POST OFFICE SCANDAL VICTIMS TO BE EXONERATED AND COMPENSATED AS RISHI SUNAK PROPOSES NEW LAW 

The prime minister has said a new law will be introduced so people wrongly convicted in the Horizon scandal are “swiftly exonerated and compensated” (Sky News). 

Rishi Sunak told the House of Commons that a new law would be passed “within weeks” to restore the names of 800 postmasters wrongly prosecuted in the Post Office Horizon scandal. The move will unlock compensation starting at £600,000 to “help them rebuild their lives,” the prime minister said (The Times). 

BANK OF ENGLAND’S INFLATION TARGET MAY BE HIT BY APRIL

Inflation is on track to fall below the Bank of England’s target as soon as April according to forecasters at Oxford Economics, Investec and Deutche Bank (The Guardian). As a result, the Bank of England may be forced to bring forward the date of its first interest rate cut. 

Separately, Andrew Bailey has said that the economy has entered the new year in better shape than expected. At a Treasury Committee session yesterday, Bailey told MPs that an unexpected improvement to living standards in 2023 had fortified the economy, despite rapidly rising prices (The Times). 

NEWS IN BRIEF

The government hopes to boost the nuclear power industry with the biggest expansion of the sector in 70 years. A new large scale nuclear plant would quadruple supplies by 2050, which the government claims would lower bills and improve energy security (BBC News). 

The US Securities and Exchange Commission has approved exchange-traded funds that invest directly in Bitcoin (Bloomberg). 

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan is set to call for a debate on the case for re-joining the customs union and single market in a speech at Mansion House on Thursday (Financial Times). 

HM Treasury has set out proposals to help manage the failure of small banks, which it said would lead to some costs being met by industry rather than the taxpayer (Reuters).