| Enjoy full access to our free-thinking journalism for less than 50p per week | | Dax Harkins promised a turnaround for the state-backed bank, but failures have spiralled instead |  | Harry Brennan Consumer Affairs Editor | He is gone. Just two days after The Telegraph ran its front page on the chaos that has unfolded at National Savings and Investments (NS&I), Dax Harkins, its chief executive, was forced out.
It was clear he was in trouble from the start.
On Tuesday, we reported that Britain’s savings bank had been accused of short-changing the families of deceased NS&I savers by losing track of investments, delaying payouts and withholding premium bond prizes.
We found that bereaved families had been forced to hire lawyers to obtain cash that was rightfully theirs, incurring thousands in additional costs because of failures at the taxpayer-backed bank dating back years.
It then became clear that the cost of the failings would run into the hundreds of millions, with ministers furious at the bank’s leadership.
It started to look like a scandal.
Then, yesterday, Torsten Bell, the pensions minister, admitted the truth to the British public for the first time. Up to 37,500 people have been denied £476m that is rightfully theirs, in failings dating back to 2008. There will now be a monumental effort to trace and return the missing cash, with heavy hitters drafted in to sort out the mess.
Yet, there is more bad news. The families of dead savers face the insult of paying inheritance tax after being reunited with their money, while questions remain about whether separate compensation will be tax-free.
More than that, the reputation of Britain’s 160-year-old savings bank now lies in tatters. A former HMRC boss takes the helm for now, but who will dare to take up the mantle thereafter?
Continue reading ➤
Our exclusive reporting on NS&I victims facing inheritance tax bills is available to subscribers only, read the full story here ➤
Go deeper with our full coverage of the NS&I scandal:
The boss who led Britain’s savings bank to chaos ➤
... and his replacement, the career civil servant who failed to fix HMRC’s customer service ➤
‘My father-in-law died, then NS&I locked us out of his savings’ ➤ | | David Frost An obsession with rules and a refusal to see that procedure is not just an algorithm – the PM is a reflection of how the state functions Continue reading ➤ Sherelle Jacobs The awful truth is that ‘toxic’ men might just have a point Continue reading ➤ Sharron Davies IOC change protects only the elite, what about the rest of us? Continue reading ➤ | | To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. | | Catherine Wieland was caught surfing and zip-lining while on holiday in Mexico | | The cult Nineties star on her faith, her struggles with fame and playing ‘catch’ with Elizabeth Taylor’s engagement ring | | Over Easter, Patsy Kensit will appear in BBC Two’s Pilgrimage, examining her Catholic faith. She tells Claire Allfree that nowadays “I tend to get anxious, and I can be a bit of a loner”. She also reflects on her 54 years in front of the camera and the intense media scrutiny that came with it, admitting she’s wondered if it was “the right choice”. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | If Rachel Reeves had been hoping for a constructive meeting with supermarket bosses this week, she would have been disappointed. Following a slew of attacks on businesses, the Treasury was this week forced to postpone its supermarket roundtable when almost every grocery chief executive said they would not be attending. What appears to be a scheduling clash, according to insiders, is in fact a sign of the growing gulf between the private sector and the Government, as frustration grows at being “hauled over the rocks”. For subscribers only ➤ | | | | | British-born TV personality Kari Wells was assaulted during a raid in her affluent Atlanta suburb | | By 2019, Kari Wells had everything she had always wanted – on paper, at least. She had emigrated from her native Yorkshire to the United States aged 22 to work in the ski industry in Aspen, Colorado, but managed to forge a career in TV. That same year, she was at a beauty salon when armed robbers burst in and hit her in the face with a butt of a gun. Days later she returned to her work on TV but, as she explains, “the aftermath was more traumatising than the event”, and this brutal event forced her to reevaluate her life choices. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Dave Davies has been hurt by Moby’s accusations but says he doesn’t bear him any ill will | | After trance star Moby branded The Kinks’ 1970 classic Lola as “transphobic”, “gross”, and “unevolved” earlier this week, Nicole Lampert speaks to the band’s lead guitarist Dave Davies. “Who’s Moby?” is his response to the criticism. Davies’s brother, Ray, has an angrier retort. As for Lola, the musician recalls when he first heard his brother’s composition: “It was fun and quite beautiful, about real people and real antics. There is nothing nasty about it.” Continue reading ➤ | | | While you can’t control stock market dips, investors can at least opt for zero-fee providers, potentially saving thousands in the process. However, zero fee isn’t the same as “free”. Platforms need to make money somehow and unless you know exactly what the charges are, you could stumble into unexpected costs. Continue reading ➤ Here is another helpful article for you this morning: - Working out boosts collagen production and reduces inflammation, but without preventative measures, issues can develop. From runner’s face to swimmer’s sunburn, this is how exercise affects your skin.
