Business
Should smartphones be locked away at gigs and in schools?
Marc AshdownBusiness correspondent
Getty ImagesWhen Sir Paul McCartney performed at the Santa Barbara Bowl, he promised fans an intimate gig. But the former Beatle went a step further than most by agreeing to engineer a makeshift “lockdown” on selfies and filming at the concert.
All 4,500 fans had to place their mobile phones in lockable pouches for the duration of the concert, and enjoyed the gig completely “phone-free”.
“Nobody’s got a phone,” McCartney declared during his 25-song setlist. “Really, it’s better!” he added.
Getty ImagesAchieving a large-scale phone ban is a startlingly simple process.
On the way into a venue, concert-goers have to put their phones into a pouch which is magnetically locked.
They keep the phone on them, and the magnet releases at the end of the performance.
Artists such as Dave Chappelle, Alicia Keys, Guns N’ Roses, Childish Gambino and Jack White have embraced the freedom saying it allows them to perform at their best – or even experiment more.
In an interview in Rolling Stone in June, Sabrina Carpenter discussed potentially banning phones at future concerts.
Some music lovers seem to be embracing the idea.
A fan at a Lane8 DJ gig, Shannon Valdes, posted on social media: “It was refreshing to be part of a crowd where everyone was fully present – dancing, connecting, and enjoying the best moments – rather than recording them.”
For the man behind the pouch technology, his own Eureka moment similarly came at a music festival back in 2012.
“I saw a man drunk and dancing and a stranger filmed him and immediately posted it online,” Graham Dugoni explains. “It kind of shocked me.
“I wondered what the implications might be for him, but I also started questioning what our expectations of privacy should be in the modern world.”
Within two years, the 38-year-old ex-professional footballer founded Yondr, a US start-up that promotes phone-free spaces.
YondrThe lockable pouch market is still in its early stages, but more companies are starting to appear. The pouches are widely used in theatres and art galleries and increasingly in schools.
They cost between £7 and £30 each, depending on the supplier and the size of the order.
Yondr has worked with around 2.2 million schools in America and says around 250,000 children in England now use its wallets across 500 schools – including one academy trust in Yorkshire which has spent £75,000 on Yondr pouches.
Paul Nugent created Hush Pouch after working for 20 years installing lockers in schools. He says there’s a lot for headteachers to consider.
“Yes it can seem an expensive way of keeping phones out of schools, and some people question why they can’t just insist phones remain in a student’s bag,” he explains.
“But smartphones create anxiety, fixation, and FOMO – a fear of missing out. The only way to genuinely allow children to concentrate in lessons, and to enjoy break time, is to lock them away.”
Yondr’s Dugoni says school leaders have reported a number of benefits from adopting a phone-free policy.
“There have been notable improvements in academic performance, and headteachers also report reductions in bullying,” he explains.
Vale of York Academy in York began using the pouches in November and headteacher Gillian Mills told the BBC: “It’s given us an extra level of confidence that students aren’t having their learning interrupted.
“We’re not seeing phone confiscations now, which took up time, or the arguments about handing phones over, but also teachers are saying that they are able to teach.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has said her party would seek to ban smartphones altogether from schools if it entered office.
The Labour government has stopped short of an England-wide ban on smartphones in schools, saying headteachers should decide, but has launched a consultation on banning social media for under-16s.
It is part of a series of measures that will also see England’s education inspectorate, Ofsted, given the power to check policies on phone use when it goes into schools, with ministers saying they expect schools to be “phone-free by default” as a result.
Nugent says the feedback from parents is that most feel their child is safer having a phone on them while travelling to and from school, rather than leaving it at home altogether.
“The first week or so after we install the system is a nightmare,” he adds. “Kids refuse, or try and break the pouches open. But once they realise no-one else has a phone, most of them embrace it as a kind of freedom.”
HushThe continuous expansion of social media platforms and AI brings the concept into direct competition with the San Francisco tech giants and their algorithms, which are designed to constantly promote the use of smartphones in everyday life.
