Tuesday 12/05/26

Donald Trump says Iran ceasefire is on ‘life support’ (Financial Times, Abigail Hauslohner, Lauren Fedor, Bita Ghaffari, Humza Jilani and Andrew England) shows that there’s still no movement in the war as Iran’s counteroffer for a deal to end the war was rejected by the president. Meanwhile, An FCC Commissioner Tells Disney the Agency Is on a Campaign to Censor It (Wall Street Journal, Joe Flint) is an interesting article identifying the sole Democratic commissioner in the FCC, Anna Gomez, as saying in a letter to Disney’s CEO what everyone actually knows but isn’t saying – that ABC has been the subject of a “sustained, coordinated campaign of censorship and control” by the Trump administration. Basically, the FCC is being weaponised to keep the media from saying things that the administration doesn’t like, is what she’s saying.

Back over here, Keir Starmer makes last-ditch bid to save his premiership (Financial Times, Lucy Fisher, George Parker and Jim Pickard) shows that the PM remains under pressure as senior ministers are now urging him to leave, or at least publish a timetable. Clearly yesterday’s rallying speech didn’t do the trick and we’ll see what unfolds today. Just to add to the misery, UK borrowing costs rise as Keir Starmer under pressure (The Times, Martin Strydom and Jack Barnett) shows that government borrowing costs are once more approaching levels not seen since 2008 as both 10-year and 30-year gilt yields rose.

Elsewhere, South African leader Cyril Ramaphosa vows to fight impeachment attempts (Financial Times, Monica Mark) shows that South Africa’s president is fighting a legal attempt to impeach him over the long-running “Phala Phala” scandal. This involved the theft of $580,000 hidden in his furniture which he allegedly recovered by using his own security guards,

circumventing normal police procedures – and then keeping quiet about it. * SO WHAT? * This is likely to help boost the power of the Democratic Alliance, the second biggest party in the country’s coalition. Ramaphosa is the leader of the ANC, a party which lost its parliamentary majority in the 2024 elections. Both the ANC and Ramaphosa need the DA to play ball in order to get anything done. There are calls for a no-confidence vote but this is just noise at the moment…

In commodities news, Coal shipments jump as countries seek alternatives to disrupted gas supplies (Financial Times, Alice Hancock, Leslie Hook and Owen Walker) cites data from price agency Argus which showed that shipments of coal have increased in the last few months as countries seek out alternative fuels to replace the oil and gas supplies they’ve lost out on in the current Iran war. Coal shipments usually slow down in April and May when the weather gets warmer in the northern hemisphere but the war is changing this. Global coal imports this month are on track to hit their third highest monthly number for May since at least 2017 and freight rates are averaging out at about 50% higher than they were in February. Demand for coal has been strongest from Asia as some countries have had to restart coal-fired power plants to generate electricity. Fun facts: Indonesia is the world’s biggest exporter of coal and the next biggest is Australia.

Then in Saudi Aramco warns fuel stocks heading for ‘critically low levels’ (Financial Times, Verity Ratcliffe) we see that the oil company is now warning that the world’s supplies of gasoline and jet fuel could reach “critically low levels” heading into the summer if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, particularly as inventories are falling. The drama continues…

BYD and peers make strides in every market but their own (Financial Times, Lex) shows that although BYD and its rivals are smashing it out of the park in overseas markets, they’re still struggling in their domestic market because of ongoing sluggish demand. The Chinese government has used policies to boost the popularity of EVs, but there’s a risk that it’s now going to turn its attention elsewhere into newer sectors like AI and robotics. As rebates and tax incentives fall, car makers are facing stiff competition that is eating up their margins. * SO WHAT? * Chinese carmakers have done extremely well in the last few years but the US market is essentially closed and Europe is now trying to fend off Chinese makers with tariffs to protect its own. Given that there are about 130-ish Chinese car brands fighting for market share, if sales lose momentum it would certainly make sense to see some consolidation in the industry…

Sales of used pure electric cars rise 32% to record high (The Times, Robert Lea) cites the latest

figures from the SMMT which show that sales of EVs hit a record high over Q1 this year to its best quarter ever! Clearly, booming petrol and diesel prices are forcing the hand of buyers but the question is whether such momentum can be maintained, particularly without incentives. An exec at Autotrader maintains that EV transactions and market share continue to grow at the moment.

Lotus offers lifeline to troubled UK car plant (Financial Times, Kana Inagaki) shows that Lotus Group is planning to build its first supercar, dubbed the Type 135, in the UK with a view to be launched in 2028. The Hethel plant in Norfolk could also potentially build the plug-in hybrid version of its Emira. * SO WHAT? * This news comes as a relief given that only last year Lotus had been talking about ending manufacturing at the Norfolk facility. The company is still angling for support from the government to expand the industrial supply chain for plug-in hybrids. Lotus is owned by Chinese maker Geely.

