Thought on new year

The NHS is facing a legal challenge over its data deal with controversial Silicon Valley firm Palantir, Sky News can reveal. Palantir, which has become notorious for its close ties to security services and immigration agencies in the United States, secured its first ever deal to handle NHS data in March last year for the nominal sum of £1. Legal group Foxglove announced today that it was bringing a court case against the health service to force it to reconsider the contract, which was extended in December 2020 and is now worth £23.5m. Government's failure to publish COVID contracts details was unlawful, High Court rules The lawsuit is the latest challenge over procurement during the pandemic, which has become a highly contentious topic in recent months, with critics accusing the government of favouring its own contacts. It comes as a batch of internal government emails uncovered by The Bureau of Investigative Journalism and seen by Sky News reveal that … [Read more...] about NHS facing legal challenge over data deal with controversial Silicon Valley firm Palantir

ELLIE Goulding surprised fans yesterday when she revealed she was seven months pregnant with her first child. The singer, who is married to Caspar Jopling , had given no indication until then that the couple would soon become parents. Fitness fan Ellie, 34, cleverly drip fed her social media followers a stream of throwbacks of her working out and looking trim. The style-savvy star also struck cool poses in fashionable oversized clothing in more recent snaps. She rocked an eye-catching Stella McCartney dress shirt in October, while a month later she again covered her stomach in an oversized shirt. Other uploads saw her use close up images and, in the case of an atmospheric post last week, shadows to keep the pregnancy a secret. View this post on Instagram A post shared by elliegoulding (@elliegoulding) Ellie revealed her baby news during a chat with Vogue as she cradled her growing bump … [Read more...] about How Ellie Goulding hid her baby bump in lockdown as she reveals she’s SEVEN months pregnant with first child

GORDON Ramsay lost £55m during the coronavirus pandemic as his 35 restaurants nationwide leaked cash. The TV chef and restaurateur saw the hospitality industry plunged into turmoil thanks to lockdowns one, two and three. “In December we had £10m worth of reservations wiped out overnight," he exclusively tells The Sun from his London home over Zoom. "As of 19th March to 3rd February this year we've suffered £57.5million worth of turnover down. "I'm in it." Gordon currently has 18 restaurants across London, with five more due to open once normality returns, as well as a further 17 worldwide. "Lockdowns have caused utter devastation," he said. "Having been through so much with the 2008 financial crash, then terrorist attacks and 9/11, when Covid first hit, we all thought it would be over and done with in a couple of weeks. "But it's been long-haul.” He was forced to take up the Government's furlough scheme in a bid to save hundreds of jobs nationwide. "It's … [Read more...] about ‘Devastated’ Gordon Ramsay reveals he’s lost £55m during the Covid crisis as reservations vanished overnight

HOUSEHUNTERS in England and Northern Ireland looking to buy a home usually pay stamp duty on properties over £125,000. But it's £500,000 right now thanks to a stamp duty holiday - so what is stamp duty and how is it calculated? We run-down the rules for stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland, as rates differ for those buying homes in Scotland and Wales . What is stamp duty? Stamp duty land tax (SDLT) is a lump sum payment most people have to pay when buying a property or land. How much buyers have to fork out varies depending on the price and type of property. A stamp duty holiday was introduced because of the coronavirus pandemic to get the property market moving again. It means there is no stamp duty for properties up to £500,000 until March 31, 2021. But chancellor Rishi Sunak is preparing to extend the stamp duty holiday by three months until the end of June. The usual stamp duty rates when there is not a holiday mean first-time buyers … [Read more...] about Stamp duty calculator: how much is it and when does the holiday end?

That gnawing worry deep in the pit of your stomach, all of the time. Living on eggshells, constantly on edge, control completely surrendered. Being too scared to hope that today might be OK, because that makes it worse when it’s not. Steeling yourself for disappointments – which will be billed as your fault – in advance, so maybe they’ll hurt less, which turns out not to work. I thought my time at the mercy of terrible boyfriends had come to an end when I married someone nice, so how am I back in an emotionally abusive relationship? Boris Johnson has somehow turned me, and the whole country, into his long-suffering partner. On Monday he revealed his roadmap out of lockdown, which – unlike all the other times – is sensible. I was expecting the opposite, the absolute worst, because that’s all I’ve ever known from him. Instead, a novel experience – I was pleasantly surprised. But then, once the stunned relief had worn off, it was hard not to notice all he’d actually … [Read more...] about ‘Boris Johnson has become our gaslighting boyfriend so let’s dump him and move on’