Which London borough will pay most stamp duty under Osborne’s new rules? December 3, 2014 Buyers moving to Kensington and Chelsea will contribute more stamp duty than any other London borough under new plans revealed by George Osborne in his Autumn Statement today. More than 12,500 homes in the borough will be subject to a higher rate of stamp duty after the changes come into effect. New Westminster residents would [...]
TfL seals Tube map sponsorship deal with MBNA December 3, 2014 When it first emerged Transport for London (TfL) was seeking a sponsor for Tube maps back in June 2013, many jokes were made about the possibilities for stations like "Oxoford Circus" and "iPaddington". But now the sponsored Tube map is here: TfL announced today MBNA, the contactless card provider, will have its logos plastered across [...]
Parkinson’s app uMotif is the first app to be prescribed on the NHS December 3, 2014 The NHS has just started prescribing its first app – from now on, patients with conditions such as diabetes, heart failure and Parkinsons can use uMotif, developed by a London-based startup, to monitor their health, The app works by monitoring patients' blood pressure, blood glucose – and even includes a pedometer. Using the data it [...]
LighterLife slammed over excessive weight loss adverts December 3, 2014 Dieting group LighterLife has been slammed for promoting weight loss programmes that go against “good medical and nutritional practice”, thus breaking advertising code. LighterLife was investigated by the Advertising Standards Authority for a number of social media posts – one featuring the actress Denise Welch with text claiming that “Denise lost 2st in just [...]
Boris Johnson and the Malaysia Airlines mile-high “head butt incident” with drunk passenger December 3, 2014 London Mayor Boris Johnson may be used to a political dust up, but he was faced with what sounds like a rather more physical session on his flight home last night. Johnson, who has been in Malaysia as part of a tour of Asia, was flying from Kuala Lumpur when a fellow passenger started to [...]
What colour was George Osborne’s tie? Ladbrokes pays out on green, grey and black odds December 3, 2014 George Osborne confounded consensus in his Autumn Statement today, choosing to wear a magical colour-changing tie. The odds were naturally on Tory blue neckwear in the lead-up to the general election, but Osborne this year took inspiration from a magical Mr Benn (the cartoon character, not Tony), digging deep in the back of the wardrobe [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: What does George Osborne’s stamp duty reform actually mean? December 3, 2014 In an Autumn Statement firmly aimed at courting the popular vote, George Osborne today announced a complete overhaul of the stamp duty system – the elephant in the residential market for a decade. Estate agents said the old system wasn't progressive enough, and unfairly taxed home buyers. The cherry on Osborne's stamp duty cake was [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Stamp duty, business rates, banking profits and tech firm taxes. How has industry responded? December 3, 2014 There were a number of surprises in George Osborne's final Autumn Statement before the general election, many of which are solidly aimed at middle class voters. Bankers taxes are being limited, multinational tech firms are going to have to pay more taxes and stamp duty slabs have been scrapped. The squeezed middle and chattering [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: Shares in RBS, Lloyds, HSBC and Barclays fall as chancellor outlines profit measures December 3, 2014 Shares in UK banks dropped in early afternoon trading as George Osborne outlined measures to limit the amount of profit lenders can offset by losses. In his Autumn Statement speech, Osborne said he would limit offests to 50 per cent, and delay relief on bad debts, which he added will raise £4bn for the Treasury [...]
Autumn Statement 2014: George Osborne scraps stamp duty slabs December 3, 2014 George Osborne's Autumn Statement unveiled a raft of measures in an intensely political statement aimed at luring voters back from Ukip during next year's general election. His centrepiece? A complete overhaul of stamp duty which, he said, will create savings for 98 per cent of home buyers. To cheers from the Tory back benches, Osborne [...]