Who has been hit hardest by £21bn of pandemic fraud, and will the taxpayer EVER get it back? March 30, 2023 The UK Government has lost £21bn worth of taxpayers money due to fraud since the start of the pandemic, that is “very unlikely” to be unrecovered, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). The NAO said that many public bodies are unaware of the amount of fraud they face, as it revealed that levels of [...]
A quarter of private renters in England don’t ask for repairs for fear of eviction March 30, 2023 A quarter of renters in England don’t ask for repairs in their homes for fear of eviction, a survey has found. The polling, conducted by YouGov for homelessness charity Shelter, found 76 per cent of private renters had experienced disrepair in the past year, and 51 per cent experienced damp or mould. An additional 31 [...]
Backlash from over 50s may force government to delay increase in state pension age to 68 until after election March 30, 2023 Plans to increase the state pension age to 68 have been delayed, according to reports. Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride is expected to address MPs in the Commons on Thursday, when he is expected to update them on the latest statutory review on the pension age. According to reports in the i and the [...]
Controversial Help to Buy policy to boost home ownership to end tomorrow March 30, 2023 A flagship policy to boost home ownership among young people will come to an end tomorrow. The Help to Buy Scheme, launched in 2013, will be wound up, after more than 350,000 people used it to buy their first home, with more than £2.2bn of support last year. But some property experts have warned the [...]
Labour and Tory governments shun £500bn of investment for UK economy since 2000 March 30, 2023 Britain has missed out on £500bn of public investment this century as a result of successive Labour and Conservative governments trimming capital spending to balance the books, a new report out today claims. Since the turn of the millennium, the UK has injected around 2.5 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) of public investment [...]
Is the UK about to tick one of its ‘Asia tilt’ boxes by joining CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade bloc this week? March 29, 2023 The UK is set to join the key CPTPP Indo-Pacific trade bloc later this week, according to reports. Negotiations have been ongoing to secure Britain’s entry into the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) since early 2021. And sources have now said the UK’s entry into the pact is “agreed” and “confirmed”, according [...]
EU countries seek legal option to stop Russian LNG imports March 29, 2023 EU countries agreed on Tuesday to seek a legal option to stop Russian companies sending LNG gas supplies to EU nations.
Germany wins exemption over EU laws to ban CO2-emitting cars March 29, 2023 EU countries gave final approval end sales of new CO2-emitting cars in 2035, after Germany won an exemption e-fuel vehicles.
Plans to house asylum seekers in military bases and barges as government pushes ahead to ‘discourage’ small boat crossings March 29, 2023 Asylum seekers will be housed in disused military bases, ferries and barges under government plans to reduce spending on hotels. Immigration minister Robert Jenrick is expected to announce the use of two RAF sites as he tries to reduce the £6.8m a day the government says it spends on hotel accommodation. The plans are likely [...]
In defence of capitalism: Does money corrupt politics? March 29, 2023 In the fifth of an eight-part series, Dr Rainer Zitelmann – the author of the new book In Defence of Capitalism – argues that free markets, capitalism and money make for fairer elections and freer democracies, not the other way round The American intellectual Noam Chomsky, one of the most popular critics of capitalism, writes [...]