1 Fracking can be morally acceptable in the UK, the Church of England has said, in a move that shale gas explorers hope could pave the way for drilling to take place on Church land.
2 Theresa May will have to sign up to European Union divorce terms for Brexit, including a bill of up to £60 billion, before talks on a future trade agreement can begin. Joseph Muscat, her counterpart in Malta who will chair the EU’s rotating presidency for the next six months, said that divorce terms would be prioritised over trade.
3 The total value of privately owned homes in the UK has risen above £5 trillion for the first time, equating to nearly three times the size of the economy, according to Savills, the estate agent.
4 The jobs market remains a “major bright spot” for the economy after unemployment stayed at an 11-year low of 4.8 per cent and wages rose at the fastest pace in more than a year, according to the Office for National Statistics.
5 Troubles abroad, soaring commodity prices, rising wages and the slump in the pound have hit corporate Britain hard, with Pearson, one of the world’s biggest educational publishers, cutting its profit forecast and shares in Premier Foods and Mitie hammered after they followed suit.
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6 Clydesdale Bank and Yorkshire Bank are to close 79 of their branches this year, with the loss of 400 jobs and potential inconvenience to tens of thousands of account-holders. CYBG, the owner of both banks, said it would reduce its network to only 168 branches.
7 Goldman Sachs and Citigroup have reaped the rewards from volatile markets, achieving bumper fourth-quarter profits that easily beat Wall Street expectations, with bond trading at both banks particularly strong.
8 Britain is ideally placed to secure a services-based trade agreement with Australia, its trade minister said at the economic summit in Davos, where Joe Biden, the US vice-president, said in his last big speech that the growing unfairness in modern societies and economies left the “liberal international order” open to being undermined by its enemies.
9 The weak pound that has lured shoppers from all over the world to London has paid off handsomely for Burberry, with the luxury fashion house announcing strong third-quarter figures.
10 MPs investigating the collapse of BHS have attacked the rising fees paid to administrators as well as the handling of the failed retailer. Duff & Phelps, drafted in by Sir Philip Green, the retailer’s former owner, is set to receive £4 million for about eight months’ work, more than the £3.5 million that was originally estimated.