But Nugent believes a societal pushback is gathering momentum.
“We’re getting so many enquiries now. People want to ban phones at weddings, in theatres, and even on film sets,” he says.
“Effectively carrying a computer around in your hand has many benefits, but smartphones also open us up to a lot of misdirection and misinformation.
“Enforcing a break, especially for young people, has so many positives, not least for their mental health.”
Dugoni agrees we are reaching a crossroads.
“We’re getting close to threatening the root of what makes us human, in terms of social interaction, critical thinking faculties, and developing the skills to operate in the modern world,” he explains.
“If we continue to outsource those, with this crutch in our pocket at all times, there is a danger we end up undermining what it means to be a productive person.
“And that is a moment where it’s worth pushing back and trying to understand where we go from here.”
Those 4,500 McCartney fans singing along to Hey Jude in the late September sunset might feel he has a point.
A United Airlines plane approaches the runway at Denver International Airport on March 23, 2026.
Al Drago | Getty Images
United Airlines flight attendants approved a new five-year labor contract with 31% average raises to base pay by August and other improvements, marking the last of the major carriers with unionized flight crews to reach a deal post-Covid.
The labor deal would give United’s roughly 30,000 flight attendants their first raises in close to six years. The company and the flight attendants’ union reached a preliminary deal in March. Crews had rejected a contract last year.
The union said the contract won 82% approval from the flight attendants, with close to 90% of them voting.
“The contract will immediately change the lives of United Flight Attendants, especially our thousands of new hires who have been hired since the pandemic,” said Ken Diaz, president of the United chapter of the Association of Flight Attendants.
The contract also includes boarding pay, or pay for when the aircraft’s door is open and travelers are getting on. Airlines had for years started flight attendants’ pay clock once the boarding door was closed.
The contract comes with a roughly 7% to 8% increase in compensation and $741 million in back pay, as well as quality-of-life improvements like restrictions on red-eye flights and “sit pay” during disruptions of more than 2½ hours.
Stocks struggled on Tuesday, although blue chips proved resilient, amid a triple whammy of domestic political strife, surging US inflation and a lack of progress in the Middle East.
The FTSE 100 closed down just 4.11 points at 10,265.32. The FTSE 250 ended down 341.66 points, 1.5%, at 22,466.20, and the AIM All-Share fell 11.75 points, 1.4%, at 810.66.
The pound fell to 1.3505 dollars on Tuesday afternoon from 1.3651 dollars on Monday. Against the euro, sterling was lower at 1.1517 euros from 1.1584 euros on Monday.
The yield on UK 10-year gilts traded at 5.10%, up from 5.01% the day before.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defied calls for him to quit, despite a growing number of Labour MPs demanding that he steps aside.
“The Labour Party has a process for challenging a leader and that has not been triggered,” Sir Keir told ministers during crunch talks over his future, as no one person has stepped forward to challenge him yet.
“The country expects us to get on with governing. That is what I am doing and what we must do as a Cabinet,” he added.
More than 80 of Labour’s 403 MPs have now called for Sir Keir to quit immediately, or to set out a timetable for his resignation, including some ministers.
Banks sold off, amid reports of a possible windfall tax on the sector should there be a change at the top of the Government.
“Banks narrowly avoided a higher tax rate at the last budget, but our base case now assumes the UK banking surcharge to increase from 3% to 5%,” said the banking team at JPMorgan.
NatWest fell 3.2%, Lloyds Banking Group dipped 4.4% and Barclays declined 3.6%.
Meanwhile, the surging bond yields weighed on interest rate-sensitive housebuilders, with Barratt Redrow down 4.1% and Taylor Wimpey 2.4% lower.
Adding to the uncertain mood was another spike in the oil price as the impasse in the Middle East carried on.
