(Sharecast News) – Billions of pounds of taxpayer cash spent on one-off cost of living support has proved an expensive and ineffective “sticking plaster” that would have been better used to raise the value of benefits, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said. Britain’s foremost economics thinktank said the government’s cost of living payments scheme, introduced by Rishi Sunak while he was chancellor, had cost the exchequer almost £19bn over two years. – Guardian
The steep rise in mortgage interest rates and anxiety about the prospect of an economic downturn sent new house buyer inquiries to an eight-month low in June, according to a survey of estate agents. A fall in the number of buyers marked “a renewed deterioration in UK home sales”, said the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which carried out the survey. However, the market was in better shape than the period after Liz Truss’s disastrous mini-budget last autumn. – Guardian
Twitter faces legal action over allegedly owing around $500m (£385m) in severance pay promised to thousands of workers sacked by Elon Musk. The lawsuit has accused Twitter of handing staff at most one month of severance pay, with many not receiving anything at all. Mr Musk has fired more than half of Twitter’s 7,500-strong workforce since acquiring the social network for $44bn last year. – Telegraph
The new chairman of Thames Water was accused of sexism last night after suggesting that its former chief executive had quit because she was unable to cope with the strains of the role. Sir Adrian Montague, who was parachuted into the crisis-hit water company after Sarah Bentley’s resignation last month, told MPs that he thought Bentley, 51, had “got to the point, perhaps, of feeling the burdens of office were quite considerable”. – The Times
Lenders are under further pressure to improve rates for savers after a warning shot was fired at the industry by the governor of the Bank of England. Andrew Bailey’s remarks will intensify the scrutiny of banks, which have faced calls from the chancellor already to improve the interest paid on deposits. The Financial Conduct Authority is also monitoring the issue. – The Times
