Friday newspaper round-up: Tesco, First-time buyers, consumer confidence

28th Aug 2015 07:21

(ShareCast News) - The ousted chief executive of Tesco is to be interviewed by the Serious Fraud Office over the supermarket group's £326m accounting scandal. Philip Clarke, who left Tesco last year after a series of profit warnings, is to be interviewed under caution, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the investigation. - The TimesThe threat of rising interest rates has helped the number of first-time buyers to jump to its highest level since 2007, despite the increasingly hefty deposits needed. Completed property transactions by first-timers reached 29,700 in July, which was 5% higher than in June and the highest since August 2007 when the number stood at 35,300, according to the latest first-time buyer tracker report from Your Move and Reeds Rains, the estate agents. - The TimesUK consumer confidence climbed to its joint highest level in 15 years in August, as rising house prices, a brighter jobs market and low inflation underscored Britain's recovery. GfK's latest confidence barometer showed optimism about personal finances as well as the wider economy rose in August compared with July, pushing its index up three points to 7. This matched June's reading, which was also the highest since January 2000. - The Daily TelegraphThe US government has approved a massive deal to modernise Britain's fleet of Apache attack helicopters with the latest American technology, removing a major hurdle that could have otherwise seen the aircraft upgraded in the UK. The US State Department said it had approved a request from the Ministry of Defence for a $3bn deal for the "remanufacture" of 50 Apache WAH-64 Mk I helicopters to turn them into advanced AH-64E Guardian models. - The Daily TelegraphThe number of millionaires in the UK has shot up by 41% over the past five years, with one in 65 adults now classed as having a seven-figure fortune thanks to booming house prices and stock market gains. There are now 715,000 millionaires living in Britain compared with 508,000 in 2010, with London having the highest concentration of wealthy individuals. The capital has 191,000 millionaires, followed by the south-east with 157,000, according to data from the wealth management arm of Barclays bank. - The GuardianNicola Sturgeon has accused the BBC of letting down viewers with some of its coverage on the independence referendum, saying it had failed to create a level playing field and ensure its journalists were properly up to speed on the debate. The First Minister said the broadcaster had regularly failed to properly reflect both sides of the argument - due to a lack of scrutiny of the case for the status quo. - The Scotsman