6:23 am, September 25, 2022
Government hints at more tax cuts
Prime Minister Liz Truss vowed to ‘usher in a decade of dynamism’ and Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng said their tax cuts were just the ‘first step towards igniting growth’ as the pair were forced to defend the controversial measures.
‘I want to reassure you that with our growth plan everyone wins. This is a plan that cuts taxes for all, not just the wealthy,’ the Chancellor wrote in The Sun.
It appears to be a signal that Truss and Kwarteng want to go further. The pair could continue their tax-cutting spree in the new year with further reductions in income tax, as well as discounts for savers and child benefit claimants, according to the Telegraph.
Liz Truss plans to loosen immigration rules
Immigration rules are set to be loosened as part of Liz Truss’s mission to boost growth.
The Prime Minister is expected to expand the government’s shortage occupation list in order to help businesses fill vacancies by more easily recruiting overseas workers.
Truss has faced industry demands for more migrant workers to be given visas to come to the UK, with labour shortages one of the main concerns voiced by employers across a range of sectors.
Defence spending to increase by at least £52bn
The Defence Secretary has said Britain will increase the size of its armed forces spending by at least £52bn in response to Russian aggression.
In his first interview since Liz Truss entered No 10, Ben Wallace confirmed the new prime minister is sticking to her campaign promise of increasing defence spending by three per cent.
Wallace told The Sunday Telegraph the military is ‘actually going to grow’ as a result of the spending increase which he said has come after decades of ‘defending against cuts or reconciling cuts with modern fighting’.
Starmer sets out energy plan
Sir Keir Starmer will use the Labour conference to appeal to voters who are ‘sick and tired’ of soaring energy costs and angry at ‘12 years of failure’ under the Conservatives.
The Labour leader announced plans to end dependence on fossil fuels, with all the country’s electricity generated by renewable and nuclear power by 2030.
Labour claims the plan would save UK households a total of £93bn over the rest of the decade – or an average saving of £475 for each household every year.
Nasa postpones launch of rocket because of storm
Nasa is postponing next week’s launch attempt of its new moon rocket because of a tropical storm that’s expected to become a major hurricane.
It’s the third delay in the past month for Artemis I, the lunar-orbiting test flight featuring mannequins but no astronauts, a follow-up to Nasa’s Apollo moon-landing programme of a half-century ago.
Hydrogen fuel leaks and other technical issues caused the previous cancellations. Currently churning in the Caribbean, Tropical Storm Ian is expected to become a hurricane by tomorrow and slam into Florida’s Gulf coast by Thursday.
Russian forces strike Ukrainian cities while votes takes place
Russia launched new strikes on Ukrainian cities yesterday as Kremlin-orchestrated votes took place in four occupied regions to create a pretext for their annexation by Moscow.
In cities across Russia, police arrested hundreds of people who tried to protest against a mobilisation order aimed at beefing up the country’s troops in Ukraine.
Other Russians reported for duty, while the foreign minister told the UN General Assembly his country had ‘no choice’ but to take military action against its neighbour. Ukraine said the shelling killed at least three people and wounded 19.
Houses washed into the sea and power knocked out in Canada
Storm Fiona washed houses into the sea, tore the roofs off others and knocked out power to the vast majority of two Canadian provinces yesterday as it made landfall as a big, powerful post-tropical cyclone.
Fiona transformed from a hurricane into a post-tropical storm late on Friday, but it still had hurricane-strength winds and brought drenching rains and huge waves.
Ocean waves pounded the town of Channel-Port Aux Basques on the southern coast of Newfoundland, where entire structures were washed into the sea.
Saturday Car Dealer headlines
- Norwegian billionaire snaps up 60m shares in troubled used car dealer Cazoo
- Renault 5 Turbo 2 reborn as French brand launches new electric drift car
- Marshall Motor Group sells former Audi sites in Kent after moving to state-of-the-art facility
Police vehicles damaged by man in a tractor
Three police vehicles have been damaged after a man attempted to flee on a tractor in Co Tyrone.
A 25-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder following the incident in Fivemiletown in the early hours of Saturday.
Police were investigating a report of a drink driver in the Tattenabuddagh Lane area just after midnight. While at the address, a man in his 20s tried to escape in a tractor, ramming three police vehicles causing extensive damage, while officers narrowly avoided injury.
Take care: Deer mating season approaching
A leading road safety charity is urging drivers to be even more careful on roads where deer are more common as their breeding season gets underway.
Roadside breakdown firm GEM Motoring Assist say that the coming weeks will see deer become ‘more mobile than usual’, increasing the chances of them straying onto roads and being involved in a collision.
National Highways estimates that 75,000 deer are involved in collisions each year, with 10,000 killed instantly. Neil Worth, GEM chief executive, said: ‘We encourage drivers to be extra observant.’
First ‘significant’ strong winds of the season next week
The UK is predicted to experience the first ‘significant’ strong winds of the season next week as temperatures plummet across the four nations.
The Met Office said a cold front moving southwards is expected to bring some showers and winds while cold air coming from the north is going to lead to a drop in temperatures.
Scotland is predicted to have a mixture of single-figure temperatures and low double figures – 9C to 11C – from Monday onwards while England, Wales and Northern Ireland are expected to see highs of 12C and 13C.
