Tag: Featured

    Turbulence in the Tory ranks may be fast dropping down the list of David Cameron's concerns, as a petition to ban him from re-entering the UK has attracted more than 30,000 signatures. The prime minister is currently in Lanzarote for the Easter break and has faced criticism for jetting off to the Canary Islands while urging Brits to holiday in the north of England. The online petition was launched by Kerry-anne Mendoza, an independent journalist and former NHS consultant from Farnborough. It reads: "David Cameron presents a clear and present danger to the short, medium and long term interests of the country. As such, the UK should institute a temporary ban on his return to Britain at the conclusion of his holiday in Lanzarote." Addressing the signatories, Mendoza said: "Th...

    Uber has transformed the taxi business since it was launched in 2008 (Picture: [copyright]) An Uber driver charged a drunk passenger £102 for a journey that should have cost £15 after taking a 20-mile detour around London, when he fell asleep in the back. Daniel Kaizen, 26, complained his journey was five times longer than it needed to be, after using the app to order an Uber from Old Street in central London to Wood Green in the north in the early hours of Easter Monday. The car went east towards Barking before taking the North Circular back around to the final destination. A screenshot from Mr Kaizen's phone shows the route taken was far from direct. It was not until the next morning Mr Kaizen saw the route and said: “I nearly spat out my tea laughing at the route”. He s...

    A stamp duty hike for people purchasing second properties such as buy-to-let investments and holiday homes comes into force from Friday. The move will mean that people buying a second home will pay three percentage points above current stamp duty rates. While it could put off some investors and lead to some pushing up rents to offset their costs, it could also provide some aspiring first-time buyers with a window of opportunity. The new rates of stamp duty land tax (SDLT) will apply to purchases of additional residential properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In the recent Budget, the Government confirmed that big investors will not escape the stamp duty hike, despite their contribution to the housing supply. A consultation had considered whether it may be appr...

    George Osborne’s budget is handing a tax cut averaging £3,000 to some of the wealthiest people in the country who make up just 0.3% of the population, the shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, has said. Labour is calling for the cut in capital gains tax (CGT) to be scrapped, saying it would give investors already making money about the same, on average, as the government had planned to take from disabled people under changes to benefits. The party is planning to campaign against the CGT cuts in the coming weeks to apply more pressure on the chancellor following Iain Duncan Smith’s shock resignation as work and pensions secretary, when he branded Osborne’s budget “deeply unfair”, triggering the scrapping of the disability benefit cuts. McDonnell said Osborne was the “bankers’ ...

    Prominent members of Glasgow’s Muslim community have called for calm and solidarity following the fatal stabbing of a shopkeeper whose messages of interfaith harmony united his multicultural community. Police have confirmed that the man arrested in connection with Thursday evening’s killing – which is being treated as “religiously prejudiced” – was also a Muslim. Following the revelation, Humza Yousaf, the Scottish government’s only Muslim minister, immediately responded in a tweet: “No ifs, no buts, no living in denial – vile cancer of sectarianism needs stamped out wherever it exists – including amongst Muslims.” Asad Shah, whose final Facebook update, posted a few hours before his death, offered Easter greetings “to my beloved Christian nation”, was a member of the Ahma...