Liz Truss is reported to be considering a 5% cut to VAT which could save families £26 per week/£1,300 per year to deal with the deepening cost of living crisis. It would be the largest ever reduction in the headline rate of VAT (currently at 20%) which officials say would also help businesses struggling to […]
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UK energy bills will rise from £1,971 to £3,549 in October with Ofgem today confirming the 80% hike. Household bills are forecast to soar even further in 2023 with warnings already made that “people will die” because of the rises. Energy consultants Cornwall Insight predict the average gas and electricity will increase to £5,386 in […]
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Bin strikes in Scotland have started in 13 more local authorities after councils and unions failed to reach a pay agreement. The “international embarrassment” that is the bin strike in the middle of Edinburgh’s famed festival is only half way through its period of industrial action, and will continue until August 30. Scotland’s governing SNP […]
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Criminal barristers in England and Wales have voted to go on an all-out strike and victims’ advocates said the historic action is “entirely the government’s fault”. Already log-jammed courts will face even further stress when barristers begin their indefinite, uninterrupted strike on September 5 – the same day the next prime minister will be announced. […]
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Labour is extending its lead over the Conservative party and is now perceived as being less extreme and more economically competent than the Tories. Sir Keir Starmer’s party has taken a 15% lead over the Tories, according to the latest YouGov poll which puts the Tories on 28% – a 2% fall in a week […]
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Caretaker prime minister Boris Johnson is continuing his (second) holiday (in two weeks) with the country relieved to learn from Downing Street that he will be kept informed of any “urgent issues” while he enjoys his jollies. This week Johnson in Greece (a week after returning from his eco-hotel honeymoon in Slovenia) and No 10 […]
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As the leadership race enters its final phase and the Truss campaign continues to gather momentum, the candidates’ stance on the Northern Ireland Protocol is worth examining. While Truss was the architect of the legislation to scrap it, Sunak has now vowed to fix the Protocol. Meanwhile, a poll puts Truss well ahead of Sunak. […]
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Almost half of Britons fear there will be riots if the government does not provide more help with the cost of living crisis as energy bills are forecast to surge past £4,200. More than half of the country (55%) believe an organised campaign not to pay energy bills is justified, according to the Independent, while […]
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Gordon Brown is demanding an emergency budget to address the “financial timebomb” that “will explode” in October and leave half of the UK’s population in fuel poverty, causing “a humanitarian crisis”. The former Labour prime minister said Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak must agree an emergency budget this week otherwise “parliament should be […]
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Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss have clashed over who is tougher on China ahead of tonight’s (Monday) first televised debate between the would-be prime ministers. Sunak and Truss will go head-to-head on BBC One at 9pm as 160,000 members of the Conservative party await their ballot papers. Who is tougher on China has become another […]
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