Money blog: Major banks cut mortgage rates ahead of BoE announcement tomorrow (2024)

A Debenhams advert offering "up to 60% off" has been banned for misleading customers.

The advert on social media, which was published in March, told customers they could get the large discount on fashion, home and beauty products.

It featured a caption that read: "Step into spring with up to 60% off fashion, home and beauty at Debenhams."

However, the online advert has been banned by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

An ASA spokesperson told Sky News:"In this case, Debenhams weren't able to back up the sales claims made in their ads. Because we weren't able to see evidence that the products in the ad were available at the advertised promotional discount, we considered the use of the claim alongside the product images to be misleading,and we banned the ad."

Debenhams said the products featured were from third-party suppliers, who controlled their own pricing.

Natwest and Virgin Money have announced reductions to their range of fixed rates accounts ahead of the Bank of England's interest rate decision tomorrow.

Natwest said it was making reductions to its new business productive range from 1 August.

When it comes to purchases, it announced a decrease of 0.1% and 0.11% on selected two and five-year deals.

And remortgages will see a rate decrease of up to 0.15% on selected two and five-year deals.

Virgin Money will see its fix and switch remortgage rates reduced by 0.10%, with rates starting from 4.89%.

It has also launched a number of exclusive deals for those looking to remortgage.

Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, told Newspage he hoped the reductions were the "aperitif" ahead of the main course, a base rate reduction.

"The odds look good, and the economy needs it, but the Bank of England often disappoints," he said.

And Ken James, director at Contractor Mortgage Services, said while rate cuts were "always welcome", he wondered if "lenders are running out of steam".

Are you struggling because of high interest rates? Sky News is keen to hear from people who are due to refix their mortgages, are on variable rates or are trying to get on the housing ladder.

Email us your stories atsky.today@sky.ukor use the box at the top of this page.

Wizz Air has been named the worst performing airline for customer service by Which? - and has hit out at the survey.

The consumer group said the low-cost carrier ranked the lowest "by far" in a poll of around 1,000 adults.

Those surveyed were quizzed on how well airlines performed across eight areas of customer service, including how easy it was to find a contact number, how long it took to get in touch with a person and how well issues were dealt with.

Wizz Air received a net satisfaction score of +13. More than half of those surveyed said they had experienced at least one problem with the carrier's customer services, with a fifth saying the company never replied to their email.

One in 10 said they had experienced their call being disconnected after spending a long time in the queue.

The airline hit back at the findings, with Wizz Air describing the report as "inaccurate, unrepresentative and misleading".

Read more here...

By Daniel Binns, business reporter

Oil prices have surged after the assassination of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

The benchmark price of a barrel of Brent crude shot up by almost 2% to $80 (£62) after the killing overnight.

His death stoked fears of an escalation in the conflict in the Middle East, putting strains on supplies.

However, it follows falls in the price of oil in recent days due to concerns over weaker demand in China - and the cost of a barrel is still below what it was a few days ago.

Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 is up 1.2% this morning thanks to gains in energy stocks and mining firm Anglo American, which is up more than 3%.

Shares in HSBC have also increased by nearly 4% after it announced a $3bn (£2.3bn) share buyback programme and reported better-than-expected pre-tax profits of $21.6bn (£2.3bn) for the first six months of 2024.

At the other end of the scale, British pharmaceutical giant GSK is down more than 2% despite reporting profits of £4.95bn - a 16% rise - during the second quarter of the year.

The slump comes after the firm said sales of its new shingles vaccine Shingrix were well below market expectations.

On the currency markets, this morning £1 buys $1.28 US or €1.19.

Every Wednesday, we ask Michelin chefs to pick their favourite Cheap Eats where they live and when they cook at home.This week we speak to Theo Randall, chef patron at the Italian fine dining restaurant in London,Theo Randall at the Intercontinental, and a regular guest on the BBC'sSaturday Kitchen.

Hi Theo,can you tell us your favourite places where you can get a meal for two for less than £40?

One of my favourite places is Pompette in Summertown, Oxford. The Prix Fixe menu is £26 a head; I had to mention this as I don't think you can find better food and service for this price anywhere else in the UK.

Pascal and Laura Wiedemann run this brilliant restaurant and have a range of fantastic offers like Thursday steak nights where you can enjoy a beautifully cooked onglet steak with watercress, real (!) French fries and a glass of wine for £24. Amazing value!

My favourite local restaurant isLemonia on Regent's Park Road, London. It's a real family favourite of mine - we've had many a birthday party at this authentic Greek institution.

The restaurant is family run and the food is consistently good and great value; the set lunch menu from Monday to Friday is £19.50 for 3 courses, plus coffee! The service is excellent too.

What's your go-to cheap meal at home?

