Rishi Sunak signalled changes in the king’s speech that create a policy divide with Labour
The government has confirmed its plans to grant new North Sea oil and gas licences every year at the opening of parliament, deepening a political fault line between the Conservatives and Labour, and angering environmental campaigners who argue it undermines efforts to reach net zero. Here, we examine the move.
Continue reading...Drop in retail sales also because of consumer worries over high energy bills and mortgages, surveys suggest
Fears that the UK is heading for a recession this winter have intensified amid signs Britain’s hard-pressed households are cutting spending as they save for Christmas and higher fuel bills.
Two monthly snapshots of retail activity found shops and online outlets struggling because of consumer budgets being squeezed by dearer mortgages and the UK’s lingering cost of living crisis.
Continue reading...Exclusive: recruitment and retention crisis means only 17% of nurseries say they could offer extra entitlement
A mass exodus of childminders and nursery staff risks scuppering the government’s flagship new funding for parents of young children in England, according to a new coalition of early years providers and campaigners.
More than half of all nursery workers surveyed by the Early Education and Childcare Coalition (EECC) said they were considering or planning on leaving the sector in the next 12 months.
Continue reading...Cost and difficulties of balancing work and childcare has led one in 10 to quit, says Fawcett Society
About a quarter of a million mothers with young children have left their jobs because of difficulties with balancing work and childcare, according to a report by an equal rights charity that calls for the end of the “motherhood penalty”.
This juggling act, as well as the punitive cost, has led more than 249,124 working mothers of children aged four or under to leave their employer, according to the Fawcett Society.
Continue reading...Higher interest rates and move away from cash isas means hundreds of thousands more people may be hit
Higher interest rates look set to land hundreds of thousands more people with an unwelcome tax bill for their savings, a financial advice firm warned this week.
A couple of years ago it was typically only the wealthiest with very big nest eggs who had to pay tax on their savings interest – but now someone with an emergency savings pot of about £8,000 could find themselves falling foul of this little-known tax trap.
Continue reading...Sadiq Khan hails ‘huge progress’ as progress report finds more than 95% of vehicles are now compliant
The number of the most polluting vehicles driven in London has fallen by almost half since the capital’s ultra-low emission zone (Ulez) was expanded, taking almost 80,000 older cars off the roads.
About 77,000, or 45%, fewer non-compliant cars and vans were detected on average a day in September, the first month of operation of the expanded zone – compared with June 2023.
Continue reading...Payments group and TV shopping channel change small print after financial regulator steps in
The City regulator has taken action after finding that customers of two leading buy now, pay later providers were “at risk of harm” because of potentially unfair and unclear small print.
The US-based online payments group PayPal and the TV shopping channel QVC have changed the terms of their contracts after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) expressed “concern” over the impact to customers.
Continue reading...Shortfalls fuelled by misconceptions and distrust of employers, as well as lack of spare income, figures show
A UK individual from a minority ethnic background typically has a pension pot less than half the size of that belonging to the average white British saver, data reveal.
The research from Legal & General’s investment arm claimed there was a sizeable “ethnicity pensions gap” in the UK that was being fuelled by “misconceptions” around pensions and a “significant distrust of employers”, as well as a lack of spare income.
Continue reading...Britain’s biggest mortgage lender forecasts 5% drop over this year and another 2.4% decline in 2024
UK house prices will continue to slide this year and in 2024 and will not start to recover until 2025, Lloyds Banking Group has forecast.
The lender, which owns Halifax and is Britain’s largest mortgage provider, said that by the end of 2023 UK house prices would have fallen 5% over the course of the year and were likely to decrease by another 2.4% in 2024.
Continue reading...Tie-up is a ‘terrible deal for Britain’ that also poses risks for national security, Unite claims
Mobile phone bills could rise by as much as £300 a year as a result of the merger of the UK operations of Vodafone and the owner of Three, a trade union has said.
Unite has been a vocal critic of the proposed deal, which would create the UK’s largest mobile operator, and said that it is a “terrible” deal that also poses risks for national security.
