BBC to scrap free TV licence fee for over-75s from August July 9, 2020 The BBC is going ahead with plans to axe free TV licences for over-75 year-olds from August, after a two month delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. More than 3m households will be asked to start paying the £157.50 annual fee from 1 August, the BBC announced today. Households that receive Pension Credit will still [...]
Sunak’s spending spree ‘catastrophe’ for UK’s night time industry July 9, 2020 Casinos, comedy clubs and nightclubs have accused the chancellor of letting Britain’s night industry “slip through the cracks”, as a new wave of financial support for the hospitality industry failed to provide specific support for shuttered night time venues. Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled a raft of measures in his £30bn mini-Budget yesterday, in a bid [...]
Rishi Sunak’s mini-Budget: Everything the chancellor announced July 8, 2020 Rishi Sunak has announced a wave of sweeping measures to kickstart the UK economy in his mini-Budget – here’s what they are. Announcing his Summer Statement in the Commons today, Sunak pledged to pause stamp duty, boost hiring, slash VAT, and introduce “eating out” vouchers for every person in the UK. “Despite the extraordinary support [...]
Hospitality sector welcomes ‘blaze of sunshine’ from chancellor’s VAT cut July 8, 2020 The hospitality sector has greeted chancellor Rishi Sunak’s announcements of a VAT cut for the hospitality sector and a new Eat Out to Help Out scheme as a “blaze of sunshine” after months of closure during the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking in the Commons today to announce his “mini budget”, Sunak vowed to cut the VAT [...]
Sunak slashes VAT on hospitality and tourism to five per cent July 8, 2020 Chancellor Rishi Sunak has slashed VAT on hospitality and tourism from 20 per cent to 5 per cent for six months, as the government seeks to revive the UK economy after months of lockdown. In an unprecedented announcement in the Commons today, Sunak vowed to cut the VAT rate from next Wednesday until 12 January [...]
JK Rowling among 152 celebrities to criticise ‘cancel culture’ in open letter July 8, 2020 JK Rowling, Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie are among 152 public figures across the political spectrum who have signed an open letter warning that the spread of “censoriousness” and “cancel culture” has led to an intolerance of conflicting views. The letter, published in Harper’s Magazine, hit out at how a “panicked damage control” is leading [...]
Met Police chief apologises to British sprinter Bianca Williams July 8, 2020 The head of the Metropolitan Police has apologised to British athlete Bianca Williams for the “distress” caused by a stop and search that the sprinter slammed as racial profiling. A video of the incident, in which Williams and her partner Ricardo dos Santos were hauled out of their car in a London street, went viral [...]
Hancock praises pubs for closing after punters tested positive for Covid-19 July 7, 2020 Matt Hancock has praised three pubs for closing after the NHS track and trace system identified coronavirus outbreaks among their visitors, just days after pubs, bars and restaurants were allowed to reopen after months of lockdown. The health secretary told the Commons that the closure of the Fox and Hounds in Yorkshire, the Lighthouse in [...]
Met Police refers itself to police watchdog over racial profiling July 7, 2020 The Metropolitan Police has referred itself to the police watchdog after a stop and search involving black British athlete Bianca Williams. The Team GB sprinter claimed officers racially profiled her and her partner Ricardo dos Santos, a Portuguese 400m runner, were stopped in Maida Vale over the weekend. Williams accused the Met of racially profiling [...]
Magnistky Act: Who’s on the Foreign Office’s sanctions list? July 7, 2020 Foreign secretary Dominic Raab yesterday unveiled the first 49 foreign citizens facing sanctions for alleged human rights abuses under the UK’s new Magnitsky Act. The new sanctions include visa bans and asset freezes on individuals from Russia, North Korea, Saudi Arabia and Myanmar who are suspected of “serious” human rights abuses, including murder, torture, massacre [...]
