Friday newspaper round-up: Shein, clean power, farmers

(Sharecast News) - Britain's financial regulator is taking longer than usual to approve the fast-fashion retailer Shein's stock market listing because it is checking its supply chain oversight and assessing legal risks after an advocacy group for China's Uyghur population challenged the listing, according to two sources close to the matter. Britain's Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner, a monitoring body of the Home Office, has also raised concerns within government over a Shein initial public offering (IPO) because of allegations about labour practices at its suppliers. - Guardian Labour's plan to switch to a clean power system by 2030 faces "significant challenges" to avoid delays and prevent vulnerable households paying higher bills, experts have warned. The UK Energy Research Centre (UKERC) has said there is "very little room for error" in meeting the government's plan to create a 95% low-carbon electricity grid by the end of the decade. - Guardian

Britain's workforce will shrink to a record low as a surge in the number of people who are too sick to work drags on the economy. Projections by the tax and spending watchdog show the share of over-16s in work or looking for a job will never get back to pre-lockdown levels, as an ageing population and rising ill health leaves a permanent scar on the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) believes the share of the adult population either in employment or looking for a job will fall to just 61.8pc in the 2060s. - Telegraph

Britain's farmers are braced for £600m of collective losses after poor weather led to the second-worst harvest on record. According to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the UK's harvested wheat crop plunged to 11.1m tonnes in 2024, down from 14m the year prior. - Telegraph

Britain's farmers are braced for £600m of collective losses after poor weather led to the second-worst harvest on record. According to figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the UK's harvested wheat crop plunged to 11.1m tonnes in 2024, down from 14m the year prior. - The Times