Page 11 - Uk Govt

UK PM Rishi Sunak paid over half a million pounds in personal tax

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid over half a million pounds in personal tax for the financial year 2022-23, Downing Street revealed on Friday as part of its transparency data release. The 43-year-old Indian-origin leader had indicated his plans to publish his tax returns. His tax assessment document shows he paid a tax bill of GBP 508,308, around GBP 75,000 more than what he paid in the previous financial year (2021-22). The tax documents show that Sunak made nearly GBP 1.8 million through capital gains up from GBP 1.6 million in 2021-22 as well as GBP 293,407 in other interest and dividends. All of the investment income and capital gains came from a US-based investment fund listed as a blind trust, according to the summary. He also earned GBP 139,477 during the year from his roles as a member of Parliament and Prime Minister including allowances for the use of 10 Downing Street. Prepared by accountancy service Evelyn Partners, the tax summary follows the publication of h

King Charles III doing extremely well after cancer diagnosis: Queen Camilla

Queen Camilla said Thursday that King Charles III is doing well given his cancer diagnosis, adding that he has been touched by the messages of support he's received from the public. Camilla traveled from Sandringham House to Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday to attend a concert celebrating the work of local charities. Among the first people she met were workers from Wiltshire Air Ambulance, who offered hope that the king was doing well. Well he's doing extremely well under the circumstances,' Camilla said. He's very touched by all the letters and the messages the public have been sending from everywhere that's very cheering. The British monarch has been recuperating at his Sandringham estate in eastern England following his first treatment for an unspecified type of cancer. Buckingham Palace announced the diagnosis earlier this week.

Iran evaded sanctions, moved money using Santander, Lloyd accounts: Report

The banks provided accounts to front companies secretly owned by a sanctioned Iranian petrochemicals company

Tata Steel proposes additional support package for Port Talbot workers: CFO

Tata Steel UK will be closing its first blast furnace by mid-this year while the second furnace is planned to be shut down in the second half of 2024, he said

Job cuts in Britain 'least bad option', will continue talks: Tata Steel CEO

The steelmaker will close its two blast furnaces in Britain by the end of this year, axing up to 2,800 jobs at its Port Talbot steelworks in Wales

'UK wants India to treat it's citizens fairly after cricketer visa episode'

The UK government on Wednesday stated that India should treat British citizens "fairly" when they apply for visas after off-spinner Shoaib Bashir's arrival for the five-match Test series was delayed due to lingering issues relating to his travel documents. The 20-year-old Bashir, who plays for Somerset in the English county, was with the England squad in Abu Dhabi but couldn't proceed to India as he is yet to be granted visa. His family is of Pakistani heritage. "The specifics of this case are a matter for Shoaib Bashir and the Indian Government. But we absolutely expect India to treat British citizens fairly at all times in its visa process," a spokesperson of the British government was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo. "We have previously raised the issues British citizens with Pakistani heritage experience applying for visas with the Indian High Commission in London." England captain Ben Stokes had earlier in the day said that he's "devastated" that the visa issues had forced ..

UK gives Northern Ireland new deadline to revive its collapsed govt

The UK government on Tuesday gave Northern Ireland politicians until February 8 to restore the collapsed regional government in Belfast, after a deadline this month passed without an end to the deadlock. The extension comes amid signs Northern Ireland's largest British unionist party is close to deciding whether to end a boycott that has kept the power-sharing administration on ice for almost two years. The British government is legally obliged to call new Northern Ireland elections now that a previous deadline of January 18 has passed. Northern Ireland Secretary Chris Heaton-Harris said he would bring a bill to Parliament on Wednesday to set a new date of February 8. He said significant progress had been made towards reviving the Northern Ireland Executive, and the short extension would give sufficient time for it to bear fruit. The Democratic Unionist Party walked out in February 2022 in a dispute over post-Brexit trade rules. Ever since, it has refused to return to government w

UK watchdog confirms scrapping of tougher company internal controls

The FRC has also just been given anew remit to consider Britain's global competitiveness when writing new rules

Lok Sabha polls nearing, PMO reviews UK free trade agreement progress

Officials say 'political call' now needed to fructify proposed deal

Strikes against Houthis to continue as ship attacks see no respite: Biden

US forces on Thursday conducted a fifth strike against Iranian-backed Houthi rebel military sites in Yemen as President Joe Biden acknowledged that the American and British bombardment had yet to stop the militants' attacks on vessels in the Red Sea that have disrupted global shipping. The latest strikes destroyed two Houthi anti-ship missiles that were aimed into the southern Red Sea and prepared to launch, US Central Command said in a statement posted to X, formerly known as Twitter. They were conducted by Navy fighter aircraft, the Pentagon said. Biden said the US would continue the strikes, even though so far they have not stopped the Houthis from continuing to harass commercial and military vessels. When you say working, are they stopping the Houthis, no. Are they going to continue, yes," Biden said in an exchange with reporters before departing the White House for a domestic policy speech in North Carolina. Biden's comments followed another significant round of strikes Wednes

UK inflation rate rises to 4% in December for first time in 10 month

Wednesday's figures showed that core inflation - which excludes volatile food, energy, alcohol and tobacco prices - was 5.1% in December, the same rate as November

