Friday newspaper round-up: Tax rises, WiseTech Global, heat network zones

25th Oct 2024 07:17

(Sharecast News) - City firms are only rarely docking pay and bonuses in cases of bad behaviour including sexual harassment, bullying and drug use, according to the industry's watchdog, which recorded a 40% rise in complaints about non-financial misconduct last year. The findings are the result of the City regulator's first survey looking at the issue, which was launched in the wake of high-profile allegations of sexual harassment, including those against individuals at the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) lobby group. - Guardian

Keir Starmer has hinted at tax rises for those who earn their income from shares and property, saying that they did not fit his definition of "working people". Ministers are expected to announce increases in inheritance tax and capital gains tax (CGT) in the budget next week. - Guardian

Excess heat from data centres and factories will be pumped into thousands of English homes to keep them warm under new plans announced by ministers. Seven "heat network zones" are planned, with one in Leeds, Plymouth, Bristol, Stockport and Sheffield, and two in London, to share warmth across urban areas via underground pipe networks. The networks will transfer excess or unused heat out of some buildings to others nearby such as residential apartment blocks. - Telegraph

Richard White, the billionaire tech pioneer, has resigned as chief of WiseTech Global in Australia after weeks of lurid allegations wiped billions from the market capitalisation of the company he founded 30 years ago. The departure of White, 69, a tech entrepreneur who started his career repairing guitars for the band AC/DC, followed an investigation by the Australian newspapers the Financial Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age which alleged that he purchased multimillion-dollar houses for a string of women he had been in secret relationships with. - The Times

Rachel Reeves has been warned by the Labour grandee Lord Blunkett that imposing national insurance on employers' pension contributions risks damaging people's standard of living in their retirement. The chancellor is expected to use her budget on October 30 to announce plans to impose national insurance on employers' pension contributions as she seeks to balance the books. The measure is expected to raise about £15 billion. - The Times