Thursday, February 13

Day: January 27, 2016

The UK property boom is now bigger than the 2008 housing bubble in the US
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

The UK property boom is now bigger than the 2008 housing bubble in the US

    Bank of England governor Mark Carney said again that he was worried about the growth of buy-to-let (BTL) mortgages in Britain. Speaking to a panel of MPs today, the Evening Standard quoted him as saying: We think developments in the buy-to-let market have warranted heightened scrutiny and have done so for some time. As a general rule, any time you see a very sharp and sustained increase in activity in one area … it at least bears heightened scrutiny. The problem with BTL mortgages is that their interest rates reset at higher rates if the BoE rate changes, and they are often given to borrowers who have lower credit ratings than regular homeowners. (Plus, of course, they rely on a continued supply of new renters to make the payments, not merely the owner's own income.) And e...
Single parents face £1,000 love tax if they remarry or find new partner
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Single parents face £1,000 love tax if they remarry or find new partner

    As part of the Government’s rollout of Universal Credit, ministers promised that no one moving to the new system of benefits would see a fall in their income. But it has now emerged that this guarantee was limited and would not apply to any claimant whose circumstances had “materially changed” once they had moved on to the new system of payments. As a result of the exemption any single parent who moves in with a partner or gets married will have their benefits reassessed at a new less generous rate after Universal Credit is introduced from 2017. George Osborne urged to make U-turn on universal credit Research suggests that there are currently up to a million single parents who could be affected by the change – which would cost them on average £1,080 a year. On Wednesday Li...
French Minister Christiane Taubira resigns amid terror row
ENGLISH, Europe

French Minister Christiane Taubira resigns amid terror row

    French Justice Minister Christiane Taubira has stepped down from her job, shortly before plans to strip people convicted of terrorism of their citizenship go before parliament. Ms Taubira was known to disagree with the controversial proposals, The citizenship plans were put forward after the 13 November Paris attacks in which 130 people were murdered. Sometimes staying on is resisting, sometimes resisting means leaving, she tweeted. Ms Taubira, one of France's few senior black politicians, has been replaced by Jean-Jacques Urvoas who is seen as a supporter of the constitutional change. Born in French Guiana, Ms Taubira has suffered racist taunts from the far-right during her time as jus-tice minister. Same-sex marriage A communique from the Elysee Palace said that Presiden...
Is Vladimir Putin secretly the world’s richest man?
ENGLISH, Europe

Is Vladimir Putin secretly the world’s richest man?

    A trigger-happy warmonger who basks in public adoration at home and shrugs off the anger of the West, that Russia’s macho president is arguably the world’s most powerful man is no surprise. That Vladimir Putin may also secretly be, by far, the world’s richest man will come as a shock to many. Russia’s feared autocrat is well and truly a law unto himself and uses his unfettered power almost as he pleases. This has never been clearer than in the sinister case of Russian spy, Alexander¬ Litvinenko, whose murder in London in 2006, Sir Robert Owen’s inquiry concluded last week was probably sanctioned by Putin. The Kremlin is, of course, threatening¬ to sue the British government¬ over the claim. Sixteen years after he was first elected, 63-year-old Putin’s position as Russian p...
Growing numbers of parents turning up on school run in pyjamas and slippers, headteacher says
ENGLISH, United Kingdom

Growing numbers of parents turning up on school run in pyjamas and slippers, headteacher says

    A headteacher has written to parents to complain about the growing number doing the school run in their pyjamas. Kate Chisholm, head of the Skerne Park Academy primary school in Darlington, raised the issue after some parents started turning up at the school gates in slippers, and others even wore pyjamas to school assemblies and meetings. After asking the adults to “set a good example” in a letter sent out last week, she told the Press Association it is “not too much to ask parents to have a wash and get dressed” in the morning. Ms Chisholm said she believed most in the community supported her intervention, but admitted there had been negative responses too. She told the BBC that some parents said it was their “human right” to wear what they wanted, while some on Twitter ...
Former Mayor Lutfur Rahman Appeal against the spiritual influence judgment of the Court
ENGLISH, London

Former Mayor Lutfur Rahman Appeal against the spiritual influence judgment of the Court

    Lutfur Rahman’s lawyers attended the High Court to ask the Court for permission to apply for a Judicial Review into the Election Court’s ruling earlier this year that Lutfur Rahman should be removed from office. They were granted permission to apply for a Review of the Election Court’s decision that Lutfur Rahman’s election was invalid because 101 Muslim clerics had written a letter calling on Muslims to vote for him. The Election Court deemed this to be undue spiritual influence, using a law which had last been used against Irish Catholics at the end of the 19th Century. It is not known when the Judicial Review will be heard. The lawyers had asked for a Judicial Review to be conducted into other aspects of the Court’s ruling, but applications on other grounds were dismiss...