Author: James Carter

Six major banks are competing for new customers this summer with switching bonuses worth up to £200 in cash — and for high earners, Barclays is dangling a premium rewards package worth up to £600 including dinners at Gordon Ramsay restaurants and hotel stays. First Direct and NatWest are currently offering the largest direct cash incentives, both paying £200 to eligible switchers. First Direct’s 1st Account requires customers to complete a full switch, move at least two direct debits or standing orders, deposit £1,000 within 45 days and make five debit card transactions. Beyond the bonus, the account offers a…

Reform UK has opened a ten-point lead over both Labour and the Conservatives in a new poll, with Nigel Farage’s party hitting 30 per cent as the two traditional parties of government slump to just 20 per cent each in a dramatic sign of the political realignment gripping Britain. The More in Common survey of more than 2,000 adults, conducted between 5 and 9 June, puts Reform up one point to 30 per cent, Labour down two to 20 per cent and the Conservatives off one to match them at 20 per cent. The Liberal Democrats hold at 12 per…

The artificial intelligence revolution is no longer just a story about Nvidia, Microsoft and the tech giants splashing hundreds of billions on data centres. It has quietly become one of the most powerful forces reshaping commodity markets — and for investors who missed the tech rally, the picks-and-shovels trade in raw materials and energy may now offer the more compelling opportunity. That is the argument made by Thomas McMahon, head of investment companies research at Kepler Partners, in the latest of This is Money’s Investing Analyst series. McMahon’s thesis is straightforward: building AI infrastructure requires enormous quantities of copper, uranium,…

Pauline Hanson has attempted to shift attention away from growing questions about one of her own senators by reviving her long-running attack on Labor senator Fatima Payman’s dual citizenship — as polling shows One Nation has become Australia’s most popular party for the first time. The One Nation leader posted on social media on Tuesday accusing Coalition MPs calling for an investigation into her senator of being “pure hypocrites,” before pivoting to renew claims that Payman, who holds Afghan citizenship, remains the more pressing eligibility question in the Senate. “The most questionable Senator in Parliament, Fatima Payman, holds Afghan citizenship.…

China’s wholesale prices surged at their fastest pace in nearly four years in May, driven by the twin forces of the Iran war’s disruption to global commodity flows and an artificial intelligence investment boom pushing up demand for semiconductors and tech equipment — while consumer inflation came in below forecasts, highlighting the divergence between rising production costs and subdued household spending. The producer price index jumped 3.9 per cent from a year ago, according to data released by China’s National Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday — the highest reading since July 2022, ahead of economists’ forecasts of 3.8 per cent…

Donald Trump has claimed another political scalp, with Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace finishing a humiliating last place in the South Carolina gubernatorial primary after the President threw his weight behind a rival candidate in what has been widely described as direct payback for Mace’s push to release the Jeffrey Epstein files. The Associated Press declared around 9pm ET on Tuesday that Trump’s chosen candidate, Lieutenant Governor Pamela Evette, and state Attorney General Alan Wilson would advance to a runoff, with Evette leading on approximately 29 per cent of counted ballots and Wilson close behind on around 26 per cent. Mace,…

Millions of Australian motorists and transport businesses are facing a major cost-of-living blow as the Albanese government signals it will not extend a fuel tax cut that has been slashing 26 cents off the price of a litre — as the Iran-US conflict threatens to push global oil prices even higher. Transport Minister Catherine King told ABC News Breakfast on Wednesday that Australians should expect the temporary halving of the fuel excise to expire at the end of June as planned, rather than be extended. “We’re consulting, obviously, with industry about the impact of that, but people should at this…

The Government is set to subsidise British companies up to £25,000 in visa costs for foreign workers hired from abroad — drawing immediate fire from critics who say the scheme is a disaster for young British graduates already facing the worst jobs market in a generation, as the number of under-25s not in education, employment or training passes one million. Chancellor Rachel Reeves and Business Secretary Peter Kyle will announce the package today, under which “high-growth” firms in the tech and digital, life sciences and clean energy sectors will be able to claim £5,000 per foreign employee, up to a…

Keir Starmer is fighting for his political life on two fronts simultaneously — telling loyal ministers he will battle any leadership challenge to the last while European Commission officials privately question whether there is any point negotiating a Brexit reset deal with a prime minister who could be gone within months. Diplomatic sources told the Daily Mail that Brussels is resisting setting a date for talks on Sir Keir’s flagship EU relationship reset because of genuine doubts about his political survival. “There is some goodwill towards him because he has shown he is sincere about thawing relations after Brexit and…

Reform UK has unveiled a major new policy drive to tackle Britain’s litter and fly-tipping crisis, promising to increase maximum fines fivefold, seize the vehicles of repeat offenders and introduce a National Action Day on which politicians from all parties will lead community clean-ups — as the party positions itself as the champion of civic pride ahead of the next general election. Deputy leader Richard Tice, who will set out the full details at a press conference on Wednesday, said the state of Britain’s streets, parks and countryside was “one of the clearest signs of Britain’s decline under successive Conservative…