Author: Loveworld UK

The number of mortgages approved by Britain’s main high street banks fell last month, ahead of the Bank of England’s rate rise, according to industry data. New house mortgages dropped by 4.3% on the year to a seasonally adjusted 39,584, UK Finance said, despite existing households locking in low rates before the Bank of England rose the cost of borrowing.Gross mortgage lending for the total market in July rose 7.6% on the year to £24.6bn.Credit card spending was 8.1% higher than a year ago, although annual consumer credit slowed to 3.7%, its weakest since December 2014.Peter Tyler, director of UK…

The British couple who died in their hotel room in Egypt both fell ill after suffering “respiratory failure”, medical examinations have revealed. John and Susan Cooper, 69 and 63, passed away at the Steigenberger Aqua Magic Hotel in Hurghada – a popular resort in the Red Sea area of the country – on Tuesday morning.The local governor’s office has said the cause of Mr Cooper’s death was “a sudden stoppage of the heart muscles and respiratory failure”, with his wife dying due to “a stoppage of circulation and respiratory failure”.It said of both: “There was no reason to suspect the…

China will keep hitting back at Washington as the US piles on more trade tariffs, the Chinese finance minister has said.  In an interview with Reuters, Liu Kun said he was concerned about the potential job losses and lost livelihoods brought about by the trade spat.To counter the impact on the economy, Beijing plans to increase spending to support workers and help the unemployed back into work.It also expects local governments to spend more than 1tn yuan (£114bn) on infrastructure programmes by the end of the current quarter.China and the US have imposed tit-for-tat duties on goods worth $100bn collectively.Beijing…

Hawaii has been told to brace for potentially life-threatening impact and people are preparing for lockdown as the centre of Hurricane Lane moves dangerously close to the islands. It is 26 years since a hurricane made landfall in Hawaii and residents are being told to expect the worst.Lane has already caused torrential rain and flooding on Hawaii’s most southern island, but in its path is Oahu, the most populated island by far. Image: Hurricane Lane is shown about 300 miles south of Hawaii’s Big Island It is expected to hit here with far more force, and authorities are warning residents…

Scott Morrison has been sworn in as Australia’s prime minister, replacing Malcolm Turnbull after a Liberal Party coup. Mr Morrison, an ally of Mr Turnbull, won a three-way battle for the leadership.The other two contenders were former home affairs minister Peter Dutton and foreign minister Julie Bishop. Mr Turnbull opted not to contest the vote.Liberal Party whip Nola Marino announced: “The successful candidate was Scott Morrison. He won this vote 45-40 against Peter Dutton.”In relation to the deputy’s position, this was won in a overwhelming sense, in a majority, an absolute majority, by Josh Frydenberg.”Mr Morrison said he would not…

Government papers on the impact of a “no-deal” Brexit have raised fears for shoppers, farmers, businesses, NHS patients and UK expats. Ministers released the first batch in a series of “technical notices” on the UK’s possible departure from the EU without a divorce agreement.Covering areas such as finance, medicines and trade, Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab declared the documents explain how the UK will “mitigate” the consequences of a no-deal exit.Mr Raab insisted the government’s preparations mean Britain’s “best days lie ahead”, whether negotiations with Brussels successfully reach a deal or not. But the publication of the papers prompted Labour to…

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, the British woman in prison in Iran, has been reunited with her daughter during a three-day release. It is the first time she has been allowed out of prison since her arrest in April 2016 and conviction last year for plotting to overthrow the Iranian regime – something she has always denied.The 40-year-old, from Hampstead, north London, has travelled to see her family in Damavand, north east of Tehran, the Free Nazanin campaign confirmed.She was called on Thursday morning while still in her night clothes and was told she had 10 minutes to get ready because she was…

For Britain’s huge financial services industry, there was little comfort to be found in the batch of government planning documents for a “no-deal” Brexit. Long-established problems still seem a long way from being addressed, while new ones have been thrown into the spotlight.Much attention will be taken by the government’s confirmation that, in the event of a no-deal Brexit, UK consumers are likely to face higher costs and greater delays when it comes to making payments in euros.There would also be an end to the ban on surcharges, which means that holidaymakers, for instance, may find they have to pay…

Well, now the government is actively planning for it – spending £3bn to do so and employing thousands of civil service into the bargain.Today we saw the fruit of their labours unveiled by Brexit minister Dominic Raab: The first tranche of no-deal preparation documents, a vision of what a no-deal Britain would look like.To be clear, a “no deal” would leave us with less market access and more economically and politically adrift from the EU than Iceland, Ukraine, South Korea or Japan.:: Cost of card payments ‘to go up’ under ‘no-deal’ BrexitThe government still says they don’t think it’s likely.…

Donald Trump claims markets will “crash” if he is impeached over alleged wrongdoing in the 2016 election campaign. Asked by Fox And Friends if he thought he would be impeached, the president said: “I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job.”I will tell you what, if I ever got impeached, I think the market would crash.”I think everybody would be very poor, because without this thinking, you would see – you would see numbers that you wouldn’t believe in reverse.” His comments came amid speculation the president could be impeached after his former lawyer…