OBR says that living standards are forecast to rise by just 1% over the whole post-Covid decade
Martin Lewis said that, when he met John Healey this morning, the chancellor said that, having removed standing charges from gas bills, he would also like to get rid of them from electricity bills. Lewis said:
The chancellor said he will be talking to Ofgem about how they get rid of the charge on electricity as well, but that is ‘trickier’ apparently and will take longer.
Continue reading...Daily Mail reporters and their families fled homes after far-right activist targeted them over coverage
The far-right activist Tommy Robinson has been found guilty of harassing two journalists to the point where it caused them fear of violence.
Journalists from the Daily Mail and their family members fled their homes after “bullyboy, intimidatory tactics” were deployed by Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, his trial was told.
Continue reading...EHRC says transparency needed to prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women
Workers should have a legal right to know their colleagues’ pay to help prevent pay discrimination, particularly against women, the UK’s human rights watchdog has said.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) made the recommendation in response to government proposals to overhaul equal pay laws, saying workers deserved a right to transparency if they suspected other staff were being paid more for similar work.
Continue reading...Royal tour of Caribbean comes as poll suggests majority support among younger Britons for dialogue on slavery reparations
King Charles has confirmed he will discuss the legacy of slavery at a summit with Commonwealth leaders as he begins his Caribbean tour.
The king arrived in the Bahamas on Tuesday to a ceremonial welcome and attended a youth rally at Clifford Park, the site where the country officially gained its independence from British colonial rule in 1973.
Continue reading...Three-quarters of all responses were machine-generated in failed attempt to stop bill from passing into law, research finds
AI bots flooded a government consultation with tens of thousands of fake responses in a failed attempt to stop the UK’s ban on disposable vapes.
Three-quarters of all the responses to the 2023 consultation on the tobacco and vapes bill were machine-generated, in what is thought to be the first coordinated attempt to use AI to derail health policymaking in the UK.
Continue reading...Mark Tyrrell, who was in same unit as Sarah Everard’s killer, also guilty on three counts of sexual assault
A former Metropolitan police officer who served in the same unit as Sarah Everard’s killer, Wayne Couzens, has been found guilty of sexual offences against a woman he met through his work as an officer.
A court heard that Mark Tyrrell raped the woman – who cannot be identified for legal reasons – by having sex with her after she repeatedly said no.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222 in England and Wales, 0808 801 0302 in Scotland, or 0800 0246 991 in Northern Ireland. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Digital taper system for benefit expected in budget, but those already hit with overpayments will still have to pay
“On the surface it sounds really positive – and I really hope that it is,” says unpaid carer Guy Shahar of the government’s decision to abolish the notorious carer’s allowance cliff edge.
But Shahar is angry that most carers hit with unjust overpayments in the past will still have to repay them, for all the promise of a different future. And he notes that the cliff edge remains in place for four more years, potentially catching out more carers.
Continue reading...Two men charged under National Security Act were directed by handler believed to have been working for Iranian intelligence, court told
A group of men were directed to drive vans loaded with petrol to Fairford RAF base by a handler known as Ali, who police believe was working on behalf of Iran, a court heard on Tuesday.
One of the five men tasked with driving to the base called police in the early hours of 27 September after the handler warned the group about a bomb in the vans, prosecutors told Westminster magistrates court.
Continue reading...Business secretary says focus for November summit will be trade and youth mobility, but talks will also include ‘future options for relationship’
British officials have begun discussions with the EU about a long-term relationship that could include a return to free movement, the business secretary has said while promising the British people “are the boss” when it comes to what the UK will accept.
Jonathan Reynolds said the focus for British negotiations was the EU summit in November to seal an agreement to ease some trading restrictions and a youth mobility deal. But he said the prime minister, Andy Burnham, had made it clear he wanted to see a long-term and stable relationship with the bloc.
Continue reading...Tasks from determining asylum seekers’ ages to border surveillance now involve AI, says Open Rights Group
AI has been embedded across the Home Office in near-total secrecy, reinforcing the so-called hostile environment for immigration, according to research.
Tasks from the detection of potential sham marriages to determining the age of asylum seekers and checking through the contents of phones of new arrivals now involve use of the technology, according to a report by Open Rights Group (ORG).
Continue reading...Controversial mechanism that hit unpaid carers with huge penalties to be scrapped following Guardian investigation
The controversial rule that led to unpaid carers being punished with penalties amounting to thousands of pounds is to be abolished, the Guardian can reveal.
The chancellor, John Healey, is to announce a new digital taper system for carer’s allowance in Wednesday’s budget, effectively ending what is regarded as one of the UK benefit system’s most feared and unfair administrative practices.
