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Apple has pledged to pay $95 million (£77 million) to settle a US class-action lawsuit alleging that Siri, its virtual assistant, recorded private conversations without users’ consent.

The proposed settlement, filed in a federal court in Oakland, California, comes after a five-year legal dispute and covers tens of millions of Apple device owners.

Although Apple denies any wrongdoing, it has agreed to the payout, which allows individuals who owned Siri-enabled devices — including iPhones and Apple Watches — to claim up to $20 per device. The case focuses on allegations that Siri was unintentionally triggered without the use of the “Hey, Siri” wake word, resulting in private conversations being recorded and shared with third parties such as advertisers.

Plaintiffs reported incidents where private discussions about products or services — from Air Jordan sneakers to specific medical treatments — apparently led to targeted adverts for those same items. They allege that Apple captured and shared these conversations without user permission.

The proposed settlement could damage Apple’s privacy-focused image, with chief executive Tim Cook previously positioning the company as an industry leader in safeguarding customer data. However, the $95 million settlement represents just a fraction of the profits Apple has generated since 2014 (an estimated $705 billion).

The settlement still requires court approval, with a hearing proposed for 14 February in Oakland. If approved, eligible US customers who owned Siri-enabled devices between 17 September 2014 and the end of last year will be able to submit claims. Lawyers for the plaintiffs may seek legal fees and expenses from the settlement fund, potentially up to $29.6 million in total.

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Apple agrees to £77M settlement over alleged Siri eavesdropping

Marco Longhi, the former Conservative MP for Dudley North, has joined Nigel Farage’s Reform UK after accusing his old party of having been “captured by a left-wing influence masquerading as conservatism”.

He is the third ex-Tory MP to defect to Reform UK since last year’s general election, following Aidan Burley and Dame Andrea Jenkyns.

Longhi, who lost his seat in July, claimed the Conservative Party he once identified with had become “unrecognisable” and said he could no longer stand by the “uniparty drift” towards a “left-wing agenda”. He pledged that, if re-elected, he would remain loyal to “the people,” rather than the party leadership.

His defection coincides with a new “mega-poll” by Stonehaven, based on 17,000 voters, suggesting that Reform UK would capture up to 120 seats if a general election were held today. It also indicates Labour would fall from its current 411 MPs to 278, while the Tories would rise to 157 seats from 121. Although Reform UK has only five MPs at present, the poll suggests its strongest gains could come in East Anglia, Essex and much of northern England’s so-called red wall.

Other former Conservative figures have gravitated towards Farage’s party, including Nick Candy, who serves as Reform UK’s billionaire treasurer, and Tim Montgomerie, founder of the ConservativeHome website. Rael Braverman, husband of ex-home secretary Suella Braverman, also recently defected, though she dismissed any suggestion that she might follow.

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Ex-Tory MP defects to Reform UK as poll predicts 120-seat breakthrough

Three quarters of former Conservative MPs who lost their seats at the last election are poised to attempt a comeback, new research suggests.

According to a survey by the Conservatives Together group — a network headed by Grant Shapps, the former defence secretary — only 10 of 88 ex-Tory MPs polled ruled out standing again. A further 38 said they would “definitely” run, while 25 indicated they were “leaning towards” a renewed campaign for office.

Among those considering a return are prominent former MPs Penny Mordaunt, who remains on the party’s candidate list, and Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, who said he was “thinking very strongly” about re-entering parliament. Sir Nick Gibb, Sir Ranil Jayawardena and Sir Marcus Jones — all of whom lost their seats — each received knighthoods in the new year’s honours list.

Shapps, who lost the constituency of Welwyn Hatfield and is now leading Conservatives Together, said he had not ruled out a comeback. “It’s hard to sit on the sidelines and not feel that pull,” he noted, adding that any decision would ultimately “depend on the voters”.

Conservatives Together is modelled on Labour Together, a group previously run by Morgan McSweeney, now the prime minister’s chief of staff. It combines training for would-be Conservative MPs with local polling analysis to feed into party strategy. Early research suggests Labour remains the Tories’ main challenger, with Reform UK acting more as a “vote splitter” than a serious rival.

A recent report from Conservatives Together criticised the party’s use of social media during the previous campaign, accusing it of “stupidity” for neglecting TikTok and failing to appeal to younger voters. Shapps said the decision to call the election on 4 July last year was taken “without understanding, consultation, warning or sufficient preparation,” adding that the resulting vacuum allowed Reform to outperform the Tories on key digital platforms.

