We're looking at further online safety rules, says minister
Under new powers introduced by the Online Safety Act and passed under the previous Tory government, Ofcom will require internet companies to conduct stricter age verification methods to check whether a user is under 18.A new code of practice, to apply from 25 July, will also require platforms to change algorithms affecting what is shown in children's feeds to filter out harmful content.At the last election, Labour committed to "build on" the previous government's law and consider further measures to keep children safe.But it is yet to publish fresh legislation of its own, with ministers arguing the existing set of new regulations need to be rolled out first.
'Addictive habits'
Speaking to Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Alexander said the new rules would bring in "really robust safeguards" to ensure proper age verification.But she added: "We are very clear as a government that this is the foundation for a safer online experience for children, but it is not the end of the conversation".She said Technology Secretary Peter Kyle was looking at further action in a number of areas, including how to address "addictive habits" among children, although she did not provide further details."We're not going to be a government that sits back and waits on this, we want to address it," she added. Ofcom's chief executive told the programme the new rules would mean tech platforms would have to change their content algorithms "very significantly".Ms Dawes said the regulator would give websites some flexibility when deciding which age-verification tools to use, but pledged that those failing to put adequate checks in place "will hear from us with enforcement action".However, she acknowledged some newer forms of AI "may not" be covered be powers contained in the existing legislation."There may need to be some changes to the legislation to cover that," she added.
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Times
44 minutes ago
- Times
Inside London's secret wine cellars
The grand hotels of London stand like sentinels across the city, guarding a certain version of the good life. Here, doormen gesture us through a portal to high-ceilinged lobbies and corridors unfurl towards fine restaurants and plush bars. They have much in common, these places. All, for instance, have plenty of delicious options in their cellars, and the visitor who wants vintage Krug, La Tâche or Romanée-Conti knows they have come to the right place. But a guest who wants something unique won't be disappointed either — each also prides itself on having something subtly different to offer the thirsty visitor. I descended into their cellars to find the bottles that make each of these places unique. 'We have about ten vintages of Domaine de la Romanée-Conti,' says the cellar master Aurel Istrate, 'and around 30 vintages of Pétrus' at prices ranging from £5,900 for the 1994 Pétrus to £45,000 for the DRC 1985 — some guests fly in specially for those. He and Lucas Reynaud-Paligot (the head of wine at Hélène Darroze at the Connaught) are giving me a tour, but they have lost me at the wine fridges guarding the cellar entrance. I'm peering longingly through the glass doors at Jean-Louis Chave's 1990 Hermitage (£25,000) and Château Mouton-Rothschild from 1945, L'Année de la Victoire (as it says on the bottle) and a great vintage for wine, as well (they sell this at £45,000). They buy everything ex-cellar (that is, from the château or winery where it was bottled), for all five of the hotel's restaurants, and have expanded to suit changing tastes. While they were once asked only for Champagne and top Burgundy or Bordeaux, now people are more adventurous. 'We used to have 250 labels, now it's 3,000,' Istrate says. 'During lockdown, everyone experimented. Now, for instance, we get asked for grower Champagnes [those made only from the makers' own grapes].' Between those wine fridges and the main temperature-controlled cellar, there's a small room with a round wooden table. This is where bespoke gatherings and the smaller private wine dinners, catered by the three Michelin-star Hélène Darroze team, happen. 'We discuss the wines with the winemaker, then match the food to them,' Reynaud-Paligot says. Upstairs, when a diner wants something unexpected, Reynaud-Paligot might suggest a wine from Sancerre, Savoie or the Jura — 'the grapes are getting riper, the wines richer, due to global warming' — and if they prefer classics, well, they've come to the right place. 'Our job is to curate our suggestions to make sure that the guest is happy,' Istrate says. 'It doesn't matter what we like, because we like everything that's good!' It isn't your average back of house that can boast two escalators, carrying staff and lucky guests down to the kitchen, then back up. The escalators are small but their destination isn't — the kitchens are the size of six tennis courts. Even though, of the hotel's four restaurants, China Tang has its own kitchen and the dishes for the three Michelin-star Alain Ducasse restaurant are only prepped here — they also have their own kitchen next to the restaurant. Just off this vast, bustling space, is a glass door: the wine vault. In cooled air, the hotel's most glamorous bottles — the Grand Cru Burgundy (the Coche-Dury Corton-Charlemagne 2016 is £15,000), magnums of vintage Champagne (£4,500 for the Cristal 2000) — glow alluringly across the long table. Beyond, through another door, is the chef's table. It works very well to have drinks in here before a dinner in there, says the head of wine Matteo Furlan. 