumName: Posh eggs.Age: Best before three weeks from now. Continue reading......

Household costs could reach £1,800 a year from July as UK market hits three-year highMiddle East crisis – live updatesHousehold energy bills could climb by £160 a year from this summer after the war in Iran pushed the UK's gas market to a three-year high.A typical combined household gas and electricity bill could reach £1,800 a year in Great Britain under the government's quarterly price cap from July, according to analysis by Cornwall Insight, an energy consultancy. Continue reading......

Airlines are using long-readied contingency plans but bottlenecks have formed that no amount of planning can fixMiddle East crisis – live updatesA war engulfing the Middle East has cleared the region's skies, forcing airlines to make drastic rerouting plans and leaving a massive void in usually busy global airspace.With Israel and the US bombing Iran day after day – and Tehran responding with waves of missiles and drones attacks – airlines have been forced to divert their passenger jets away from the Gulf or risk a catastrophic accident. Continue reading......

The surge in energy prices could fuel higher inflation and raise interest rates, threatening a new UK cost of living crisisWar in Middle East 'could wipe out growth in UK living standards'The war in the Middle East is thousands of miles away, but gyrations in financial markets and surging energy prices threaten a new cost of living crisis in the UK.Here's how it could affect your finances. Continue reading......

With much of the world's oil supplies out of action, Russia could step in to meet demand in China and IndiaA prolonged energy crisis triggered by the widening war in the Middle East could offer an economic lifeline to Russia's war machine at a moment when it was beginning to show signs of strain.The sharp weakening and possible collapse of the regime in Iran would deprive the Kremlin of one of its closest regional partners. But that setback could be outweighed by an economic windfall if disruption pushes buyers toward Russian energy, alongside a possible slowdown in western arms supplies to Ukraine. Continue reading......

Plan, which aims to preserve jobs in clean tech and low carbon sectors, could include UK if there is reciprocal market accessThe European Commission has proposed a “Buy EU” plan to boost domestic low-carbon industries and help the continent compete against China.The commission published a draft regulation – called the Industrial Accelerator Act – on Wednesday, setting demands for EU-made and low-carbon content on bodies spending public money. The rules mark a major shift in economic thinking from Brussels, long a bastion of open markets. Continue reading......

Firm pleads guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption in relation to 2024 cryptosporidiosis casesA major utility company has admitted supplying water unfit for human consumption after a parasite outbreak left more than 100 people in and around a seaside town sick.South West Water (SWW) pleaded guilty to the criminal offence relating to the cryptosporidiosis outbreak in Brixham, Devon, which affected 2,500 homes. Continue reading......

Lawsuits and slander claims fly in IG Metall's battle with Elon Musk over employment rights and conditionsBusiness live – latest updatesEurope's largest trade union is trying to gain control of the works council at Elon Musk's Tesla gigafactory near Berlin, in an industrial relations showdown marked by lawsuits and mutual accusations of slander.The works council, an elected body of employees that negotiates everything from working hours to pay deals with a company's management, is considered an entrenched aspect of the German corporate world, particularly in the car industry. Continue reading......

Rising oil and gas prices may affect increase of £300 a year for typical working-age households, says leading thinktankBusiness live – latest updatesThe Middle East crisis could trigger an energy price shock that more than wipes out the £300 rise in living standards a typical working-age household could otherwise expect this year, a leading thinktank has warned.The Resolution Foundation said a “decent” one-off increase in average living standards in 2026 and a bumper rise for lower-income households could be reversed by rising oil and gas prices as the Iran conflict disrupts supplies. Continue reading......

Lawsuit is first wrongful death case brought against Google over flagship AI product after death of Jonathan GavalasLast August, Jonathan Gavalas became entirely consumed with his Google Gemini chatbot. The 36-year-old Florida resident had started casually using the artificial intelligence tool earlier that month to help with writing and shopping. Then Google introduced its Gemini Live AI assistant, which included voice-based chats that had the capability to detect people's emotions and respond in a more human-like way.“Holy shit, this is kind of creepy,” Gavalas told the chatbot the night the feature debuted, according to court documents. “You're way too real.” Continue reading......

Global supply chains are disrupted and prices are rising across sectors amid warnings worse is to come if conflict persistsMiddle East crisis live – latest updatesWhat we know on day five of the Iran warThe conflict in the Middle East has disrupted global supply chains and triggered price rises across a range of categories, prompting accusations of price gouging and warnings of worse to come if the conflict persists.Here we take a look at the impact so far. Continue reading......

Dassault Aviation says €100bn project may soon be 'dead' if Airbus will not agree on how to share workloadFrance and Germany's next-generation fighter jet project could soon be “dead”, one of the two companies tasked with delivering it has warned, amid a worsening corporate rift over who gets to build the aircraft.Dassault Aviation, France's leading warplane maker, said Airbus's defence arm – which represents Germany and Spain – needed to cooperate on the €100bn programme otherwise it would collapse. Continue reading......

Watt apologises to 200,000-plus 'equity punks' who joined crowdfunding rounds but were left empty-handed after cut-price saleThe founder of BrewDog, James Watt, met with short shrift from small investors who have been left empty-handed by the company's sale for just £33m, after he admitted to “many mistakes”.Watt issued a mea culpa via the professional social networking site LinkedIn, a platform he has regularly used to espouse political views, including complaints about the level of tax that the multimillionaire and self-styled “punk” is asked to pay. Continue reading......

Exclusive: Survey suggests journalists from minority ethnic backgrounds feel excluded from influential posts and seen as 'diversity hires'Broadcast journalists from ethnic minorities are still locked out of top jobs and face a backlash after being perceived as “diversity hires”, according to a survey of UK television newsrooms.While there has been a sustained focus on racial diversity among Britain's biggest broadcasters in recent years, the study concluded it had been “performed rather than embedded”, leaving minority ethnic journalists feeling excluded from influential posts and resented by colleagues. Continue reading......