Musk would need to hit a series of market value, profit and operational milestones to earn mega-payout * Full story: Retail sales rise but ONS apologises as statistics crisis deepens * Full story: Average UK house price reaches record £299,331, says Halifax Barbara Teixeira Araujo, economist at Moody’s Analytics, says today’s retail sales report shows that the first quarter of the year was not as strong as previously thought: “That U.K. retail sales rose by a strong 0.6% month over month in July—building on a 0.3% increase in June—was definitely good news, especially given the bad vibes coming from the labour market. But we caution against reading too much into the headline. Not only did the underlying pace of growth remain lacklustre, with growth still falling by 0.6% q/q in the three months to July, but there are now significant questions around the reliability of those figures. Issues found with seasonal adjustment led to a thorough overhaul of the methodology this month, resulting in a completely different story for the first half of 2025—and in a much weaker first quarter than previously anticipated. With consumer confidence remaining weak and the labour market clearly deteriorating, retailers will continue to struggle with muted demand. While consumer spending won’t crash, it will provide only little support to growth over the coming quarters.” Continue reading...

Epping Council has been denied the chance to appeal a ruling to the Supreme Court over asylum seekers being housed at the Bell Hotel.