'Some diners with a big budget just come in here and pick the bottles they want.' They also hold tastings, masterclasses and bespoke events for up to 12 people. One couple recently came in to learn how to pour their own Champagne tower at their wedding. Furlan is particularly proud of their selection by the glass: 30 Champagne and sparkling wines, 40 each of white and red. And of course, if you want a glass of La Tâche, the great Grand Cru Burgundy, then you can have it — although if you want more than one glass (on request, at £1,700), it probably makes more financial, and social, sense to buy the bottle (£10,000). But mark-ups are reasonable: 'We don't take a huge mark-up, or inflate prices over time' — even though older bottles will be worth a lot more now than when the team bought them. Until recently, the Dorchester held the record for Pétrus sales in the UK, and they have 1,200 labels, most stored in a larger, less fabulous cellar. 'We have 20,000-25,000 bottles, spread across the restaurants,' Furlan says. 'So if you don't see what you want on one list, we can just look elsewhere.' Once the War Office where Winston Churchill directed operations for the Second World War, this beautiful Whitehall building is now a 120-room hotel with a bewildering number of restaurants and bars. But the director of wine Vincenzo Arnese — assisted by six sommeliers — has everything under control. A quarter of the list is French, he tells me, but that leaves a lot of room to play. The flagship restaurant, plus a chef's table and Saison, an all-day Mediterranean restaurant, are by Mauro Colagreco, who has three Michelin stars at Mirazur restaurant on the Riviera and, now, one here. As anyone who has seen his magnificent French gardens knows, he is very keen on sustainability, so 'we like to have local wine,' Arnese says. Although what precisely that means depends on the outlet — they all have some English sparkling, but Saison focuses on a few Mediterranean wines, which change monthly. Meanwhile the Spy Bar downstairs celebrates James Bond with, among other treats, Château Angélus 007 (£145 by the glass or £870 by the bottle). Arnese enjoys a challenge, which is good, because Colagreco's tasting menus are magnificent — led by vegetables or sometimes, by flowers, with beautiful drawings of the star product presented with each course — but can't be easy to pair. 'I'm lucky, Mauro is open-minded. So many chefs just say, 'This is what I produce and it's your job to find a match'.' And Arnese likes daring matches: 'lobster with Masseto [the great single-vineyard Tuscan merlot] — 'sometimes you have to be bold!' That includes the rarities on the cellar's acacia-wood shelves, where guests can arrange to have drinks and canapés while admiring, for instance, a barnacle-encrusted bottle of Champagne Drappier that has spent time ageing underwater in Brittany's Lannion Bay (the different pressure levels and oxygen-free environment are supposed to change the way the liquid matures — for the better). Drink it for £595, or try a comparative tasting with a bottle aged normally, at the estate, for £ The stately red-and-white building on the edge of Hyde Park is home to Heston Blumenthal's two Michelin-starred Dinner and to the Aubrey, a sultry Japanese restaurant, so it's no surprise that the cellars are full of sakés as well as wines, or that Maxim Kassir's title is director of wine and saké. 'We have 60 sakés, including 27 by the glass,' says Kassir, who has also worked with a saké brewery in Japan to produce an own-label saké, tailored to fit their cuisine, for the restaurant. Fruity yet delicate, it has been a big success, and he'll be heading east to collaborate on a second batch soon. But fermented rice is not his only preoccupation. 'We want to be sustainable and leave the planet in a better state than we found it,' he says. They support small growers and those practising organic and biodynamic viticulture, 'and if we can find an alternative to an Australian or New Zealand wine we do'. He keeps a lookout for labels that are unusual yet interesting: recently, the Perrin family (makers of both the renowned Château de Beaucastel in Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Brad Pitt's Miraval rosés) approached him about a grenache they grow from pre-phylloxera vines. The phylloxera louse destroyed Europe's vineyards in the late 19th century, so these are old. 'The wine is not crazy expensive [£285 a bottle] but quantities are diminishing, we don't know how long the vines will last.' He is also proud of his Champagne range, with Krug by the glass as well as prestigious smaller houses including Bruno Paillard, Billecart-Salmon and Eric Rodez. By the bottle, there are several rarities including Largillier (£600), a non-vintage made by Guillaume Selosse, the youngest generation of the most famous grower label, Jacques Selosse. Max likes Champagnes that don't necessarily seek consistency but reflect the idiosyncrasies of the vintage: 'They can surprise you every time.' Champagne is their biggest seller; then Burgundy, then … saké. Here, too, there are interesting options, such as a super-premium (Junmai daiginjo) saké from Yamagata prefecture made with rice polished down to just 1 per cent — which means exceptionally small quantities, and a price tag of £2,450 a bottle. Kassir is proud to have an allocation, as London receives just six bottles a year. But then, he knows that the ability to offer delights that a guest can't find elsewhere is precisely what makes a hotel great.
