Thursday newspaper round-up: Betfred, rail strikes, EDF
The bookmaker Betfred has been fined nearly £2.9m for failings in its social responsibility and money-laundering controls, after accepting tens of thousands of pounds from gamblers without performing adequate safety checks. One customer was allowed to lose £70,000 over a 10-hour period just a day after opening their account, the Gambling Commission said. – Guardian
No trains will run between London and Britain’s biggest cities this Saturday as multiple unions combine strikes, the rail industry has confirmed. Timetables for 1 October have been published, with the overall service cut to just 11% of the normal schedule, when Aslef, RMT and some TSSA and Unite members are walking out for 24 hours in the long-running dispute over pay and conditions. – Guardian
EDF is exploring keeping two of its UK nuclear power stations open for longer than planned amid growing concern over energy shortages. The French state-owned company said it will review its current plans to close Hartlepool and Heysham 1 in March 2024 “with an ambition to generate longer if possible”. – Telegraph
Britain will suffer a "rapid and significant detrimental impact on trade and travel" with Europe if Brussels refuses to soften new border checks due to come in next year, the boss of the Port of Dover has warned. Biometric controls are due to be introduced next May, replacing the “wet stamping” of passports, which was brought in after Britain left the EU. – Telegraph
Britain’s biggest carmaker has revealed the scale of efforts to retrain its workforce to cope with the shift to zero-emission vehicles. Jaguar Land Rover said 10,000 workers in the UK alone, both in its facilities and those employed by dealers selling Jaguars, Range Rovers and Land Rovers, would have to go through retraining programmes. – The Times