Britain's Octopus Energy considers 14 billion dollar demerger of tech arm Kraken, Sky News reports
Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
The depressing proof that our political class is obsessed with style over substance
It could be the most expensive full stop of all time. One round dot, albeit now painted turquoise and no longer sitting on the line but nudged up halfway between the words 'Gov' and 'UK'. It's the work of advertising agency M+C Saatchi, that once great creative company responsible for the likes of Heineken ads, for recruiting to MI6 and their 'Back the Bid' campaign that helped London win the 2012 Olympic Games. Well they're now reduced to fiddling with full stops on logos. And it's not like they even changed the font, although, when not printed in black and white there is an iteration in colour of a blue background. For this work, this tweak, came their invoice: £532,000. Let's hope that's including VAT but there was a further £99,950 spent by Leicester-based marketing agency Lnet Digital for conducting market research on the logo changes. And there was more related work still, this time by civil servants who produced a 150-page document explaining how the rebrand should be used. It contains the following priceless poetry: 'Our dot is the bridge between the government and the UK, by the side of users to help make information and services easier and more useful. Used within our wordmark and as a graphic device across all channels, the dot is a guiding hand, for life.' Consider that vignette when you wonder why your bins can't be collected more regularly, your new passport delivered sooner, the trains running on time. Because, clearly in Whitehall, what's more fun is to muse on the benevolent power of a dot and how it is like a collective hand across the nation, joining us in a heavenly and warming embrace with government – not to do all the dross that might actually help to get the country moving. Except that if you, on your computer, actually try to put the dot halfway up the line your laptop will start smoking, such is the impossibility. And if you managed this remarkable miracle, it wouldn't help you because in actuality, the dot needs to remain exactly where it was before in order to get you to the website.
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Top Eurocrat embroiled in free five-star holidays scandal
A senior European Commission official took free flights and holidays for his family while negotiating with a foreign country, the EU's anti-fraud agency has said. OLAF said it had exposed more than €870 million (£750.7 million) in misused EU funds in 2024. As part of its investigation, it found the civil servant had not declared gifts. Henrik Hololei, a former top transport official, is now facing a criminal investigation by the European Public Prosecutor's Office, and, following OLAF's recommendations, an internal disciplinary probe by the commission. He is accused of accepting luxury trips and staying in five star hotels for him and his wife while negotiating an aviation agreement with Qatar. The Estonian has since accepted a new role advising on international partnerships with reduced pay in the commission. OLAF said Mr Hololei had leaked sensitive internal documents with a non-EU country or entity in a breach of their duty of professionalism, loyalty and confidentiality. 'We confirmed that the person failed to declare their flights, hospitality, gifts as well as the complimentary benefits that their spouse received whilst accompanying them on a number of business trips,' it said. 'We further identified that a non-EU country's economic operator provided the senior staff member and their family with complimentary flight tickets and hotel accommodation.' The watchdog added, 'However, we did not conclude that these gifts and preferential treatment led the person to act favourably on behalf of a non-EU country or non-EU entity.' 'Disciplinary procedure' The European Public Prosecutor's Office opened criminal investigation into Mr Hololei over corruption allegations after Libération, a French newspaper, revealed confidential details of OLAF's inquiry. A European Commission spokesman said the EU executive had opened a disciplinary procedure against Mr Hololei earlier this year. 'This internal disciplinary procedure is ongoing and is carried out within a reasonable period of time, account being taken of both the interests of the institution and of the person concerned. The Commission does not comment further on individual cases,' the spokesman told The Telegraph. The procedure focuses on four alleged breaches of the commission's rules, including the unauthorised acceptance of gifts, conflict of interest, unauthorised disclosure of documents and transparency. Mr Hololei did not respond to a request for comment. MEPs have expressed disappointment that the aviation agreement with Qatar was not suspended after the allegations. The European Public Prosecutor's Office has confirmed an ongoing investigation. 'The EU's response is not just feeble – it's farcical. Even the top brass aren't beyond suspicion, yet the worst a wrongdoer can expect is a perfunctory slap on the wrist,' Frank Furedi, executive director of the eurosceptic think tank MCC Brussels said: 'With consequences so toothless, the rot is not just setting in, it's thriving. Brussels must act, or risk becoming a byword for impunity.' OLAF's annual report said it had uncovered fraud worth €870 million last year, closing 246 investigations and opening 230 new probes. It issued 301 recommendations to EU and national authorities. This included four recommendations to the European Commission after investigations, while another three probes have not yet been concluded. There were four ongoing investigations into European Parliament staff and one concluded in the council of the European Union. Two were concluded into staff at the European Investment Bank, while three were ongoing at the EU's foreign affairs service. Another two were concluded at Frontex, the EU's border agency. 'Substantial breaches' OLAF, which investigates the misuse of EU funds, found €4.4 million (£3.8 million) worth of irregularities in one EU agency's training program. The agency reimbursed full costs for goods like laptops and furniture and did not take into account depreciation costs. 'Laptops with a three to five year lifespan were fully reimbursed after only a few months of use. The Agency also funded furniture that could have been used for five to ten years, but was only used for a few months,' the report said. It found €120,000 (£103,000) in payments to EU staff that broke the rules. OLAF uncovered 'substantial breaches of procurement, transparency and financial management rules' related to a €114 million (£98.3 million) EU funded project in Poland to deliver power generators to Ukrainian regions suffering from power shortages because of the war. 'Thanks to our efforts, an impressive €91 million (£78.5 million) has been targeted for recovery,' it said, adding 'contracts were awarded without authentic competitive bidding.' It also closed the last of six investigations into a scandal that involved about €10 million (£8.6 million) of bribes being paid by farmers to Slovak officials to illegitimately access EU agricultural funds. It uncovered 'systemic and widespread use of bribes to ensure the undue approval of rural development projects for EU co-financed subsidies from 2015 to 2020.' The agency recommended the recovery of €10 million in EU funds and loans. After a two-year investigation it uncovered an illegal Greek landfill project, which cost the EU €1.1 million (£950,000). The landfill was dormant for the first three years of its existence before ignoring environmental and safety rules from 2019. 'It morphed into a chaotic dumping ground for all sorts of refuse, with equipment either shattered or useless. Ultimately, we discovered that the landfill in question was not even eligible for EU funding,' OLAF said.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Woodside Ferry Terminal set to reopen in autumn after delay
The reopening of a ferry terminal in Wirral has been pushed back to autumn due to site at Woodside had been due to open this summer but a representative of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority said: "Unfortunately, delays in manufacturing off site has resulted in this being pushed back until autumn 2025."They said the authority was "working closely with the contractor to minimise these delays by increasing resources".The upgraded terminal would be ready to welcome the new £26m Mersey Ferry, due to be launched by the summer of 2026, they added. The terminal closed in 2022 before work started on a £8.6m scheme to transform the Council is also investing millions of pounds on changes to the waterfront around Woodside and nearby Hamilton Square, along with plans for a new U-Boat museum, the Local Democracy Reporting Service include new cycle lanes and walking the longer term, a masterplan includes the building of 1,700 homes, two new hotels, major leisure facilities and an outside event space looking out onto the River Mersey. Listen to the best of BBC Radio Merseyside on Sounds and follow BBC Merseyside on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
