Displaying items by tag: United Kingdom

With inflation rising, young people are feeling the pinch more than ever. In a national poll conducted at the beginning of 2022, which involved more than 11,000 people, London came out bottom - with just 37% of Londoners saying they felt their rent was affordable. There is also a gender gap, with 1/3 of women in London spending over 50% of their salary on rent, compared with 1/4 of men. See The Resolution Foundation said the dramatic increase in global oil and gas prices was forecast to push UK inflation above 8% this spring, causing average incomes across Britain to fall by 4% in the coming financial year. That is worth £1,000 per household, the biggest annual decline since 1975. It warned chancellor Rishi Sunak that urgent steps were required to help the poorest families in Britain with soaring living costs, adding that weak wage growth and high inflation would drive more children into poverty.

The Government is failing to tackle an alarming growth in fraud nationwide. An updated draft of the Online Safety Bill will address laws covering harmful user-generated posts, adverts, and promotions. Images of celebrities are regularly used to advertise fraudulent scams, and a consultation is being launched over rules for online advertising to end the increase of consumer harm; there could be a new online advertising regulator to block and ban advertisers that repeatedly break the rules. The Government will leave it to Ofcom to decide whether the systems and processes are proportionate. Search engines may have to pay compensation to people duped by scams advertised through their platforms.

The Government has been facing growing calls to waive visa rules for all Ukrainians seeking sanctuary in the UK. On 2 March Boris Johnson said the UK could take in 200,000 or more Ukrainian refugees.The scheme allowing close relatives of Ukrainian people settled in the UK to come over will be widened to include adult parents, grandparents, children over 18, and siblings. UK firms will also be able to sponsor a Ukrainian entering the country.

A Warwickshire town kicked off its ancient Shrove Tuesday ball game following a two-year break due to the coronavirus pandemic. The 822nd Atherstone Ball Game involved hundreds of people competing on the streets for ownership of a heavy, leather ball. Rob Bernard, chairman of the organising committee, said. ‘We are absolutely delighted that it is back on now.’ The winner is the person who has the ball at 17:00 GMT. This year’s winner said it had been easy to hold on to the ball at the end - as he hid it under his T-shirt. ‘It had popped and then I quickly took it and put it under my T-shirt and me and my friend were just in a deep hug,’ he said. People were ‘extremely excited’ about the return of the game, which has international attention.

There are several individuals being sanctioned by other nations but not by the UK. Oleg Deripaska was sanctioned by America for money laundering, ordering the murder of a business rival, illegally wiretapping government officials, extortion, racketeering and bribing government officials. He owns 45% of an aluminium company listed on the London Stock Exchange, and former Conservative energy minister Lord Barker is its executive chairman. The Russian state-owned VTB bank was suspended from the Stock Exchange but Andrey Kostin, president of the bank, is not sanctioned. Victor Zolotov, also on the EU's list but not UK's, leads Russia's national guard. His family is one of the richest in Russia in the real estate sector, with property portfolios in the UK. Pro-Kremlin billionaire Alisher Usmanov founded Russian-based USM which owns major iron, steel and copper suppliers and a telecommunications company, and has commercial ties to Everton Football Club (which has suspended its sponsorship contracts with USM).

The Public Accounts Committee supported the Department for Work and Pensions as it tried to help young people into work at what was expected to be a downturn in employment opportunities. But the £1.9 billion ‘emergency intervention’ Kickstart scheme has supported far fewer young people than predicted. Early delivery was chaotic and DWP ‘neglected to put in place basic management information that would be expected for a multi-billion-pound grant programme’. Also, despite more favourable than predicted economic conditions, many young people who joined Universal Credit when the pandemic started have remained on the benefit. DWP doesn’t know why these people are not in Kickstart jobs.

It was announced on 2 March that Roman Abramovich wishes to sell Chelsea Football Club. He says he will donate the proceeds from the sale to a foundation ‘for the benefit of all victims of the Ukraine war.’ Swiss billionaire Hansjorg Wyss was given the chance to buy Chelsea. MP Chris Bryant revealed that Abramovich is selling his UK home and another flat, telling the House of Commons that he is ‘terrified of being sanctioned’. He is owed £1.5billion by Chelsea after buying it in a £140m deal in 2003, but he will not ask for any of the loans to be repaid; the sale will not be fast-tracked but will follow due process. Onlookers say that although Abramovich may want to sell Chelsea, he may not be allowed to; it depends on what the Government decides to do in the coming days and weeks. If his assets are frozen, he cannot do anything. His company Evraz continues to trade on the stock market: see

Sarah Everard’s murder a year ago revolutionised how the public understand male violence against women. The first major survey of women’s groups in the UK since her death found 89% thought there had been a shift in public awareness over the last twelve months. ‘There has also been a recognition of how normalised fear is for women. It is a fear we learn very young, and we carry it with us until we are old.’ Sarah’s murder by serving police officer Wayne Couzens as she walked home in south London sparked a national debate that continues to reverberate throughout the UK. Meanwhile, two Met police constables were jailed after taking and sharing photos of murdered sisters Bibaa Henry and Nicole Smallman, and last week a man pleaded guilty to the murder of Sabina Nessa as her community remembered a kind and loving schoolteacher. These high-profile murders have led to significant policy shifts.

Snow and potentially ‘disruptive’ winds are forecast to hit the UK in March. The Met Office predicts that Atlantic weather systems will bring stormy conditions to parts of the country from next week. Winds will strengthen and temperatures will fall, with overnight frosts forecast. Rain will turn into wintry showers with a chance of snow, and the temperature will drop to 0C. Winds will likely strengthen through midweek with an increasing likelihood of coastal gales, according to the long-term forecast. Then, after temperatures begin to recover, another period of unsettled weather developing with Atlantic weather systems is expected, bringing wet and windy weather. Scottish Mountain Rescue warned of ‘dangerous conditions’ including ‘avalanches on higher ground’.

This issue departs from core concerns to pray for Ukraine. Agriculture is the largest sector of Ukraine's economy (10% of GDP and 41% of total exports in 2021). Ukraine supplies 10% of the world’s wheat; Russia a further 18% . The war and sanctions will severely disrupt Ukrainian and Russian agricultural production and trade, with profound effects on national and global food supplies, especially hitting lower-income countries reliant on imports from these countries. It will also impact farming and food in the UK. Pray for Ukrainian and Russian farmers, and for all whose livelihoods rely on farming and food production in every country affected. The bishops of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church (USA) have issued this prayer: ‘We beseech Your lovingkindness and abundant blessings upon the nation - the people - of Ukraine during these days of great danger to their safety and wellbeing’.