Financial news

• ‘We’ll get the blame’: tensions simmer within Labour over winter fuel cut

  10-09-2024 20:58 via theguardian.com
  
  While Commons rebellion was small-scale, behind the scenes, anger over handling of the policy is said to run highIn the end, the vote to cut the winter fuel allowance passed easily. Hundreds of loyalist Labour MPs tramped through the lobbies to back the government’s controversial plan. No 10 will hope the heat has gone out of the issue.But despite dodging a major rebellion, plenty in government were not taking much comfort from the result. Scores of MPs abstained in silent protest, fearful
  
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• British steel industry braces for 2,500 job cuts at Port Talbot in government deal

  10-09-2024 20:05
  
  Announcement on taxpayer-funded rescue plan for Tata-owned south Wales plant expected on WednesdayThe British steel industry is braced for 2,500 job cuts at the Port Talbot steelworks, with thousands more jobs at risk in the UK, as the government prepares a taxpayer-backed deal for the south Wales plant.The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, is expected to outline on Wednesday details of a rescue deal which will see the government hand the historic Welsh plant’s owners, Tata Steel, &po
  
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• The Guardian view on Labour’s strategy: focus on fixing Britain, not fiscal deficits | Editorial

  10-09-2024 20:01
  
  Ministers have much bigger problems to deal with than principled dissent, and that’s where the government’s attention should be directedSir Keir Starmer’s victory on Tuesday in a Commons vote to cut winter fuel payments for 10 million pensioners was a pyrrhic one. The British prime minister defeated his internal critics – at a price. It turns out that many Labour MPs have an issue with depriving pensioners who struggle to pay their energy bills of help worth up to £
  
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• Keir Starmer faces rebellion as 53 Labour MPs abstain over winter fuel and one votes with Tories – as it happened

  10-09-2024 19:36 via theguardian.com
  
  Conservative motion to block winter fuel payment cut defeated but 53 Labour MPs abstain and one, Jon Trickett, votes with the Tories. This live blog is closedFull story: MPs back cuts to winter fuel payments in Commons voteKeir Starmer is about to give his speech to the TUC conference.According to an extract released in advance, he will promise a “politics of partnership”, saying that is what voters want. He will say:I call now, as before the election, for the politics of partnership
  
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• Starmer and Reeves are playing a dangerous game. How much more do they think Britain can take? | John Harris

  10-09-2024 17:31
  
  We have rusty playgrounds and rundown town centres, yet the government fixates on its ill-conceived plan to penalise pensionersAs the nights begin to draw in, the brief euphoria of 5 July increasingly feels like something that happened in a lost time of sunny innocence. Today, amid deep dismay, the House of Commons approved the government’s ill-conceived and dangerous plan to withdraw the winter fuel allowance from most pensioners in England and Wales.Rachel Reeves has reportedly given min
  
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• 'No apologies': Keir Starmer says 'tough decisions' an economic necessity – video

  10-09-2024 15:09
  Keir Starmer made clear that his government 'will not risk its mandate for economic stability, under any circumstances' as he spoke at the TUC conference in Brighton. He said 'with tough decisions on the horizon, pay will inevitably be shaped by that' and said he made 'no apologies for any of the decisions taken to begin the work of change'. Starmer's comments came before a vote in the House of Commons on spending cuts for elderly citizensKeir Starmer tells unions ‘tough decisions’ o
  
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• Marc Vlessing: the modular homes mogul seeking a ‘renaissance of the British housing market’

  10-09-2024 15:00
  The developer saw the need for small but well-designed flats, like those in his native Netherlands, for people priced out of London’s housing market‘This is the Volkswagen Beetle of one-bedroom flats,” declares Marc Vlessing, the Dutch-born chair of the UK developer Pocket Living, as he gives a tour of the firm’s latest apartment block, opposite the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow, east London.Like the Beetle, the flats are designed to be compact but practical, with
  
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• What is the state pension triple-lock rise and what does it mean?

  10-09-2024 13:34 via theguardian.com
  
  Level looks poised to rise to £230 a week from April 2025 as a result of government formulaUK state pension could rise by about £460 a year from AprilThe full new state pension looks likely to increase by almost £9 to £230 a week from next April – equating to £11,962 a year – as a result of the “triple lock”, the latest wage growth figures have suggested.The above-inflation rise, which represents a £460-a-year increase, will need to be
  
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• Off to university? Here’s where to find the UK’s best student discounts

  10-09-2024 10:30
  
  Lots of big companies – from Apple to Microsoft and Hello Fresh to Deliveroo – offer great deals when you’re studyingLeaving home for university can be an expensive business. But there are many deals and discounts which can reduce the cost.The best advice is to always carry your student card with you – most places accept a UNiDAYS ID, Student Beans ID or Totum card, or sometimes even an email providing proof that you are a student. And where it is not clear whether a plac
  
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• UK wages figures will affect state pension, interest rates – and Rachel Reeves

  10-09-2024 09:19
  
  Likely 4% pension rise next year could help defuse row facing chancellor over winter fuel paymentUK state pension could rise by about £460 a yearBusiness live – latest updatesAmong the many figures included in the monthly health check of the UK labour market from the Office for National Statistics one had special significance: the annual increase in average earnings.That’s not because the other pieces of data don’t matter. The jobless rate (which fell from 4.2% to 4.1%),
  
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• UK state pension could rise by about £460 a year from April, wage growth figures suggest

  10-09-2024 08:40
  Average earnings including bonusesin three months to July – used to calculate the triple lock – grew by 4%Analysis: Figures will affect pensions, interest rates – and ReevesBusiness live – latest updatesThe full UK state pension could rise by about £460 a year from April 2025, the latest wage growth figures suggest.Average earnings including bonuses in the three months to July, which are used to calculate the pensions triple lock, grew by 4%, according to the Office
  
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• I had insured my car with Churchill … until the police told me I hadn’t

  10-09-2024 08:00
  
  The company had stopped my annual renewal without telling me and I don’t know a reasonFor the past three years I have used Churchill to insure my BMW X5. The policy started in June 2021, I have paid by monthly direct debit ever since, and it was set up to auto-renew every year.So imagine my concern when I received a letter last week from Surrey and Sussex police informing me that, according to the Motor Insurance Database, I did not appear to have valid insurance. Continue reading...
  
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• Warning for Barclays and Virgin Money savers as surprise fees could wipe out gains

  10-09-2024 01:54 via express.co.uk
  
  Savers will be shopping around as interest rates are set to continue to fall.
  
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