7 h. ago ‘Something has gone very wrong’: how the carers scandal was exposed

A Guardian investigation revealed how hundreds of thousands of people were plunged into debt – and some criminalised – for looking after their loved onesOne February afternoon in 2016, Sir Robert Devereux, at the time the most powerful official in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), was stopped by a junior colleague as he walked through the car park of a civil service office in Preston, Lancashire. Was he aware, the worker asked, about the problems with carer’s allowance?Devereux, on a flying visit to the DWP outpost, asked for details and promised to look into it. A few days later, Devereux’s office received a long and detailed note, complete with 80 anonymised case studies, setting out how years of shortcomings in the administration of the carer’s allowance benefit had wasted millions of pounds of taxpayers’ money and inflicted untold hardship and misery on thousands of unpaid carers. Continue reading...

Politics

52 h. ago Campaigners urge Ofgem to draw up ‘crisis plan’ ahead of RTS meter switch off next month

Nearly 400,000 homes are still waiting to switch over to a smart meter before the June 30 cut-off date.

Events

55 h. ago Call for 'crisis plan' as hundreds of thousands face disruption on July 1

392,000 households are currently in the line of fire

Events

65 h. ago Netanyahu says all of Gaza will be under Israeli control by end of war

Netanyahu stressed the need to prevent a humanitarian crisis and unveiled a three-stage plan to get aid deliveries into Gaza

Politics

2 d. ago Woman buys 'retired' Jellycat in unexpected place for fraction of price

A Jellycat can be sold for hundreds, sometimes even thousands, of pounds, so when the woman found a rare 'retired' plushie, she couldn't believe how cheap it was

Economics

3 d. ago Slow recovery ‘appropriate’ to ensure M&S is secure after cyber attack – experts

The retailer has said online shopping could be disrupted until July after the attack over Easter.

Events

3 d. ago Ofgem urged to draw up ‘crisis plan’ for July 1 RTS energy meter switch off

Energy UK, which represents the sector, said 392,000 households still had the meters as of mid April.

Events

3 d. ago M&S blames ‘human error’ for cyber attack that will hit profit by £300mn

UK retailer discloses that breach came via supplier and warns online operations will be disrupted until July

Economics

3 d. ago M&S cyber attack disruption to last until July and cost £300million

Customers have been unable to order online for the past three weeks after being targeted by cyber criminals

Economics

3 d. ago M&S cyber attack disruption to cost £300m as retailer concedes impact until July

The high street giant halted orders on its website and saw empty shelves after being targeted by hackers around the Easter weekend - with the fallout to drag on until July.

Economics

3 d. ago M&S reveals cyber attack disruption expected to last until July

Customers have been unable to order online for the past three weeks after being targeted by cyber criminals

Events

3 d. ago Marks & Spencer says disruption expected until July after cyber attack

The high street giant expects to be hit for £300 million

Events

3 d. ago Marks and Spencer warns of £300MILLION profit hit and says cyber attack crisis will disrupt customers until July

Marks and Spencer has said disruption from a major cyber attack is expected to continue through to July and reduce operating profits by around £300million before action to offset the hit.

Events

3 d. ago M&S warns cyber attack disruption will last until July and hit profits by £300m

Marks and Spencer has said disruption from a major cyber attack is expected to continue through to July and reduce operating profits by around £300 million before action to offset the hit.

Events

3 d. ago Marks and Spencer say cyber attack will cost them £300MILLION and disrupt customers until July as NCA investigators say they are looking at British hackers Scattered Spider

Marks and Spencer has said disruption from a major cyber attack is expected to continue through to July and reduce operating profits by around £300million before action to offset the hit.

Economics

3 d. ago Marks & Spencer says cyber attack disruption set to cost £300m and last to July

The high street giant halted orders on its website and saw empty shelves after being targeted by hackers around the Easter weekend.

Economics

3 d. ago Trump eyes foreign aid funds to remove migrants including Ukrainians who came to the U.S. from war zones: report

Hundreds of thousands of migrants, including those from Ukraine and Haiti, are reportedly being considered in the plans

Events

3 d. ago Trump the AI salesman makes deals in the Gulf – and rich men benefit

The president sold the US model of the industry that made it: enormous power concentrated in the hands of a few menHello, and welcome to TechScape. This week in tech: Donald Trump the AI salesman visits the Middle East; 23andMe gets bought, mostly for its data; and Elon Musk’s bot hallucinates an offensively incorrect historical record – twice.Legal aid hack: data from hundreds of thousands of people accessed, says MoJHow to protect your data after a cyber-attackScattered Spider hackers in UK are ‘facilitating’ cyber-attacks, says GoogleLargest US crypto exchange says cost of recent cyber-attack could reach $400m Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago Hundreds of thousands of pensioners are hit with unexpected tax bills after threshold freeze as Labour clobbers older Britons even more with winter fuel allowance

HMRC issued some 1.32million 'simple assessments' to pensioners in the 2023/24 tax year, dragging more into taxable thresholds in a case of 'fiscal drag'.

Economics

4 d. ago Hundreds of thousands of pensioners are hit with unexpected HMRC tax bills because of threshold freeze

HMRC issued some 1.32million 'simple assessments' to pensioners in the 2023/24 tax year, up 74 per cent from the year before.

Economics