Author: Loveworld UK

There has been a further slowdown in the rate of pay growth, as the Bank of England mulls the timing of an interest rate rise. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported that average weekly wages, excluding bonuses, rose by 2.7% in the three months to May.That was down from 2.8% the previous month and its peak of 2.9% between January and March.According to the ONS, the 2.7% figure marked the slowest rate of wage growth since it reported salary progress in JanuaryHowever, it did report another new record for employment – with the proportion of people in work hitting…

Vote Leave, the official Brexit campaign, has been fined and referred to the police for breaking electoral law. The Electoral Commission found that the campaign group, which was backed by top politicians like Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, exceeded its legal spending limit of £7m by almost £500,000 during the 2016 referendum.In a furious rebuttal, Vote Leave accused the commission of basing its findings on “unfounded claims and conspiracy theories”.The allegations centre around a £680,000 donation Vote Leave made to the youth-focused campaign group BeLeave. Image: Darren Grimes ran the youth-focused BeLeave campaign BeLeave then spent more than £675,000 with…

Heavy showers have provided some welcome relief from the ongoing heatwave in parts of England, but not enough to curb plans for a hosepipe ban set to affect millions of people in the coming weeks. Fourteen millimetres of rain was recorded in Blackpool on Monday as downpours hit the North West, with the Met Office forecasting more to come on Tuesday.But what is believed to be the longest heatwave since 1976 is expected to resume unabated from the afternoon onward, with more scorching temperatures to come for the rest of the week.It means water restrictions announced earlier by United Utilities…

Donald Trump has hailed Vladimir Putin as “very, very strong” despite facing a barrage of criticism for suggesting he trusted the Russian leader over his own intelligence agencies. The US president returned to Washington on Monday night after being accused of “treasonous” behaviour during a news conference with his Russian counterpart in Finland.Mr Trump contradicted US investigators – who believe Russian hackers interfered in the 2016 presidential election – and said there was no reason for Moscow to meddle in the vote.The two leaders gave separate interviews to Fox News following their Helsinki summit, in which Mr Putin said it…

The number of immigrants moving from the European Union to Britain fell by a quarter to a five-year low last year. ONS data shows figures for 2017 – the first full calendar year since the Brexit vote.An estimated 101,000 more people arrived in the UK from the bloc than left during the year.It is the lowest for any 12-month period since the year to March 2013, when it stood at 95,000.Overall net long-term migration, including arrivals and departures of non-EU nationals, was about 282,000 in 2017.The figure was up by 33,000 on the year before, but statisticians attributed the rise…

A British cave diver is considering taking legal action against Elon Musk after the US entrepreneur called him a ‘paedo’ on Twitter. Mr Musk made the unfounded allegation about Vern Unsworth, 63, after the diver dismissed the mini-submarine he donated to the rescue operation of 12 boys and their football coach from a Thai cave.Officials thanked the Tesla and SpaceX tycoon for his offer but said the vehicle was not practical. Image: The SpaceX founder called the British cave diver a ‘paedo’ on Twitter Mr Unsworth said it “had absolutely no chance of working” and called it a “PR stunt”.”He…

China has warned of risks to the world economy from a Donald Trump-inspired trade war, while reporting a slowdown in its own growth. The world’s second-largest economy said gross domestic product (GDP) rose at an annual rate of 6.7% in the second quarter of 2018 – slightly down on the 6.8% registered between January and March.The authorities attributed it to factory output growth weakening to a two-year low, with demand at home and abroad falling. 3:07 Video: Trump’s trade war starts with China The drop also continued to reflect the crackdown on risky corporate lending which has driven up borrowing…

President Trump has said over and over again that having a good relationship with Russia is not a bad thing. And he’s got a point. These are the world’s largest two nuclear powers and the atmosphere of mistrust between them is at a potentially catastrophic low.Getting the ball rolling on restarting political contacts is no bad thing, given the possibility of confrontation in the likes of Syria, which we saw earlier this year.Merkel goes to meet Putin, Macron goes to meet Putin, and not just for the World Cup. May does not because of the Salisbury attack but you can’t…

Two people died as millions took to the streets to celebrate France’s World Cup win over Croatia on Sunday. In the southeast city of Annecy, a 50-year-old man died after breaking his neck when he jumped into a shallow canal just when the final whistle blew on the 4-2 victory.Elsewhere, a man in his thirties died after crashing his car into a tree in the northern town of Saint-Felix while celebrating the team’s triumph.And while millions of people in France were overjoyed at the win there were some ugly scenes involving groups of fans who clashed with police.Thousands gathered along…

Satellites could be launched from the UK in as little as three years, heralding the start of what the government called the “Great British Space Age”. A traditional “vertical” rocket launch pad will be built in Sutherland, on the north coast of Scotland, to put small satellites into orbit.New “horizontal” launch sites – where runways are used by space planes carrying satellites and tourists – are also planned in Cornwall, Glasgow and North Wales.The spaceports could be worth £3.8bn to the UK economy over the next decade, according to the UK Space Agency.Business Secretary Greg Clark told Sky News the…