Money Category
Money in the news and how you are going to pay and pay and pay
For The Love Of God: Damien Hirst’s Skull
THE world-renowned Brit Art superstar Damien Hirst has unveiled his latest and most expensive creation to date – a jewel-encrusted skull. Yours for a paltry £50million.
The 41-year-old, apparently, sourced over 8,000 flawless diamonds which he then, erm, stuck (possibly with superglue or maybe Pritt) all over an 18th century skull to create the work which will be the highlight of his new show ‘Beyond Belief’.
Not short of a bob or two himself, after selling lots and lots of pretentious tat, I mean important and challenging pieces, to very rich people, Hirst spilt the £12million cost of the raw materials with dealer Jay Jopling.
The skull, which is the biggest jewellery commission in Britain in a century, will be on show at the White Cube gallery in Mayfair.
It is entitled “For The Love Of God”.
I couldn’t have put it better myself. (Anyone else think Hirst’s laughing into his sleeve?)
Posted: 1st, June 2007 | In: Money | Comments (14)
A Happy Tax Freedom Day To You!
WHERE are your pointy party hats and streamers? Why don’t you have a piece of cake and a glass of cheap sparkling wine in your hand?
Don’t you know it’s Tax Freedom Day? No? Well you’re not the only one. (Pic: The Spine)
The Guardian have been kind enough to remind us that today is the day that marks the theoretical point in the year when we apparently stop working for the Government and start making money for ourselves.
The date is arrived at by working out the length of time the average UK resident must work from the start of the year in order to pay off their annual tax burden. And June 1st is that special day.
According to the Adam Smith Institute, the Government grabs over 40% of the nation’s income, to spend on spin doctors and farewell tours.
However, the independent financial advice website Unbiased.co.uk claims that UK tax payers are giving up far more of their earnings than they should with the UK set to lose £7.9billion this year on unnecessary tax. Which is rather a lot, isn’t it.
Somehow I don’t feel like partying now. Nor paying. Come the revolution…
Council Bans Playing Football In Leicester
WHILE England’s national team continues to struggle, the future looks even worse for the Three Lions, as the next generation of footballing talent apparently can’t even have a kickabout on the street.
The Mail reports that children in the suburban cul de sac of Utah Close in Leicester have been banned by the local council from playing football on the quiet street because it “posed a danger” to the public.
With the officious local authority threatening to hand out £100 fines to parents of children who continue to perform the heinous act of, er, kicking a ball around an empty street and local residents are livid.
Sales Manager Ian Fenton, 43, who has three sons, wonders: “They are treating our children and us as if we are criminals. We want our children playing where we can see them. We moved here so that there was a nice, safe environment for them to play in, where they could interact with other children their own age. Playing in the street is something that has gone on for generations in this country. Now the council want to take it away. It’s ludicrous.”
A county council spokesman responds by saying, “The parish council has been contacted several times in recent years about children setting up goalposts that were blocking the road. It is rare to issue such warnings, and they would be considered only in a case where a persistent problem has been reported by other residents.”
Expect the weight of the local kids to shoot up in the coming year.
£100 fine for kicking a ball? You’ll also get an £80 fine for dropping a cigarette butt.
Posted: 1st, June 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Arriva Arriva! Speedy Rail Fares Set To Rise Again
SMALL wonder more and more people are deciding to work from home.
With the Government doing all it can to discourage the humble commuter from travelling by car, it then expects them to pay through the nose for tardy and crowded train services.
Now rail passengers are facing the threat of even more big price hikes after two operators decided to substantially increase their fares.
In Wales, Arriva Trains have decided to raise their off-peak fares by over 30 per cent and South West Trains are targeting the off-peak traveller, hiking up their ticket prices by 20 per cent.
Surprisingly, these huge fare increases have not been challenged by the Office of Rail Regulation, leaving consumer groups and unions angry and fearful that other rail companies will follow suit and raise their prices.
Anthony Smith, chief executive of the consumer watchdog Passenger Focus, says: “It appears that off-peak passengers are left unprotected. It implies that 20 and 30 per cent rises are insufficient to trigger an investigation. If 30 per cent is not enough, it is hard to know what is.”
