Author: Laura Robinson

Bosses of big banks tell Rishi Sunak that social media firms including Meta should pay more in battle against online fraud ‘pandemic’ that is costing British consumers £1.2billion a yearChiefs of UK banks like Barclays warned PM the UK a ‘global hotspot for fraud’They said social firms like Facebook should repay fraud victims if their site usedBy Oliver Price Published: 13:20 EDT, 17 June 2023 | Updated: 13:21 EDT, 17 June 2023 Bosses of Britain’s biggest banks have told the Prime Minister that technology firms such as Meta should pay more in the battle to combat the ‘pandemic’ of online…

Everybody knows that Mick Jagger — soon to celebrate his 80th birthday — is canny with money. He dropped out of a degree in finance and accounting at the London School of Economics to join the Rolling Stones and famously took the band into tax exile in the 1970s. He’s now said to be personally worth around £350 million.And his reputation for prudence is further strengthened by new accounts for the group, published in the Netherlands. I can reveal that these suggest that the Stones paid £59,500 in tax . . . on income of £26 million.Promogroup, a holding company…

With its blaze of bruising publicity, it’s little wonder insiders have dubbed Phillip Schofield’s daytime TV downfall the ‘sofapocalypse’.But as Phillip retreats to lick his wounds and Holly Willoughby fights for her onscreen survival, there’s one former This Morning colleague who is not weeping into his morning coffee over their fates. Indeed, Eamonn Holmes is giving every impression of eating up the chaos with a big smile, long spoon and a side order of ice cream and sprinkles.Again and again he has returned to the topic on his live GB News show. ‘Anyone watching today who has kissed Phillip Schofield, let us…

A major Kremlin critic detained in Russia has been granted honorary Canadian citizenship in a bid to help win his freedom – prompting calls for the US and Britain to play their part to increase his chances of making it out alive. Vladimir Kara-Murza, a close ally of murdered opposition figure Boris Nemtsov, was jailed for 25 years on treason charges on April 17 this year after surviving two poisonings which left him in a coma in both 2015 and 2017. The 41-year-old British-Russian national also lived in Washington for at least a decade, and his wife Evgenia Kara-Murza is still based in…

James Norton’s career took a stratospheric turn thanks to his role as psychopath and sexual predator Tommy Lee Royce in Happy Valley — the finale this February was one of the most-watched television moments of the year.And it can be revealed that he is being sought to play another ‘serial killer’ Yorkshireman — in a dark new portrait of the poet laureate Ted Hughes, who will be presented as a monster who destroyed his lovers via ‘coercive control’. Hughes, who died in 1998, is a figure of fascination for rising TV writer Grace Ofori-Attah — and she has got her Cambridge…

If you think your taxes are high under the Tories — just wait until Labour gets in, writes ANDREW NEILBritain’s tax burden is at a seven-decade high, yet politicians of all hues want to slap still more taxes on us.Far from an intelligent debate about how we might get to keep a little more of what we make, the political discourse is dominated by louder voices demanding the right to grab an even bigger slice of our hard-earned dosh.Even the Tories have given up making the case for more limited government and lower taxes. Yes, ministers periodically dangle the prospect…

Boris Johnson is at the centre of a furious row between Rishi Sunak’s Government and the official Covid-19 inquiry as ministers refuse to supply the probe with all the information they want.The inquiry was set up by Mr Johnson to examine decisions made before, during and after the pandemic in the UK to figure out what went right and wrong.But his successor, via the Cabinet Office, has launched an unprecedented legal battle to with-hold from the inquiry some of the former prime minister’s notes and WhatsApp messages from the period.Mr Johnson, in turn, has today decided to hand them over himself,…

EMILY PRESCOTT: Ex-Boris Johnson aide Cleo ‘The Gazelle’ Watson gets a little ruffled before launch of her bonkbusterBy Emily Prescott Published: 20:03 EDT, 27 May 2023 | Updated: 20:09 EDT, 27 May 2023 Former Downing Street aide Cleo Watson was forced to take emergency action before the launch party of her bonkbuster book Whips – after discovering her dress was too risqué.Cleo, nicknamed the Gazelle when she worked for Boris Johnson due to her long legs, had to lengthen her eye-catching dress from cult fashion brand The Vampire’s Wife.’I actually had to have a little modesty ruffle put on the…

Leaseholders revealed their horror stories today as they criticised ministers for backing down on plans to scrap the ‘feudal’ system that has ruined the dream of home ownership for millions. Leading the outrage is former bank clerk paying sky-high service charges of £32,000-a-year to live in rundown building with filthy hallways, damaged ceilings and insect infestations.  Meanwhile, a management consultant said he was forking out £1,800 for building insurance due to their freeholder taking an eye watering commission – with neighbours a few yards away paying 50 per cent less for exactly the same policy. Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove had previously backed scrapping…

Rishi Sunak dismisses Nigel Farage’s claim ‘Brexit has failed’ after ex-UKIP leader hit out at ‘useless’ Tory ministers for ‘mismanaging’ Britain’s departure from EUNo10 rejects a suggestion the UK has not benefitted economically from BrexitBy Greg Heffer, Political Correspondent For Mailonline Published: 08:16 EDT, 16 May 2023 | Updated: 03:59 EDT, 17 May 2023 Rishi Sunak today dismissed Nigel Farage’s claim that ‘Brexit has failed’ after the ex-UKIP leader hit out at ‘useless’ Tories for ‘mismanaging’ the UK’s exit from the EU.The Prime Minister rejected a suggestion by Mr Farage, now president of Reform UK, that Britain had not benefitted…