Your commercial news round-up: UK general election, Virgin Money shareholders and Nationwide, Taylor Swift ticket scams, Microsoft AI screenshots

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UK general election, proposed acquisitions, Taylor Swift ticket scams and Microsoft’s new AI feature are on our radar this week. Read on for a summary of these stories and use the PESTLE technique to delve further into the impacts of each one.

• Prime Minister (PM) Rishi Sunak has called for a general election to take place on Thursday 4 July, claiming he’s “prepared to take bold action” in light of economic stability returning to the UK. While inflation in the UK has fallen to its lowest level (2.3% in April) in almost three years amid falling gas and electricity prices, it remains higher than the Bank of England’s (BoE) 2% target. The BoE has also indicated that interest rates, which are currently sitting at 5.25%, could be cut this summer.

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During his statement outside Downing Street on Wednesday 22 May, Sunak explained that “this hard-earned economic stability was only ever meant to be the beginning”, urging the nation to consider “how and who do you trust to turn that foundation into a secure future for you, your family and our country?” ahead of the election in July. In an interview on BBC Radio 4 earlier today, Sunak was questioned on his decision to call the election, NHS waiting lists, the Rwanda scheme and the nature of the campaign. It’s expected that both Sunak and Labour leader Kier Starmer will travel around the UK on the first day of the new campaign. Nick Emmerson, president of the Law Society, said: “The upcoming general election is a pivotal moment for our justice system. The legal sector contributes £60 billion to the economy and plays an important role in securing economic growth. Delivering access to justice is vital for our justice system and all political parties must commit to upholding the rule of law and narrowing the justice gap to create a fairer, more accessible system for all.”

• A £2.9 billion tie up between Virgin Money shareholders and Nationwide has been given the green light – a transaction that could become the UK’s biggest banking merger since the financial crisis. Nationwide’s acquisition of the challenger bank is expected to complete in Q4 and looks set to create a combined group with around 700 branches and assets of more than £360 billion, according to CITY A.M. Although majority of investors in the challenger group voted in favour of the acquisition, the deal still requires approval from the UK’s banking and financial regulators, and the Competition and Markets Authority.      

• Fake Taylor Swift and Olympics tickets have been revealed as the two biggest online scams consumers could face this year, according to UK Finance. Lloyds Bank found that Swift fans reportedly lost a total of £1 million in fake ticket sales prior to the UK leg of The Eras Tour as more than 600 of the bank’s customers reported losing money. UK Finance’s annual fraud report found that criminals stole £1.17 billion in 2023. Andy Donald, director of communications at UK Finance, said: “Tickets for big events such as the Olympics, Euro 2024, Glastonbury or Taylor Swift sell out quickly and people often look online for better offers to avoid missing out.
  
  "Criminals will use this as an opportunity to try and trick you into purchasing tickets that are either fraudulent or don’t exist.”
   
• The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has said that it’s “making enquiries with Microsoft” about Recall, a new Microsoft feature designed to store encrypted snapshots locally on computers. The feature, which is exclusive to Microsoft’s upcoming Copilot+ PCs, takes screenshots of the laptop every few seconds – the ICO is looking to “understand the safeguards in place to protect user privacy”. Dr Kris Shrishak, an adviser on AI and privacy, described the new feature as “a privacy nightmare” but Microsoft has said that privacy has been built into the design of Recall, with users able to “limit which snapshots” it collects.

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