Business
Wales ‘should get a lot more’ of UK’s rail cash
The Welsh economy is losing out because of a lack of rail investment, a transport expert has said.
Prof Mark Barry said Wales should be getting a lot more money, but because spending was controlled from Whitehall, England was more of a priority.
The first minister said she was doing everything she could to get more cash for the country’s railways.
The Welsh Conservatives said Wales should be getting its fair share of HS2 funding.
The Labour UK government said investment was key to its priorities, but rail investment was run from the Department for Transport in London rather than the Welsh government.
Prof Barry, from Cardiff University, said that meant Wales was down the queue for cash.
He said: “We get about 1 to 2% of the funding available but should get a lot more.
“In an ideal world you’d be looking at 5 or 6% of the total UK investment in rail enhancement, but if you don’t invest in essential economic infrastructure – specifically in energy, transport and housing – then you can’t really expect your economy to turn a corner.”
He said the amount of cash Wales was asking for was tiny compared with what had already been committed to English railways.
“The TransPennine Express Group Upgrade is a £10bn capital programme over 15 years,” he said.
“In Wales we’ve worked up over the last five years £2-3bn in very good business cases for rail investment, and the challenge is how is that going to get funded?”
Earlier this year Welsh ministers confirmed they would not go to court to seek billions of pounds extra to spend following high speed rail investment in England
© PA Media
In recent years the biggest argument has been about extra funding for Wales from the HS2 project.
In opposition, Labour said the HS2 rail link should be an England only scheme and Wales should get money as a result.
First Minister Eluned Morgan said she had spoken to the UK chancellor about a dividend for Wales.
Opposition parties want to see Wales press for the cash, an estimated £4-5bn, which they have said would pay for much improvement.
Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies MS said: “We need to make sure that happens so that we can spend it on infrastructure and improvement in our transport operations here in Wales, and that needs to happen, and we were told that it was a turning of the page if Labour came into government on 4 July.
“Well if that page is turned, let’s have that money, and let Eluned Morgan live up to what she’s professing to do, which is to stand up for Wales.”
‘Investment in Welsh rail’
But the UK government’s Welsh secretary Jo Stevens seemed to close the door on that idea when she was asked about it in Parliament earlier this month.
Plaid Cymru’s parliamentary leader, Liz Saville-Roberts, told the Commons: “The truth is that the railways are broken and Labour’s plan fails to address the chronic underfunding that is the cause, particularly in Wales.
“In 2022, the secretary of state – then the shadow secretary of state – said that it was ‘utterly illogical’ to designate HS2 as an England and Wales project, and called on the Conservatives to ‘cough up’ the billions owed to Wales.
“Will she cough up now?”
In response, Ms Stevens said: “We cannot go back in time and change the way a project was commissioned, managed and classified by the previous Conservative government.
“They need to accept responsibility for the chaos, delay and waste on their watch.
“What we can do though is work closely with our Senedd and local authority colleagues to develop and invest in transport projects that improve services for passengers right across Wales.”
In a statement, Ms Stevens’ department the Wales Office reaffirmed what she had said in the Commons and added: “Following years of neglect, this new UK government recognises the importance of investing in rail infrastructure in Wales.
“The Welsh secretary has already met with the transport secretary to discuss investment in Welsh rail.”
It added that Ms Stevens was working closely with the Welsh government to identify a range of improvements.
“Alongside this the transport secretary is currently carrying out a review of the previous government’s transport commitments which will ensure our transport infrastructure portfolio drives economic growth and delivers value for money for taxpayers.”
In just over a month, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves will deliver a Budget which is expected to set the course for what the government plans to do on investment.
Booming Britain is the world’s second-favourite place to place to invest – just behind the USA – according to a survey of global business leaders.
Around 14 per cent of the near-5,000 corporate bosses surveyed by PwC say they expect the UK to receive the most international investment in the next year.
The survey, published as the World Economic Forum gets underway in Davos, will be a boon to Chancellor Rachel Reeves after criticism of her Autumn Budget and higher-than-expected inflation.
Experts believe that the UK’s relative stability amid global economic uncertainty makes it a favourite for additional investment – and comes ahead of an expected cut in interest rates by the Bank of England amid rising wages.
Britain’s second-place ranking in the PwC CEO Survey is its best since the poll began 28 years ago, and is two places up from fourth last year.
It came second to the US (30 per cent) – and ahead of Germany, China and India (12, nine and seven per cent respectively).
The results suggest Britain is in a prime spot for an influx of investment as competing nations face growing economic crises.
Germany is in the midst of a years-long recession, while China is battling uncertainty after the EU slapped import tariffs on cars while Donald Trumpmulls over tough taxes for Chinese goods.
Britain has been named the second best place to invest this year in a poll of 5,000 CEOs from 109 countries
The survey has been welcomed by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who said it was proof CEOs were ‘backing Britain’ under Labour
And 61 per cent of British CEOs say the country is in line for economic growth – up from just 39 per cent last year.
Experts speaking to MailOnline say there are a number of reasons Britain may attract investment from abroad, including in property, where prices are steady amid an ongoing housing shortage.
Jonathan Gordon, director of wealth at property investment firm IP Global, said: ‘In the context of property, the UK offers much needed stability to global investors.
‘This is not just applicable to London, but up and coming markets like Manchester and Birmingham have shown resilience in the face of global turmoil due to a constant flow of demand.’
Responding to the survey, the Chancellor said: ‘These latest results show global CEOs are backing Britain and the UK is one of the most attractive destinations for international investment.
