EQ Weekly roundup 16-01-19

This week’s roundup includes news that the Prime Minister is facing a no confidence vote after her Brexit deal failed to gain parliamentary approval, German growth has slowed to its slowest for five years and a major bank’s overdraft fees have been branded ‘unacceptable’.  

PM facing confidence vote after Brexit deal defeat

Theresa May’s government is facing a vote of no confidence later tonight after MPs rejected the PM’s Brexit deal. 

Labour launched the bid to trigger a general election after May’s deal suffered the worst Commons defeat in history. 

However, sources have suggested the no confidence vote – to be held on Wednesday evening – is unlikely to succeed, with Northern Ireland’s DUP and Tory rebels saying they will back the PM. 

May has told MPs she will return to the Commons with an alternative plan next week, provided she survives the confidence vote. 

M&S names 17 more shops to close

Marks and Spencer has named the next wave of stores earmarked for closure in its reorganisation plan, including those in Huddersfield, Hull and Luton. 

The 17 proposed closures are part of the clothing, homeware and food retailer’s five-year plan to shut more than 100 stores by 2022. 

The latest plans will affect 1,045 staff, who will now be involved in a consultation process.The company wants to move a third of its sales online and plans to have fewer stores in better locations. 

The 17 stores which M&S proposes to close are: Ashford, Barrow, Bedford, Boston, Buxton, Cwmbran, Deal, Felixstowe, Huddersfield, Hull, Junction One Antrim Outlet, Luton Arndale, Newark, Northwich, Rotherham, Sutton Coldfield and Weston-super-Mare. 

German growth slowest for five years

Germany’s economy grew by 1.5% last year, its slowest rate since 2013, the latest official figures show. Figures from the Federal Statistics Office showed Europe’s largest economy slowed sharply as the year wore on. 

A weaker global economy and problems in the car industry, caused by new pollution standards, have been cited as contributing to the slowdown. 

At the start of 2018, the German economy had been expected to grow by 1.8%. Growth was 2.2% in 2017. 

Germany’s economy had shrunk in the third quarter of the year, by 0.2%, with global trade disputes blamed for the contraction. 

Lloyds overdraft fees ‘unacceptable’, says MP

Lloyds Banking Group has been criticised for introducing new overdraft charges ahead of a proposed crackdown later this year. 

An MP described the fees – which will equate to an annual interest charge of up to 61% – as ‘unacceptable’. 

The Financial Conduct Authority wants to scrap overdraft fees and replace them with a single interest rate. 

MP Rachel Reeves, who chairs the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy select committee, said: ‘It is unacceptable for financial institutions to try to game the system at the expense of customers, particularly those struggling with their finances.’