British Airways has stopped selling all short-haul flights from Heathrow Airport

By Suzanne Evans, Director, Political Insight

British Airways has stopped selling all short-haul flights from Heathrow Airport until 8 August because of the cap on daily passenger numbers the airport has imposed because of staff shortages. Heathrow told airlines to stop selling summer tickets last month, as it intended to limit the number of passengers departing each day to 100,000, 4,000 fewer than originally scheduled. The cap on numbers is set to remain in place until 11 September. In a statement, BA said: "As a result of Heathrow's request to limit new bookings, we've decided to take responsible action and limit the available fares on some Heathrow services to help maximise rebooking options for existing customers, given the restrictions imposed on us and the ongoing challenges facing the entire aviation industry." Last month the Competition and Markets Authority and Civil Aviation Authority issued a joint letter to carriers raising concerns that "consumers could experience significant harm unless airlines meet their obligations". The letter said there were concerns some airlines may not be doing everything they could to avoid harmful practices, including selling more tickets for flights than they could reasonably expect to supply.
 
The government has launched a new register requiring any foreign buyers of UK land or property to reveal their identities to help tackle the estimated £100bn a year of illegal financing the National Crime Agency believes is channelled through Britain annually. It came into effect immediately, when it was announced yesterday. Previously, criminals had been able to hide behind secretive chains of shell firms, but now companies will need to provide verified information of beneficial owners or buyers to Companies House before any application to the Land Registry can be made. There are tough fines and prison sentences in place for organisations that fail to declare their beneficial owner: they will face restrictions over selling their property; up to five years in prison; and there are also fines of up to £2,500 a day for failure to make accurate disclosures. The new legislation is also retrospective. Overseas entities that already own properties bought in the past 23 years in England and Wales, and since December 2014 in Scotland, will have a six-month grace period to register their beneficial owners or managing officers. Additionally, any overseas entity that has disposed of property since 28 February 2022 is required to provide a statement to Companies House.
 
The Health and Social Care Committee is urging the government to quickly introduce new laws to force advertisements to carry warnings if model photos are digitally altered. The Committee also says the social media promotion of cosmetic services such as dermal fillers should be tightly regulated by being made prescription-only substances, and that anyone booking a procedure should be given a 48-hour cooling-off period. The report also requested minimum training standards for providers, and that there should be a full check of the customer’s medical and mental health history. It also wants influencers to stop posting filtered or unrealistic images. On cosmetic procedures, former health secretary Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the committee, said: "We heard of some distressing experiences - a conveyor-belt approach, with procedures carried out with no questions asked." The report also calls for an urgent review of the growing use of anabolic steroids in the UK. The UK Anti-Doping Agency estimates more than a million people - mostly men wanting bigger muscles – are now using them.
 
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has finalised tougher rules for marketing high-risk investments, to reduce the number of people investing in products that do not match their appetite for risk. Firms approving and issuing marketing must now have the right expertise and those marketing some types of high-risk investments will have to do better checks to make sure those investments are well matched to consumers, Sky News says. Some incentives such as "refer a friend" bonuses will be banned, and businesses will also have to make risk warnings clearer and more prominent. Sarah Pritchard, the FCA's executive director of markets, said: "Where we see products being marketed that don't contain the right risk warnings or are unclear, unfair or misleading, we will act. The new rules will not apply to cryptocurrency, although the FCA says rules for this sector will be published when the government confirms how it will be brought under the regulator's remit.
 
A man working as a contractor at a Morrisons warehouse in Wakefield was killed yesterday, in what the police are treating as an “industrial accident”.  A Morrisons spokesperson said engineers were called to look at a roof, which then collapsed and lead to the "shocking tragedy". Police said they are working with the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following the incident and the coroner's office has been informed.
 
BP has reported another massive profit for the second quarter of the year, during which time oil and gas prices have soared. Underlying profits hit $8.45bn (£6.9bn) - more than triple the amount it made at the same time last year. The figure is the second highest in the company's history and takes first half profits to $14.6bn.
 
Energy market analyst Cornwall Insight has upped its forecasts for the price of a typical gas and electricity bill in England, Wales and Scotland, and now says it could reach £3,615 by the new year – some £250 more than its previous prediction. In May, energy regulator Ofgem said the typical household should expect to see an £800 increase in October, to £2,800 a year. However, it has since said that "prices are looking higher than they did when we made that estimate".
 
UK factory output and new orders has shrunk at the fastest rate since May 2020 according to the latest figures from the S&P Global/CIPS monthly survey. The manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 52.1 last month from 52.8 in June, and slightly below the preliminary "flash" July reading of 52.2. However, manufacturers' input and output prices rose at the slowest pace in more than a year. Manufacturers blamed the slump on the cost of living crisis, inflation, weaker domestic demand, and "lingering" post-Brexit issues. A reading over 50 still signifies growth.
 
BAE Systems is to recruit more than 1,000 engineers over the next 12 months to support the Tempest programme - the sixth-generation jet fighter under development in the UK – and to build Typhoon aircraft, primarily at its sites in Lancashire. Last month, it was revealed that Spain has ordered a new fleet of 20 Typhoon fighter jets which will net the FTSE-100 firm in excess £500 million. BAE already directly employs more than 5,000 people on the Typhoon programme.
 
FTSE 250 environmental infrastructure fund JLEN announced two new acquisitions yesterday. JLEN will make an investment of approximately £40m over the next 3-4 years in the Hima Seafood facility in Rjukan, Norway, which will begin operations in 2024 and eventually produce approximately 8,000 tonnes of trout per annum. JLEN has also acquired a 50% equity stake in Clayfords Energy Storage, which holds the development rights to construct a 50-megawatt lithium-ion battery energy storage plant based in Buchan, Aberdeenshire.
 
HSBC has become the latest bank to offer a one-off cash handout to staff to help them cope with the cost-of-living crisis. The London-based lender will give a one-off payment of £1,500 to junior employees including customer-facing workers in UK branches and contact centres via their August payslips.
 
JD Sports has appointed former B&Q executive Regis Schultz as CEO following the departure of Peter Cowgill in June.
 
A giant tortoise ‘too heavy to lift’ brought trains to a halt for an hour and a half around lunchtime yesterday when it was found on a railway track in Norfolk after escaping from a local pet shop. Sadly, it had been hit by a train, had a hole in its shell, and had to be taken to the vet. Greater Anglia later issued a statement saying: "We have been informed that he will make a full recovery."

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