Smith also claims that passengers using Southern services into Victoria could be next in line for a massive ticket price hike.
However, the ORR, in responding to criticism over its inaction, retorts, “Just because a ticket price is raised significantly does not mean that it is excessive and an abuse under competition law.”
A 30 per cent increase isn’t excessive? I wonder how many ORR bigwigs travel to work by train.
EMI has signed a deal with YouTube that will allow users to access videos by the music giant’s artists.
Posted: 1st, June 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Ian Anderson Wins £10million Space Adventure
A BRITISH data analyst is set for the journey of a lifetime after winning a competition to fly 62 miles above the earth.
Ian Anderson, 32, entered the competition in the New Scientist magazine which asked entrants to choose the “best invention of all time”. The Staffordshire-born married man selected the radio as his answer. And he won.
New Scientist editor Jeremy Webb gushes: “Mr Anderson was simply the best. He gave a justification for radio that goes way beyond what we normally associate with it. Everything from medical scanners to mobile phones relies on radio; during the last war it gave us radar and afterwards it opened a new window on the universe with radio astronomy. It was the best of a very good bunch.”
But not a very exciting bunch, I imagine.
The prize flight, worth an estimated £10million, is set to take off in 2009 in a spacecraft called the Xerus that, rather worryingly, has yet to enjoy its maiden flight.
The plane, which apparently looks like a miniature space shuttle, carries one pilot and just one passenger.
God help the pilot if Anderson starts droning on about the radio again. And Anderson…
Kathleen Searles, 89, didn’t fancy mixing with the hoi-polloi on a flight to Greece, so she called a cab instead, paying a total fare of £2,000 for the 4,000 mile trip.
What A Waste Of Crime: Police.co.uk
CRIME fighting may now be a hi-tech affair, but according to the Mirror, Britain’s boys and girls in black still have some work to do when it comes to embracing the digital age.
A £3million police website set-up for crime tip-offs has been shelved after officers failed to bother even logging on. The site, www.police.co.uk, was supposed to provide the nation’s crime fighters with a cyber-centre where people could post details about anti-social behaviour and criminal activity.
However, due to a lack of interest by the coppers themselves, the site is to be closed down.
Deflated project leader, Chief Constable Peter Neyroud, reveals: “Only a handful used it to any significant degree. Expenditure of such a large sum on a narrowly distributed service could not be justified.”
Tory peer Lord Marlesford, who uncovered the whole mess, is less than chuffed. “It’s staggering – another Home Office shambles. There’s a desperate need for ministers to get a grip,” he says.
Many critics also believe that officers were reluctant to use the site as they didn’t want more crimes reported and thus push up the crime rate. Others believe that they were just too busy driving through red lights….
Tesco plan to reward customers who bring their recycling back to the store by giving them Clubcard bonus points.
Posted: 31st, May 2007 | In: Money | Comments (3)
House Prices Rise By 10% In A Year
THE property boom may be starting to cool down, but house prices are still on the up, according to figures released by the Nationwide.
The building society claim that the average British house now costs £181,584, almost £17,000 or 10.3% up on May 2006.
However, the figures also reveal a slowdown in the market, with prices rising by 0.5 per cent in May compared to the 0.9 per cent rise in April.
Nationwide bigwig Fionnuala Earley has warned of yet another interest rate rise, something that could put off even more first-time buyers from starting their climb up the proverbial property ladder.
Says she: “The housing market is still showing signs of cooling and should therefore add little to the upside inflationary risks considered by the MPC. The three-month on three-month rate of growth still shows a clear downward trend as the effect of earlier increases in interest rates takes hold. However, higher interest rates, with the threat of more on the horizon, should signal caution to those thinking about stretching themselves to get a foot on the ladder.”
Global Insight’s Howard Archer isn’t surprised by the figures either. “The Nationwide data is consistent with our expectation that house prices will lose buoyancy gradually over the coming months as demand is increasingly pressurized by the rising affordability pressures stemming from higher interest rates, modest real disposable income growth and elevated house prices,” says he.
Did you get that? Mr Archer works for, er, ‘Global insight’. For more clear-as-mud news on the housing market, stay tuned…
Supermarket giant Asda’s credit card reward scheme has apparently saved their customers £1million at the petrol pump.