Lord Kempsell, who co-leads the group with Shapps, warned that Conservative support now skews significantly older, with the average likely Tory voter aged 63, compared with a much younger profile in 2019. To help rebuild, he believes the party must “master social media, not just dabble in it,” if it hopes to connect with a broader swathe of the electorate.

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Three quarters of ousted Tory MPs eyeing a return to Westminster

Half of the cash balance at Pitch@Palace Global, the commercial arm of the Duke of York’s entrepreneurial platform, has been withdrawn in the space of a year, newly filed accounts reveal.

The latest figures from Companies House show that the company’s funds fell from £454,979 to £220,990 in the 12 months to 31 March 2024.

The document, signed by sole director Arthur Lancaster, does not clarify the destination of the £230,000 or the purpose of the payment. Instead, it notes only that the “strategic direction and purpose of the company remains under review”.

Established to connect start-ups with potential investors, the Duke of York’s Pitch@Palace has faced scrutiny following revelations that its China-based collaborator, businessman Yang Tengbo, was allegedly barred from entering the UK on national security grounds. Yang, who twice visited Andrew at Buckingham Palace and was invited to his 60th birthday party, was linked to the Duke’s senior aide via letters found on his mobile phone.

In that correspondence, aide Dominic Hampshire praised Yang’s “guidance” in moving unnamed individuals “unnoticed in and out of the house in Windsor”. After Yang’s alleged ties to espionage emerged, Prince Andrew insisted he had “ceased all contact” with the Chinese businessman.

The scheme’s future now appears uncertain as questions mount over its finances and international partnerships.

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Cash withdrawal from Prince Andrew’s Pitch@Palace sparks questions over scheme’s future

Train travellers face up to five months of disruption on the West Coast Main Line, as the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union launches a series of Sunday strikes from 12 January to 25 May.

The action follows the rejection of Avanti West Coast’s latest pay offer, with more than four-fifths of train managers voting against it in a recent referendum.

Avanti West Coast, which operates high-speed services between London, the North West and Scotland, has warned that the strikes will cause “significant disruption” for customers, after stating it was disappointed by the outcome of the vote. The company claims it made a “very reasonable revised offer” to resolve the long-running dispute over rest day working and a so-called “new technology payment” for scanning electronic tickets.

The RMT, led by Mick Lynch, previously suspended pre-Christmas walkouts after Avanti tabled a revised proposal. However, union leaders have decided to resume and extend industrial action, blaming what they call the company’s failure to deliver a fair deal. The dispute centres on persuading guards to work on rostered rest days, including Sundays, to cover staff shortages and avoid timetable disruptions.

Avanti, which has endured criticism for poor punctuality in recent months, was the worst-performing train operator between July and September: just 41 per cent of its services arrived on time, compared to a national average of 67 per cent. The franchise escaped an early threat of nationalisation after reporting improvements, but continues to face scrutiny from the government, which ultimately controls its spending.

Industry observers suggest that the RMT may be playing “hardball” in seeking a more generous package from the Treasury, given Avanti’s reliance on public funding. The union’s decision to escalate the dispute with five months of planned strikes underscores the continued volatility in Britain’s rail sector, raising concerns for businesses and commuters alike.

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Five months of travel chaos loom as Avanti staff vow Sunday walkouts

Retailers and hospitality firms are staring at an unprecedented rise in staff tax bills this year, triggered by Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to increase employer National Insurance contributions alongside an above-inflation hike to the minimum wage.

New figures compiled by the Centre for Policy Studies (CPS) show that the annual cost of employing one full-time minimum wage worker will jump by £2,367 to more than £24,800, of which over £5,000 will go directly to the Treasury. More than a fifth of the amount businesses spend on those staff — 21.3 per cent — will now be swallowed up in taxes, up from 17.5 per cent last year.

This represents the largest year-on-year increase in the so-called “tax wedge” since the minimum wage was introduced in 1999. The wedge — which includes levies paid by employers and by workers themselves — had never exceeded 20 per cent until now. By comparison, in 2015 it was just 11 per cent for a minimum wage role, when a rise in the personal allowance led to lower taxes overall.

