Your commercial news round-up: UK medicine prices, Lufthansa flight cuts, AI effect on jobs, ticket touting ban

Dimitar Dimitrov is a content and engagement coordinator at LawCareers.Net

Reading time: four minutes

Global fallout from the US‑Israel war with Iran continues to ripple through UK consumers and businesses, from rising medicine prices to airlines slashing European routes as fuel costs soar. Meanwhile, concerns are growing that AI adoption is flattening entry‑level recruitment and the pressure is mounting on UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to honour Labour’s pledge to ban ticket touting. Read on for LawCareers.Net’s picks of this week’s top commercial stories.

• The war in Iran has driven up the price of common medicines in England, with pharmacies charging 20 to 30% more for products such as paracetamol and hay fever treatments, according to the National Pharmacy Association (NPA). In addition, some pharmacies have run out of certain strengths of aspirin and co‑codamol. Higher petrol and diesel prices since the conflict began nearly eight weeks ago have increased manufacturing and transport costs, while pharmacies are paying 40 to 50% more to order in stock. Air freight costs have doubled, affecting a fifth of NHS’ medicines, and supplies of petroleum derivatives from the Gulf – used to make medicines including paracetamol and aspirin – have been disrupted. NPA chair Olivier Picard said the purchase price for cetirizine hay fever tablets nearly doubled since January, feeding through to higher retail prices. Meanwhile, CEO of Medicines UK, Mark Samuels, commented: “If the conflict continues, we will inevitably see rising prices or shortages of essential medicines. This could be as soon as the next few weeks.”
   
• German airline Lufthansa is set to cut 20,000 short‑haul European flights this summer, noting that sharply rising fuel costs have made many routes “unprofitable”. The company will temporarily suspend services to and from several cities, including Cork, Stuttgart and Trondheim. Reductions are expected to save the airline about 40,000 metric tons of jet fuel and will mainly affect its CityLine service. Jet fuel prices have doubled since the start of the US‑Israel war with Iran, which has disrupted production and transport across the Middle East. Other airlines, including KLM-France and Delta, have also trimmed services, while others have increased their ticket prices. Lufthansa also said on Tuesday 21 April that, while it was reducing its European network, passengers will "continue to have access to the global route network, particularly long-haul connections".
   
• AI is said to be reducing job opportunities for young people, according to former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who warned that recruitment at entry level is flattening as companies deploy the technology. Now an adviser to AI firms Anthropic and Microsoft, Sunak said to the BBC that company executives were privately telling him that “they think they can continue to grow their businesses without having to significantly increase employment because they're starting to see how they can deploy AI”. He also noted that this was particularly affecting service sectors such as law, accountancy and the creative industries. While describing himself as an enthusiast for AI’s transformative potential, Sunak said governments should consider rebalancing tax systems by abolishing National Insurance over time and replacing it with higher taxes on corporate profits. He added: “We should be thinking about, well, how do we tip the balance in favour of AI being used in that positive way… to help people do their jobs better [rather than replacing them].”
   
• UK Primer Minister Keir Starmer has been urged by music industry groups to proceed with a promised ban on ticket touting, amid concerns the policy may be omitted from next month’s King’s speech. The groups warned that delaying the measure could cost fans “hundreds of millions”, as evidence emerged that professional ticket resellers were making large profits from BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend in Sunderland. Tickets for the event were being resold on platforms such as Viagogo and StubHub at significant mark-ups, despite efforts by the BBC and Ticketmaster to keep prices low and prioritise local access. Starmer pledged in November to outlaw ticket resale for profit, in line with Labour’s 2024 election manifesto. However, at a parliamentary meeting last week, minister Ian Murray suggested the policy could be pursued through other legislative routes if not included in the king’s speech on 13 May. Consumer law expert at consumer organisation Which?, Lisa Webb, commented: “The government has promised to put fans first, but if this legislation is not included in the King’s speech, the only ones celebrating will be the rip-off secondary ticketing websites and online touts.”

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