Think tank urges Rishi Sunak to slash and simplify taxes

Rishi Sunak must CUT and simplify taxes to revive the economy after hammer blow from coronavirus lockdown, warn economists Institute of Economic Affairs report calls on Rishi Sunak to reform tax system It suggests Chancellor can learn the lessons from recent history to boost growth Report calls for income tax to be capped at 40 … Read more

Big Brother All-Stars: David Alexander takes $10,000 prize, but risky move may cost him eviction

David Alexander won $10,000 on Wednesday’s episode of Big Brother: All-Stars, but he may have squandered his shot at the show’s $500,000 grand prize. During the week’s veto competition, six houseguests were asked to dive into a vat of beach inflatables and find a special T-shirt that would give them veto power. Almost immediately, the … Read more

Subway sandwiches do not meet legal definition of being BREAD, Ireland’s Supreme Court rules 

Subway sandwiches are too sugary to meet the legal definition of being BREAD, Ireland’s Supreme Court rules The sandwiches could not be categorised as a staple food, Supreme Court ruled Due to their high sugar content, which stands at 10pc of weight of flour in dough Ruling ends a 14-year battle by the global takeaway … Read more

Just a tipple! Moment giant vat of red wine BURSTS with 10,000 GALLONS of booze at Spanish winery 

Red wine tsunami! The moment a 50,000-litre tanks bursts at a winery in Spain and unleashes a flood of red wine A 50,000-litre wine tank at a winery in Spain spilled its contents onto the floor  A jet of wine erupted from the tank at the Bodegas Vitivinos winery in Villamalea It is believed that a … Read more

Iron Age wine press unearthed in Lebanon

Archaeologists have uncovered the first Iron Age wine press in Lebanon, dating from the 7th century BC.   Excavations at the ancient settlement of Tell el-Burak near the city of Sidon uncovered the well-preserved press, which was constructed from plaster made by mixing lime and recycled ceramics.  Wine makers would have stomped the grapes in the … Read more

Events caterers left out of Rishi Sunak’s VAT cut

Caterers of funerals, weddings, corporate conferences and other events have been left out of the Chancellor’s £4.1billion tax cut for the hospitality industry, official guidelines suggest. The £70billion UK events industry has been on its knees as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, with caterers seeing months of event bookings vanish overnight and some seeing … Read more

Cut VAT on fuel to get Britain moving, says Moto chief

Ken McMeikan knows how to get his point across to politicians. While running high street chain Greggs in 2012, he made George Osborne scrap his plans for a ‘pasty tax’ on hot takeaway goods by climbing a stepladder outside Downing Street dressed as a baker and blasting his opposition to the policy through a megaphone.  … Read more

McDonald’s will slash prices on Big Macs, Chicken McNuggets and Happy Meals from TODAY

Fast-food lovers could snap up a discount Big Mac from this morning after McDonald’s announced plans to slash prices on some of its best-loved items. Chicken McNuggets, Happy Meals and the Quarter Pounder with Cheese are set to come down in price after Rishi Sunak slashed VAT from 20 per cent to 5 per cent.  … Read more

Honours scandal: Firm boasted it could get ‘damehood for £80k’

A firm boasted it could win a gong for a celebrity author for £80,000, the Daily Mail reveals. Leaked emails expose a cynical offer to help Barbara Taylor Bradford become a dame by getting direct feedback from ‘the people that matter’. The brazen messages stated: ‘Basically our fee is 80K plus VAT… we bill half … Read more

ALEX BRUMMER: Enjoy it while you can… we cannot live on Rishi Sunak’s giveaways forever

No Chancellor in modern times has faced the looming horror of mass unemployment that scarred this country and the world economy in the 1930s. But this is precisely what Rishi Sunak’s unprecedented measures yesterday were designed to stave off. As what has been called the ‘first phase’ of the pandemic comes to an end, the … Read more