News

Much has been written about fake news originating from Russia influencing the US election, stirring up unrest in Germany, and opening up divides across Europe. But how much did Russian fake news determine Brexit voters decision to leave the EU? Russian drive to destabilise the West As a result of international sanctions placed on Russia following support in facilitating the annexation of Crimea, Russia has experienced dire economic repercussions. Russian military intervention in Ukraine began in early 2014 and prompted...

The dead money economy is worth an eye-watering £721 billion, new research has found, with a staggering amount of cash laying dormant and unused in pensions, bank accounts and ISAs. With levels of consumer spending expected to be slashed in the coming months as the reality of the falling pound hits home, the UK could be caught between a rock and a hard place with many well-off people sitting on cash they have no intention of using. Close to a...

The UK construction industry could lose almost 200,000 EU workers post-Brexit should Britain lose access to the single market, putting some of the country’s biggest infrastructure and construction projects under threat, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has revealed. RICS has cautioned that for Brexit to succeed, it is essential to secure continued access to the EU Single Market or to put alternative plans in place to safeguard the future of the property and construction sectors in the UK....

When David Cameron became PM he talked of the “big society,” imagining armies of citizens carrying out good works for free in their spare time. Unfortunately most people have to work long hours to make ends meet and to appease slave driver bosses. It was a nice idea, but in practice it couldn’t work, especially has Cameron also announced austerity measures, that meant that everyone’s finances were tighter than ever before as public series suffered. After Cameron lost the EU...

In late February, Lord Chancellor Elizabeth Truss announced a significant adjustment to the personal injury claims discount rate, now down to negative 0.75% from 2.5%. The rate has remained unchanged since 2001 despite noticeable changes in the broad market, creating the need to review and update it to be more in line with the current economic landscape. Truss gave the explanation that because no adjustments had been applied in several years, claimants should have the opportunity to receive fair, adequate...

Already under fire for having abandoned pledges to bring unaccompanied child refugees to safety in the UK, the UK government this week pulled the rug out from under the feet of tens of thousands of refugees beginning to make new lives for themselves and their families in the UK, leaving them in a perilous situation. The Home Office has implemented a policy announced by Theresa May back when she was Home Secretary, meaning that even after jumping through all the hoops...

International students and professors at US universities were among those caught in the wake of President Trump's revised executive order to ban anyone from six predominantly islamic countries from entering the US. There are currently over a million international students at US universities, and there is concern among them that this ban, along with Trump’s general anti-immigration rhetoric, could have severe ramifications for them. It’s worried colleges too, the Association of American Universities warned that the order could cause irreparable...

This is just what you didn’t want to hear, especially if you have been slapped with a National Insurance tax rise, as a self-employed worker. The IFS has made a post-budget statement and it makes grim reading for the nation. The impact of Brexit is unknown, but the future already looks gloomy. Well over a decade of austerity will be too much for a lot the UK’s population to take. In 2020 it will be 15 years without an effective...

The crisis in the NHS continues and it is getting worse, hitting historically high levels of patient waiting times. This January, official figures have shown, that A & E department waiting times were the worst the NHS has faced. More people than ever had to sit in emergency departments, for over four hours, before they were seen by medical staff. Over the winter period the Red Cross said the NHS was facing a humanitarian crisis. The Conservative Government said this...