Wednesday newspaper round-up: Pensions, Apple, interest rates

(Sharecast News) - Treasury officials are discussing a one-off break from the pensions triple lock that could save £1bn by preventing a bumper 8.5% increase in the state pension next year. The government is considering stripping out public sector bonuses that were awarded to workers to prevent strikes over the summer from the calculation that determines the annual rise in pensions. - Guardian Apple will stop using leather across all of its accessories in an effort to "protect the planet" and meet its net zero targets by 2030. The US tech giant said it would stop using leather in its watch straps and phone cases and replace it with a material called "FineWoven", which is made using 68pc recycled textiles and other artificial fibres. - Telegraph

Andrew Bailey and his colleagues at the Bank of England all agree that inflation must be crushed. Unfortunately, they don't agree on the best way to do it: policymakers are split on whether to hold interest rates at their current level of 5.25pc or raise it higher at next week's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting. - Telegraph

Lawyers for the US government claimed yesterday that Google did not play by the rules in its efforts to keep its dominance in online search, paying billions of dollars to ensure that smaller rivals failed to get traction. "This case is about the future of the internet," Kenneth Dintzer said, arguing for the Department of Justice that Google had begun in 2010 to illegally maintain its monopoly. - The Times

The Barclay family did not enjoy a big windfall from selling the Ritz, despite achieving a price of about £750 million for the hotel, it has emerged. The 117-year-old Ritz was the crown jewel of the Barclays' business empire, but the sale of the London landmark caused a family feud that culminated in a legal battle and allegations of secretly bugged conversations. - The Times