June 4 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in

the Financial Times. Reuters has not verified these stories and

does not vouch for their accuracy.

Headlines

- KKR feared political risk from Thames Water rescue deal

- UK Serious Fraud Office probes company that sold solar

farms to Thurrock Council

- British industry exempted from Trump's doubling of steel

tariffs

- British finance minister Rachel Reeves to back

Manchester-Liverpool rail link in transport spending boost

- Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey defends UK

ringfencing rules for lenders

Overview

- Thames Water suffered a major setback in its fight to

avoid nationalisation after U.S. private equity firm KKR

pulled out of a multi-billion pound rescue plan, partly due to

concerns about political interference.

- Britain's Serious Fraud Office (SFO) said it had launched

an investigation into Rockfire Investment Finance, a company

that sold a bond investment scheme linked to solar farms that

led to an English council being effectively declared bankrupt in

2022.

- UK industry was exempted from a doubling of U.S. steel and

aluminium tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump, as British

bosses called on British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to move

swiftly on a trade deal that would eliminate the levies entirely

- UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves has approved plans to invest

billions of pounds in a new railway line between Manchester and

Liverpool along with other transport schemes as part of next

week's Whitehall spending review.

- Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has defended the

ringfencing rules that force UK lenders to separate their retail

operations from other activities, saying that removing them

would make mortgages and other loans more expensive.

(Compiled by Bengaluru newsroom)