Britons Drowning In Debt
THE nation is edging ever nearer to a debt nightmare. According to the Registry Trust, up to a million households will face court action over their debts this year.
Figures from the not-for-profit company reveal that 247,187 debt-related judgements were issued against individuals in the first three months of this year, almost a 10 per cent increase on the same period last year.
With rising house prices forcing homebuyers to take out enormous mortgages added to rises in interest rates and rising council tax and energy bills, the nation’s household debt now tops an incredible £1 trillion and things look likely to get even worse.
A spokesman for the National Debtline charity questioned the behaviour of banks, saying, “The question is whether it is irresponsible lending or irresponsible borrowing. It is down to both. We would like to see more responsible lending.”
Peter Tutton of Citizen’s Advice is concerned by the growing number of creditors skipping negotiations with debtors and going straight to court action. Says he: “Our concern is that creditors are using court action rather than trying to negotiate with debtors. Court action adds greatly to the costs and hardship people in debt face. Creditors should always try to negotiate in line with industry standards before resorting to such action.”
Take care. Read the small print. And sleep on it…
BT staff have missed out on a £25million windfall as customer dissatisfaction continues to grow.
Posted: 31st, May 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
What’s A Speeding Ban Between Friends and Family?
WHAT are deceitful bunch we are. What must the powers that are be thinking? Actually they’re probably delighted that we’re following their lead.
Anyway, according to Churchill Insurance, up to 500,000 speeding motorists are swapping their three-point penalties with friends and family in order to avoid a ban.
With 12 points earning you an automatic disqualification from driving, motorists on nine points are increasingly getting their nearest and dearest to take the heat in order to avoid losing their licences and according to the survey, 29 per cent of drivers see nothing wrong with deceiving the system.
But with speed camera technology improving, it is proving harder to fool the system.
A Churchill spokesman warns us: “Trying to escape convictions by swapping points with another person is highly illegal and can lead to prosecution. The way to avoid a speeding ban in the first place is simple – drive responsibly.”
Posted: 31st, May 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Property Boom Hits Cannabis Factories
THERE are many obvious consequences of the current property boom, from unfeasibly enormous mortgages to the unfeasibly large amount of hatred one may have for property developers.
However, a negative effect on the illegal drugs industry definitely isn’t one of them.
Yet, according to a report by the Metropolitan Police Authority, the number of new cannabis factories in London is dropping as rising house prices hit the dealers’ profit margins.
It is estimated that there are currently between 700 and 800 premises in the capital, often bought or rented by Vietnamese gangs, where the hi-tech factories are run.
However, the property boom, coupled with sophisticated police tactics, such as using thermal imagery cameras to spot the illicit cultivation, is starting to have a major impact on the production of the Class C drug in the capital.
Will any good ever come from the property boom?
Internet provider Tiscali have received a barrage of complaints from customers after failing to warn users that millions of e-mails were disappearing into a “black hole”.
Posted: 31st, May 2007 | In: Money | Comments (5)
Manchester City’s Ray Ranson Of Light
IT was to be a match made in footballing heaven – former star turned millionaire entrepreneur taking control of the club where he made his name.
But after months of protracted negotiations with Manchester City’s board, Ray Ranson has decided to pull out of his takeover bid.
A statement to the Stock Exchange says: “Ray has been unable to reach agreement with the board and withdraws from talks relating to a possible bid.”
Ranson, who made his money in insurance and sports finance, had submitted a bid in April worth an estimated £90million. The deal is rumoured to have included the repayment of £20million in loans owed to chairman John Wardle and David Makin, as well as a transfer war chest of £20million.
But with little or no headway made in the negotiations with the City board, Ranson’s dream of owning the club where he started in the game is, for the moment, over.
However, the 46-year-old hasn’t completely put himself out of the picture as he did reserve the right to renew his interest in City should former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the man believed to be club’s preferred choice to take over, make a formal offer.
Or City win the Premier League…
By George – It Asda Be A School Uniform For A Tenner!