| | Raye performing at Ronnie Scott’s in London | Pop Raye: This Music May Contain Hope ★★★★☆ Raye’s new album gives the impression of someone with the luxury of a free rein. If anyone has this gift, it’s the 28-year-old south Londoner. Her first album, My 21st Century Blues, netted her a record six Brit Awards in 2024. She can do what she wants. This Music May Contain Hope elevates her worldview to cinematic proportions. It’s a concept album of sorts: a dazzling jazz-pop odyssey that oscillates between heartache, messiness and optimism.
Read James Hall’s review ➤ Pop Paul McCartney: Days We Left Behind ★★★★☆ Paul McCartney’s first single in more than five years is a slice of unabashed nostalgia about his childhood in post-war Liverpool. Now 83, the ex-Beatle has returned with Days We Left Behind – a trip down memory lane guiding us through his early years, including his first meeting with John Lennon. Taken from McCartney’s forthcoming album The Boys of Dungeon Lane, which will be released on May 29, it’s more reminiscent of late-career Johnny Cash than prime Beatles. For Fab Four completists, it’s a must-listen.
Read James Hall’s review ➤ Television The Pitt ★★★★★ What was the last TV show you had to wait to watch? A drama that was coming that you just knew was going to knock your sofa-socks off? The Pitt is an American real-time hospital drama that has been winning awards for more than a year, but has only just arrived in this country. One reason for that is that HBO held it back for the launch of its new British streaming service. It’s well worth the wait.
Read Benji Wilson’s review ➤
Theatre
Henry V
★★☆☆☆
Given that the world is on fire, the timing of the RSC’s revival of Henry V looks impeccable. We’re a far cry from the opening salvo of Nicholas Hytner’s regime at the National in 2003, starring Adrian Lester, which made the work richly responsive to the agonies around Iraq. Despite promising work from Alfred Enoch as the valiant king, both he and Tamara Harvey’s production lack essential urgency and vitality.
Read Dominic Cavendish’s review ➤ | Airs and graces Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
Well, it’s official: class remains one of the great British obsessions. At least, that’s what the response to The Telegraph’s new survey suggests. People have leapt at the chance to find out where they fit in, me very much included. How did I fare? Let’s just say I have work to do if I want to break into the elite.
Readers have been reflecting on their results and the vagaries of class more generally. One writes: “I started out as a working-class child. I attended grammar school but not university, and have had numerous jobs. Because my husband and I worked hard, we’ve gone from a council flat to a four-bedroom detached home with a third of an acre.
“Our joint income is just under comfortable, but I am good at money management, so we can afford two decent holidays a year. I still have a Sarf London accent.”
David Ward adds: “I grew up poor, but was something of an autodidact. With wise investment, I have acquired wealth. My speech and cultural interests lead people I meet to assume I am Oxbridge-educated. Now if I want to speak like the East End Cockney I used to be, I find it difficult to do so.”
For John Smith, meanwhile, “the class issue in Britain is still a mystery, even though I have lived here for more than 30 years (I’m originally from Down Under). Fancy being judged simply by the work your parents did, or whether you prefer opera to football.”
I also enjoyed this, from W L Nichol: “My nine-year-old wanted to do the test. She was delighted to be elite. I can only assume it’s because she is learning to play the violin, plays tennis and has a steady stream of passive income.” Have you taken the survey? What did you make of your result? Send your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was FLYWEIGHT. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here.
Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow.
Chris Evans, Editor | |
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