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Wednesday newspaper round-up: Climate crisis deal, fuel duty cut, EY

(Sharecast News) - EU countries clinched deals on proposed laws to combat the climate crisis in the early hours of Wednesday, backing a 2035 phase-out of new fossil-fuel car sales and a multibillion-euro fund to shield poorer citizens from the costs of carbon dioxide emissions. After more than 16 hours of negotiations, environment ministers from the 27 member states agreed their joint positions on five laws, part of a broader package of measures to slash planet-heating emissions this decade. - Guardian Rishi Sunak has promised to consider another cut to fuel duty amid claims that prices at forecourts are "pump fiction" as they fail to reflect wholesale costs. The chancellor said on Tuesday that he would examine whether to reduce the levy further after cutting it by 5p a litre in March. Sunak is under pressure to help motorists paying record prices at the pump while the cost of other household goods has also jumped. - Guardian

Electric cars face being fitted with tracking devices under proposals for a pay-per-mile road taxation system put forward by the Government's own climate advisers. The Climate Change Committee (CCC) says the Government needs to find ways to cover the "significant hole" in the public finances left by the loss of fuel duty and other taxes when petrol and diesel cars are replaced by electric models. - Telegraph

EY is to pay a record $100 million fine to the US financial regulator after it found that the Big Four accountancy firm's audit staff had cheated in ethics exams by sharing answers. The US Securities and Exchange Commission also said the EY had hindered its investigation by telling inspectors that there had been no cheating, despite the issue having previously been raised with bosses. - The Times

Kwasi Kwarteng, the business secretary, says there is a "strong argument" for supporting the steel industry amid expectations that the government will extend import tariffs despite the risk of breaking international law. Yesterday he told the business, energy and industrial strategy committee that "free trade is all very well but if everyone else is supporting a strategic industry, I think there is a strong argument for us in this country to do so". - The Times

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Thursday newspaper round-up: Thames Water, Toblerone, Rolls-Royce
(Sharecast News) - A group of creditors to troubled Thames Water are poised to vote on whether to grant an emergency £2.4bn loan to keep the company afloat, as campaigners raise concerns it could add £40 to each household's bills in interest alone. A consortium of creditors, called London & Valley Water, will vote on Thursday on whether to increase a funding facility for the debt-laden utility company to £5.4bn to keep it operating to autumn 2027. - Guardian
Wednesday newspaper round-up: Sizewell plant, Rosebank oilfield, Google
(Sharecast News) - The government's plan to fund a multibillion-pound nuclear plant at the Sizewell site in Suffolk represents a "terrible deal" for the UK taxpayer over the rest of the century, according to the government's spending watchdog. MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) have warned the government that the cost of the Sizewell C nuclear reactor could spiral to almost £48bn, leaving bill payers on the hook to provide an extra £9.8bn to construct the plant before 2040 and a further £12bn over its 60-year operating life. - Guardian
Tuesday newspaper round-up: Shop price inflation, Microsoft, Helsing
(Sharecast News) - Shop price inflation has risen to the highest level in two and a half years, according to the British Retail Consortium, which warned that "the dam is starting to break" when it comes to retailers trying to limit price rises for customers. The lobby group said shop price inflation was 2.1% year on year in October, a sharp rise compared with 1.4% in September, and an indication that retailers were beginning to pass on the rising costs of energy and food ingredients since the Middle East conflict broke out. - Guardian
Monday newspaper round-up: Pensioners and the Budget, interest rate expectations, Audi US factory
(Sharecast News) - The chancellor will use his Budget this week to protect pensioners and those saving for their retirement, as he announces plans to shield nearly 1m people from paying income tax. John Healey is expected to confirm on Wednesday that the full state pension will rise by £489 to £13,036 - equivalent to 3.9%. However, the rise will push about 1m people on low incomes who rely on the state pension above the £12, 570 personal allowance threshold, meaning they would be dragged into paying income tax. To retain the principle that the state pension is not taxable, Healey is expected to announce a rise in the tax-free allowance for low-income pensions to £13,036. The move will cost taxpayers £200m a year by 20230 - The Times

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