ONCE upon a time, celebrities wouldn’t be seen dead in cheap and cheerful high-street rags. But with everyone from Beyonce to Kylie embracing the likes of Top Shop and H&M, low-cost can now mean high-fashion.
Now it seems that school children too will be able to get suited and booted at uber-low prices.
According to the Mail, Asda are set to introduce new school uniforms, including shoes, for less than a tenner in a move that could start a new price war in the competitive £1 billion school uniform market.
The “value” outfit from Asda’s George range will undoubtedly be the cheapest on the market for three to six-year-olds while larger outfits for the six to ten age bracket will start at just £12.96.
While the news will be welcomed by cash-strapped parents up and down the country, one wonders just how many third-world children are being exploited to make the garments.
None, says George, who maintain the clothes have been “ethically” sourced from factories which are regularly audited.
Expect to see Ant and Dec modelling their new line in three-to-six year-old outfits this summer. If Kate Moss and Madonna can do it, why can’t they?
It’s Not A Wonderful Standard Life
EXECUTIVES attending Standard Life’s first annual meeting as a listed company were met by fierce criticism from staff and unions, not to mention a man in a cat suit.
The protesters were livid over the company’s decision to end its 80 years as a mutual, claiming that the new plc-style Standard Life had rewarded company executives at the expense of the majority of its staff.
However, the likelihood is that chief executive Sandy Crombie won’t be bothered in the slightest by all the kerfuffle, as the company’s share price has increased by almost 50 per cent since the flotation last year.
Outside the meeting in Edinburgh, more than 20 union members from Amicus protested about Standard Life’s failure to recognise the union, with one protestor donning an ‘hilarious’ fat-cat suit and thus giving us all a lesson in the art of subtle humour.
Laughed? Almost…
Up to 700 Kwik Save employees look set to lose their jobs after the supermarket chain closed a third of its stores across the UK.
The Big Music Rip Off: CD Wow Breaks The Law
THOSE poor dears in the music industry.
After years of getting away with massively inflated CD prices, the Internet revolutionised the business and seriously ate into the industry’s profits, with peer-to-peer websites and cheap online shopping finally forcing music bigwigs, temporarily, to stop snorting their cocaine and start smelling the coffee.
However, in a ruling by the High Court yesterday, the industry hit back against websites selling uber-cheap CDs.
Website CD Wow, which sells chart albums for as low as £6.99, was ordered to pay the music industry £41million after their policy of shipping in cheap CDs designed for the Asian market was deemed to be illegal.
A delighted Geoff Taylor, chief executive of the British Phonographic Industry, says, “Illegal imports of this kind undermine the huge investments made by businesses here in home-grown musical talent.”
CD Wow, which is currently the third-most popular online music retailer, vowed to fight the ruling and plans to carry on its cut-price business.
Chief executive of the company, Henrik Wesslen, replies: “It shouldn’t matter whether we are buying from an official distributor in the UK, Europe or the Far East, what is important is that we are buying legitimate products from the record companies themselves.”
Legitimate top music products like Coldplay and, er, James Blunt…
Posted: 30th, May 2007 | In: Money | Comments (2)
£100,000 Set Aside For Bank Charge War
DESPITE the surprise decision by a judge in Birmingham to dismiss a claim for £2,545 by Lloyds TSB customer Kevin Berwick, the nationwide campaign to challenge illegal bank charges continues to grow.
Leader of the campaign, MoneySavingExpert.com’s Martin Lewis, has organised a so-called “fighting fund” along with the Consumer Action Group which will be used to help people fight the dodgy charges.
Currently standing at £100,000, the war chest consists of money raised by campaign groups as well as donations from private individuals.
Lewis, who also appears regularly on the BBC, urges people not to be put off by the recent court decision in Birmingham.
Says he: “It is almost laughable. In football parlance the banks are crowing about the fact that they are now only losing 100,000 to one and not 100,000 to nil. This is a desperate attempt to scare people away and it is important we do not allow their spin and spiel to put people off.”
Fight the power. Etc.
Most Britons would need a windfall of at least £100,000 to change their lives, according to a new survey.
Robbing Of Sherwood: Nottingham Tops Burglary League
ACCORDING to the myth, Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. And according to a new report, that fine Nottingham tradition of theft is still going strong.
