The Plaza Prizes offered 10 awards in 2025 but some judges say they were not paid, while a number of winners hit back over AI accusations
A competition for new writers that promised a £20,000 prize fund appears to have shut down, leaving winners and judges, including a Booker prize-winning novelist, out of pocket.
Established in 2022, the Plaza Prizes last year offered 10 awards that were judged by the “finest poets and writers in the world”.
Continue reading...Iran war drives demand for solar panels, heat pumps and EVs, with energy bills expected to rise 18% from July
British households are turning to green home energy upgrades in record numbers to try to keep bills down as the Iran crisis sends global oil and gas prices soaring, data from leading energy suppliers suggests.
Figures show demand for solar panels, electric vehicles and heat pumps in Great Britain has leapt since the war began on 28 February, as households brace for a sharp increase in monthly payments when the next energy price cap takes effect in the summer.
Continue reading...Minister says change for plan 2 and 3 loans in England and Wales will ‘protect borrowers’ from impact of global conflict
Millions of graduates will have the interest on their student loans capped at 6% from September as a temporary measure to protect them from the risk of rising inflation driven by war in the Middle East.
Ministers acted after months of criticism over the loans becoming a “debt trap” that often leave graduates in England and Wales paying tens of thousands more than the original loan amount.
Continue reading...At least 432 ebike fires and 147 e-scooter fires recorded in 2025, up 38% and 20% respectively on previous year
Ebike and e-scooter fires in the UK reached a record high last year, an investigation has found, renewing concerns over the use of lithium batteries and unregulated marketplaces.
Fire brigade figures obtained by the Press Association show there were at least 432 ebike fires recorded across the UK in 2025, up 38% from 313 the previous year and more than five times higher than the 84 recorded in 2021.
Continue reading...Levy on inherited farms and family businesses worth £2.5m or more comes into force 6 April
A new inheritance tax regime for UK farms and family businesses comes into force on Monday and will present “significant challenges” for those affected, according to accountants.
In October 2024 the government announced plans to levy inheritance tax on farms – prompting an outcry in many quarters.
Continue reading...NASUWT says full entitlement should be increased to 26 weeks and paternity pay also improved
Full maternity pay for teachers across the UK should be increased to 26 weeks to help stem the exodus of women in their 30s from classrooms, a union leader has said.
Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the NASUWT teachers’ union, said it was a “national scandal” that so many teachers who quit said inadequate maternity support was one of the reasons.
Continue reading...Bank holiday traffic predicted to peak on Thursday, as petrol and diesel prices surge from fallout of Iran war
UK drivers are being urged to look for the cheapest petrol and “to fill up as usual” as travellers prepare to make 21.7m journeys on what is expected to be the busiest Easter on the roads in four years.
The average price of a litre of unleaded petrol rose by 20p in March, from 132.83p on the 1st to 152.83p on the 31st, raising concerns about the cost of filling up for Easter journeys. The higher fuel prices have been triggered by rising oil prices as a result of the US-Israel war against Iran.
Continue reading...Nationwide reforms aim to standardise collections and expand food waste recycling to tackle stagnating rates
Recycling rules across England have long been inconsistent – but that will change from Tuesday when the government’s Simpler Recycling legislation comes into effect.
Continue reading...City regulator reduces number of loan agreements in line for compensation from 14m to 12m
Victims of the car finance scandal will be in line for payouts worth £830 on average, as the City regulator tightened the rules of its compensation scheme to cover fewer contracts.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) released the final details of its planned redress programme, saying it had narrowed the number of loan agreements eligible for payouts from 14m to 12.1m contracts.
Continue reading...Law firm is preparing claim on behalf of 30,000 consumers who fear the FCA’s redress scheme will shortchange them
Lloyds Banking Group is facing a court battle with 30,000 aggrieved car loan customers who are to abandon the City regulator’s official redress scheme amid fears it will shortchange consumers and favour lenders.
The claims law firm Courmacs Legal is planning to file a £66m omnibus claim on behalf of borrowers who believe they were financially harmed by car loan contracts set up by Lloyds’ motor finance arm, Black Horse.
Continue reading...Bypassing animal health certificate system by using cheaper pet passport issued abroad could backfire, experts say
British pet owners who want to take their furry friends elsewhere in Europe have been warned not to try to dodge expensive health certificates by using a pet passport issued abroad.
