Tuesday newspaper round-up: Index of corruption, net zero, small businesses

(Sharecast News) - It would take 137 years for lower-income families in the UK to see their living standards double at the current rate of growth, according to a thinktank. A two-decade stagnation in disposable incomes has created a "mood of unease" across the country, the Resolution Foundation says, warning of the risk of "further political disruption" unless pay growth accelerates. In the 40 years to 2005, the typical disposable income of working-age families in the poorest half of the population doubled, after growing by 1.8% a year on average once adjusted for inflation, according to the thinktank. In the final decade of that period, growth in disposable incomes rose by 4% a year and looked on course to double within 18 years. - Guardian

The UK and US have sunk to new lows in a global index of corruption, amid a "worrying trend" of democratic institutions being eroded by political donations, cash for access and state targeting of campaigners and journalists. Experts and businesspeople rated 182 countries based on their perception of corruption levels in the public sector to compile a league table that was bookended by Denmark at the top with the lowest levels of corruption and South Sudan at the bottom. - Guardian

Wind and solar farms seeking to connect to Britain's electricity grid are facing "widespread delays" in a major blow to Labour and Ed Miliband's net zero targets. Ofgem, the energy regulator, has warned that 210 of the 340 green energy projects scheduled to connect to the grid in 2026 and 2027 are set to miss the target. - Telegraph

Small businesses could face a £680m bill as a result of Labour's plan to let trade unions into workplaces. Union officials will be granted "statutory right of access" later this year under the Employment Rights Act spearheaded by Angela Rayner. At present, unions have access to workplaces through ad-hoc arrangements. Where they can't reach a voluntary arrangement with a business, they can act through individual employees. - Telegraph

HSBC and Barclays are facing a $12 billion lawsuit over a Jersey trust allegedly linked to the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. The UK banks and related entities are among the defendants in a United States legal claim concerning La Hougue, a now defunct offshore trust business suspected of being at the heart of a large fraud. - The Times