Iran’s chief negotiator said on Tuesday that Washington must accept Tehran’s latest peace plan or face failure, after US President Donald Trump warned a truce was on the brink of collapse.
“Relations between Washington and Tehran appear to be more strained than at any time since the original ceasefire was announced just over a month ago,” observed David Morrison at Trade Nation, suggesting that hostilities could “resume at any time”.
Brent crude for July delivery was trading at 108.07 dollars a barrel on Tuesday, up compared with 103.70 dollars at the time of the equities close in London on Monday.
In Europe on Tuesday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 1.0%, and the DAX 40 in Frankfurt declined 1.6%.
In New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.5%, the S&P 500 fell 1.0% while the Nasdaq Composite was 1.7% lower.
The yield on the US 10-year Treasury widened to 4.46% on Tuesday from 4.39% on Friday. The yield on the US 30-year Treasury stretched to 5.02% from 4.97%.
The impact of the Iran war was reflected in soaring US inflation figures for April.
Annual CPI inflation sped up to 3.8% in April from 3.3% in March, above FXStreet-cited expectations of a 3.7% rise.
Monthly, energy costs were up 5.6% in April after a 21.3% jump in March.
Excluding food and energy costs, core CPI was up 2.8% year-on-year in April, up from 2.6% in March and higher than an expected 2.7%.
Analysts explained that much of the upside in core inflation came from a spike in shelter costs.
TD Economics said the numbers reinforce why the Fed needs to remain “patient”.
“Even assuming a ‘more normal’ reading on shelter prices last month, core inflation would’ve still firmed relative to March. With secondary price effects from higher energy prices likely to intensify in the months ahead, we’re likely to see core measures of inflation drift a bit higher and hover around 3% through year-end,” the broker said.
While Bank of America said the latest increase means inflation is getting “very uncomfortable” for the Fed.
Following the data, Fed futures now place a 60% probability of a rate hike by March next year.
The euro traded slightly lower against the greenback, at 1.1729 dollars on Tuesday from 1.1782 dollars on Monday. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at 157.73 yen, higher than 157.01 yen.
Back in London, Vodafone fell back 7.0% after mixed full-year results with adjusted earnings short of hopes but adjusted cash flow ahead.
“In the stock market it’s often said that it’s better to travel than arrive, hence why shares in Vodafone dipped on robust-looking full-year results after a strong rally in the past 12 months,” said Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell.
Vodafone shares have risen 60% in the last 12 months.
Intertek led the risers, up 6.4%, as it said it was “reviewing” the latest takeover proposal from suitor EQT Fund Management Sarl.
Intertek has turned down three previous approaches from EQT.
On the FTSE 250, Greggs rose 8.0% after reporting higher sales in the opening weeks of 2026 and maintaining full-year expectations.
But Wickes plunged 12% after reporting mixed trading as wet weather weighed on retail demand at the start of 2026.
Gold traded lower at 4,663.87 dollars an ounce on Tuesday, from 4,733.27 dollars on Monday.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Intertek, up 320.00p at 5,300.00p, British American Tobacco, up 255.00p at 4,634.00p, Compass Group, up 1.74p at 31.93p, Imperial Brands, up 104.00p at 2,832.00p and London Stock Exchange Group, up 328.00p at 9,348.00p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Vodafone Group, down 8.45p at 111.95p, 3i Group, down 116.00p at 2,400.00p, St James’s Place, down 52.50p at 1,154.50p, Lloyds Banking Group, down 4.28p at 94.06p and Marks & Spencer, down 13.60p at 308.90p.
Wednesday’s global economic calendar has eurozone industrial production and GDP data, the King’s Speech in the UK and US PPI figures.
Wednesday’s local corporate calendar has a trading statement from Spirax Group.
Contributed by Alliance News
Joni Lamb, the president of Daystar Television Network, a televangelism broadcaster she founded with her husband, Marcus Lamb, turning their family into stars of Christian entertainment, died on Thursday. She was 65.
