The anti-growth coalition, Bank of England and the OBR are among those under fire from Liz Truss Raw free-market economics is missing in action. Somewhere between its 1980s ascendancy and today, the media, politicians, civil service and even the corporate mainstream abandoned small government and low taxes. At the heart of Liz Truss’s new book, Ten Years to Save the West, the former prime minister reckons this is the reason for Britain’s economic drift, alongside “unelected technocrats” overruling the “wishes of the people ..read more

Email was sent suggesting postal company should withhold disclosing investigation guidelines The Post Office was urged by its external law firm to “try and suppress” disclosure of a key document for “as long as possible” as branch owner-operators tried to mount legal action against the state-owned postal company, a public inquiry has heard. Rodric Williams, a senior in-house lawyer at the Post Office giving evidence to the inquiry into the Horizon IT scandal, was asked about an email sent to him in which it was suggested that his employer should withhold disclosing its investigation guidelines ..read more

Pair also join two other siblings on board, further strengthening family’s control of French luxury goods company Two sons of the world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, have joined the board of LVMH after a shareholder vote, further cementing the family’s control of the French luxury goods company. The pair joined their elder siblings on the board of directors of the company, which houses brands such as Dior and Louis Vuitton, meaning four of Bernard Arnault’s five children now sit on the board ..read more

Investor proposal to reduce levels of fat, salt and sugar in products is backed by only 11% of shareholders Nestlé has fought off investor proposals that would have forced the world’s largest consumer goods company to cut back on high levels of salt, sugar and fats in its food and drinks. The Swiss-headquartered multinational won the backing of 88% of shareholder votes at its annual meeting on Thursday, while 11% backed the resolution ..read more

Exclusive: Under Whitehall blueprint for water company some lenders could lose up to 40% of their money Thames Water could be renationalised, with the bulk of its £15.6bn debt added to the public purse, under radical plans being considered by the government, the Guardian can reveal. The blueprint, codenamed Project Timber, is being drawn up in Whitehall and would turn Britain’s biggest water company into a publicly owned arm’s-length body. Some lenders to its core operating company could lose up to 40% of their money under the plans ..read more

Tentative offer follows four months of talks and could create new banking group with almost 5m customers Coventry Building Society has tentatively offered £780m to buy the Co-operative Bank from its hedge fund owners, in what could be the latest in a string of takeovers among UK lenders. The offer follows nearly four months of exclusive talks between the two lenders, which began in December. If a deal is completed, it would create a new high street challenger with almost 5 million customers and an £89bn balance sheet ..read more

Kristalina Georgieva says Kyiv will need $42bn of financial support this year as G7 considers ways to use seized Russian assets Russia’s war with Ukraine is stoking geopolitical tensions and damaging the recovery prospects of the global economy, the head of the International Monetary Fund has warned. Kristalina Georgieva urged an end to the two-year conflict, saying it was both a human tragedy and a barrier to growth ..read more

Airline says demand has rebounded, with strong bookings at its holiday arm Business live – latest updates EasyJet has cut its winter losses by at least £50m and said it is confident of a record summer, despite higher fuel costs and a £40m loss from the war in the Middle East. The airline said it expects pre-tax losses of between £340m and £360m for the traditionally loss-making six months to the end of March, in a trading update before its half-year results ..read more

The public supports it, and even the rich are calling for it. We must prevent a deeper slide into global inequality Abigail Disney is a member of Patriotic Millionaires The need to tax rich people like me has never been so dire. Extreme wealth concentration in the hands of a few oligarchs is a threat to democracy the world over. Meanwhile, we are cooking our planet and irreversibly damaging our biosphere. Last summer was the hottest on record, and we’re also seeing historic wildfires, biblical floods, devastating droughts and rising sea temperatures. It is only right that the funds to mitiga ..read more

Shares in Beyoncé and Neil Young song fund rise amid hopes uncertainty over its future could be over Business live – latest updates The embattled British music royalties investment fund Hipgnosis, which owns the rights to songs by artists from Beyoncé to Neil Young, has agreed to a $1.4bn (£1.1bn) takeover by a music and theatrical rights rival after months of turmoil over the company’s structure and leadership. The Concord Chorus deal, which offers Hipgnosis shareholders a 32% premium to Thursday’s share price at $1.16 a share, could put an end to uncertainty over the FTSE 250 firm’s future ..read more