Continue reading...Study shows widespread concern over quality of managers, with 82% of bosses deemed ‘accidental’, having had no formal training
Almost one-third of UK workers say they’ve quit a job because of a negative workplace culture, according to a new survey that underlines the risks of managers failing to rein in toxic behaviour.
Research carried out by the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) pointed to widespread concern about the quality of management, and its impact on workers’ daily lives.
Continue reading...The Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park will get a cut for selling the winning ticket of the second-largest Powerball drawing ever
Janea Herrera, a clerk at a southern California convenience store, first thought it was a joke when she was told that a winning lottery ticket was sold at the store. And it wasn’t just any ticket. It was the winning ticket for the $1.765bn Powerball, which someone had bought at the Midway Market & Liquor in Frazier Park, a small town north of Los Angeles.
“After 30 years of selling those tickets, we need a winner. I’m just happy for my customers,” Nidal Khalil, the store’s co-owner told the LA Times on Thursday. Khalil, 54, co-owns the shop with his brother and said they received congratulatory calls from across the state as well as from Syria, where they are from.
Continue reading...Animals and plants feature heavily in coinage that allows ‘everyone to celebrate British nature’
A new collection of coins bearing the face of the king has been unveiled by the Royal Mint, breaking tradition with designs inspired by plants and animals found across the four nations.
The eight designs, overseen by King Charles, depict the flora and fauna found in different parts of the UK and reflect his interest in conservation and nature.
Continue reading...High mortgage costs result in sixth straight month of sellers being forced to reduce prices, says Halifax
UK house prices fell at the fastest annual rate in 14 years in September, as high mortgage costs fuelled a sixth consecutive monthly drop in a “buyer’s market”, according to Halifax.
Halifax, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, said prices fell by 4.7% in September, the biggest year-on-year decrease since 2009.
Continue reading...Average rental property receives three times more enquiries from prospective tenants than in 2019
Private home rents in Great Britain have increased to their highest point on record after shortages in supply and mortgage rate rises combined to push the cost up by 10% over the past 12 months.
The average rent for new properties being put on the market now stands at a record £1,278 per calendar month outside London in the July to September period, according to Rightmove.
Continue reading...Unison says decision affects other types of employee payments and is ‘victory for underpaid workers’
Many UK workers could be entitled to thousands of pounds “unfairly” deducted from their pay after a supreme court decision, according to unions.
The judgment relates to a long-running row about holiday pay but Unison, which participated in the case, said the ruling affected all other types of payment to employees and called it a “victory for underpaid workers”.
Continue reading...Rate tops level last seen after Liz Truss mini-budget as fears of global inflation and US political instability spook markets
Britain’s long-term cost of borrowing has hit its highest level since 1998, as political instability in the US and fears of sustained high levels of inflation triggered a sell-off in global bond markets.
The yield, or interest rate, on 30-year UK government bonds hit 5.115% early on Wednesday, according to the financial data provider Refinitiv.
Continue reading...Diesel up by more than 8p to 163p in September and petrol by 4.5p to 152p amid global oil production cuts
The price of diesel in the UK has shot up at one of its fastest rates in more than 20 years – while retailers have been accused of charging “unjustifiably” high petrol prices.
Diesel prices rose by more than 8p a litre to 163p in September, the fifth biggest monthly rise since 2000, and on top of another 8p rise the previous month, the RAC said. Petrol prices rose by 4.5p a litre to 152p, the fourth consecutive monthly increase.
Continue reading...Number of house sales also fell in August compared with a year earlier, says HMRC
UK mortgage approvals fell in August to their lowest level in six months, as high interest rates cooled the housing market.
The Bank of England said net mortgage approvals for house purchases fell from 49,500 in July to 45,400 in August and were down by a third from the same month last year.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Potential plan to restrict measures such as 20mph speed limits and levying fines from traffic cameras alarms travel groups
The government is to limit measures councils can take to curb car traffic including 20mph speed restrictions and bus lanes, the Guardian understands, under plans that have alarmed travel groups and risks a row with local authorities.
In another sign Rishi Sunak hopes to gain support by prioritising the needs of motorists, other plans expected to be announced next week include limits on local authorities’ abilities to levy fines from traffic cameras and restrictions on enforcing box junction infringements.
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