In an announcement posted on Daystar’s website, the company described the cause as “serious health matters” exacerbated by a recent back injury. It did not say where she died.
On a trip to Jerusalem in 1983, shortly after the couple married, Mr. Lamb visited the Mount of Olives and felt God telling him to move to Montgomery, Ala., and start a Christian TV station. He and Ms. Lamb poured their energy and modest finances into the effort and began appearing on the air two years later.
By the time they founded Daystar — in Texas in 1997 — they were experienced entrepreneurs and performers. After just a few years, they owned 24 stations around the country. By 2010, they had become the second-largest Christian broadcaster, after Trinity Broadcasting Network, and were reaching more than 200 countries, The Dallas Morning News reported.
Compared with other televangelists, the Lambs “are younger and come across as more ordinary folks,” David Clark, the president of a rival Christian broadcaster, told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram in 2001. “They come across as being sincere.”
Mr. Clark added: “Marc is sharp, and his wife, Joni, is a big asset.”
The Lambs frequently appeared on their own network in a talk show format, discussing the pleasures and challenges of domestic life in a Christian idiom. Ms. Lamb, who liked to break into song, was Daystar’s leading talk show host, over the decades moderating shows like “Taking a Break With Joni” and “Joni Table Talk.” She would often be surrounded by other female regulars, putting questions to a male guest who had wisdom to impart.
The prominent pastor Jentezen Franklin visited earlier this year, for example, to discuss his new book, “The Power of Short Prayers.” The conversation slipped easily into evangelism.
“For someone watching right now: You’ve been listening; God’s opened your heart,” Ms. Lamb said. “In fact, your heart’s already been opened for some time, as you’ve been looking, searching, and you tried everything else. Always say, ‘Why don’t you try Jesus?’ A simple prayer: That will change your life for eternity.”
During the episode she was flanked, as she often was, by her two daughters, Rachel Lamb Brown and Rebecca Lamb Weiss, and referred to her husband by his first name, as if the viewers at home were family friends.
In 2021, Mr. Lamb died, at 64, of Covid-19, after having frequently suggested that people should pray instead of getting vaccinated. Ms. Lamb announced his death on air.
The travails of the Lamb family were often incorporated into the station’s programming. In 2010, Mr. Lamb admitted on live TV to an extramarital affair and described an attempt to extort millions of dollars in blackmail.
“Christian TV took a soap opera turn,” The Dallas Morning News wrote of the episode.
In 2020, Daystar returned a $3.9 million Paycheck Protection Program loan after the CBS program “Inside Edition” investigated the company’s purchase of a Gulfstream jet used by the Lamb family for beach and golf trips.
Four years later, a panel of Ms. Lamb’s talk show regulars questioned her on air about an accusation by her son, Jonathan, that there had been a coverup of a family member’s sexual molestation of his infant daughter. Ms. Lamb denied that any abuse had occurred, and after an investigation, no charges were filed.
Joni Lynn Trammell was born on July 19, 1960, in Greenville, S.C., where she grew up. Her father, Billy Frank Trammell, worked for a local refrigeration and heating company and would evangelize with friends he made playing basketball. Her mother, Sandra (Hudson) Trammell, competed in the Miss Greenville beauty pageant.
The Lambs met at a Greenville church in 1980, when Mr. Lamb, a traveling Pentecostal preacher, was visiting. They married in 1982.
Their early investments in TV stations came fortuitously, at a time of deregulation that The Star-Telegram would describe as “market bottom.” They later made money buying and selling small broadcast towers, and selling airtime to ministries and churches.
In 2023, Ms. Lamb married Doug Weiss, a sex therapist who became a co-host on Daystar. He survives her; other survivors include her three children and several grandchildren.
On air earlier this year, Ms. Lamb told viewers that the Christian faith guaranteed a posthumous reward.
“When you pray that prayer, and you receive Jesus, he forgives your sins,” she said. “When you die, you’re going to heaven.”
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