Continue reading...Brand, charged with rape and sexual assault, was ‘sleeping with people day and night’, former assistant alleges
Russell Brand had an “insane sexual appetite” and his bad behaviour was “normalised and dismissed” by those around him, his former personal assistant has told a court.
Helen Berger alleged she had seen Brand treat women badly and that she once had to stop his mother and girlfriend walking in on him having sex with someone in his dressing room.
Continue reading...Clarification comes after PM fuelled speculation about EU-UK relationship in series of interviews at weekend
Downing Street has been forced to clarify Andy Burnham’s stance on whether the UK would return to having freedom of movement with the EU after the prime minister said an “honest discussion” was needed on the issue.
Burnham fuelled speculation about a return to freedom of movement in an interview at the weekend, prompting questions about how close the UK could become to Brussels.
Continue reading...Commanders suspected of sexual violence during the largest and fastest slaughter of civilians in more than 30 years have been subjected to travel ban and asset freeze
Senior Sudanese commanders implicated in a “campaign of rape” have been targeted by the UK on the first anniversary of a mass atrocity that saw tens of thousands of civilians killed over several days.
A year after the fall of El Fasher, the British government said it had sanctioned military leaders from both sides in the country’s ongoing conflict whom it suspected of sexual violence during the siege of the city.
Continue reading...PM says talking about changing the relationship with the bloc would not be divisive but ‘can start to bring people together’
Speaking at his rough sleeping summit in Downing Street this morning, Andy Burnham expanded on the claim he made on Good Morning Britain about tackling rough sleeping being cheaper than ignoring the problem. (See 11.13am.)
He said:
We’ve also got to be conscious when we speak to the rest of the country, the taxpayers of this country, that actually to leave people sleeping rough has financial consequences. It doesn’t work for anybody and it doesn’t work for the public purse, because if you leave people in a position where they are in and out of A&E, and in and out of a hospital bed, that doesn’t make sense for anybody.
There is a rock-solid business case to do something to end homelessness, to put people on a path to recovery, so that they can contribute once again. And that should be the thinking that we take to this conversation.
Burnham is throwing another £432m at a problem he failed to solve in Greater Manchester. Under Labour, rough sleeping has hit record highs – yet their answer is always more taxpayers’ money and more empty promises.
[John] Healey must use his budget this week to cut taxes for working people, get the ballooning benefits bill under control, and stop pushing up energy prices.
John Healey is expected to confirm on Wednesday that the full state pension will rise by £489 to £13,036 – equivalent to 3.9%.
However, the rise will push about one million people on low incomes who rely on the state pension above the £12,570 personal allowance threshold, meaning they would be dragged into paying income tax.
Continue reading...V2G tech enables drivers to charge automatically when electricity is cheaper and then sell some back to the grid at times of high demand
Electric cars that can be used as “power plants on wheels” could be given government backing as part of plans under consideration to help UK manufacturers.
Ministers are considering giving manufacturers incentives to add “vehicle to grid” (V2G) technology to cars as part of its review of the zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate.
Continue reading...R&B singer sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment suspended for 12 months over incident in Mayfair in 2023
The R&B singer Chris Brown has been given a suspended sentence after striking a man twice in the head with a tequila bottle in a central London club.
Brown, 37, admitted affray earlier this year after attacking a former friend with a “heavy” tequila bottle on the dancefloor at the Tape private members’ club in Mayfair in February 2023.
Continue reading...More strong winds forecast after Austen and Boelo kill two people and bring travel disruption and flooding
A major clean-up operation was under way on Monday after weekend storms caused havoc, with forecasters warning of more strong winds to come.
Two men were killed by falling trees after two named storms, Austen and Boelo, struck parts of the UK, and there was widespread travel disruption, flooding, power cuts and event cancellations.
Continue reading...Industrial action by senior doctors to begin on 25 November, with only emergency cover provided, union says
Senior doctors in England plan to go on strike for two days in November, the British Medical Association has said.
The industrial action by consultants is to begin at 6.59am on 25 November, with only emergency cover to be provided.
Continue reading...EU exit has damaged economy and failed to bring promised benefits, says PM, but he rules out big pre-election changes
Brexit has not “played out” like it was promised to the public, has weakened the economy and the current deal is not good enough, Andy Burnham has said, while ruling out any major changes in the current parliament.
The prime minister said Britain had ended up with a “harder Brexit than was proposed in the referendum campaign” and it had not helped to control the small boats crisis. Backing the home secretary’s tougher immigration rules, he said Brexit had weakened the UK’s ability to control its borders as it could no longer send people back to Europe.
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