Germany warns britain cannot have further brexit extension

Rishi Sunak today presented yet another £65billion of Covid support in his annual Budget. The Chancellor extended most schemes until September and gave businesses another shot in the arm as they wait for a vaccine. But all that help comes at a cost, and we're not just talking about a hike in Corporation Tax. A stealth tax hike on working Brits will raise £8bn a year and schemes could run out in September while 2million are still furloughed. The Budget speech is always a triumphant affair, burying the awkward details to a few lines or none at all. To get a real feel for what's going on, you must read the hundreds of pages of documents slipped out when the Chancellor sits down. We're still trawling through the mammoth pile of Budget documents, including analysis from the Office for Budget Responsibility watchdog (OBR). But here are the biggest surprises in the small print that have leaped out at us so far. 1. NHS spending overall looks set to be cut Rishi Sunak said … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: 11 surprises hidden in the small print from ‘NHS cut’ to Brexit

RISHI Sunak has set out his Budget 2021 plan to help struggling families and keep British businesses afloat. The Chancellor revealed extra help for 600,000 self employed people with grants of up to £7,500 and said furlough is to be extended until September. He also revealed that hundreds of thousands of self-employed Brits , many of whom became self-employed in 2019-20, can now claim direct cash grants under the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme. Previously they could only claim if they had filled in a recent tax return, which meant millions were shut out. Rishi said the Government will give a fourth grant of up to £7,500 to the self-employed and a fifth one will come over the summer - in line with the furlough extension . The Chancellor also extended the stamp duty holiday until June 30 as house prices rocketed 6.9 per cent year-on-year last month to a record high of £231,061 last month, new data shows. A £20 a week Universal Credit uplift in … [Read more...] about Budget 2021 news – Rishi Sunak supports self-employed with fourth grant and extends stamp duty holiday until September

The UK has defended its unilateral action over the Northern Ireland protocol, calling the move "temporary and technical steps" which "largely" continue measures already in place. It comes after the European Union said it will take legal action over Britain's decision to continue Irish Sea border grace periods until October. European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic said the UK's move amounted to a violation of its post-Brexit obligations. The first of the light-touch regulation schemes on goods from the rest of the UK transiting to Northern Ireland had been due to expire at the end of March. Supermarkets would have had to produce export health certificates for all shipments of animal products since Northern Ireland is part of the EU's single market. Advertisement Cabinet member Lord David Frost said the UK's intervention should allow time for positive discussions with counterparts in Brussels. In an effort to ensure there is no hard … [Read more...] about UK’s unilateral action on Northern Ireland protocol ‘temporary steps’ as EU vows legal move

The budget was chock full of announcements - including on the furlough scheme, Universal Credit and stamp duty. But there were some things missing from Rishi Sunak's big economic statement to MPs on Wednesday. Sky News takes a look at what was not in the 2021 Budget . Budget 2021: All the key points NHS The health service has never been far from the headlines over the last year as Britain battles coronavirus. Advertisement But there were just two mentions of the NHS in Mr Sunak's budget speech: the chancellor said it was "deserving of immense praise" for the vaccine rollout and cited the government's previous promise to "keep our NHS strong". There was no mention of funding for the health service, although Mr Sunak said in his autumn statement in November that the NHS's core budget would increase by £6.6bn in the next year and a further £3bn would be provided to support its recovery. More from Budget 2021 … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: What wasn’t in Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s economic statement

The legal limit for contactless payments will more than double, Chancellor Rishi Sunak will confirm in today's budget. The limit for a single contactless payment will rise from £45 to £100 as part of Mr Sunak 's plans to boost businesses as the UK recovers from the COVID crisis. You can watch and follow the budget live with special coverage and analysis from 12.30pm - and a special edition of the Sky News Daily podcast will be available to listen to from 7pm. "As we begin to open the UK economy and people return to the high street, the contactless limit increase will make it easier than ever before for people to pay for their shopping, providing a welcome boost to retail that will protect jobs and drive growth," the chancellor said. The move comes despite fears of a growing fraud risk from the increased use of contactless payments. Advertisement On Tuesday, Sky News reported that some of Britain's biggest banks were urging the … [Read more...] about Budget 2021: Contactless payment limit to increase to £100, Chancellor Rishi Sunak says