The report, by Endsleigh Insurance, ranks Nottingham as the burglary capital of the country, with residents there twice as likely to suffer a break-in as the average UK householder.
Leeds takes the runners-up spot in the rankings with Hull, London and Oxford next.
Residents of Guildford will be leaving their front doors on the latch and their cars unlocked in celebration after the report named the Surrey town as the most secure place to live. Swindon, Dundee, Bath and Coventry make up the more desirable top five.
The statistics reveals that burglaries across Britain have fallen by almost 60 per cent since 1995. And Police Chief Supt Marcus Beale is understandably pleased with the results. Says he: “One burglary is still one too many, but the figures show we are heading in the right direction.”
Burglars across the nation, get yourselves to Nottingham sharpish before the boom ends.
Massive mortgages are turning us all into nothing more than “bonded labourers” according to a new report.
John Prescott’s Housing Policy Jag
WITH apartment blocks going up on every bit of vacant land faster than you can say “property developers are the spawn of Satan”, it comes as little surprise that there is now a surplus of flats struggling to be sold. (Pic: The Spine)
New Government figures show that since 2000 the price of a family house has risen at eight times the rate of a new flat as the shortage of houses and “tidal wave” of new flats continues to drive the property boom.
With families now struggling to make the move up from apartment to house, both the Tories and a number of building experts are pointing the finger at John Prescott.
Since the introduction of the part-time Deputy Prime Minister and part-time lover’s planning regulations in 2000, the number of houses being built has dropped significantly, with over 20,000 fewer built last year than in 2000.
Those PPG3 guidelines brought in by the New Labour heavyweight forced developers to maximise the number of homes built on each plot of land in order to meet the need for new homes while avoiding the need to build on green belts.
Roger Humber, of the House Builders Association, isn’t impressed. He tells us: “When politicians try to rig the market they eventually corrupt the market. It’s the outward workings of Prescottian economics, as I call it.”
Humber also points to the current situation in Manchester were there are 20,000 flats awaiting planning permission compared to just a handful of houses.
Tory housing spokesman, Michael Gove, also has a pop at Prezzer: “Government housing rules have led to a ‘pile ’em high’ approach to development, which has seen us getting flats rather than family homes. We know the primary demand is for family houses but because of the planning system there is a lack of supply.”
I wonder how many families could live in one of Prescott’s Jags?
No Change For Lottery Winner David Ashcroft
MANY a lottery winner has claimed that their new found wealth won’t change them. They then set off on a maelstrom of lavish spending, drug abuse and eventual bankruptcy and depression. And it serves them bloody right.
But in the case of mild-mannered David Ashcroft, a £12.3million National Lottery winner back in 1997, very little does seem to have changed.
Now aged 40, he still lives in the same modest house in Liverpool with his, er, parents. But let us not judge him harshly.
In continuing to work as a furniture restorer and limiting his big spending to a new van, double-glazing for the family home and a caravan in north Wales, Ashcroft is, as the young whippersnappers of today say, ‘keeping it real’.
He has, however, been generous with his cash, splashing out on flash cars for his siblings, including a £60,000 Ferrari.
While Ashcroft himself hasn’t spoken publicly since his win, the Daily Mail did manage to collar a neighbour who reveals: “No one can quite fathom it. He’s got money to burn and yet he seems to spend next to nothing on himself. Some people say he is afraid of what it would do to him if he ever started spending it. He is afraid of what he might become.”
As for love? Well, at the time of his big win, Ashcroft said: “Any girlfriends from the past will probably come from my days in kindergarten” (which taken the wrong way could be deeply worrying).
Ashcroft has not found love. The multi-millionaire is single and on the look-out for Miss Right.
But Ashcroft is surely learning a valuable lesson in affairs of the heart – no matter how much money you have, living with your parents at the age of 40 is going to turn off pretty much every woman on the planet. And if you doubt me, ask my mum…
Posted: 29th, May 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Payday Bonanza: The Price Of Love
YOU may be, like me, devastatingly handsome and uproariously witty, but if you don’t have the cash/money/wonga/benjamins, then you are destined to struggle in the game of love. Or so say the world-renowned sages of, erm, Five TV.