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
This is a classic example of a British business that has laid solid foundations
Questor is The Telegraph's stock-picking column, helping you decode the markets and offering insights on where to invest. It might have taken four years, but Questor's tip on DIY retailer Wickes is finally in the money. The company's next trading update is just around the corner, and there's a good chance Wickes could be hammering home the message that DIY is alive and well. Glorious weather in recent months should have encouraged more people to spruce up their gardens and patio areas, and perhaps take to general redecorating, too – and Wickes is a prime beneficiary of spending on areas like garden furniture and paint. The past four years have been eventful for Wickes as it took to the stock exchange solo following a demerger from Travis Perkins. The company took a long time to win over the market after splitting from its former owner given a multitude of headwinds it had to overcome. There was a DIY hangover post-pandemic as people had enough of sitting at home, and consumers were reluctant to splash the cash on big projects like a new kitchen. Sector giants Kingfisher, which owns B&Q, and Travis Perkins also dished out their own bad news, and that weighed on investor sentiment across the DIY space. Wickes was knocked down, but like a champion boxer, it got back on its feet. It successfully navigated tougher market conditions by pressing ahead with store refurbishments and making itself more relevant to trade customers. A loyalty scheme gives tradesmen a flat 10pc discount across its product range and other rewards, which helps foster loyalty. Its value proposition has also helped to attract cash-conscious shoppers, and positive news flow has this year breathed new life into the share price. Upgrades to earnings forecasts are one of the biggest drivers for a stock, and analyst estimates have been steadily ticking up for Wickes' 2025 and 2026 fiscal years. In a market environment where companies are cutting earnings guidance, Wickes bucking the trend is significant. The GfK Consumer Confidence index is a widely followed gauge of how the public is feeling, and it's shown improvement over the past two months. If consumers are feeling more upbeat, there's a good chance they might be prepared to spend more money, and that's particularly important for Wickes' kitchens and bathrooms design and installation arm, which has been a weak spot. Any sign of improvement in this part of its business at the next trading update could help to fuel momentum in the share price. Rightmove's latest figures revealed a slight dip in average UK property prices in June as sellers showed a willingness to accept less to sell their home. This isn't necessarily a bad sign for Wickes – sellers need to make sure their homes are as attractive as possible and spending a bit more on DIY to get a sale over the line is an easy decision. Of course, Wickes isn't solely dependent on housing transactions to drive sales; there is always something to fix or improve in a flat or house, and that helps to drive footfall to its shops all year round. Online sales are increasingly important as well. While it feels as if Wickes is in a strong place, there are risks from an investment perspective, such as competition in the DIY space. There is no guarantee the next trading update will contain good news. Furthermore, the shares have already had a good run and certain investors might take the view that it is better to travel than arrive, using the trading update as a trigger to take profit which could depress the share price. One factor that could keep investors on board is the inexpensive valuation. Wickes trades on 13.3 times forward earnings. That's less than Travis Perkins (14.9x) but more than Kingfisher (12.4x), with the latter on a discounted valuation due to ongoing problems with its French arm. Analysts forecast Wickes will generate £48.5m pre-tax profit in 2025, rising to £57.4m in 2026 and £66.1m in 2027, according to data from LSEG. Analysts expect to see Wickes's dividend start to increase from next year. It has paid 10.9p per share every year for the past four years but market forecasts expect 11.5p per share in 2026, which equates to a 5pc prospective yield and implies that Wickes is a tasty source of income. Layer on top the prospect for incremental profit growth in the coming years and it's easy to see why investors are warming to the story. Fundamentally, Wickes is a classic example of a British business that has laid solid foundations, adapted to change and is ready to keep building on its success.
