Thursday, February 13

Day: November 26, 2020

Thousands in UK face benefits cut
Featured, United Kingdom

Thousands in UK face benefits cut

    Tens of thousands of struggling families on universal credit will be told in the run-up to Christmas their benefit payments are to be capped leaving them potentially hundreds of pounds a month worse off and at risk of destitution. Many claimants who lost their jobs in March under the first coronavirus lockdown and have been unemployed since will be informed in December by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that their benefits will be slashed unless they find work. If they are capped, these households face benefit income losses averaging about £250 a month from January. For some families living in high rent areas such as London, being capped could leave them several hundred pounds a month out of pocket. Official figures published on Thursday show 170,000 hou...
PM appoints new chief of staff
Featured, United Kingdom

PM appoints new chief of staff

    Boris Johnson has appointed former Treasury official Dan Rosenfield as his new chief of staff. Mr  Rosenfield, who is currently the head of corporate clients and UK business at strategic advisory firm Hakluyt, will begin work at Downing Street on December 7. His appointment comes two weeks after a power struggle erupted in Number 10 over plans to make former aide Lee Cain the new chief of staff. Lord Udny-Lister is set continue to serve as acting chief of staff until January 1, 2021, when Mr Rosenfield will formally take over, Number 10 said. Mr Rosenfield, from Manchester, was previously a managing director in investment banking at Bank Of America. Before than, he worked for more than decade in the Treasury, including four years as principal private secretary to C...