Your commercial news round-up: farmers’ basic income, airport liquid limit, Disney, household bills

Reading time: three minutes

Farmers call for a universal basic income and UK airports have fallen behind with plans to implement new scanning technology to remove the liquid limit. Additionally, Disney wins a shareholder vote against activist investors, retaining its current board members, and the UK continues to face rising bills. Find out more in this week’s commercial news round-up.

• Farmers are calling for the government to provide them with a universal basic income, following the negative economic effects of Brexit. After the UK left the European Union (EU), the government set up new farming schemes to replace the EU’s common agriculture policy (CAP). However, delays to the implementation of the government’s sustainable farming incentive scheme has left farmers out of pocket. Additionally, due to a lack of sign-ups, the government underspent hundreds of millions on the scheme. Because of this, at least 100 farmers have signed up to a new group, BI4Farmers. The group is calling for a basic income, as government projections show that current payment schemes won’t cover the income lost after the UK replaced the CAP.
  
  Jo Poulton, BI4Farmers coordinator, said: “British farmers are overworked and underpaid but the Brexit process presents an ideal opportunity to change this […] A basic income for farmers would guarantee an adequate income, improving access to time off and reasonable working hours and making entering a career in farming affordable for new entrants.”
   
• Major UK airports have extended the deadline for lifting the liquid limit for travel. New scanners, which will allow passengers to bring unlimited liquids on board in hand luggage, were expected to be rolled out across the UK from 1 June 2024. However, London Gatwick, Heathrow and Manchester airports are expected to miss this deadline as they’ve applied for year-long extensions. These new scanners are already used in some countries, such as the US, but the UK is the first to attempt a wide-scale rollout. A source explained that as Heathrow has 146 security lanes, the installation process needs to be carefully managed to reduce disruption, which has led to mounting delays.
   
• The Disney board has won a shareholder vote against activist investors who were seeking seats on the board of directors. Investor Nelson Peltz from Trian Management pledged to use seats on the board to push for higher profits and fulfil a range of priorities. The conflict raised questions about how the company conducts its TV and film business. Peltz stated, "all we want is for Disney to get back to making great content and delighting consumers and for Disney to create sustainable long-term value for shareholders.” However, the current shareholders voted to maintain the current board, including CEO Bob Iger. Iger received support from major shareholders, such as George Lucas, Laurene Powell Jobs and members of the Disney family. According to a source, Peltz received 31% of the votes. The campaign was costly from both sides, with Trian spending an estimated $25 million and Disney claiming to have spent $40 million.
   
• As spring begins, energy prices have started to fall, but many households’ bills are expected to rise overall. The average annual energy bill for a household will fall to £1690, which is the lowest in two years. Plus, regulator Ofgem has introduced a price cap as of 1 April, which means that bills will be reduced by an average of £20 a month or £238 a year.
  
  However, many phone and broadband providers are introducing an 8.8% mid-contract price rise, and water and sewerage bills will rise by 6% in England and Wales. Additionally, council taxes will rise in most areas, except Scotland where a freeze is expected. Other fees such as the TV licence fee, vehicle tax and NHS dental charges are expected to rise. Discounts are available for some bills − for example, people can seek council tax discounts and the WaterSure scheme in England and Wales will help some reduce their water bills.

Check the News every Thursday for this weekly commercial news round-up. Prefer to listen to your commercial news? Why not check out our Commercial Connect podcast?             

Follow LawCareers.Net on X, LinkedIn, and Instagram for regular business news updates.