UK Politics
Pre-Budget report: Pain postponed
The Chancellor's electioneering budget yesterday put off difficult questions about cutting debt. Will it work?
Inside UK Politics
MPs' expenses claims published online new
Thursday, 10 December 2009
MPs' second home expenses claims came under fresh scrutiny today as hundreds of thousands of new receipts were published by Commons authorities.
Hague reveals details of his trip to Turks and Caicos
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Tory foreign affairs chief met no opposition leaders in visit to troubled ex-colony
Tories accuse Darling of benefits 'con' new
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Conservatives today accused Chancellor Alistair Darling of a "pre-election con" after it emerged that he did not set aside funding in yesterday's Pre-Budget Report to pay for benefit hikes to be continued for more than one year.
Tax and NI: Middle classes must stump up to cut the deficit
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Triple whammy targets families earning above the national average
Green taxes: Now old boilers are given the scrappage treatment
Thursday, 10 December 2009
If the boiler in your home is old and inefficient, you will be able to claim £400 from the Government off the cost of buying a new one – which could then shave as much as £230 a year off your heating bills, as well as pumping less carbon into the atmosphere.
General: British troops killed by amateurism
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Lack of expertise at the top had fatal consequences in Iraq, inquiry told
Tax rich now – and the rest of us later
Thursday, 10 December 2009
National insurance rate up, 40p tax threshold frozen; Cap on pay rises for five million public-sector workers
Ministers' budgets: Protection for schools and health – but cuts elsewhere
Thursday, 10 December 2009
Schools, hospitals and police budgets will be protected until 2013 – but almost every other area of public spending will be vulnerable in the ruthless hunt for savings.
Housing: Stamp duty blow to first-time buyers
Thursday, 10 December 2009
The Chancellor's decision not to extend the stamp duty holiday on lower-value homes was a "poke in the eye" for first-time buyers, analysts warned yesterday, adding that the move threatened the fragile recovery in the housing industry.
VAT and duty: Cigarettes and alcohol hit by 'hidden' excise charge
Thursday, 10 December 2009
The cigarette and booze industries have been hit by a "hidden" excise charge this year, after the Government failed to cut the duty to make up for higher VAT.
|
|
Today in Politics
The Independent's political correspondents blog from the corridors of power
Most popular in UK News
Read
1 Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall?
2 Quad bikers 'killed after £40,000 raid'
3 Boiler scrappage scheme unveiled
4 Hague reveals details of his trip to Turks and Caicos
5 Boy on trial for bleach attack new
6 MPs' expenses claims published online new
7 Judge dismisses hijab case against Christian couple
8 Pre-Budget report: Pain postponed
9 General: British troops killed by amateurism
10 Immigration camps 'harmful for children'
11 Girl aged 12 raped on way to school
12 The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return it to Egypt?
13 Tax rich now – and the rest of us later
14 VAT and duty: Cigarettes and alcohol hit by 'hidden' excise charge
Emailed
1 Jet cemetery: Where do aircraft go when airlines go to the wall?
2 Quad bikers 'killed after £40,000 raid'
3 Critics round on Hague for staying silent about trip to corrupt isles
4 Hoteliers cleared of insulting Muslim guest
5 Tories accuse Darling of benefits 'con' new
6 Hague reveals details of his trip to Turks and Caicos
7 Father hits out as toddler's arson killer gets 28 years
8 The shape of things to wear: scientists identify how women's figures have changed in 50 years
9 Student debt creates generation of mummy's boys
10 Action on disability hate crimes
11 Ministers need more terror training says former Scotland Yard boss
Commented
1It's worse than we thought, admits Darling
3The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return it to Egypt?
4Leading article: The glaring hole in this pre-Budget report
5Just to cheer you up, stand by for the big freeze
6I, George Osborne, commend this statement to the House...
7Met Office reveals last decade was the hottest ever recorded
8Woods counts cost of scandal as television adverts disappear
9Losing their cool: When managers go bad
10Blair 'was told Iraq had disarmed - but still went to war'
Columnist Comments
• Hamish McRae: Sticking to fiscal rules
It will be future generations that will have to work to pay off these debts
• Matthew Norman: How about a supertax on Blair?
The ex-PM mirrors the bankers in seeming to be rewarded for poor judgement
• Andreas Whittam Smith: Separate 'good' and 'bad' bonuses to clean up City
The moral case for levying a special tax on bankers' bonuses is strong
|
|
Register for free to find your perfect partner with Independent Singles
Download a free gym pass from Fitness First today 