Former Labour MP Jared O’Mara ‘tried to claim up to £30,000 to fund extensive cocaine habit’ January 23, 2023 A former MP tried to fraudulently claim up to £30,000 in taxpayers’ money to fund an “extensive cocaine habit”, prosecutors have said. Jared O’Mara, 41, who represented the constituency of Sheffield Hallam from 2017 to 2019, is on trial for submitting “dishonest” invoices to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa). Jurors at Leeds Crown Court [...]
Rishi Sunak: PM orders probe over Nadhim Zahawi’s tax dispute January 23, 2023 Rishi Sunak has ordered an investigation into Nadhim Zahawi as the Tory party chairman faced growing calls to quit after paying a penalty to resolve a multimillion-pound tax dispute. The Prime Minister asked new ethics adviser Sir Laurie Magnus on Monday to assess whether the former chancellor breached the ministerial code with the HC settlement. [...]
Speaker of Russia’s state Duma threatens West saying supplying Ukraine with more powerful arms risks ‘global catastrophe’ January 23, 2023 The speaker of Russia’s parliament warned that countries supplying Ukraine with more powerful weapons risked their own destruction. The message followed Ukraine’s supporters pledging billions of pounds in military aid to the country on Friday, including armoured vehicles, air defence systems and other equipment, but not including the battle tanks Kyiv had requested. State Duma [...]
Ofgem: Regulator will review firms putting people on pre-payment metres, threatening legal action for lack of care January 23, 2023 Ofgem is to review the checks and balances energy firms have around placing customers on pre-payment meters.
Rishi Sunak: PM fined for failing to wear a seatbelt during social media video in car January 20, 2023 The Prime Minister has been issued with a fixed penalty notice by police for failing to wear a seatbelt while filming a social media clip in the back of a moving car. Rishi Sunak previously apologised for the “brief error of judgment” as he carried out a series of visits in Lancashire on Thursday. Mr [...]
Cocktail of costs: How inflation is expected to squeeze spirit-maker Diageo’s sales and profit despite Christmas boost January 20, 2023 Spirits giant Diageo is expected to report a slowdown in sales and profits next week as consumer spending steadies. However, analysts have predicted that the Johnnie Walker and Baileys maker could deliver a resilient showing when it reveals its half-year update to shareholders on Thursday, January 26. A consensus of analysts have predicted that the [...]
UK ponders more tanks as Putin’s war enters 11th month and Russia claims victories in eastern Ukraine January 20, 2023 Russia claims to have captured a village in its intense, months-long push toward the eastern Ukraine city of Bakhmut. It comes as military analysts said tanks, which could be sent by Kyiv’s western allies, would not be a magic wand in the 11-month war. Russian Defence Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov told a regular media briefing [...]
‘Hundreds of thank yous are not hundreds of tanks’: Ukraine’s president Zelensky pleads for help against Putin January 20, 2023 Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has appealed to western allies to speed up the delivery of military support – including badly needed heavy armour – in his country’s struggle against the Russia invader. In an address to a pledging conference at the US airbase in Ramstein, Germany, he urged assembled defence ministers to agree in “principle” [...]
Govt to funnel £300m towards British Steel in bid to save struggling metal maker from collapse – reports January 20, 2023 The Government is poised to funnel nearly a third of a billion pounds towards British Steel to save the struggling metal maker from collapse, according to reports. Sky News said that Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is prepared to hand the company £300 million in instalments over the next few years if it meets certain conditions. The [...]
Nadhim Zahawi tax row: Tory chair faces fresh questions over claims he paid penalty in seven-figure settlement January 20, 2023 Tory party chairman Nadhim Zahawi faces fresh questions over his tax affairs after he was accused of paying a penalty as part of a multi-million pound settlement with HMRC. The former Chancellor, who attends Rishi Sunak’s Cabinet, has been under pressure since it was reported that he paid a seven-figure sum to end a dispute. [...]
