Good morning. News to start: European embassies in London are lobbying the UK government to exempt international schools from the incoming 20 per cent VAT charge on private education, arguing that British independent schools on the continent aren’t similarly taxed.

Today, our competition and energy correspondents hear arguments for and against an EU combustion engine ban from Uber and Italy. And our Rome team reports on an initiative to make Italian citizenship more easily accessible.

Car crash

Uber has called on the EU to partially advance its 2035 combustion engine ban, one day ahead of a crucial EU industry ministers meeting where the topic is sure to surface, write Javier Espinoza and Alice Hancock.

To speed up electrification, Anabel Díaz, head of Uber’s mobility division in Europe, urged Brussels to set more aggressive targets for the take-up of electric vehicles.

Context: Other players in the car industry have called for a delay to the landmark ban on new combustion engines from 2035, amid falling sales of vehicles and a slow uptake of expensive electric cars.

Pressure is also mounting among car manufacturing countries such as Italy, where Rome’s industry minister Adolfo Urso has called for an early review of the ban ahead of a meeting with his colleagues in Brussels tomorrow.

But according to Uber, the European Commission should set “more aggressive binding targets” to electrify corporate fleets, including ride hailing platforms such as Uber’s, Díaz told the FT.

New combustion engines should be banned for business customers from 2030, she said, and corporate fleets should be “100 per cent electric cars by 2035 at the latest”.

Uber’s call sets it in opposition to car manufacturers who have complained that stricter emissions targets coming into force next year will cost them billions of euros in fines.

The commission is currently considering additional measures to green corporate cars, which account for around 60 per cent of the EU’s total fleet, and had asked companies for input.

Diaz said a move to full electric fleets “liberates the environmental benefits of electrification where they are most impactful, because of the high utilisation rate of the corporate fleets”.

She added that electrifying corporate cars would “pave the way for the broader mass transition to electric personal vehicles”.

Chart du jour: How to grow

More interventionist trade and industrial policies lie at the core of the EU’s competitiveness challenge. Intervening effectively is another matter, writes Martin Wolf.

Papers please

More than 500,000 Italians have signed a petition asking to ease the country’s restrictive citizenship rules — the first step in a process that could lead to a national referendum on the issue, write Amy Kazmin and Giuliana Ricozzi.

Context: Italians have been fiercely debating the path to citizenship for children who were born in Italy to immigrant parents and who are considered “foreigners” despite having been brought up and educated in the country.

Italy’s current citizenship law, which was adopted in 1992, requires immigrants to live in the country legally for at least a decade to be eligible to apply for citizenship.

Members of the small centrist party Più Europa (More Europe) now want to hold a national referendum on restoring an older set of rules, which previously allowed foreigners to apply for Italian citizenship after just five years of legal residence.

The petition yesterday achieved the 500,000 signatures required for a review by the constitutional court, who will now scrutinise the proposed referendum to determine whether it can go ahead.

“Citizens have shown that when parliament cannot find the courage to change unjust laws, they can mobilise and do it themselves,” Più Europa wrote in a post on X. “Those who chose Italy to live, study, love and grow up, who imagine their future in our country, are Italian.”

The fate of this dream — and an estimated 2.5mn people, including adults and children, who could be allowed to apply for citizenship immediately with such a change — now lies in the hands of 15 constitutional court judges.

What to watch today

1. French President Emmanuel Macron to visit Canada

2. EU chief diplomat Josep Borrell participates in a G20 foreign affairs ministers meeting in New York.

Now read these

CHANCELLOR Rachel Reeves tried to tone down the doom and gloom in her party conference speech in Liverpool yesterday.

Last week figures showed consumer confidence had slumped following her warnings of “tough choices” in the looming Budget.

10

And firms have put hiring and investment on ice until they get more Government clarity.

So were these British business chiefs convinced by her attempt to be more upbeat about the future?

RICHARD WALKER

Exec chairman, Iceland supermarket

10

“I THINK the rhetoric so far has been quite downbeat, so it is important to sell an optimistic, bold vision.

Labour is in a tight spot of being squeezed on the left and the right of the part.

 But they do need to give a sense of ambition and it’s good they did that.

The industrial strategy is important because we absolutely need a joined-up, well-thought-out strategy, almost like Harold Wilson’s “white heat of technology” speech 60 years ago.

We need something we can sell and get behind to be confident and ambitious about.

An industrial strategy shouldn’t just focus on the big shiny stuff, it should focus on the politics of ordinary life, be that the buses, high street or connectivity, things that are essential to the everyday. Investment is critically needed.

