'Government failures are to blame' for PPI firms taking £5bn from mis-selling victims is the headline in The Telegraph today, as the payment protection insurance topic raises its ugly head again with vengeance.
The government's failure to manage the PPI mis-selling scandal has given rise to a £5bn rogue industry which has been allowed to rip-off banking customers trying to get their money back, a new report warns today.
MPs have criticised City watchdogs
Labelling it a scandal within a scandal, MPs sitting on the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have criticised City watchdogs and other departments for allowing unscrupulous firms to target millions of customers who have already been ripped off.
And as it's Friday, let's look at another report in the same paper - on alcohol.
Global alcohol consumption declined for the first time this century amid the slump in oil and commodity prices, currency volatility and economic headwinds in China, it writes.
The volume of alcoholic beverages drunk in 2015 fell by 0.7pc to 248bn litres as the worldwide population imbibed 1.7bn litres less than the year before, according to Euromonitor International.
This follows an increase of 0.2pc between 2013 and 2014 and is the first decline since Euromonitor started tracking this data in 2001.
Britain could fall into recession
Of course, all newspapers are full of news on Mark Carney's comments yesterday that Britain could fall into recession if it votes to leave the European Union.
Mark Carney said that a Brexit could have a “material economic impact”, resulting in falling house prices, higher unemployment and lower living standards.
To UK steel and a plan to overcome the £500mln pensions deficit that is proving a massive hurdle to the sale of Tata’s UK steel business is set to fail, according to a leading pensions expert.
Changes the Government is reported to be considering "drive a coach and horses through a fundamental principle” of pension schemes, according to John Ralfe, who is also advising a government inquiry into BHS, the Pension Protection Fund and the Pensions Regulator.
Mr Ralfe has sounded the alarm over reports the Government wants to change the way the £14.7bn Tata pension scheme’s accrual rate is measured, by linking it to the consumer price index instead of the faster rising retail price index (RPI), cutting its liabilities by £2.5bn.
In transport news, Aberdeen-based FirstGroup PLC (LON:FIRST) was yesterday give approval for a new service on the East Coast Mainline.
The budget shuttle will connect Scotland’s capital with London via Newcastle by 2021, with average fares set at less than £25.
The ten-year-deal will allow FirstGroup to compete with Virgin Trains East Coast (VTEC), an operation 90 per cent owned by Perth transport giant Stagecoach.
Elsewhere, Apple has invested $1bn in Chinese ride-hailing service Didi Chuxing, in a move Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) chief executive Tim Cook said would help the company better understand the critical Chinese market, writes the Guardian.
The investment comes as Apple is trying to reinvigorate sales in China, its second-largest market.
Apple recently has come under pressure from Chinese regulators, with its online book and film services shut down last month. Cook is due to travel to the country this month.
Meanwhile, in retail news, the new boss of Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) has restructured his senior team, in a move that has also resulted in the departure of five executives.
The roles are being re-jigged in a wider reshuffle which will also see the creation of a new operating committee.
Chief executive Steve Rowe said he was creating a simpler management structure that would move the company closer to its customers.
He took over last month and is clearly wasting no time reshaping his top team.