Monday newspaper round-up: Interest rates, Morrisons, Octopus Investments

(Sharecast News) - The Trades Union Congress is urging the Bank of England to cut interest rates and rekindle economic growth, pointing to analysis showing that cash-strapped consumers are lagging their international peers. The Bank's monetary policy committee voted 5-4 to leave borrowing costs unchanged this month, after six cuts since mid-2024. - Guardian Drivers in the south-west of England would pay nearly four times as much as those in London as a result of Labour's mileage-based tax on electric cars, according to analysis of official data. The 3p-a-mile road charge, announced in the autumn budget and due to take effect in 2028, is expected to raise £1.1bn a year, partly offsetting the loss of fuel duty revenues as drivers switch from petrol to electric vehicles. - Guardian

Morrisons has put dozens of pharmacies up for sale in a fresh effort to cut costs. The private equity-owned supermarket has launched a sale process after concluding that many of its in-store pharmacies are not financially viable. As a result of the review, property agents have been tasked with selling some of the pharmacies on a store-by-store basis, rather than the entire portfolio. - Telegraph

The boss of Lloyds Banking Group has told staff that the FTSE 100 lender is investigating its decision last year to use employees' bank account data in pay talks. Charlie Nunn said that "we clearly need to look at the lessons learnt" from the incident, which provoked criticism from a union that Lloyds had been acting like "Big Brother", as well as inquiries by the Information Commissioner's Office. - The Times

The manager of a private company at the centre of a scheme to avoid inheritance tax has taken more than £100 million in fees for the second year running, despite the business racking up losses in excess of £400 million. Octopus Investments, which manages the little-known Fern Trading, pocketed £103.6 million in fees in the year to June 2025, marginally ahead of the £103.1 million the previous year, despite pre-tax losses at Fern widening from £185 million to £420 million. - The Times