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Theresa May, the Prime Minister, sat on the steps of the throne, as a privy counsellor, watching the Lords debate the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. The Supreme Court upheld the rule that Britons must earn more than £18,600 before their husband or wife from outside the European Economic Area can settle in Britain. Rebecca Steinfeld and Charles Keidan failed (on the grounds that they are of different sexes) in their Court of Appeal application to be allowed to enter into a civil partnership. The BBC said that in 28 out of 44 areas in England subject to NHS ‘sustainability and transformation plans’, hospital services would be reduced. The BBC is to spend £30 million a year on a new channel in Scotland. The BBC also investigated complaints that dialogue in its new drama series SS-GB was inaudible: ‘We take audibility seriously,’ it said.
Government finances recorded a £9.4 billion surplus in January, a touch up on January 2016, and with borrowing at £49.3 billion in the current financial year, it seemed likely to run up a deficit less than the £68 billion forecast. HSBC reported a fall in annual profits of 62 per cent to £5.7 billion. Lloyds Bank announced its highest profits for a decade at £4.2 billion. Kraft Heinz abandoned a £115 billion offer to buy Unilever, its Anglo-Dutch competitor. PSA, the French owners of Peugeot and Citroën, expressed interest in buying General Motors’ European operations, including Vauxhall, which has works at Luton and Ellesmere Port employing 4,500. Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, said that drivers of older, more polluting cars would have to pay £10 to use them in central London. Shops, hospitals and gentlemen’s clubs faced rises in business rates of up to 400 per cent from 1 April.
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