(Bloomberg) --
Hello from London, where the mayor’s plans for cleaner air got a boost from the courts on Friday. A judge ruled that a charge for the most polluting cars can be expanded to the capital’s outer boroughs.
And Rishi Sunak is seizing the controversial expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone, credited with helping the Conservatives hold Boris Johnson’s old seat in last week’s by-election, to shift to the right in a bid to win back the party’s traditional voters, Alex Wickham writes. Turning away from green issues — once championed by Johnson — is a long-held demand on the climate-skeptic right of Sunak’s party.
The premier’s plan is to lean into cultural issues that play on some voters’ emotions and create dividing lines with Labour and the surging party’s leader, Keir Starmer, according to ministers and Tory strategists.
Another of Sunak’s struggles is bringing down inflation, with the Bank of England is expected to deliver a 14th consecutive rate increase on Thursday. But young families and low-to-middle earners in their 30s and 40s are shouldering the heaviest burden, a Bloomberg analysis of official data shows.
Facing criticism that it was too slow to act as inflation spiked to 11%, the central bank said Friday it’s bringing in former US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to lead a review into its economic forecasting.
Maybe that’s an easier job than being the new boss of NatWest? Paul Thwaite took over Wednesday from Alison Rose, who was forced out over inaccurate comments to a journalist about Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage. First up was sacking the Coutts boss and reporting earnings. At least Chairman Howard Davies says he’s staying at the bank.
The government looks willing to take on another UK institution too, with plans to set up a football regulator to oversee England’s Premier League and lower divisions.
And finally, the departure of potential Russian buyers has left a void at the top of the London real estate market that’s being filled by wealthy Indian families, the Secret Agent writes.