Tender stem broccoli pasta sauce with short pasta. It's so simple to make and serves four - here is the recipe:

• 400g Mezze Maniche
• 300g tenderstem broccoli
• 75ml new season's olive oil
• Two cloves garlic
• 100g grated pecorino cheese

In a pan of boiling salted water, add the broccoli and two cloves of garlic. Cook for 10 minutes: the broccoli should be soft.

Take the broccoli and garlic out of the water with a slotted spoon, keeping the cooking water on the stove, and place them into a liquidiser with a cupful of the cooking water.

Turn on and puree; the broccoli should be smooth and should easily coat the back of a spoon.

Take out of the liquidiser and pour the puree into a bowl.

Slowly pour in the olive oil and whisk so the sauce absorbs the oil. Add salt and pepper and leave to one side.

In the water where you cooked the broccoli, add the Mezze Maniche and cook for three minutes less than the packet suggests.

Take out the pasta with a slotted spoon or small sieve and place into a hot, non-stick frying pan with two ladles of the pasta water.

Cook for one minute, stirring the pasta with a wooden spoon, then add half the broccoli and olive oil puree and cook on a medium heat, stirring the pasta, so the pasta and sauce start to become emulsified and reduced.

Check the seasoning and serve in hot pasta bowls with the remaining puree.

We've spoken to lots of top chefs and bloggers - check out their cheap eats from around the country here...

The government has announced plans to remove age bands from the minimum wage.

Ministers said the Low Pay Commission has been instructed to narrow the gap between the rate for 18 to 20-year-olds and the one for those aged 21 and over.

It will be the first step towards achieving a single adult rate, the government said.

Under the last government, 18 to 20-year-olds were entitled to £8.60 per hour by law, whereas older workers were entitled to £11.44 - even if they were doing the same job.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak called the difference "discriminatory" and welcomed the change.

"Young people face the same cost-of-living pressures as other adult workers and will welcome their pay being brought into line."

The Money team's Brad Younginvestigated the issue last time changes were made to the minimum wage in April.

The last government believed pay disparity would encourage businesses to keep younger employees and avoid them being exposed to prolonged unemployment.

But experts said that while the UK was not alone in having age-based minimum wage legislation, it was on the "extreme end of penalising over-18-year-olds".

You can read Brad's piecehere...

The number of people claiming carer's credit has risen by more than half amid a "social care crisis" in the UK, according to research - but millions could be missing out.

A freedom of information request by Quilter reveals 9,040 people claimed the credit in 2023-24, compared with an average of 5,836 people per year since 2019-20.

In 2022-23, some 6,133 Britons were claiming the credit - a 55% jump year on year.

People who look after someone for between 20 and 35 hours per week can take advantage of the credit, which fills gaps in their national insurance record, helping to boost their state pension.

According to the Office for National Statistics, there were roughly five million unpaid carers in England and Wales on census day in 2021.

Around six million people claim allowances Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance or a Personal Independence Payment - these are some of the benefits you need to receive for your carer to receive the credit.

Roughly 4.7 million eligible carers missed out on the payment in England and 310,000 in Wales, on the last Census Day in 2021.

All this means millions could be losing out on vital financial support they're entitled to.

Sales of non-alcoholic Guinness have jumped as more people turn to booze-free alternatives.

Drinks company Diageo, which owns the Guinness brand, said sales of Guinness 0.0 more than doubled across Europe in the year to June.

Its preliminary results reveal the beer now accounts for 3% of all global sales.

Guinness 0.0, branded as "the Guinness with everything except the alcohol", first launched in the UK in 2020 and, according to Forbes, has grown to become the top-selling non-alcoholic beer in Britain in the four-pack format.

Debra Crew, chief executive of the distiller, told The Telegraph: "We literally cannot make enough of it. It is flying off the shelves."

A YouGov survey from earlier this year revealed almost half of Britain's youngest drinkers are turning down booze for low or no-alcohol alternatives.

No and low-alcohol beer sales also spiked 38% during the Euros, according to market research company Kantar, which attributed the spike tomany of England's matches being held on weeknights.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has admitted taxes will likely be raised in the Budget later this year.

Speaking to the News Agents podcast, she said national insurance, VAT and income tax will not increase - but didn't rule out hikes for inheritance tax, pension reform and capital gains.

"I think that we will have to increase taxes in the Budget," she said.

This is the first time the chancellor has explicitly stated that taxes will rise.

"We had in our manifesto a commitment to fiscal rules to balance day-to-day spending through tax receipts, and by the end of the forecast period to get debt down as a share of GDP," she added.

"Those are sensible fiscal rules to keep a grip of the public finances. We also made other commitments in our manifesto, not to increase national insurance, VAT, or income tax for the duration, and we'll stick with those."

The government will set out its Budget on 30 October.