UNITED KINGDOM

Rise in VAT, inflation and people working from home has led to protests from small business owners who say their industry needs government support Blazing Salads, Dillingers, Assassination Custard and Brasserie Sixty Six in Dublin, Church Lane and Sage in county Cork, and Barnacles in Galway.These are just some of the most recent restaurants to join the list of more than 600 that have been forced to close in Ireland in the last year in what is being seen as a growing crisis for the country’s high street and tourist offering. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/20/its-desperation-irelands-restaurant-industry-facing-crisis-with-daily-closures Author : Lisa

UK health secretary says unemployed people will not be ‘involuntarily jabbed’ to get them back to workWes Streeting has denied his plans to give new weight-loss jabs to the unemployed to help them back into work would result in a “dystopian future” where overweight people would be “involuntarily jabbed” if they were jobless.The UK health secretary acknowledged that weight-loss drugs were not, on their own, the answer to the nation’s obesity crisis after he suggested earlier this week that they could have a “monumental” impact on getting people working. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/society/2024/oct/20/wes-streeting-denies-dystopian-future-over-weight-loss-jabs-for-jobless Author : Pippa Crerar Political

Option among those explored, as state-owned body looks to recover £12m a year written off over Horizon scandalThe Post Office is looking into the possibility of creating a “losses pool”, funded by branch owner-operators, as it seeks to address the mounting financial issue of shortfalls in its network of 11,500 outlets.Following damning high court judgments in 2019, which ultimately resulted in hundreds of postmasters being exonerated over wrongful prosecutions for shortfalls linked to faulty Horizon software, the Post Office pursues losses only if there is an agreement with the branch owner-operator. Continue reading... Source link : https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/oct/20/post-office-considering-making-branch-operators-fund-losses-pool-inquiry-told Author : Mark

Met Office issues warnings for across the UK as the first named storm of the season sweeps inParts of the UK have been battered by strong winds and heavy rain, as Storm Ashley – the first named storm of the season – swept in. The Met Office said the storm was likely to bring a threat of injuries and danger to life, with winds of up to 80mph and heavy rain expected in some areas. A yellow warning for wind came into place at 3am on Sunday for the whole of Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as parts of