30 h. ago UK Budget: Scots firms urge John Swinney to 'resist temptation' to copy UK government tax rises

Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE) and the Scottish Retail Consortium (SRC) both warned the First Minister that raising income tax would ‘hit workers’ and not help the economy

Economics

46 h. ago East Ayrshire taxi drivers win fight to raise fares by up to 19 per cent on average

East Ayrshire taxi operators successfully appealed a decision by the council's licensing panel to block a request for the rise.

Economics

3 d. ago Top TV doc demands baked beans & fish fingers are taxed and give warning labels to help tackle obesity

BAKED beans and fish fingers should be taxed to help fight obesity, a telly doctor reckons. Anti-junk food campaigner Prof Chris van Tulleken also wants warning labels on unhealthy products. The BBC expert yesterday told MPs the Treasury should target the sale of fattening foods. Appearing before a Commons health committee, Prof Van Tulleken put...

Events

8 d. ago Learners desperate for driving tests 'taken advantage' of by bots and scammers

A total of 38 MPs signed a letter to the Local Transport Minister raising concerns that scammers are buying up tests on DVSA’s official portal so they can be sold for profit

Politics

1 week ago Ministers can raise taxes if they come out fighting. But no one in this cowardly Labour government seems able | Aditya Chakrabortty

Ahead of the budget, Rachel Reeves should be out making her arguments. Instead, there is silence – and a huge opportunity for Labour’s opponentsScroll back three years. The person sitting opposite me is yet to take their place at the top of Keir Starmer’s government. Instead, they are a star of the Labour opposition, for whom power advances or recedes with every poll and front page. They have just done a spot of electoral marketing, a photo op at a supermarket 100 or so miles from Westminster, and what they’ve brought home is the politics of the staff.“They’d all voted for Boris.”Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Keir Starmer refuses to say if he stands by pledge not to raise taxes

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch asked the prime minister on Wednesday whether he stuck by his pledge not to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT

Politics

1 week ago Starmer refuses to rule out tax rises in budget after questioning by Badenoch

Prime minister fails to answer Tory leader’s questions about manifesto pledge not to raise income taxUK politics live –latest updatesKeir Starmer has refused to rule out tax rises in next month’s budget, which would breach Labour’s manifesto promises, boosting speculation that Rachel Reeves is considering raising income tax to reduce a shortfall.The prime minister pointedly ignored questions posed to him by Kemi Badenoch in the Commons about the manifesto pledge, something the Conservative leader said he had not done when asked before. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Trump raises eyebrows with awkward Narendra Modi impersonation during APEC speech

Donald Trump raised eyebrows with an awkward impression of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in South Korea.

Politics

2 w. ago New poll shows how public feel about higher taxes and fighting for their country in a war

Around a quarter of people, 29%, said they 'definitely' or 'probably' would fight if required, and a further 42% said 'maybe' or 'unlikely', while only 13% did not know

Events

2 w. ago Prince Andrew was 'deemed national security risk over links to suspected Chinese spies'

Cabinet ministers allegedly knew about the concerns which were first raised by security services in 2021 after the then-Duke of York held meetings with suspected spy Yang Tengbo.

Events

2 w. ago One million young Brits set to be out of work or education for first time in more than a decade

A MILLION young people are set to be out of work or education for the first time in more than a decade, a study says. Ministers are now under pressure to abandon plans to raise minimum wage levels for the under-21s to get youngsters back into the workplace. The Resolution Foundation warned the government should...

Economics

2 w. ago NI First Minister raises concern with Labour Government legacy proposals

Michelle O’Neill questioned when the inquiry into the death of GAA official Sean Brown would start.

Politics

3 w. ago While the eyes of the world are on Gaza, Israeli settlers in the West Bank still behave with impunity | Ofer Cassif

As the harvest season begins, attacks on Palestinian farmers and their land are spiralling. The words of peace following the Gaza ceasefire ring hollowLast Monday, when the US president, Donald Trump, addressed the Knesset alongside the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, my compatriot lawmaker Ayman Odeh and I raised a banner calling them to “Recognise Palestine”. We were brutally expelled by force from the parliament’s plenum, revealing the fragile state of the supposed “only democracy in the Middle East”. How can Trump and Netanyahu speak of peace in the Middle East without recognition of the people deprived for decades of their basic liberties and rights under vicious occupation?Nowhere is the deceit more clear than in the occupied West Bank. There, the words of peace are but a weak and distant voice, but the horrifying sounds of settler violence and terror still echo loudly. More than 30 occurrences of settler violence against Palestinians have been documented since the...

Politics

3 w. ago French Socialist party to fight for wealth tax as it seeks to capitalise on crisis

Party has promised to stand back as weakened prime minister prepares for crucial no-confidence voteThe French Socialist party says it will fight to introduce a flagship wealth tax to raise revenue by targeting France’s richest people, as the divided parliament prepares to begin debating next year’s budget.Boris Vallaud, the head of the Socialist party grouping in parliament, said on Wednesday that taxing very high-wealth individuals in France was “one of our principal battles and we’re going to put all our energy into it”. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago The government cannot afford to limp on without an economic strategy

Editorial: As the IMF downgrades its UK growth projection for next year, it also predicts we will have the highest inflation of any G7 country. Ahead of a Budget that will doubtless raise taxes, it is time the prime minister made the case for what his administration plans to do to reboot the economy

Politics

3 w. ago We’ve reached our limits on raising income tax in Scotland, says SNP finance minister Shona Robison

The Scottish Government has reached its limits on income tax, the Finance Secretary has said.

Politics

4 w. ago Prince Harry is 'putting reconciliation with King Charles at risk' by fighting government to get taxpayer

On Friday, the Duke of Sussex, 41, asked the Home Secretary for increased security but his new plea 'complicates things for the King,' a royal source told The Times .

Politics

4 w. ago King Charles tells Harry to stop fighting government to get taxpayer

On Friday, the Duke of Sussex, 41, asked the Home Secretary for increased security but his new plea 'complicates things for the King,' a royal source told The Times .

Politics