Robert Colvile, director of the CPS, criticised Labour’s approach, warning that heavier taxation on jobs would harm Britain’s growth prospects. “Labour claims to understand the importance of growth and to have made it a priority. But it was clear from the moment of the Budget that taxing jobs and work would damage the economy,” he said.

The sectors most affected will be retail and hospitality, which together rely heavily on lower-paid, often part-time staff. Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality, urged the Government to reconsider: “We’re calling for a delay to its introduction in April to give the Chancellor time to consult with businesses on measures that can protect businesses and team members.”

Meanwhile, the British Retail Consortium estimated that the new Budget measures will cost the sector an additional £7 billion. This heavier burden arrives at a time of declining footfall, which dropped for the second year in a row to 2.2 per cent below 2023 levels.

Helen Dickinson, the BRC’s chief executive, called December’s footfall data “drab”, adding that it “capped a disappointing year for UK retail footfall”.

Business confidence remains fragile, with 71 per cent of leaders surveyed by the Institute of Directors feeling pessimistic about Britain’s economic outlook for 2025. Anna Leach, the IoD’s chief economist, pointed to “profit uncertainty” as a major constraint on investment, noting that nearly a quarter of business leaders plan to make no investments at all this year.

The increase in employer National Insurance contributions is also having a disproportionate impact on lower earners, whose taxable pay is pushed above new thresholds more quickly than those on average salaries. CPS analysis shows that the typical employer’s National Insurance bill for a full-time minimum wage employee will jump from £1,617 to £2,583 this year — a 60 per cent rise.

On top of that, the National Living Wage is increasing by 6.7 per cent, compounding the overall cost of employing staff. Daniel Herring of the CPS said: “By making it more expensive to employ people, the hikes in employer’s National Insurance disproportionately affect the lowest paid.”

The Treasury defended the Budget measures, emphasising the need to restore economic stability. A spokesman pointed to the independent Office for Budget Responsibility’s conclusion that it will lead to “lower unemployment and higher wages over the coming years”, while noting that “more than half of employers will either see a cut or no change in their National Insurance bills.” The spokesman added that the government’s Plan For Change aims to “get Britain building, unlock investment, and support business so we can make all parts of the country better off.”

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Shops and restaurants brace for record employment tax surge after Reeves’s budget raid

The Post Office is pushing for a significant increase in the fees that banks pay to allow their customers to use its national branch network, hoping to secure between £350 million and £400 million a year from the next banking framework — up from the current £250 million.

Under the proposal, around 30 banks and building societies are being asked to pay the higher sum to maintain essential services for millions of customers who still depend on physical access to deposit and withdraw cash. A final agreement is expected in the autumn, providing additional funding that will be channelled into higher pay for sub-postmasters, following a pledge made by Post Office chairman Nigel Railton last November.

The rising cost for the banks reflects the continuing importance of the Post Office’s 11,500-strong network, particularly as traditional high street lenders have closed more than 6,000 branches over the past decade. Figures from 2023 show that more than £10 billion was withdrawn and £29 billion was deposited at Post Office counters.

Although the Post Office continues to rely on public subsidies, the organisation’s leadership hopes to use this new deal to underpin its long-term commercial sustainability. The push to secure extra income comes in the wake of the Horizon IT scandal, which saw hundreds of sub-postmasters wrongly convicted due to flawed software. The Post Office has acknowledged that re-establishing trust and financial support for these branch operators remains crucial.

A spokeswoman for the Post Office declined to comment on ongoing negotiations, but confirmed the importance of maintaining access to cash for communities across the UK, describing the service as especially vital for vulnerable or less digitally connected customers.

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Post Office eyes extra £100m from new bank deal to boost postmasters’ pay

House prices in some of London’s most exclusive postcodes are tipped to fall as Labour’s decision to apply VAT on private school fees forces more families to reconsider their housing choices.

Property experts predict that homeowners grappling with steeper tuition bills will either downsize, relocate to more affordable areas, or choose state schools, weakening demand in prime residential areas such as Islington, Hampstead and Chiswick.

Estate agents and mortgage brokers warn that housing demand and prices are set for a slowdown in these leafy boroughs. Recent forecasts from Savills suggest prime central London could see a 4 per cent dip in house prices this year — equating to a fall of £184,000 on the current £4.6 million average — while outer prime London remains flat at £1.8 million. By comparison, housing hotspots outside the capital are expected to rise by 2 per cent.

