Your commercial news round-up: Queen’s speech, Tesla bans Bitcoin, Burberry, medical cannabis

The government outlined its programme to “level up” the UK in the Queen’s speech on Tuesday, following the previous week’s local and devolved elections, with the Conservatives reinforcing their position as the dominant political force in England, the SNP continuing to lead the field in Scotland, and Labour doing well in Wales and the Manchester and London mayoral elections, but losing ground elsewhere, including a crucial byelection in Hartlepool.

What are the commercial awareness takeaways from these election results? For the government, they were a green light to push on with its infrastructure spending plans, while Labour appointed a new shadow chancellor following its failed attempts to reconnect with key lost voters. Rachel Reeves is the new politician tasked with holding the government’s Rishi Sunak to account on the economy. Reeves’ first move has been to highlight the lack of an employment bill in the government’s programme.

In other commercial news:

• Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin, its founder Elon Musk has tweeted, following an outcry by environmentalists and some investors. The electric carmaker announced that it would be accepting Bitcoin payments in March, but has backtracked due to the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining and transactions, which require computers to be switched on for prolonged periods.

• FTSE 100 shares fell sharply on Thursday amid fears of a rise in inflation and weak stock performance. Companies such as BP, Shell, Rio Tinto, BHP and Anglo American all fell by 3% or more, with other markets around the world also falling in response.

• Burberry led Thursday’s FTSE 100 slide at 8%, but in better news for the fashion label, shareholder dividends have been reinstated at pre-pandemic levels following a recent upsurge in sales as shoppers emerge from lockdown. 

• In other stocks news, medical cannabis company Hellenic Dynamics has announced plans to list on the London Stock Exchange in June. The company focuses on selling dried cannabis flowers containing THC – the psychoactive component of cannabis – in Germany, and hopes to be the first European cannabis cultivator to list in London.

• In housing news, thousands of tenants living in rented accommodation face eviction due to rent arrears when the government’s pandemic-focused ban on evictions ends, charities and campaigners have warned. Polly Neate, chief executive of housing charity Shelter, said: “If the government doesn’t act, the system will collapse under the weight of a growing evictions crisis after the final bailiff ban lifts. The government’s ambition to end homelessness will be totally undermined if more people lose their homes in the year ahead. It must step in to help renters clear their covid rent debts – before it’s too late.”

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