It was encouraging that the Chancellor came back to business rates a few times in quite clear language that the system is broken and needs reform.

Now it needs to move to reality to protect the high street and jobs.”

MIKE RAYBOULD

CEO, Portmeirion homeware

10

“IF Reeves and the Government are serious about ‘building Britain together’, they need to value manufacturing and the jobs and communities it supports.

Government must play a critical support role for firms by creating a low-tax, high-investment economy.”

ROWAN CROZIER

CEO, Brandauer metal-stamping

10

“AN industrial strategy is long overdue. The Chancellor’s focus on it is a welcome first step ­forward.

The country is seeing severe constipation over investment decisions due to the current ­negativity the Government is pushing and the uncertainty this creates.”

STEVE HARE

CEO, FTSE 100 tech firm Sage

10

“THIS honest speech highlights that growth is the challenge and investment is the solution.

A focus on digitisation and technology investment is essential — e-invoicing is a prime example.

We have to break out of the current cycle of negative sentiment.”

PAUL THWAITE

CEO, NatWest Group bank

10

“OUR Chancellor is right when she says investment is the key to boosting UK growth.

These ambitions require the contribution of every part of Britain. There is so much potential in the UK.

I am optimistic we will succeed and grow together.”

ROMI SAVOVA

CEO, pension provider PensionBee

10

“MESSAGES encouraging growth are welcome, especially in tech and science.

My industry is holding its breath for initiatives to use money in pension funds to unleash investment.

Details of the Budget cannot come soon enough to quell savers’ nerves.”

NEIL STEVENS

CEO, fintech firm Fintel

10

Advertisement

“LABOUR’S manifesto promised hope and since then we had got the opposite so yesterday was a welcome shift.

London’s junior stock market has to be supported, either by encouraging pension funds to invest more or to give more incentives to invest.”

NIMISHA RAJA MBE

Founder, Nim’s fruit & veg crisps

10

Advertisement

“REEVES has been complaining about the ‘black hole’ in the economy. The first rule of business… work with the cards you are dealt.

The Industrial Strategy is important but it must not overlook the needs of small business.”

JOHN ROBERTS

CEO, electrical retailer AO World

10

Advertisement

“WHAT we really need is to stop the waste and not just keep raising taxes.

Creating the right reward-for-risk ratio is critical to inspire investment.

There are lots of warm words but very little that I’ve seen in the way of an actual plan to make it happen.”

OZ FIRM’S MOVE No3

RIGHTMOVE will “carefully consider” a £6.1billion takeover approach from Australia’s REA Group after rejecting two previous offers.

The sweetened price of 770p-a-share is a 39 per cent premium to the property site’s share price before the takeover approach was made public.

REA Group is majority-owned by News Corp, which is the ­ultimate owner of The Sun. Its chief executive Owen Wilson said: “We are genuinely disappointed at the lack of engagement by Rightmove’s board.”

Rightmove shares edged up by just 0.77 per cent to 679.6p.

TRAINING AID BY BT

BT is setting up a £4million fund to help small firms and charities launch up to 550 apprenticeships.

The telecom giant is using £4million of its own unspent apprenticeship levy to team up with apprentice-provider Babington over four years.

It is the latest big company to come up with its own answer to the Government’s apprenticeship levy, which requires bigger firms to set aside 0.5 per cent of annual payroll. But firms argue the schemes are too narrow and as a result £2.2billion in unspent funding has gone back to the Treasury since the levy began.

DUNELMCASH-IN

DUNELM’S deputy chairman has cashed in on the home retailer’s recent growth and sold £123million of shares.

Will Adderley, whose parents founded the firm, last night sold 10million shares, which is equivalent to 4.9 per cent of the entire company.

Mr Adderley still owns around a third of the business and said he remained “fully committed” to it.

Dunelm has shot up to a valuation of £2.5billion, shrugging off a tough market. Its success came after profits at the start of the month turned out to be better than expected.

The union representing thousands of striking Boeing workers says a survey of its members shows they are “not interested” in the aviation giant’s latest pay offer.

“Many comments expressed that the offer was inadequate,” the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) said in a post on X.

It comes after Boeing made a new offer earlier this week to striking workers, which proposed a 30% pay rise over four years.

BBC News has requested a statement from Boeing in response to the IAM announcement.

“The survey results from yesterday were overwhelmingly clear, almost as loud as the first offer: members are not interested in the company’s latest offer that was sent through the media,” the IAM post said.

