Et markets pre budget meet

Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered hope to millions of house buyers today as he announced a stamp duty holiday extension alongside new 95% mortgages for buyers. The new mortgage guarantee scheme, first confirmed last week, will help raise home ownership numbers from April, the Chancellor said. Sunak confirmed the news in the Commons earlier amid a record low in 95% mortgages. Right now, there are just eight products on the market, with banks pulling the 'risky' loans since the start of the pandemic. But there are already fears that the new scheme - designed primarily to help first-time buyers get onto the ladder - will lead to a surge in demand and rising house prices, putting properties further out of reach for many. "This is a policy that gives people who can't afford a big deposit the chance to buy their own home," Sunak told MPs. "As the prime minister has said, we want to turn generation rent into generation buy. "Lenders who provide mortgages to homebuyers who can only … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Return of 95% mortgages confirmed – but fears raised of ‘hidden cost’

Labour will vote against the Tories' £8bn-a-year stealth raid on Income Tax this week, a Shadow Cabinet Minister revealed today. Shadow Foreign Secretary Lisa Nandy said the party would try to block plans to freeze income tax thresholds until 2026. The challenge is unlikely to succeed as Boris Johnson has a working Commons majority of more than 80 seats. The move marks a swift U-turn days after Shadow Chancellor Anneliese Dodds indicated the party would support the freeze. Ms Dodds said on Thursday that it would have been wrong for Rishi Sunak to impose the freeze "right now", but it will only kick in from April 2022. She added: "In the future, we're not going to oppose change to that personal allowance, the freezing of it that the Chancellor set out for the future. "Because actually what the Conservatives have done around this previously has benefited the best-off most. And they've not for example backed low income families with social security in the way they needed … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Labour to vote against stealth Income Tax raid on families in U-turn

Philip Whiteside, news reporter Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian woman who has been in jail in Iran for five years. The Iranian regime claims she was working against the state when she was arrested on a visit to the country to see her parents with her daughter. Here is a timeline of events that have left a family split apart and resulted in diplomacy at the highest level. October 2010 Joins Thomson Reuters Foundation Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe joins the Thomson Reuters Foundation, a charity that says it promotes "socio-economic progress" and the rule of law through a series of training programmes. Advertisement Before the move, she worked for BBC Media Action for around 18 months, the corporation's international development charity which uses "the power of media and communication to help reduce poverty and support people in understanding their rights". June 2014 Birth of her daughter Gabriella, the only daughter of Mrs … [Read more...] about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe: The five-year fight for freedom

The Queen has stressed the importance of staying in touch with family and friends during "testing times" in a message broadcast hours ahead of the Sussexes' Oprah interview. Senior royals including the Prince of Wales and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge joined forces to appear in the special BBC One programme on Sunday to mark Commonwealth Day, as the bitter fallout from Megxit continued. The Queen's audio message celebrated collaboration, but stood in contrast to the troubles facing the royal family. Focusing on the global impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the monarch spoke of using technology that "transcends boundaries or division" and how there has been a "deeper appreciation" of the need to connect to others during the Covid-19 crisis. She also praised the "selfless dedication to duty" seen across the Commonwealth, particularly on the front line. Do you enjoy reading about the royal family? Sign up for all the best royal news from the Mirror here As Harry … [Read more...] about Queen stresses importance of staying in touch with family during ‘testing times’

A FRUGAL woman who “hates spending money” has revealed her extreme money-saving ways, including never buying toilet paper. Kate Hashimoto, lives in New York, and has found a way of avoiding paying for almost everything in her life. Speaking on TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates, she says: “I have lived in New York for three years, although it’s the most expensive city to live in I have found ways to get around it. “If I have to spend money, I try and avoid it, I will try and pay as little as possible.” With a budget of just $200 a month in living expenses, Kate finds ways to reuse whatever she can to make her money go further. “If I am drying my hands in a public bathroom, I am drying off hands that I washed clean so I keep them and reuse them,” she explains. Kate has never paid money for furniture, and instead sources her stuff from skips and off the street. She says: “I furnished my place by picking up discarded furniture on the street before the trash picks it up, I … [Read more...] about I hate spending money, I haven’t done any laundry for three years and I NEVER use toilet paper