Tag: Featured

    The borough of Waltham Forest, which covers Walthamstow and surround areas, has an astonishing 543 off-licences covering a population of 271,170. That works our as one ‘offie’ for every 499 people - more than twice the national average of one per 1,044 people. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics, include those places which can only sell alcohol for consumption off-site. That means pubs and clubs are not counted. The second booziest place might come as something as a surprise - it is Fenland in Cambridgeshire. The leafy district - to the east of Peterborough - may not be a renowned party hot-spot but has a total of 169 off-licences, or one for every 587 people who live there. Third is Hackney, with one off-licence for every 650 people, while fourth is Wolve...

    The Scottish and Welsh governments will be able to intervene in a historic legal battle over the UK's decision to split from the EU, the Supreme Court announced on Friday (18 November). The move means lawyers from the devolved governments, led by the SNP and Welsh Labour, will able to address the top court as the UK government attempts to overturn a ruling from the High Court "Counsel for the Scottish Government and for the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain have been invited to address in their skeleton arguments the relevance of points of Scots Law, so far as they do not also form part of the law of England and Wales, to the determination of the present proceedings," a spokesman for the Supreme Court said. The High Court decided MPs must have a vote on the trigge...

    A polar air mass has spread across the UK, bringing with it the threat of freezing temperatures, storm force winds and snow this weekend. Severe weather warnings are in place across a swathe of the country with wintry showers threatening ice overnight and snow falling on higher ground in western and northwestern areas. Flurries have already been seen as far south as Exeter. The wintry weather is being brought in by a cold northwesterly "polar air mass" from the Arctic Sea, with clear spells allowing temperatures to plunge below freezing. © PA A snowplough clears a road over Grinton Moor near Reeth , North Yorkshire Yellow "be aware" warnings of ice have been issued by the Met Office for the Midlands, the North of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The area of low pres...

    Philip Hammond, the Chancellor, announced additional rules on buy-to-let which will result in ordinary investors being able to borrow far less towards their purchase. Mr Hammond indicated he was concerned about financial stability following a boom in residential property investment as savers desperately try to find profitable places to put their money. Many have turned to buy-to-let to fund retirement income after being effectively barred from putting more money in to their pensions by the Government. Low mortgage rates have made the investments attractive. However, ministers have recently targeted buy-to-let properties with aggressive new taxes, including higher rates of stamp duty and the removal of tax relief on mortgage interest. Experts fear that the announcement will...