Tim Pitt

The eighth-generation Lexus ES is a fully electric saloon with a 77kWh battery, 224hp front-wheel-drive motor and up to 361 miles of range. It offers exceptional rear-seat space, a calm and quiet ride, attractive interior details and Lexus’s strong reliability record and 10-year warranty. However, it is slower and less engaging than several rivals, its range trails competing electric saloons, and 21-inch wheels significantly reduce range. The ES is therefore a comfortable, easygoing niche choice that suits passengers and buyers prioritizing refinement and peace of mind over performance.

HMRC has petitioned the High Court in London to have Sky Sports pundit and former England footballer Jamie Carragher declared bankrupt over an unpaid tax bill. HMRC said bankruptcy petitions are used as a last resort, while Carragher's management was approached for comment. The filing follows Carragher's successful transition from a long Liverpool and England playing career into television and podcast broadcasting. He is a director of five companies, including Cafe Sports England (Liverpool) Ltd, which is in liquidation. An insolvency expert said bankruptcy could result in asset loss and restrictions on obtaining credit, managing business affairs and serving as a company director, although payment of the debt could lead HMRC to withdraw the petition.

Lloyds Banking Group experienced another app outage affecting Lloyds and Halifax customers, with nearly 3,000 complaints recorded on Downdetector. The group said it was working to restore services, later confirmed the apps were operational again, and apologised for the disruption. The outage came shortly after a similar incident and followed a major earlier technology failure that exposed more than 400,000 users to strangers’ transactions. The disruption highlights wider reliability problems in UK banking, with a Treasury Committee report finding that nine major banks and building societies experienced more than 803 hours of outages over two years.

BrewDog co-founder James Watt criticized the media for its lack of coverage of Fool’s Fix, a drink designed to prevent hangovers. The venture offers its first 20,000 customers a 10% stake through free founding shares and also provides stakes to former BrewDog equity investors who claim shares in Watt’s separate beer company, Second Best. Watt’s initiatives follow Tilray’s £33m acquisition of BrewDog, which he unsuccessfully tried to prevent and later offered to reverse. The sale followed BrewDog’s decline from a reported £2bn valuation and the closure of dozens of UK pubs, while former investors received no return.

The Department for Work and Pensions is reviewing selected Pension Credit claims and may require pensioners to submit recent bank statements. The reviews aim to correct overpayments and underpayments, recover £15 million, and reduce payments for an estimated 10,700 claimants, contributing to a planned £370 million reduction in benefit spending by April 2031. The department says inaccurate claims can result from undeclared assets or extended overseas stays. Despite the crackdown, an estimated 761,000 eligible pensioners did not claim Pension Credit last year, prompting a government take-up campaign that brought in 33,500 additional recipients.

Economists and bond investors are urging the Bank of England to halt or slow its active quantitative-tightening programme, arguing that bond sales are adding to long-term UK borrowing costs and crystallising large losses for taxpayers. Thirty-year gilt yields recently reached their highest level since 1998, while the Bank estimates that quantitative tightening has added up to 30 basis points to long-term yields. The Bank has defended active sales as necessary to shrink its balance sheet more quickly and preserve capacity for future quantitative easing, but analysts expect the Monetary Policy Committee to consider reducing annual disposals from £70bn to £50bn and potentially ending long-dated bond sales altogether.