On Monday, Boeing made what it called its “best and final” pay offer, which included the reinstatement of a performance bonus, improved retirement benefits and a doubling of the value of a one-off bonus for signing a new pay deal to $6,000 (£4,470).

The company said the offer was dependent on it being ratified by union members by midnight pacific time on Friday 27 September (7:00 GMT on Saturday 28 September).

However, IAM said Boeing had sent the new offer directly to union members and the media without telling the union’s representatives.

It also said the company’s deadline did not give it enough time to organise a vote by its members.

Boeing denied that it had not informed IAM representatives about the offer, and said it would give the union more time and logistical support to ballot its members.

More than 30,000 Boeing workers have been on strike since 13 September after rejecting a 25% pay rise offer.

Union members – who produce planes including the 737 Max and 777 – voted overwhelmingly to reject the offer and back strike action until a new agreement could be reached.

IAM had initially aimed for a number of improvements to workers’ packages, including a 40% pay rise.

The strike threatens to cost Boeing billions of dollars, deepening the crisis at a company already facing significant challenges.

The company has already suspended the jobs of tens of thousands of staff.

BARGAIN supermarket Aldi is selling an incredible dog-friendly product perfect for the chilly autumn weather.

The item is being sold as part of the supermarket’s Specialbuy range later this week with it prices set to start from just £7.99.

2

2

Advertisement

The reversible dog bomber coats could be top sellers as we head into winter, with owners looking to keep their beloved pooches warm.

They come in two different colour schemes of either navy and red or green and yellow.

They also come in a range of sizes so they are perfect for dogs from Dachshunds to Labradors.

The smallest size measures in at 38cm by 33cm by 55cm with the jackets costing just £7.99.

They go all the way up to an extra large which costs only slightly more at £9.99.

Aldi describe the coat as “streetwear for your four-legged friend”.

The listing on their website reads: “Keep your four-legged friend warm and cosy in this Reversible XS-M Dog Bomber Jacket.

“With a velcro closure underneath, this jacket can be easily removed and adjusted for comfort.

“The reversible colours mean your dog can strut their stuff in style around the block as the weather gets colder.

“Your dog will love heading outdoors in this padded puffer jacket.”

Shoppers who are looking to buy their pups a very early Christmas gift will have to wait a few more days to finally bag them up however with Aldi only putting them up on shelves on Thursday.

They will be released alongside a whole host of other animal products as part of their massive Pet Event.

Everything from bedding, food, toys and storage products are being sold with everything coming in at under £25.

Extra large comfy pet beds are the priciest of the 43 items on offer at £24.99.

Cat toys and bird friendly snacks feeders are the cheapest at less than £2.

They even have savings on the big brands such as Dreamies cat snacks, Wagg doggy treats and Pedigree and Whiskas classics.

Aldi Specialbuys are a unique and fantastic offering from the supermarket.

For a full run down of the best they have to offer check out this article.

It comes as Aldi bargain hunters were also rushing out to get their hands on a dupe for a popular Cadbury’s dessert.

Dairyfine Pots of Choc, Aldi’s version of Cadbury’s Dairy Milk Pots of Joy, are described as a “smooth and creamy dessert”.

Other shoppers were going wild for a middle-aisle find that’s scanning at tills for as little as 99p.

The Kids Camping Chair – shaped like a fox – was already massively reduced at just £4.99 but one lucky shopper managed to bag one up for under a pound.

You can find your nearest Aldi store by using the retailer’s store locator tool on its website.

Remember it is always best to shop around to try and spot which shop has the best deal on any particular product.

So these are the arcane rules for now and the candidates play the game. It is unlikely, however, that the founding fathers considered the deep maths involved.

Electoral game theory

In a short paper in 1921, the French mathematician and politician Émile Borel introduced the rudiments of what would a century later become the game you have just played. In Borel’s version, “each player arranges the numbers he has chosen in a determined order” and wins “if the numbers chosen by him are superior to the corresponding numbers” chosen by his opponent. If a majority of a player’s numbers are higher, they win. This is the mathematical skeleton of a political campaign.

Borel recognised the wider applications of this simple structure, writing that “the art of war or of economic and financial speculation are not without analogy to the problems concerning games”.

“The art of play,” Borel continued, “depends on psychology and not on mathematics.” But there is plenty of mathematics, too. In the field of game theory, this sort of competition became a canonical object of study, known as the Colonel Blotto game. In 1950, a germinal paper from the military think-tank now called the Rand Corporation described a “continuous Colonel Blotto game” and the strategies of “the wily Blotto” facing his “enemy”.