According to a new poll by the makers of Trust Me, I’m A Holiday Rep, Colin & Justin’s Wedding Belles and All New Cosmetic Surgery (Live!), two in three people would rather their other half earned an extra £10,000 than be better-looking, cleverer or funnier.
The survey also discovered that 77 per cent of people associated a Surrey accent with wealth while just one per cent linked a Scouse accent to big money.
Alex Menzies of Five says: “Wealth is now the biggest motivator for love, but it’s tricky to know who’s got a big piggy bank or an empty wallet.” How insightful.
The survey was carried out for Five’s new game show (another one?) Payday Bonanza, which is to be hosted by the interminably smug Colin Murray. In the show, contestants can win each other‘s annual salaries. I bet it’ll be ‘full of tension‘. I can’t wait.
Michael Jackson was paid £5million just to turn up at a birthday bash for the Sultan of Brunei’s son. Nice work if you can get it.
Posted: 29th, May 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Buy-To-Letters Beware: The Taxman Cometh
THE Government’s quest to squeeze every last penny out of us continues with news that a large number of buy-to-let property owners could be facing a major tax disaster. (Pic: Beau Bo D’Or)
According to the Times, 80,000 buy-to-let landlords may have claimed too much tax relief or have failed to accurately declare the amount of rent they are receiving. And now the taxman is coming to take it all back.
Worryingly for landlords, HM Revenue & Customs can claim back unpaid tax from as far back as six years, which could leave many facing tax bills so huge that they may even have to sell their property.
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of taxation on at the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants, hopes HM Revenue & Customs use the softly softly approach.
Says he: “Buy-to-let investors are generally not tax evaders. Many think the mortgage interest is at such a level that it covers the rental income and that they don’t have any additional tax to pay. But the tax situation is so complex they may well have tax to pay.”
Serves them all right for owning more than one property.
The Gambling Commission is considering banning ‘wacky’ bets such as which player gets the first yellow card in a football match as these wagers apparently open the way for corruption.
Bank Make Too Many Errors Says Jim Cousins MP
A LABOUR MP on the Treasury select committee has claimed that a large number of homeowners are being overcharged by mortgage lenders because of apparent errors in the calculation of interest owed.
Jim Cousins’ claims follow a review by auditing firm BankCheck, which found that the likes of the Nationwide, Alliance & Leicester and Abbey have been benefiting from these blunders with repayment mortgages apparently the most prone to the mistakes.
Cousins now wants a new banking code of practice in which customers’ repayments are checked regularly by the lender.
However – surprise surprise – the banks have refuted the claims.
Abbey says: “Checks are built into our mortgage processes. We are confident that this process is robust.”
The Nationwide puts it: “Mistakes occur in a minimum of cases but we have confidence in the integrity and accuracy of our systems”.
Alliance & Leicester did admit to one such mistake in which a man was overcharged by 0.5 per cent over 15 years, costing him over £2,000, which was eventually refunded. However, they blame the fact that when the mistake initially occurred back in 1984, their system relied on typewriters rather than today’s apparently failsafe computer system.
Sure. Only aren’t the same people who used to type now working on the computer? And odd how these mistakes favour the lender…
A hotel in St Ives has been given a public slap on the wrist by the Royal Mint after using pound coins as promotional items.
Posted: 28th, May 2007 | In: Money | Comment (1)
Copper Theft for Chinese Olympics Derails British Trains
WE’VE all heard the “leaves on the line” excuse for trains delays and cancellations, haven’t we?
Well, to be honest, I’ve never actually heard it myself, but apparently it is quite common.
Anyway, rail bosses can now, somewhat bizarrely, add “copper has been stolen” to its list of stock excuses as soaring global demand for the metal continues to fuel a huge growth in trackside theft.
Last year, over 240,000 minutes of delays for train passengers were caused by the theft of copper, with robberies at tracks and depots increasing by almost 500 per cent.
In the north-east, the problem is particularly widespread, with two-thirds of all rail delays down to copper theft.
Andy Trotter, deputy chief constable of the British Transport Police is understandably concerned by this metal madness. Says he: “It is a growing problem. You have only got to look at the rising copper price on the metal market and the theft of copper matches that rise almost absolutely. Unfortunately, the impact on the infrastructure is beginning to bite.”
