Top official warns of ‘disturbing’ amount of Russian money laundering in UK January 25, 2021 One of the UK’s top officials in monitoring economic crime has today warned about the “disturbing” prevalence of Russian money laundering in London, claiming up to half of all money laundered from the country is done through the UK. Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Economic Crime Centre, told MPs today that it was [...]
PM’s plan to ‘level up’ UK made four-times harder by Covid, says think tank January 25, 2021 Boris Johnson’s plan to “level up” economically deprived areas of the country has been made four-times harder thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a new think tank report. The Centre for Cities’ annual report also found the pandemic will have negative long-term economic effects for London and the South East, with a stark increase [...]
Xi Jinping warns against ‘new Cold War’ January 25, 2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping has warned against stoking a “new Cold War”, after Beijing and Washington last week launched tit-for-tat sanctions on each other’s top officials. Speaking at this year’s Digital Davos, Xi attacked both former US President Donald Trump and his White House successor, Joe Biden, warning that confrontation “will always end up harming [...]
Self-employed given extra month to file tax return fine-free January 25, 2021 HMRC will not levy a late fine on those who file their tax return by 28 February 2021. The deadline to submit a self-assessment tax return is usually 31 January, and late penalties are usually applied to all returns filed after the deadline. HMRC chief executive Jim Harra said scrapping late fees until the end [...]
UK set to wrap up New Zealand trade deal before Easter January 25, 2021 The UK is reportedly just weeks away from closing a free trade deal with New Zealand that will see tariffs slashed on wine, gin and cars. The third formal round of trade talks begin today, with UK negotiators confident the terms of the deal can be agreed before Easter. The Sun reports the deal will [...]
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer self-isolating for the third time January 25, 2021 Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is self-isolating for the third time, after today announcing he had come into contact with someone who has Covid-19. Starmer tweeted this morning that he had “no symptoms and will be working from home until next Monday”. The Labour leader previously had to self-isolate in December when a member of [...]
Dutch anti-lockdown protests turn violent after new curfew January 25, 2021 Thousands of people in The Netherlands have come out against tougher Covid restrictions, namely the country’s first curfew since the Second World War, with police detaining around 240 people yesterday. Protesters were detained after demonstrations turned violent and people looted shops, started fires and threw stones and fireworks. Demonstrations hit at least 10 Dutch cities [...]
Universal Credit support to be reviewed by govt January 25, 2021 The government plans to review the support those on welfare receive during the pandemic, the work and pensions minister said today. Minister Therese Coffey, when asked whether a boost to Universal Credit would be extended, said that the benefit is being reviewed. “We’re in active discussion with the Treasury, working together to try and make [...]
Rishi Sunak’s £2bn Kickstart programme creates 120,000 jobs January 25, 2021 The Treasury’s £2bn Kickstart scheme has so far created 120,000 jobs for young people since being launched last September. Kickstart, which is open for 16 to 24-year-olds, has also been modified to remove the previous threshold that forced companies to create at least 30 openings to be involved in the scheme. The programme sees UK [...]
TP ICAP loses full EU rights as pandemic disrupts move to French office January 25, 2021 British broker TP ICAP has revealed that it cannot currently serve some European Union clients because Covid-19 has delayed completion of its new Brexit hub in Paris. TP ICAP said that regulators would allow it to continue serving customers from London while it finished preparations in France after the UK’s EU departure concluded. The EU [...]