Renewing uk driving licence at 70

Whitehall targets to boost apprenticeships will drive down wages, raise the age of new apprentices and risk taxpayers’ cash, a scathing report warns today. Experts blast the Government’s “cavalier” use of figures over the benefits of widening the scheme. And a study published today casts doubt on the effectiveness of a new tax on companies’ pay bills. Ministers are introducing a 0.5% “apprenticeship levy” on an employer’s wage bill above £3million per year. The move, from April, aims to boost the number of youngsters taken on by companies and meet a pledge to create three million apprenticeships between 2015 and 2020. Officials estimate it will raise £2.8billion in 2019–20. But Whitehall spending on apprenticeships is only expected to rise by £640million between 2016–17 and 2019–20 - meaning the cash will be diverted elsewhere. The Institute of Fiscal Studies’ report warns “the new system risks … [Read more...] about Tories’ flagship apprenticeships drive blasted for its ‘cavalier’ use of figures

TV's Chris Packham says the illegal killing of birds of prey in the UK is "out of control" after a hen harrier was found in an illegally set trap on a grouse moor. The male hen harrier was said to have suffered serious injuries after being caught in a spring trap next to its nest in South Lanarkshire. Its lower leg was almost severed off and his injuries were so severe that vets had to euthanise him. The bird had been found in great distress by members of the Scottish Raptor Study Group. A second trap, also illegally-set, had been placed on the harrier's nearby nest. Mr Packham said in a call to arms: "This is a sad and depressing day for conservation and a dark day for all of UK shooting. "The despicably cruel and brazen slaughter of this Hen Harrier on a Scottish grouse moor absolutely must herald some real action. "This crime marks a most depressing day for raptor conservation in the UK and undoubtedly the darkest day for the whole shooting industry. "It's out of control, obviously … [Read more...] about Chris Packham’s fury at ‘out of control’ illegal killing of birds of prey in UK

The British government released licences for the export of £7m of arms to Saudi Arabia in the last three months of 2015, taking the total value of such licences since the country entered the civil war in Yemen to £2.8bn. Calls are growing for the UK to suspend arms sales to Saudi Arabia in light of allegations, including by a UN panel, of indiscriminate bombing of Yemeni civilians by the Saudi-led coalition, which backs the neighbouring government against Houthi rebels and forces loyal to a deposed president. The figures released on Tuesday (pdf) show that the UK government has issued 122 licences for military exports to Saudi Arabia since it became involved in the civil war in March 2015. The UK has issued export licences worth £6.7bn for arms to Saudi Arabia since 2010. In the final quarter of 2015, the government issued military licences valued at more than £7.2m, including £3m worth of ML4 licences that include the export of grenades, bombs and missiles. … [Read more...] about UK licences £2.8bn of arms sales to Saudis since kingdom entered Yemen war

More than £1bn worth of bombs, missiles and rockets were sold under government licence to Saudi Arabia over three months last summer, according to human rights groups. The extraordinary increase in sales, which coincided with a surge of airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition on Houthi rebels in Yemen, was condemned by Saferworld, which campaigns against arms sales to repressive regimes. Last month Saferworld and Amnesty commissioned a legal opinion from Professor Philippe Sands QC and other lawyers which concluded that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia, in the context of its military intervention and bombing campaign in Yemen, were breaking national, EU and international law. UK arms sales in the three-month period from July to September 2015 for the export category that covers missiles, rockets and bombs amounted to £1,066,216,510, the BIS documents show. They were sold under five separate licences. In the preceding three-month period, sales to Saudi Arabia for the same … [Read more...] about Human rights groups condemn steep rise in UK arms sales to Saudis

Theresa May’s championing of arms exports to Turkey is consistent with a policy promoted by a succession of trade ministers, but will soon haunt the government in the courts. For more than a decade Britain has been seeking to expand its arms exports to a number of new partner countries, some of which have deeply questionable human rights records. Turkey, which has imprisoned tens of thousands in the wake of last year’s failed coup, was made a priority market by trade ministers as far back as 2009. The country’s elevated status has seen UK officials spend considerable time, money and resources wooing their Turkish counterparts. Documents released under the Freedom of Information Act, confirm that UK officials have made regular trips to the country to foster relations and have played host to Turkish military officials at major arms shows in the UK. Other priority markets courted assiduously include Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates – all of them … [Read more...] about UK’s £100m weapons deal with Turkey ‘turns blind eye to rights abuse’