By Zygimantas Mascinskas A floating swimming pool, thousands of residents and a growing restaurant scene are changing the Docklands financial district. But turning office footfall into a neighbourhood economy brings new risks for the businesses expected to make it work. Where Canary Wharf’s docks once served commerce and its towers later came to symbolise London…
From April 1, Britain’s vaping firms start registration with HM Revenue & Customs ahead of a new levy set to take effect on October 1, 2026. The Vaping Products Duty will impose a flat-rate tax on e-liquids and enforce stricter supply-chain controls, including official duty stamps on all products. As prices are expected to rise,…
By Carla Rosch Caz Dennett was taken to court over £650 last year. A Weymouth County Court judge ruled that she had to pay the sewage bills she owed Wessex Water. For years, the 53-year-old campaigner and social scientist had been actively organising and participating in local protests in the south coast of Dorset, frustrated…
UK shoppers will soon have to pay more for their cold lattes and other sugary milk drinks, as Chancellor seeks to close the ‘loophole’ in the sugar tax, confirmed in November’s Budget today. Pre-packed milkshakes and other dairy-based products will soon be hit by the Soft Drinks Industry Levy (SDIL) tax, which was introduced by…
The government will freeze the 5 pence per litre fuel duty until September 2026, when it will be replaced by a 3 pence per mile for electric cars from 2028. The change will cost £2.4bn next year and £900mn annually thereafter, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility. The move, alongside the Fuel Finder scheme…
Income tax thresholds will remain frozen for an additional three years, pushing more workers into higher tax bands as wages rise with inflation. The threshold freeze has been extended to April 2031 and is forecast to generate £8.3bn by 2030. At present, earnings between £12,570 and £50,270 fall into the 20 percent bracket while those…
The Chancellor has pledged to lower household energy bills by scrapping an earlier scheme designed to improve energy efficiency. Reeves told MPs her proposals would cut the average household bill by £150 from April. She said the current Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme, introduced by the Conservatives, “costs households £1.7bn a year on their…
The Office for Budget Responsibility lowered Britain’s productivity forecasts from 1.3% to 1% in the latest Budget, a downgrade which could cut £16bn from the economy by 2030. Productivity growth for 2025 has been downgraded by 0.3 percentage points from the OBR’s March report to 1.0 per cent, implying slower supply-side expansion and weaker revenue…
Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, allocated an additional £300m investment to health technology to support staff and improve patient services and committed to building 250 new neighbourhood health centres as part of a drive to improve health and welfare services. Up to 130 of these centres are scheduled to be in place by 2030. The chancellor…
Motoring groups criticised the new tax levied on electric and hybrid vehicles announced in the Budget, which is expected to affect 1.7 million UK motorists from 2028. The new pay-per-mile road charge will be set at 3 pence per mile for electric vehicles and 1.5 pence for plug-in hybrids, meaning that drivers of these vehicles…