‘And it’s this investment that will help drive economic growth and improve living standards across the UK.’
Marco Amitrano, senior partner at PwC UK, said: ‘Our CEO survey findings are a vote of confidence in the UK as a place for business and investment.
‘The UK’s relative stability at a time of instability should not be underestimated, nor should its strength in key sectors including technology.
‘However, there is no room for complacency.’
The Bank of England (pictured) is expected to announce a cut in interest rates next month amid wage growth in the private sector – a boon for business
There are concerns the UK’s economy is stalling after official figures showed it grew just 0.1 per cent in November, and a run on UK Government bonds, known as gilts.
The survey data suggests more than half of UK CEOs plan to increase the size of their workforce this year – even as the Chancellor imposes hikes in national insurance and a cut in the threshold at which NI is paid from April.
Interest rates are set to be cut next month after wages rose 5.6 per cent in the three months to November, up from 5.2 per cent the previous three months.
But British bosses are also slightly less positive about the future of their own firms than they were before Labour came in – with confidence dropping from 61 per cent in 2024 to 57 per cent now.
David Belle, a broker and founder of Fink Money, has warned that the UK’s weak pound means investors may simply be using Britain to do business on the cheap before taking their money elsewhere.
‘With a weaker sterling and almost zero demand from UK citizens to own shares in UK companies, there is no bid keeping share prices higher like there is in the US, Canada and Australia,’ he told MailOnline.
‘So any foreign investor is going to see the UK as a place where they can buy assets cheap relative to future cash flows.
‘It’s a sleight of hand to hail this as a UK win. In reality, it’s the opposite.’
Rachel Reeves is travelling to the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, where she will urge company bosses to invest in the UK – likely boosted by the survey results and an upgrade of Britain’s forecasted growth by the IMF.
The international body believes Britain will see a 1.6 per cent expansion this year – slightly up from the 1.5 per cent it pencilled in last October.
‘The time to invest in Britain is now,’ she said in a statement.
She had last been seen gallivanting in China to secure £600million of investment – criticised as a meagre amount in a country with a nominal GDP of $18.5trillion –
But Ray Dalio, billionaire founder of hedge fund Bridgewater, told the Financial Times that the UK could be heading for a debt ‘death spiral’ in which it has to borrow more to cover its rising interest costs.
Business
Breaking News: Nigerian Youngest Billionaire, B-Lord, Pioneers Electric Taxi Revolution in Nigeria
17 January marks World Pizza Day, a celebration of a dish with more than 2,000 years of history. From Neapolitan and Roman styles to Margherita, diavola, and even potato-topped variations, there are few places left in the world which don’t honour this iconic culinary tradition.
In 2017, UNESCO recognised “the art of Neapolitan pizza makers” as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity, highlighting its cultural significance on a global scale.
As for the date, it wasn’t chosen randomly: 17 January coincides with the feast of St. Anthony Abbot, the patron saint of fire and related trades, including machinists, blacksmiths, and, fittingly, pizza makers.
Where is pizza eaten the most in the world? And in Europe?
In Italy, four out of ten families are expected to prepare pizza at home in 2025, according to data from Coldiretti-Ixé. Meanwhile, global pizza turnover in 2024 is projected to reach a record €160 billion, with Italy contributing €15 billion to this figure.
Pizza is a major economic driver in Italy, generating 100,000 jobs nationwide – a number that doubles to 200,000 on weekends. Each year, Italy produces 2.7 billion pizzas, equating to about 46 pizzas per person annually, a figure that includes all age groups, from infants to the elderly.
Italians’ preferences differ significantly from those of the global market. According to Coldiretti, Italians prioritize higher-quality ingredients and are willing to pay a premium for them.
Interestingly, while pizza is an Italian staple, the world’s largest per capita consumers are Americans, who eat an average of 13 kilograms of pizza per year.
In Europe, on the other hand, Italy is in first place with 7.8 kilos per year, followed by Spain’s 4.3kg, and France and Germany’s 4.2kg and in fifth position the United Kingdom with 4kg.
The rise of food delivery has significantly boosted this already thriving sector: some apps speak of ‘an order every two seconds’. Others point to year-on-year growth in turnover of 20 per cent between 2024 and 2025.
The most and least popular pizzas in the world
According to data from the food web portal TasteAtlas, the Margherita reigns as the most popular pizza in the world, followed by the Montanara and calzones. In sixth place is American-style pizza topped with cheese, vegetables, and tomato sauce. Following that is pepperoni pizza (where ‘pepperoni’ in the US refers to a type of salami) and the iconic ‘New York-style’ pizza, before circling back to fried pizza.
In last place is an Italian pizza: the ‘Mimosa pizza,’ topped with corn and cooked ham. Just above it are the Cuban pizza, the Scottish fried pizza, the Quad City-style pizza (a grilled variation popular in the US), and Canada’s unique pizza-ghetti, which features spaghetti as an additional topping.
How much does pizza cost in Italy?
Pizza has always been a popular dish in the Bel Paese, and this has never changed. On the other hand, inflation and the push for higher quality ingredients have increased the price in Italy and across Europe.
A survey by Altroconsumo calculated the average cost of a pizza, a soft drink, and service in various Italian cities. Sassari tops the list as the most expensive city (€14.67), followed by Bolzano, Milan, and Venice. On the more affordable end are Livorno (€8.67), Pescara (€9.18), Naples (€9.63), and Bari (€9.63).
Whatever pizza you love, with or without pineapple, happy World Pizza day.
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