Among stocks, British Telecom inched up 0.3% after Italy's competition watchdog cleared, under conditions, the acquisition of several business units from the group by Telecom Italia.

The Financial Times reports that David Cameron was paid a salary of more than $1m by Greensill Capital, the finance company that collapsed last Spring and offered a short-term cash advance to companies to extend the time they have to pay their invoices. Greensill paid suppliers lightly less, while the company paid the whole invoice to the fintech.

Two people told the FT that Cameron earned $40,000 a day to work 25 days in an advisory role, which included “an increasingly desperate attempt to secure government funds for the ailing company”, such as emergency coronavirus loans.

The Bank of England also announced today that it was scrapping the dividend caps on the country’s largest banks due to good results from stress tests. Andrew Bailey said that although the economic outlook improved due to vaccination, some risks persists and households and businesses may need extended support.