The fictional colonel is in charge of an army of troops, as is his opponent, which he has to distribute across some number of battlefields. Whoever is victorious on more battlefields wins the war. Real-world situations, including research and development, patent races, strategic hiring, auctions and, of course, elections have been examined through Blotto games.

Solutions to these games — what game theorists call equilibria — are maddeningly difficult to find. They involve complex “mixed strategies”, randomising across intricate plans so that your opponent cannot outguess you. In this sense, presidential campaigns can be thought of as incredibly rich versions of rock, paper, scissors.

A 2006 paper by a trio of political scientists was among the first to “appreciate the problem posed by the Electoral College and its Colonel Blotto game-like structure” — they argue, for example, that Gore’s hairbreadth loss to Bush in 2000 was due to mistakes in his Blotto strategy. A 2014 paper by two economists spends 20 pages on Blotto maths before concluding that more work would yield “insights into more complicated variants of the game, which may be more representative of real military, political or other environments”.

For now, your campaigning may reveal some glimpses of strategic insight into the political environment. And the real game will be decided on November 5, when Americans — and especially Arizonans, Georgians, Michiganders, Nevadans, North Carolinians, Pennsylvanians and Wisconsinites — go to the polls.

This story is free to read so you can share it with family and friends who don’t yet have an FT subscription.

BY YOUR ovens, ready, set, bake!

The Great British Bake Off returns at 8pm tonight on Channel 4, but what do you do when you’ve baked more cake than you can possibly eat?

7

Here are some delicious ways to transform your leftover gateau.

TOP OF THE POPS: Cake pops are a fun way to give leftover cake a new lease of life.

Simply crumble the cake into fine crumbs, mix it with buttercream, and roll the mixture into small balls.

Insert a stick into each one, then coat them in more buttercream and sprinkles, or dip them in melted chocolate.

Pop them in the fridge to set, and you’ll have a fun and tasty treat for any occasion!

BACK TO BASICS: Leftover cake makes the perfect base for a classic trifle.

Layer chunks of cake with creamy custard, whipped cream and fresh fruit in a bowl or glass dish, especially if you’re serving guests.

You can even add jelly for that traditional touch. It’s an easy, budget-friendly dessert.

CRUMBS AWAY: Turn excess cake into crunchy sweet croutons to top your desserts.

Cut the cake into cubes, spread them on a baking tray, and bake at a low temperature until crisp.

Alternatively, pop them in your air fryer for a quick crunch.

These sweet, crispy bites make the perfect topping for ice cream, yoghurt, or fruit salads.

SHAKE IT UP: For an indulgent treat, blend leftover cake with milk and a scoop of ice cream for a “cake shake”.

You can use almost any type of cake, brownie, or even fudge to make your shake and the end result will taste amazing.

SAVE FOR LATER: If you can’t eat all your cake, just freeze it.

Slice the cake into portions, wrap each piece in cling film, and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

When you’re in need of a sweet treat, simply defrost a slice or two – saving you the effort of baking or buying another pudding.

• All prices on page correct at time of going to press. Deals and offers subject to availability.

Deal of the day

7

WHIZZ around on the Zinc foldable scooter, now on offer at Argos.co.uk.

Previously £75, it’s now £35.

SAVE: £40

Cheap treat

7

ORDER a Burger King Chicken Royale, approx. £7.49, between 2-5pm on weekdays via the BK app and get it for £3.

SAVE: £4.49

What’s new?

Advertisement

GET up to 50 per cent off Decathlon sports gear rentals by collecting litter, with “rentals for rubbish”.

Log your litter on the Planet Patrol app – ten pieces gets you ten per cent off, the more you collect, the bigger the discount.

Top swap

7

7

STORE your toiletries in an IKEA Ljungan basket, £13, or head into Lidl and get two for £4.99.

SAVE: £8.01

Shop & save

7

Advertisement

BRING a fresh scent to this week’s laundry – a supersize Fairy Outdoorable Cherry Blossom 70 wash bottle was £3.99, now £3.49 at B&M.

SAVE: 50p

PLAY NOW TO WIN £200

7

JOIN thousands of readers taking part in The Sun Raffle.

Every month we’re giving away £100 to 250 lucky readers – whether you’re saving up or just in need of some extra cash, The Sun could have you covered.

Every Sun Savers code entered equals one Raffle ticket.

The more codes you enter, the more tickets you’ll earn and the more chance you will have of winning!