Lucian Cook, head of residential research at Savills, believes private school fees — which have surged in line with a VAT charge introduced by Sir Keir Starmer from 1 January — will be a key factor in weakening values in affluent areas. Calculations show that the average day pupil fees climbed by 14 per cent, the largest annual jump in more than 40 years, adding around £2,600 annually to the cost.

This extra expense comes on top of rising mortgage rates, a winding-down of non-dom tax perks, and broader concerns over the economic outlook. Some families on tighter budgets may opt to move out of London to areas with lower house prices and cheaper private schools or good state alternatives. Others who had initially planned to upsize may also pause those plans in order to cope with higher school costs.

Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter, notes that suburban areas and commuter belts could benefit as families seek more affordable lifestyles. She cautions, however, that prime central London and similarly expensive enclaves could witness a supply increase, pushing down prices as sellers attempt to offset the financial blow of spiralling school fees.

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Labour’s VAT on private school fees set to cool house prices in London’s affluent enclaves

Elon Musk has waded into British politics by calling for a “new election in Britain” after a fresh wave of polling data revealed a sharp decline in support for Labour.

A YouGov survey commissioned by The Times suggests that most voters view Sir Keir Starmer’s party as “incompetent”, “dishonest” and “unsuccessful”. Many respondents expect the prime minister to fall short on the policy milestones he recently set out.

In response to the polling, the Tesla and SpaceX entrepreneur took to Twitter, writing: “A new election should be called in Britain.” He also urged voters to support Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, tweeting: “Vote Reform. it’s the only hope.”

The latest results arrive on the heels of an underwhelming reaction to October’s Budget, with just 21 per cent of respondents saying they trust Labour on economic matters, compared with 24 per cent favouring the Conservatives. Starmer used his New Year’s Day address to call 2025 a “year of rebuilding” as he vowed to restore public services and champion national prosperity.

Yet Labour has reportedly lost 33 of about 150 contested council seats since the most recent General Election, with the Conservatives gaining 24 and Reform UK picking up seven. A recent More in Common poll indicates Labour would lose 200 seats from its 411-majority if a General Election were held today. This would allow Reform UK to leapfrog the Liberal Democrats and become the third-largest parliamentary party, netting 72 seats — with many high-profile Cabinet figures, including Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, projected to lose theirs.

Luke Tryl, executive director of More in Common UK, emphasised that while the findings are not a direct forecast for the next election, “it confirms the fragmentation of British politics that we saw in July’s election has only accelerated in Labour’s six months in office”.

Farage’s Reform UK appears poised to secure its first seats in Wales, with notable inroads also projected in parts of England such as South Yorkshire, North Nottinghamshire, Greater Manchester and Tyne and Wear. The polling shows the party in second place in over 200 constituencies — a further sign of the political volatility currently gripping Britain.

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Elon Musk calls for ‘new election in Britain’ as Labour support nosedives

Nick Clegg, Britain’s former deputy prime minister, has announced his departure from Meta after six years at the social media giant.

Clegg, who joined in 2018 and rose to become the company’s president of global affairs, confirmed his exit in a Facebook post, describing his tenure as an “adventure of a lifetime”.

He joined the then-Facebook at a time of intense scrutiny, helping to steer the tech behemoth through the Cambridge Analytica data scandal. Clegg went on to spearhead the creation of the independent Oversight Board, an initiative aimed at boosting transparency in content moderation and governance.

Joel Kaplan, Clegg’s deputy and Meta’s former vice-president of global public policy, will succeed him. Kaplan previously served under President George W Bush as deputy chief of staff for policy and is seen as one of the most prominent conservative voices within Meta’s upper ranks. He rose through the company amid criticism from Republicans who claimed Facebook had a liberal bias, prompting moves such as partnering with the fact-checking division of the conservative Daily Caller news site.

Clegg’s departure comes just weeks before Donald Trump’s upcoming inauguration on 20 January. Meta and other social media platforms have navigated a complex relationship with the former president, from banning his accounts to reinstating them and donating to his inauguration fund in 2017. Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg praised Clegg’s impact in “advancing Meta’s voice and values around the world” and expressed confidence in Kaplan’s capacity to guide policy through what are likely to be turbulent political waters.

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Nick Clegg leaves Meta as Joel Kaplan takes helm of global affairs