Author: LoveWorld UK

An expert committee set up to advise ministers on how to change Britain’s archaic home ownership laws has not met for over a year, the Guardian can reveal, as campaigners warn the issue is slipping down the government’s agenda. The Commonhold Council – a panel of 11 people from the property industry, the legal profession and academia – was convened in 2021 as ministers promised sweeping reforms to the leasehold system. Last week Rachel Maclean, the housing minister, reassured MPs during a Commons debate that the council met “regularly” and was working closely with ministers. Information released to the campaigner Martin Keegan…

The free trade agreement between Australia and the UK has officially come into effect on May 31 after two years of negotiation. On May 30, British High Commissioner Vicki Treadell delivered the diplomatic note confirming that the UK’s domestic procedures for the trade agreement to come into force had been completed, effectively opening a new chapter in the trade relationship between the two countries. This comes after the trade agreement was signed in December 2021 and received approval from the UK parliament in March 2023. Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell said the deal was a major step in Australia’s plan to…

British households on prepayment meters face missing out on up to £130m of support for their energy bills if they fail to redeem government vouchers before they expire in a month’s time. Under the energy bills support scheme, which runs until 30 June, all households are entitled to discounts of up to £400 on their bills. Those on direct debits and smart prepayment meters received the payments automatically, but those on analogue prepay devices were sent vouchers by post or email and have had to take them to a post office or PayPoint vendor in order for the cash to…

The Kosova Tennis Federation has accused Novak Djokovic of contributing to the rising tensions between Serbia and Kosovo following his statements at the French Open on Monday. After Djokovic’s straight-sets win against Aleksandar Kovacevic, the 22-time grand slam title winner used the customary act of signing the camera lens to write the message: “Kosovo is the heart of Serbia. Stop violence” in Serbian. Djokovic then reposted a photo of his message on his Instagram story. The 36-year-old was addressing the recent violent clashes in Kosovo following the local elections in April. Later on Monday, he spoke at length about the issue in his Serbian press…

A COVID-19 outbreak unfolded at a conference held by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) despite most attendees being vaccinated. About 1,800 CDC staffers and others gathered in April in a hotel in Atlanta, where the CDC is headquartered, for a conference focused on epidemiological investigations and strategies. On April 27, the last day of the conference, several people notified organizers that they had tested positive for COVID-19. The CDC and the Georgia Department of Public Health worked together to survey attendees to try to figure out how many people had tested positive. “The goals were to…

Senior European Union officials were furious over the weekend after Twitter owner Elon Musk pulled the social media platform out of the bloc’s “Code of Practice,” which critics say is tantamount to a censorship regime. The EU’s internal market commissioner, Thierry Breton, wrote that Twitter left the bloc’s Code of Practice, after reports claimed the platform would do so. Breton warned that Twitter would face some legal liabilities. “Twitter leaves EU voluntary Code of Practice against disinformation. But obligations remain. You can run, but you can’t hide,” Breton wrote. “Beyond voluntary commitments, fighting disinformation will be legal obligation under #DSA as of August 25. Our…

Beijing has declined an invitation to meet with top U.S. officials this coming weekend, according to the Pentagon on May 29. The decision effectively shutters the potential dialogue between Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Beijing’s new defense minister, Li Shangfu. “Overnight, the [People’s Republic of China (PRC)] informed the U.S. that they have declined our early May invitation for Secretary Austin to meet with PRC Minister of National Defense Li Shangfu in Singapore this week,” the Pentagon said in a statement to the Wall Street Journal. “The Department believes strongly in the importance of maintaining open lines of military-to-military communication…

The Covid-19 inquiry has extended the deadline for evidence to be submitted, amid an ongoing tug-of-war over whether Boris Johnson’s WhatsApp messages and notebooks will be handed over to it. The previous deadline had been 4pm today, but after a request to delay it for a week until 5 June, the chair of the inquiry has granted a “short extension” until 4pm on Thursday. The Cabinet Office has so far refused to hand over the documents, and has reportedly said the inquiry does not have the rights over the documents. The inquiry has said that its demand for the documents has been widened to include a…

UK banks are paying savers “measly” rates on their cash even as the Bank of England has taken its base interest rate to the highest level in more than a decade, according to a study from the consumer group Which?. Consumers face rates as low as 0.1% for some instant access savings accounts, Which? found. That appears particularly low when compared with the Bank of England’s key interest rate, which was set at 4.5% in May. This is the highest level for the central bank’s base rate since 2008, in the height of the global financial crisis. Such a high…

The UK has been accused of wrongly labelling refugees and trafficking victims as criminals in a critical report from European representatives. The report from a committee of the Council of Europe’s parliamentary assembly has warned ministers they could be at risk of breaching their international obligations and the rule of law with their new legislation. While the UK has historically been held up as a model for other European states with its integration of European human rights law into domestic law with the 1998 Human Rights Act, the new report raises a litany of concerns about the UK’s current direction of travel –…