Wednesday newspaper round-up: Living standards, North Sea oil production, property funds

The UK air traffic system failure that resulted in more than 2,000 flights being cancelled has been blamed on “an extremely rare set of circumstances”, as the aviation regulator opened an inquiry into the meltdown that caused chaos for passengers. The Civil Aviation Authority announced its own independent review as it submitted an initial report from Nats, the air traffic control services provider, into the incident to the transport secretary, Mark Harper. – Guardian

UK workers’ living standards will flatline next year, leaving them on track to be 4% worse off heading into the next election than they were in 2019, according to a leading thinktank. The Resolution Foundation, which focuses its research on low- to middle-income households, said in a report that “never in living memory have families got so much poorer over the course of a parliament”. – Guardian

North Sea oil production has plunged at its fastest pace in a decade as fears grow over a potential Labour government and Rishi Sunak’s windfall tax deters investment. Crude oil output slumped by 13pc in the first six months of this year compared with the same period in 2022, a report by Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) found. – Telegraph

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan has signalled its continued confidence in the UK, snapping up the wealth management group Seven Investment Management for £255 million in cash. Ontario, one of the biggest pension funds in the world with C$250 billion in investments, is buying a majority stake in the business from Caledonia Investments, the listed investment vehicle of the Cayzer family. – The Times

Investors are pulling their money out of property funds at a rate not seen since the chaos of the mini-budget last autumn. A net £121 million was withdrawn from property funds in August, according to data from Calastone, which tracks fund flows. Property funds have suffered outflows in each of the past 13 months, with August’s decline the largest since October last year when the mini-budget unnerved bond markets and sent yields and borrowing costs sharply higher. – The Times