US-UK airstrikes slow Iran from supplying weapons to Houthis, say officials

On Tuesday, the US hit four Houthi missiles in Yemen in a preemptive strike, a far more limited move than the one carried out on Jan 11

RAF conducted 'targeted strikes' against Houthi rebel sites: UK PM Sunak

Sunak noted that Houthis in recent months have conducted a series of "dangerous and destabilising attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea

'UK to send warships to Indian Ocean as sign of strategic ties with India'

The UK government on Wednesday unveiled plans to deploy Royal Navy warships to the Indian Ocean region later this year to operate and train with Indian forces, signalling what it described as the growing importance of the strategic relationship between the two countries. Defence Secretary Grant Shapps, who co-chaired an India-UK Defence Industry CEOs Roundtable with visiting Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Wednesday following their bilateral talks earlier, said the Littoral Response Group (LRG) will be deployed this year and the Carrier Strike Group (CRG) in 2025 for joint India-UK training. The deployment of the UK's most advanced naval capabilities has been flagged by the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) as a decisive step in bolstering UK-India security ties. There is absolutely no question that the world is becoming increasingly contested, so it's vital that we continue to build on our strategic relationships with key partners like India, said Shapps. Together, we share the same

India, UK next round of talks for proposed free trade agreement from Wed

The next round of talks for the proposed Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the UK will start here from Wednesday to resolve remaining issues and conclude the negotiations, an official said. The 13th round of negotiations for the proposed pact was held between September 18 and December 15. "The UK and India will continue to negotiate towards a comprehensive and ambitious FTA. The 14th round of negotiations will take place here from Wednesday," the official said. These negotiations would focus on complex issues in the areas of goods, services, and investment. Issues that are pending include duty cuts on electric vehicles, whiskey, and the movement of professionals. Talks are also progressing on the proposed Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT). India and the UK launched the talks for an FTA in January 2022 with a view to boost economic ties between the two nations. There are 26 chapters in the agreement, which include goods, services, investments and intellectual property

Call of duty: Maruti Suzuki chairman advocates for low car tariffs in FTAs

The govt and Maruti believe the Indian car industry is no longer an infant and can face low-duty imports through FTAs, but not everyone is sure

UK Oppn raises questions over Akshata Murty's liquidated firm Catamaran

The UK's Opposition Labour Party has got into campaigning mode for an expected general election later this year, with advertisements claiming British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is giving the British public a raw deal and also raising questions over his wife Akshata Murty's recently liquidated investment venture Labour's national campaign coordinator and shadow minister, Pat MacFadden, posted a letter on social media dated January 4 that he wrote to UK Deputy Prime Minister Oliver Dowden questioning the circumstances surrounding Murty's Catamaran Ventures being wound up. The 43-year-old Indian businesswoman and daughter of Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy had incorporated the venture in 2013 with her husband as one of the directors before he resigned in 2015. It had emerged in a financial statement last year that she had decided to wind down her firm as a going concern. In the past few months, numerous reports about the business dealings of Catamaran Ventures have circulated, reads

UK PM Rishi Sunak faces byelection challenge after ex-minister quits

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was on Friday hit with a byelection challenge as a former energy minister resigned as Conservative Party MP over new oil and gas production related legislation coming up in Parliament next week. Chris Skidmore, who was a minister for energy under former prime minister Boris Johnson, said he was resigning as Tory MP for Kingswood in Gloucestershire, south-west England, because the constituents deserved a new member of Parliament after his "personal decision" not to continue in the Commons. Skidmore, 42, had already announced plans not to contest the next general election but his hastened exit means Sunak will be forced to contend with a byelection, which is often seen as a precursor to the final poll results in a general election year. "The bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea," said Skidmore in his resignation letter posted on X. "I can no longer stand b

PM Rishi Sunak indicates UK general election in second half of 2024

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Thursday seemed to rule out going to the electorate in the coming months as he indicated that the UK general election will be held in the second half of 2024. During his first tour of the New Year to the market town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, in the East Midlands region of England, the British Indian leader told broadcasters that he still has a lot to do before calling an election which must be held latest by January 2025 at the end of five years of a Conservative Party led government. While he declined to rule out an election in May, as was being widely speculated, Sunak seems to be inclined to go the polls around the two-year mark since he took charge at 10 Downing Street in October 2022. "My working assumption is we'll have a general election in the second half of this year and in the meantime, I've got lots that I want to get on with," said Sunak. "We want to keep managing the economy and cutting people's taxes, and I want to keep ...

UK statistics watchdog looking into Rishi Sunak's asylum backlog claim

The UK's statistics watchdog on Thursday said that it is "looking into" the government's recent announcement that it had met Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's target to clear the country's asylum backlog by the end of 2023, a claim strongly contested by the Opposition. Earlier this week, the UK Home Office said that 112,000 asylum cases were processed in the past year, which exceeded Sunak's initial target of 92,000 applications pending at the end of 2022. However, the Opposition Labour Party had contested this and accused the government of misleading the public. It has now emerged that a formal complaint is likely to have been raised with the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), which independently monitors the use of official statistics. "The Office for Statistics Regulation confirmed it is looking into the government announcement about the asylum backlog, said a spokesperson for OSR. While the OSR can ask for additional information from the Home Office, it does not have the power