For six years, I’ve been reporting on Britain’s welfare system. Central to my coverage has been the haphazard arrival of Universal Credit, announced in 2010 by the Conservative government’s then work and pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith. It was intended to roll the six main benefits into one monthly payment to simplify the process and “make work pay”. With its origins in a 2008 white paper by New Labour’s work and pensions secretary James Purnell, the reform was originally greeted with cautious support by the opposition and some charities. The standard monthly allowance for a single person aged 25 or over on Universal Credit is £317.82, and the maximum benefit allowance for a household per year is £20,000 (£23,000 in London). Social security benefits and tax credits (top-up payments to redistribute income to people on lower wages) made up 28 per cent of public spending in 2016/17, with the government spending £217bn on these … [Read more...] about ConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightConsumerBusinessSpotlightThe A to Z of Universal Credit
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Crooks ‘using Fortnite to launder stacks of dirty cash’ through cheap V-Bucks
FORTNITE players looking for cheap deals on V-bucks for buy new outfits are reportedly unknowingly helping criminals launder their ill-gotten gains. An investigation by The Independent tied discount sales of the in-game currency on the dark web and public sites such as eBay to the use of stolen credit card information. Employees of security firm Sixgill posed as customers found sellers flogging cut-price coins in Chinese, Russian, Spanish, Arabic and English. By selling V-Bucks, which can be used to purchase items that change players' appearance in the massively popular game, the fraudsters are able to break the link between the stolen cards and their ill-gotten gains, as there is no way of tracking individual V-Bucks themselves. Epic Games reportedly made a profit of $3 billion last year, with company boss Tim Sweeney making an appearance on Bloomberg's Billionaires List with a personal net worth of $7.16 billion. While it has not released total … [Read more...] about Crooks ‘using Fortnite to launder stacks of dirty cash’ through cheap V-Bucks
668 people locked up in Greater Manchester in 2018
January The burglar who broke into a care home and sexually assaulted a woman in her 90s A man who sexually assaulted a woman in her 90s after breaking into a care home was jailed. Police said ‘shameless’ Jake Morris, 24, had ‘no place in society’ after he was caged for the shocking attack on the pensioner, who has dementia. He denied sexually assaulting her at the Leigh facility when interviewed by officers. During the court case Morris changed his plea and finally admitted his sickening crime. Morris, of no fixed abode, also pleaded guilty to burglary and assault and was jailed for six years and four months. The ‘dangerous predator’ who posed as taxi driver to rape woman on her way home from night out A ‘dangerous predator’ who posed as a taxi driver to rape a woman on her way home from a night out was jailed. Marius Dolhascanu targeted his 30-year-old victim in Wigan in 2016. After the terrifying ordeal Dolhascanu, of Hey Street, … [Read more...] about 668 people locked up in Greater Manchester in 2018
668 people who were put behind bars in Greater Manchester in 2018
January The burglar who broke into a care home and sexually assaulted a woman in her 90s A man who sexually assaulted a woman in her 90s after breaking into a care home was jailed. Police said ‘shameless’ Jake Morris, 24, had ‘no place in society’ after he was caged for the shocking attack on the pensioner, who has dementia. He denied sexually assaulting her at the Leigh facility when interviewed by officers. During the court case Morris changed his plea and finally admitted his sickening crime. Morris, of no fixed abode, also pleaded guilty to burglary and assault and was jailed for six years and four months. The ‘dangerous predator’ who posed as taxi driver to rape woman on her way home from night out A ‘dangerous predator’ who posed as a taxi driver to rape a woman on her way home from a night out was jailed. Marius Dolhascanu targeted his 30-year-old victim in Wigan in 2016. After the terrifying ordeal Dolhascanu, of Hey Street, … [Read more...] about 668 people who were put behind bars in Greater Manchester in 2018
50 facts you didn’t know about how the Royal Mint makes coins
This week marks the 50th anniversary of the Royal Mint relocating its operation from Tower Hill, London to Llantrisant, Wales. The relocation took place in 1968 in order to accommodate the need for a bigger factory after the Government announced that decimalisation was due to take place. This meant millions of coins would be taken out of circulation and millions more new ones would need to be minted. This week is the 50th anniversary of the Royal Mint moving from Tower Hill in London to Wales The Royal Mint Experience, the visitor centre that opened at the site of the Mint in Llantrisant in 2016, held a number of events over the weekend and on Monday to celebrate the occasion as well as opening a new temporary exhibition, commemorating the big move. To celebrate the 50 years that the Mint has been operational in Wales, This is Money visited the exhibition to discover 50 facts about the Royal Mint that you might not know... RELATED ARTICLES Previous 1 Next I … [Read more...] about 50 facts you didn’t know about how the Royal Mint makes coins