All posts tagged: Politics

How King Charles profits from the assets of dead citizens – podcast | News

Published by Sam

For most people in the UK, what happens to your assets when you die is a relatively simple process: you either specify your wishes in a will or your estate passes to your next of kin. But some people have neither: no will, no known next of kin. What happens to their assets is not so simple, and if you live in certain parts of the UK, even less so. As the Guardian’s investigations correspondent Maeve McClenaghan tells Nosheen Iqbal, if a person dies in England and Wales with no will or next of kin, their money goes to the Treasury. There is, however, an exception for people who die in parts of England with historical links to two royal estates: the Duchy of Cornwall and the Duchy of Lancaster. For those who die within the boundary of the ancient county palatinate of Lancashire, their assets, if unclaimed, go to the king’s private estate, the Duchy of Lancaster. It’s an archaic custom known as bona vacantia. The duchy has for decades said that after it …

Photos: The Growth of Solar-Power Stations

Published by skeptic

Construction of utility-scale renewable-power facilities around the world has been increasing rapidly in recent years. Although the total percentage of global power needs met by photovoltaic energy alone remains small, at about 6 percent, it is on the rise. Governments and large companies are building massive facilities to provide both solar thermal and photovoltaic energy, converting the sun’s energy into electricity for millions of homes and businesses. Solar-panel farms are being installed on hillsides, rooftops, and pastures, and, more and more, in floating arrays in harbors or reservoirs. Gathered below are images of some of these new solar-power installations around the world. Source link

Badenoch says she expects ‘much tougher’ immigration curbs as Braverman adds to pressure on Sunak – UK politics live | Politics

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Kemi Badenoch says she backs tougher immigration measures as Suella Braverman’s ‘deal’ published Good morning. After Suella Braverman was sacked as home secretary, her allies told the Daily Express she had a “grid of shit” ready to unleash on Rishi Sunak. The latest instalment from this media planning schedule landed on the front page of the Daily Telegraph last night, and in his story for the paper Charles Hymas publishes details of what Braverman claims is the deal she agreed with Sunak when he offered her the Home Office in response for her backing in the Tory leadership contest last autumn. Hymas says: Mr Sunak agreed to a four-point migration plan as he sought her support during his leadership bid last year, allies of Mrs Braverman say. Chief among them was a pledge to raise the minimum salary threshold required for a foreign skilled worker visa from £26,000 to £40,000, a proposal that was publicly backed last week by Boris Johnson, the architect of the post-Brexit points-based migration system. A copy of the agreement on …

Ethnic and gender diversity targets are only first step on road to fairer football | Football politics

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The results from the Football Leadership Diversity Code (FLDC) show that the sport’s bodies are not yet equipped to make systemic changes when it comes to representation. The code – a voluntary agreement established by the Football Association and signed up to by 56 clubs – was set up in 2020 to try to improve diversity across the game in coaching and leadership positions, and was a sign of positive intent. Despite encouraging results inside the FA, Premier League and English Football League, the clubs have let the side down again by failing to meet their targets. This is not wholly unexpected given how the code was created in the first place. During the process of it being set up, Kick It Out expressed concerns that if football wanted to drive systemic change, it needed to be transparent about data for its whole workforce. But with only 60% of clubs signing up – those that did only willing to share recruitment data with the FA, and no sanctions in place if they chose not to …

Minister rejects claim that Hunt’s autumn statement means more austerity – UK politics live | Politics

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Key events The Times has published a YouGov poll this morning, carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, suggesting support for the Conservatives is up four point on the previous week. It has them on 25%. With Labour unchanged at 44%, Labour is still 19 points ahead. Labour lead down four to 19 points in latest YouGov poll for The Times CON 25 (+4) LAB 44 (=) LIB DEM 10 (=) REF UK 9 (-1) GREEN 7 (-1) Fieldwork 22 – 23 November pic.twitter.com/bPQZ94ZhgH — Lara Spirit (@lara_spirit) November 24, 2023 In its story, the Times suggests the autumn statement announcements are responsible for this modest boost in Tory popularity. But psephology Twitter isn’t convinced. Will Jennings, an academic, says that talk of a four-point rise is misleading because the last YouGov poll, which had them on 21 points, was an outlier (making it an unreliable benchmark). Another poll out today, from Techne, which was also carried out on Wednesday and Thursday, has picked up no evidence of an autumn statement boost. Cameron announces £30m more …

New Zealand gets two deputy PMs after marathon coalition talks | New Zealand politics

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Nearly six weeks after New Zealand’s general election, the incoming prime minister, National’s Christopher Luxon, has announced the shape of the governing coalition with the libertarian Act and populist New Zealand First parties. Luxon told a media conference in Wellington on Friday that the three parties had agreed on a “common sense” plan that reflected their values and policies. “We want change that makes our great country even better and this coalition government is going to deliver that change,” he said. After a signing ceremony at parliament on Friday, Luxon said the role of deputy prime minister would be split between the populist NZ First party leader, Winston Peters, and the ACT party leader, David Seymour. Peters will take the role for the first half of the term, and Seymour will go second. National party deputy leader Nicola Willis would be finance minister and Peters would be foreign minister, the three parties said in a joint statement. The coalition revealed a series of policy changes, including narrowing the remit of the Reserve Bank Of New …

Hunt says it is ‘silly’ to see his autumn statement tax cuts as pre-election giveaway – UK politics live | Politics

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Hunt says it is ‘silly’ to see his autumn statement tax cuts as pre-election giveaway Good morning. The tax cuts in Jeremy Hunt’s autumn statement yesterday were larger than expected and, unusually, the national insurance cut will take effect from January, not April, when tax cuts or tax rises are normally implemented. Inevitably, that prompted speculation at Westminster that Hunt was preparing for an early election. But in an interview this morning Hunt claimed it was “silly” to view his tax cuts as a pre-election giveaway. He told Sky News: We haven’t chosen the most populist tax cuts. I think it’s silly to think about this in terms of the timing of the next election. We’re trying to make the right decisions for the long-term growth of the British economy. Hunt also claimed he had not even discussed election timing with the PM. He told LBC: I can confirm regarding the date of the election that I’ve had absolutely no discussions with the prime minister. Those are some of the lines from Hunt’s morning interview …

Can tax cuts save the Tories? – podcast | News

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Jeremy Hunt’s Treasury spent much of the past week hinting at tax cuts to come in the autumn statement, but the 2p reduction in national insurance still came as a surprise. It was packaged with tax cuts for businesses in what he called an “autumn statement for growth” worth £20bn. But as Heather Stewart tells Nosheen Iqbal, Hunt also laid out a set of economic predictions that show flatlining economic growth for the next three years, coupled with real-terms spending cuts that critics say will put further pressure on struggling public services. The statement – a budget in all but name – will be one of the chancellor’s last economic announcements before a general election which could come as early as spring. Rachel Reeves, the shadow chancellor, attacked the Conservatives for presiding over low growth and high taxes: “We all know that working people are worse off under the Conservatives.” Photograph: Jessica Taylor/Reuters Support The Guardian The Guardian is editorially independent. And we want to keep our journalism open and accessible to all. But we …

Photos: Autumn Colors and Autumn Chill

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As the season progresses toward colder days and nights, I wanted to take one more look at the colorful beauty of this autumn, seen in cities and countryside vistas across the Northern Hemisphere. Get cozy in a warm sweater and enjoy this batch of recent fall photos. For even more autumnal goodness, see “Fall Is in the Air: Images of the Season” from earlier this year. Source link