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Fining errant corporations is welcome – but when consumers are also getting shaken down on their local high street, it’s time for a new and boisterous approachIt’s a story that warms the heart and lifts the soul: last week, Virgin Media was fined a record £28m by Ofcom for repeatedly preventing customers from cancelling their contracts. Its methods were insidious: deliberate call-dropping, unnecessary call transfers and constantly putting customers on hold. For anyone who has experienc

Organisation’s experts say pledge puts pressure on UK public finances and ‘adds significant fiscal risks’Labour should ditch the triple-lock pensions promise to help tackle the UK’s straitened public finances, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has urged.In its latest survey of the UK economy, the Paris-based club of industrialised nations added its voice to those calling for an end to the pledge, which uprates the state pension each year by whichever is the high

EV owners were sent hefty PCNs but say some signs in private car parks fail to warn of fees to park and recharge carDoes refuelling your car class as parking? The answer appears to be yes if it’s an electric vehicle. Guardian Money has been contacted by several readers who were fined after charging their cars away from home.The motorists report being caught out by signs that fail to make clear that charging points are subject to parking tariffs or to store opening times. Also, the

Watchdog says about 1,700 people were affected during a price surge triggered by the Middle East crisisHeating oil customers whose deliveries were cancelled when the war in the Middle East caused a price surge are to receive compensation of up to £350 each following an investigation by the UK competition watchdog.As the crisis unfolded, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it was investigating heating oil suppliers after complaints that existing orders were being scrapped,

In the UK, these scams have become an epidemic, rising 147% between January and March, compared with the same time last year. Why are they suddenly so common? And what can you do if you’re charged thousands for a quick, easy job?Sarah was alone in her flat with her three-month-old baby when a man put a card machine in her face and demanded she pay £2,209. A few hours earlier Sarah, 30, had been for a walk with her daughter when it dawned on her that she had left her keys at home. She d

Chair criticises use of ‘VIP lane’ to prioritise PPE contracts for companies with Tory connections in damning reportBoris Johnson’s government wasted £10bn of public money with the flawed purchasing of personal protective equipment during the coronavirus pandemic, an official inquiry has concluded.The Covid-19 inquiry chair, Heather Hallett, also criticised the then Conservative government’s controversial “VIP lane”, which gave high priority for PPE contracts to companies with politica

Former owner and chairman of Chelsea FC who bought the club for a pound and helped restore it to the top rank of English footballFor more than 20 years, Ken Bates, who has died aged 94, was synonymous with Chelsea Football Club, which he bought in 1982 from the Mears family, who had lost control after rebuilding the west stand.Haemorrhaging money, hugely in debt and about to sink into what was then Division Three, the London club cost him £1. Two feuding, financially hectic decades lat

These financiers want to remodel the UK into a form that suits them – one that could threaten to erode the barriers between crime and businessThis coming Tuesday, the government’s representation of the people bill comes back to the House of Commons for its third reading. It bundles up a multitude of measures, including an extension of the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds and welcome changes to voter registration. But thanks to the continuing furore around Nigel Farage and his extremel

Mega-donors are coming under scrutiny with growing calls for donations cap beyond those from overseas investorsThe question of who funds politicians and political parties – and why they want to give money to get people elected – is an extremely heated one. In principle, UK voters can support their chosen politicians through donations or benefits, as long as those candidates and their parties keep within spending limits during an election period, which is designed to stop powerful inter

Reform UK presents itself as the people’s voice while opaque digital wealth flows around it. That makes transparency a democratic necessityTwice now, the Guardian’s questions about Reform UK’s finances appear to have been pre-empted by stories friendly to the party. This paper revealed in April that Nigel Farage received £5m from the crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne – but an interview with Reform UK’s leader, claiming he needed the cash “for security”, was published hours earlie

How to hit the 3.5% of GDP spending promise made to Nato would be a matter for the next prime minister, MPs toldThe Treasury has as yet carried out no analysis of the trade-offs necessary for the UK to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise made to Nato, the department’s chief secretary has said.Under robust questioning in a joint session of the Treasury and defence committees on Wednesday, Lucy Rigby repeatedly said funding additional defence spending would be a matter for “the

There are far better ways to tackle climate breakdown, but successive governments have chosen to listen to the fossil fuel companies insteadThe new prime minister will be looking for money? Well, here’s £21.7bn lying on the ground. The government could cancel its deranged, disastrous carbon capture and storage (CCS) programme at no cost to public welfare: in fact, it would greatly reduce the harm we will suffer.Sorry, did I say £21.7bn? That’s the figure the government has been putting