It’s not only railways that are falling victim to the copper thieves either, with police in Bradford blaming metal mercenaries for the demolition of a bungalow after copper gas pipes on the outer wall of the house were ripped out, leading to an explosion.
So what happens to all this dodgy metal? Well apparently it is ending up in China where the demand for copper has been fuelled by the Beijing Olympics and demand for telecoms infrastructure.
With the global price of the metal rising fivefold since 2001, hitting £4,000 a tonne this year, expect to hear more copper-based rail excuses.
Apparently, even 2p pieces are worth more if they are melted down. Time to take a blow-torch to your piggy-bank.
China’s rising shares have pushed Shanghai’s main stock index past the 4,000 mark for the first time.
End Of The Housing Boom On Nigh
IT seems that a new report on the housing market is published every day and the latest to reach us, from Hometrack, reveals that the housing boom may be coming to an end.
According to the report, house-prices in two-thirds of postcodes in England and Wales were either static or fell in May. The average price of a home in the UK did rise this month, however, but only be a measly 0.6 per cent, lower than April’s 0.7 per cent rise.
With the Bank Of England’s recent penchant for interest rate rises and a rising supply of homes, this cooling of the housing market won’t have come as a huge surprise and Hometrack’s Richard Donnell expects the slowdown to continue.
“The steady ratcheting up of interest rates was bound to take its toll eventually. We expect the headline rate of growth to slow relatively quickly over the rest of the year towards 4 per cent as affordability pressures put a continued squeeze on purchasing power and more supply comes to the market,” he says.
Despite the overall slowdown, London, unsurprisingly, continues to dominate the rest of the country, with the metropolitan market posting an increase of 1.3 per cent.
Still, now is the time to sell your house and live the life of an affluent hobo.
A sacked secretary who claims to suffer from Seasonal Affective Disorder is suing a company for £15million because her desk was too far away from a window.
Council Tax Snoopers Snap Homes
THE digital camera has long been a useful tool for traffic wardens eager to attain proof of a parking infringement but now it seems that other council officials are themselves getting snap-happy.
According to official figures, council tax snoopers have taken over 1.3million photographs of homes in order to catch out owners who should be paying higher bills.
In all, 823,000 properties have been snapped and then added to an electronic database in the past two years as Government officials look for signs that homeowners have added to the value of their property with additions such as conservatories and attic conversions.
Eric Pickles, the Tory housing spokesman, is unimpressed. Says he: “This new evidence proves the privacy and property of honest, law-abiding citizens is under threat from Gordon Brown’s greedy hands – and his paparazzi council tax inspectors. I am alarmed that faceless Whitehall bureaucrats are now rolling out a sinister property photo database. Not only are civil liberties under threat, but I fear these photos will be used to tax features like conservatories, extensions, gardens and patios.”
However, pebble-dashing, Union Jacks and garden gnomes will lower your bills by 100%.
£73,000 Wasted On Police Exams
POLICE officers hoping to make the step up to the heady heights of inspector level will have to re-sit their exams after staff shortages and apparent technical problems invalidated the initial exam results.
The cost of repeating the exams coupled with the subsequent selection process is likely to cost over £70,000 of public money.
According to Glen Smyth, chairman of the Metropolitan Police Federation, “It was a disaster. These were the next candidates for inspectors but it went awry for a number of reasons. Hundreds took the exam and it is quite a stressful situation. A lot hinges on this. It has thrown a spanner in the works and officers are understandably upset. We don’t want to see this repeated.”
The Met Police described the supervision at the exam centre in leafy north London’s Alexandra Palace as “inadequate” but surely they weren’t worried that their aspirant inspectors had resorted to cheating, were they?
Well, not according to a Met spokeswoman who says: “We do not assume or believe that any candidates were cheating – only the fact that the supervision on the day was inadequate. It would be impossible to address the issues without asking all officers to resit the exam.”
Police breaking the rules? Never.
Over 1,000 pieces of memorabilia from the first family of pop, the Jacksons, are set to go under the hammer in an auction expected to raise millions of dollars.