The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
To hoard or not to hoard? UK consumers on the pros and cons of cash
It was while walking to his local Co-op that Ty, a 27-year-old student in Brighton, noticed a strangely long queue for the cashpoint. In the shop, a staff member told Ty the payment systems were down after a cyber-attack. It was cash only. But Ty didn't need to join the queue. Instead, he felt vindicated. It was another instance that justified his recent switch to using physical currency instead of digital payments. 'I've started in the last few months to favour cash again, using it almost exclusively, to the point where I refuse to shop in places that take card only,' he says. Ty is one of a number of people in the UK who have turned back to banknotes in recent years. Despite cash being used for only 12% of UK payments in 2023, collapsing from 51% in 2013, according to UK Finance, data from the Bank of England suggests the value of banknotes in circulation has jumped 23% since before the pandemic. The Bank's chief cashier, Victoria Cleland, has said UK households are building cash contingency pots as they did during the pandemic and cost of living crisis in response to high-profile incidents such as the recent energy blackout in Spain and Portugal and the cyber-attacks on Marks & Spencer, The Co-op and Harrods. Repeated IT outages at Britain's largest banks and building societies will not have helped consumer confidence in under-pressure digital systems. Ty says: 'Unlike card, cash is private and doesn't leave data about the purchase, it doesn't cost the merchant transaction fees, it's easier to manage owing to its physicality – using a card makes spending too easy – and it won't fail you in the event of a systems outage.' Ty's preference for cash began while working at a building society. He says he witnessed first-hand that, if the electronic systems went down, it was 'exceedingly difficult to do anything', which made him doubt the reliability of modern payment methods. For David, it was being in Granada when Spain's energy blackout struck that changed his behaviour. He says there was a sense of uncertainty about power returning, and that 'if you didn't have cash you weren't going to eat or drink and the ATMs were down'. The retired 64-year-old, who is based in Bury, had a little cash on him so he was able to buy a warm beer from an out-of-action fridge. David says he had switched to become a cashless household in recent years, but since experiencing the blackout he has taken out physical currency. 'We now have cash easily accessible at home just in case,' he says. The preference for cash is so strong for Annie*, in her early 40s and living in East Sussex, that she walks out of businesses which are card-only. 'I love cash,' she says. 'It's reliable and doesn't break like electronic payment systems, which seem to be breaking, crashing and going down more and more these days.' Annie says her mother feels the same way, and recently, while in Lewes, the pair visited – and left – several cafes before finding one that accepted cash. She says the decision showed her displeasure at what in her view is a slow creep towards a cashless society, which she feels is 'heading down the wrong track' and erasing freedom of choice. 'It's like making a stand,' she says. 'I know it's just me, one lonely little person … At the moment, I feel like it probably isn't making a difference. But it's my own principles and morals. I don't want to see the death of cash.' Nearly 33m withdrawals were made from Nationwide's ATMs last year, up 4.6% on 2023 and building on budgeting trends seen during the cost of living crisis such as 'cash stuffing'. Not everyone, however, is convinced that a return to cash is necessary. Dave, a 61-year-old in Preston, hates using physical money. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion 'I just found the whole business – of carrying cash, extracting cash from cash points, ending up with pockets full of change, throwing it into jars when you got home – just nonsense,' he says. 'Pockets are thin cotton. You shove a load of metal in there, it weighs down and wears out your pocket.' He was happy to jettison notes and coins and feels that 'people panic too much' about a potential emergency. 'If the infrastructure went down for a week I might worry about it,' he says, and he does keep about £100 in the house. 'But I'm not hoarding money just for the sake of hoarding money.' In Essex, Ruth's distaste for cash and fondness for Apple Pay – 'it's so convenient' – meant she travelled to Italy's Amalfi coast for a family holiday last year without taking out any euros for the trip. She didn't use cash once in Italy, and barely even used her bank card. 'The only time I used my card was when I actually paid for the hotel,' she says, and she could barely recall her pin number. Ruth, a 63-year-old social housing worker in Essex, says handling cash is too inconvenient. 'I hate [it] if I get coppers or 5ps. I think, what do you do with them? I feel like throwing them away,' she says. 'As much as many of my friends scowl, I actually like being cashless.' Ruth also says that 'some, not all' people she's aware of who prefer to use only cash 'are doing dodgy deals, tax avoidance'. Seeing the blackout and chaos in Spain and Portugal, however, has meant she plans to take about €400 (£345) in cash for her next holiday, just in case. And she did find cash useful when teaching her children maths, letting them go to the shops and keep the change if they counted it correctly. After the Iberian blackout, she also took out £100 for emergencies. 'I put it in the cupboard,' she says. *Some names changed.
