UK government borrowing at record December figure; business activity in sharpest drop for two years – business live

LIVE – Updated at 11:56 Government borrowing surges to £27.4bn as debt interest jumps to £17.3bn, also the highest December figure on record, limiting the

chances of big budget giveaways.   11:56 Joe Middleton Twitter is being sued by the crown estate for allegedly failing to pay rent on its London

headquarters. The estate, which manages property belonging to King Charles III, filed a claim against Twitter in the high court in the capital last week. The alleged

rental arrears relates to office space near Piccadilly Circus in central London, according to the BBC. Twitter did not immediately respond for a request for comment.

The crown estate, which owns a property portfolio worth £15.6bn, including 241 locations in central London, said the court action related to “rental arrears” on the social

media platform’s office space in the city. Related: Twitter sued by crown estate over alleged unpaid rent on London HQ It comes after Twitter was taken

over by Elon Musk, the co-owner of Tesla and SpaceX, in October last year. Musk paid $44bn (£36bn) for the platform and quickly initiated sweeping job cuts to the firm’s

7,000-strong workforce – cutting it by 50%. Musk’s takeover has not been without issues, including a chaotic relaunch of the blue tick scheme for verified users led to a

number of impersonator accounts and advertisers withdrawing from the platform over concerns about a rise in hate speech.   11:56 Joe Middleton Ford plans to

cut 3,200 jobs across Europe, according to Germany’s largest union, as the carmaker looks to slash costs and shift focus towards electric vehicles.