Business

Apple has pledged to pay $95 million (£77 million) to settle a US class-action lawsuit alleging that Siri, its virtual assistant, recorded private conversations without users’ consent. The proposed settlement, filed in a federal court in Oakland, California, comes after a five-year legal dispute and covers tens of millions of Apple device owners. Although Apple […]

Marco Longhi, the former Conservative MP for Dudley North, has joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK after accusing his old party of having been “captured by a left-wing influence masquerading as conservatism”. He is the third ex-Tory MP to defect to Reform UK since last year’s general election, following Aidan Burley and Dame Andrea Jenkyns. Longhi,

Three quarters of former Conservative MPs who lost their seats at the last election are poised to attempt a comeback, new research suggests. According to a survey by the Conservatives Together group — a network headed by Grant Shapps, the former defence secretary — only 10 of 88 ex-Tory MPs polled ruled out standing again.

Half of the cash balance at Pitch@Palace Global, the commercial arm of the Duke of York’s entrepreneurial platform, has been withdrawn in the space of a year, newly filed accounts reveal. The latest figures from Companies House show that the company’s funds fell from £454,979 to £220,990 in the 12 months to 31 March 2024.

Train travellers face up to five months of disruption on the West Coast Main Line, as the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union launches a series of Sunday strikes from 12 January to 25 May. The action follows the rejection of Avanti West Coast’s latest pay offer, with more than four-fifths of train managers voting

Retailers and hospitality firms are staring at an unprecedented rise in staff tax bills this year, triggered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions alongside an above-inflation hike to the minimum wage. New figures compiled by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) show that the annual cost of employing one full-time

The Post Office is pushing for a significant increase in the fees that banks pay to allow their customers to use its national branch network, hoping to secure between £350 million and £400 million a year from the next banking framework — up from the current £250 million. Under the proposal, around 30 banks and

House prices in some of London’s most exclusive postcodes are tipped to fall as Labour’s decision to apply VAT on private school fees forces more families to reconsider their housing choices. Property experts predict that homeowners grappling with steeper tuition bills will either downsize, relocate to more affordable areas, or choose state schools, weakening demand

Elon Musk has waded into British politics by calling for a “new election in Britain” after a fresh wave of polling data revealed a sharp decline in support for Labour. A YouGov survey commissioned by The Times suggests that most voters view Sir Keir Starmer’s party as “incompetent”, “dishonest” and “unsuccessful”. Many respondents expect the

Nick Clegg, Britain’s former deputy prime minister, has announced his departure from Meta after six years at the social media giant. Clegg, who joined in 2018 and rose to become the company’s president of global affairs, confirmed his exit in a Facebook post, describing his tenure as an “adventure of a lifetime”. He joined the