Before Brexit, taking a cat, dog or ferret to the EU was relatively simple: the Pet Travel Scheme meant an animal needed a microchip, vaccination against rabies, a pet passport and, for dogs, there were also requirements concerning tapeworm treatment.
Continue reading...Average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax for low-income households all rose last year
High levels of debt on essential bills have become the “new normal” for many low-income households, the charity StepChange said on Monday, with average arrears for housing, utilities and council tax all going up last year.
People’s budgets have been stretched in recent years as they have faced higher prices for many goods and services, and the crisis in the Middle East has led to concerns over a new wave of increases.
Continue reading...High-net-worth residents of UAE heading to Ireland and France to wait out missile attacks before tax year ends
Wealthy UK nationals fleeing war in the Gulf are seeking sanctuary in countries such as Ireland and France to avoid hefty tax bills back home.
In the face of possible demands from HM Revenue and Customs, high-net-worth individuals who had been living in the United Arab Emirates and neighbouring countries are hoping to wait out the missile and drone attacks elsewhere rather than return to the UK.
Continue reading...Carmaker’s decision to drop NissanConnect EV app on relatively recent cars fuels warnings from experts
Owners of some Nissan Leaf electric vehicles are angry after the carmaker announced it would shut down an app that lets them remotely control battery charging and other functions.
Drivers of Leaf cars made before May 2019 and the e-NV200 van (produced until 2022) have been told that the NissanConnect EV app linked to their vehicles will “cease operation” from 30 March. This means they will lose remote services, including turning on the heating, and some map features.
Continue reading...Austrian officials took action after airline ignored court order to pay €890 to unnamed women
Bailiffs have boarded a Ryanair aircraft after the airline refused to pay compensation to a passenger whose flight was delayed.
Austrian officials took action after the budget carrier ignored a court order to pay the unnamed woman €890 (£742) in legal costs and compensation for a delayed flight two years ago.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Oil at $100 a barrel means higher prices in the EU and UK, making savings for those with electric vehicles even greater, analysts say
European drivers face paying an extra €220 (£190) a year at the pumps because of the surge in oil prices caused by the war in Iran, analysts have warned. In the UK, a separate estimate puts the cost at an extra £140.
A sustained oil price of $100 a barrel, the level seen on Monday, would mean motorists in the EU paying €55bn more over a year, researchers at the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank estimated. That is the equivalent of an average of €220 for each driver, with higher-mileage drivers facing even bigger hikes. The assessment was made by comparing data from 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed the oil price to the $100 mark, with data from 2017-2019.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Oil at $100 a barrel means higher prices in the EU and UK, making savings for those with electric vehicles even greater, analysts say
European drivers face paying an extra €220 (£190) a year at the pumps because of the surge in oil prices caused by the war in Iran, analysts have warned. In the UK, a separate estimate puts the cost at an extra £140.
A sustained oil price of $100 a barrel, the level seen on Monday, would mean motorists in the EU paying €55bn more over a year, researchers at the Transport & Environment (T&E) thinktank estimated. That is the equivalent of an average of €220 for each driver, with higher-mileage drivers facing even bigger hikes. The assessment was made by comparing data from 2022, when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed the oil price to the $100 mark, with data from 2017-2019.
Continue reading...Hampshire business seems to have benefited from ‘phoenixism’, which costs the taxpayer about £800m a year
A UK recruitment business has been acquired out of administration for a third time in four years as part of a succession of deals that left some of the former management team in place and millions of pounds owed to the public purse.
The chain of insolvencies appears to contain more examples of phoenixism – a process when companies are liquidated and directors are able to rise from the ashes with a new entity, free of debts.
Continue reading...UK house price growth slowed in February as value of typical home rose 0.3% to £301,151
Halifax has warned that the US-Israel war on Iran could slow mortgage rate decreases this year, as it said that house price growth eased dramatically in February.
Halifax, which is part of Lloyds – Britain’s biggest mortgage lender – said the conflict in the Middle East was likely to affect global economies, stoke inflation and reduce the likely rate of interest rate cuts that influence borrowing costs for homebuyers.
Continue reading...From the Chagos Islands to ‘windmills’ and sharia law, the US president’s comments do not bear much scrutiny
Donald Trump has been opining about the UK again, saying on Tuesday that Keir Starmer was “not Winston Churchill” and repeating his complaint about the deal to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius. Here are some recent things the US president has said about British issues, and how they compare with reality.
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