In Airlines cut prices to entice holiday bookers worried about jet fuel (Financial Times, Peter Campbell, Amy Borrett and Stephanie Stacey) we see that airlines around Europe are now cutting prices for summer flights to prompt travellers to open their wallets as many are delaying booking because of the jet fuel situation. This is making it difficult for the airlines (and travel companies) to plan. Heathrow passenger numbers dip as demand for international travel ebbs amid Iran war fallout (The Guardian, Lauren Almeida) echoes the trend as passenger numbers flying from the airport dropped last month versus April last year. That being said, April proved to be the busiest month at the airport so far this year. The airport said that it would, however, review its passenger forecasts for the whole of 2026 next month. I think that making any type of forecast at the moment in aviation is going to be unreliable given that there are so many unknown variables!

In online retail news, Asos shares rise on £67.5m sale of warehouse to Marks & Spencer (The Times, Guy Taylor) shows that investors applauded the news that ASOS was going to sell its

mothballed warehouse in Lichfield for £67.5m as part of a broader move to bolster its ailing balance sheet. Not only will the sale net a tidy sum – it also means that Asos won’t have to pay occupancy costs of about £6m per year. The deal with M&S is expected to complete in H2. * SO WHAT? * This sounds like a lifeline for Asos – but it also goes to show how M&S is continuing to gain momentum as it ramps up efforts to double annual online sales from its non-food businesses.

Shein accuses rival Temu of ‘industrial-scale’ copyright violations (Financial Times, Alistair Gray) highlights a hilarious legal battle between Shein and Temu at the High Court. Shein is claiming that Temu has perpetrated “industrial-scale” copyright violations. I say this is hilarious because it is the perfect example of the pot calling the kettle black given the mountain of claims that have been made against Shein over the years for blatantly copying designers’ products. This is just one part of an ongoing legal battle between Shein and Temu…

In a quick scoot around some of today’s other interesting stories, NHS to grant Palantir contractors ‘unlimited access’ to patient data (Financial Times, Laura Hughes) shows that NHS England has given the go-ahead for external staff from companies including Palantir “unlimited access” to identifiable data while they work on the Federated Data Platform, the tool that integrates various NHS data sources into a single system. * SO WHAT? * This is a big deal because, under the previous way of doing things, any individual working with the National Data Integration Tenant (which is a part of the FDP) had to apply for clear data access for specific data sets. This doesn’t sound great but I guess a balance has to be struck between getting the project moving and making sure that the data is safe. Tricky.

In AI ‘agents of chaos’ run riot inside companies (Daily Telegraph, Matthew Field) we see that there is a massive danger lurking within AI systems at companies – that the AI can do hugely destructive things autonomously. The article takes the example of tech start-up PocketOS which lost its entire codebase and all backups because a bot running the coding tool Cursor, powered by Claude AI, tried to remove a bug – and in doing so, destroyed everything. AI-fuelled blackouts are becoming a reality for companies and security experts alike and a computer science expert at the University of Surrey said that if a bot was tasked with tidying up a database, it could legitimately decide that the best way to do it would be to delete everything! * SO WHAT? * This threat is growing as more companies give more access to more data and there are some terrifying examples of AI bots going rogue. A Deloitte report showed that although 85% of businesses are

thinking about using AI agents, just 20% of them have set up any rules on how they should be used. I guess that this is the price of progress!

‘Chicken king’ raises supermarket prices by £70m after Labour tax raid (Daily Telegraph, Tom Haynes and Louis Goss) shows that the UK’s biggest chicken supplier, 2Sisters – which is responsible for a third of all poultry products eaten in Britain each year – has hiked up prices to take the edge off the government’s tax raids on businesses. 2Sisters owns over 700 farms across the UK and supplies poultry to Tesco, Sainsbury’s and M&S. * SO WHAT? * This is yet another example of the effect that the government’s employment policies have had on business. You do wonder, if Starmer leaves, are things going to get worse if the government inevitably lurches further to the left?

Then in Eon will buy Ovo to create UK’s largest energy supplier (The Times, Alex Ralph and Emma Powell) we see that the German energy company Eon is going to buy the embattled Ovo for an undisclosed sum. Ovo’s had a string of nightmares so backing into a much bigger entity that will overtake Octopus Energy in size sounds like the sensible thing to do. * SO WHAT? * There’s been a lot of consolidation in this space over the last few years and after six energy companies accounted for over 90% of the household energy market, if this deal goes through, that will go down to five with the top three making up 75% of the market. The deal is expected to complete in the second half of the year.

Need a bit of gym inspo ahead of your next visit? You’ve come to the right place! Some unusual exercises, though…