London Mayor offers financial support to Hongkongers settling in the capital July 22, 2021 City Hall has announced to use a £900k grant to provide advice on housing, employment and education for the newly arrived Hong Kong migrants. London is expected to welcome a larger proportion of the projected 153,000 new arrivals from Hong Kong to the UK this year after the government introduced a new visa for Hong [...]
Raising the money to fund social care reform is half the battle, we need steely determination to mend the system July 22, 2021 Proposals to hike national insurance by 1 per cent to fund adult social care reform has caused much excitement in the media. But raising the money is barely half the battle. The tax raising options are, after all, well understood, even if the political challenge of implementing one remains formidable. As great a challenge is [...]
Food supply chains ‘on edge of failing’, meat industry warns July 21, 2021 The country’s food supply chains are “on the edge of failing” as the so-called “pingdemic” aggravates a critical shortage of labour, a sector body said tonight. The British Meat Processors’ Association (BMPA) said the shortage of skills was so critical, some plants had reported vacancies of 10 per cent to 16 per cent of permanent [...]
US drops opposition to Nord Stream 2 pipeline July 21, 2021 The US and Germany have today struck a deal allowing the completion of the controversial Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which has long been a bone of contention between the two countries. In return for the $11bn pipeline being finished, the two will invest $200m into energy security in Ukraine, as well as renewable energy [...]
BP closes small number of petrol stations due to lorry driver shortage July 21, 2021 BP said that the current shortage of lorry drivers meant that it had had to close a small number of its UK petrol stations. The oil giant said that the majority of its shortages of petrol and diesel were being resolved within a day. But the warning is yet another sign of how deeply the [...]
Government confirms 3 per cent pay rise for NHS staff in England July 21, 2021 The government has this evening announced a 3.0 per cent payrise for NHS staff in England after apparently failing to do so earlier today. In a statement tonight the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that it had accepted the recommendations of NHS independent pay review bodies in full. The pay rise covers [...]
Steve Jobs’ 1973 application to be auctioned in original format AND as an NFT July 21, 2021 Steve Jobs’ hand-written 1973 job application is set to challenge the traditional perceptions of value in a landmark auction that may prove the acid test for the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) market.
Labour comes out against vaccine passport plans for nightclubs July 21, 2021 The Labour Party has this afternoon come out against plans for vaccine passports to be used to allow people access to venues like nightclubs. On Monday Boris Johnson announced that from September it will be mandatory for people to show proof that they have been fully vaccinated in order to access such venues, as well [...]
British man linked to 2020 Twitter hack arrested in Spain July 21, 2021 Spanish police have arrested a 22-year-old British citizen in the southern city of Estepona for his alleged involvement in the July 2020 Twitter hack. The US requested his arrest on multiple charges connected to the cyberscam. Joseph O’Connor is also accused in a criminal complaint of computer intrusions linked with TikTok and Snapchat accounts takeovers, [...]
Covid lockdowns cost UK creative industries £12bn July 21, 2021 Repeated coronavirus lockdowns have cost the UK’s creative industries an estimated £12bn and more than 110,000 jobs, new figures have revealed. Data released today by Oxford Economics showed businesses in the creative sector generated around £104bn in gross value added value in 2020, down from £116bn the previous year. This was also well below the [...]