News

Around eight million eligible households across the UK will receive a £299 cost-of-living payment in February, the Government has announced. The payment will be made to people on eligible means-tested benefits between February 6 and 22 and is part of a wider support package for households. It is one of three means-tested cost-of-living payments being made over 2023/24, worth up to £900 in total. The £299 payment in February 2024 […]

Domestic football in Turkey has been suspended indefinitely after one of the country’s top referees was punched to the ground by a club president following a Super Lig match on Monday. Halil Umut Meler was approached on the pitch and hit by MKE Ankaragucu president Faruk Koca, sparking chaotic scenes as players and officials joined the melee or tried to intervene. Meler had sent off one player from each side, […]

Pay growth has eased back at the fastest pace for two years, while vacancies dropped further in the longest run of declines on record, according to official figures. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said private sector regular earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 7.3% in the three months to October, down from 7.8% in the previous three months. This was the steepest fall in earnings growth since the three months […]

Jennifer Aniston said she texted Matthew Perry on the morning of his death and he was happy, healthy, and “not in pain”. The actress, who played Rachel Green opposite Perry as sarcastic and witty Chandler Bing in US sitcom Friends, said that Perry was “getting in shape” before his death at the age of 54 on October 28. “He was happy. He was healthy. He had quit smoking,” Aniston told […]

The Masked Singer host Joel Dommett has said the new series is “the best” yet and that he is viewing it “in an entirely different way” following the birth of his child. The ITV1 reality singing competition will return to screens this month with TV presenter Davina McCall, singer Rita Ora, chat show host Jonathan Ross and comedian Mo Gilligan in the detective chairs. On the programme, contestants are disguised […]

The value of UK drinks exports increased by more than £1 billion in the past year, new research suggests. The total jumped from £8.3 billion in 2021/22 to £9.4 billion in the 12 months to July this year, said business advisers Hazlewoods. Spirits are playing a key role in rising drinks exports, with continued demand for whisky from traditional markets in EU countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Poland, as […]

The UK’s tax level across the economy has increased to its highest rate on record, according to new data from the OECD. It came as separate figures showed the UK also now faces the highest level of property taxes across the developed world. The OECD’s (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) annual revenues statistics update found the total tax-to-GDP ratio across the UK hit 35.3% for the 2022/23 financial year […]

Ellie Leach said she has surprised herself by how much her confidence has grown since joining Strictly Come Dancing three months ago. The former Coronation Street star, 22, agreed she is a “completely different person” at the semi-final stage of the BBC competition, compared with when it began in September after being paired with professional Vito Coppola. “I think that I didn’t realise how much of a personal journey I […]

Sir Keir Starmer will argue that the Conservatives have shredded their ability to govern the nation as their warring factions are “fighting like rats in a sack”. The Labour leader will use a speech on Tuesday to vow that his “fundamentally changed” party is ready to rule and that he “won’t let the Tories take the country down with them”. He will claim that it is Labour that “shares Britain’s […]