Wednesday newspaper round-up: state pension, pharmaceutical companies, BMW

(Sharecast News) - A thinktank linked to Reform UK has called for the abolition of the state pension and £75bn worth of sweeping tax cuts in a "radical" report likely to influence the party's platform for the next election. The Centre for a Better Britain's (CFABB) report - which also calls for weaker rules for UK banks and Trump-style investment accounts offering £1,000 to newborns - will be formally launched at a private event with City executives on Wednesday. - Guardian

Motorists buying a secondhand car with a lot of miles on the clock are likely to find an electric vehicle (EV) ultimately more reliable than a petrol vehicle, according to a study. An analysis of 47.4m MOT tests found that after cars were driven 90,000 to 120,000 miles, EVs were about 25% less likely to fail than petrol models of the same age (based on a failure rate of 16.5% versus 22.1%). Beyond 120,000 miles, 16% of EVs failed, compared with 23.5% of petrol cars. The study found relatively little difference between the two fuel types at lower mileages. - Guardian

Britain's biggest pharmaceutical companies have warned the future of the industry is at risk as Europe loses ground to the US and China in medical research. AstraZeneca and GSK, along with European rivals Novo Nordisk, Sanofi, Roche and Novartis, wrote an open letter warning that they were "losing ground to global competition". The letter warned that "without urgent action, strategic sectors like pharmaceuticals face a 'slow agony' of decline" as rivals increasingly dominate research-and-development spending and investment. - Telegraph

BMW is facing a bill of more than £600m from the motor finance mis-selling scandal, marking one of the biggest hits faced by any lender. In newly filed accounts, the German carmaker's British finance arm increased its provision to cover mis-selling claims from £206m in 2024 to £612m in 2025. BMW's liability is more than the £430m that Barclays expects to pay and the £320m set aside by Close Brothers, another major car finance lender. However, it is still dwarfed by the worst affected lender, Lloyds Banking Group, which has provisioned £1.95bn. - Telegraph

The state-backed British Business Bank and NatWest have agreed a "watershed" deal to invest in Phoenix Court, one of the UK's leading venture capital firms. The investment is the latest stage in efforts to get British capital into promising businesses to help them grow. The British Business Bank and NatWest will invest in Phoenix Court funds alongside HSBC and M&G. It is the first time that NatWest has invested in a venture capital fund. HSBC and M&G have invested in previous Phoenix Court funds. - The Times