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(Sharecast News) - British bill payers remain exposed to another energy crisis while facing "worryingly high" energy debts and some of the highest electricity costs in the world, parliament's spending watchdog has warned. The public accounts committee (PAC) said ministers had not put in place sufficient safeguards to shield households against another energy crisis or taken steps to permanently reduce Britain's energy prices. - Guardian
Canada's prime minister has said the era of deep ties with the US "is over", as governments from Tokyo to Berlin to Paris sharply criticised Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs on car imports, with some threatening retaliatory action. Mark Carney warned Canadians that Trump had permanently altered relations and that, regardless of any future trade deals, there would be "no turning back". - Guardian
Ed Miliband has been accused of failing to tackle sky-high energy bills and risking power shortages as he races to hit net zero. A report from the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the Energy Secretary's reviews of gas and electricity prices were taking too long - leaving consumers with bills so high that increasing numbers of people are now in debt to their suppliers. - Telegraph
The Government's pay bill is set to soar by more than 50bn per year by the end of the decade, despite efforts to trim the size of the Civil Service. Spending on central government employees will rise from 172bn last year to 225.7bn in 2029 to 2030, according to forecasts from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). - Telegraph
London-based investment bankers at HSBC were sacked on the very day they were hoping to hear news of their annual bonuses, with chief executive Georges Elhedery said to be taking a more ruthless approach to cutting costs. The dismissals were delivered on bonus day in January, traditionally when dealmakers learn the size of their annual bonuses, according to a report in the Financial Times, which said the move was regarded as uncharacteristic of the normally more paternalistic bank. - The Times
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