Vance notice: JD set to follow in Trump's footsteps with visit to plush estate in Scotland
The Vice President arrived in England last week for a family holiday, sparking protests from activists who branded him a 'moral vacuum'.
Mr Vance is set to continue his break at Carnell Estate, near Kilmarnock, Ayrshire, which is known for offering its guests high-end shooting and fishing excursions.
Airspace restrictions have been put in place around the estate between 9am on Wednesday, August 13, and midnight on Sunday, August 17, according to air traffic service provide NATS.
A briefing note published by NATS states: 'A VIP will visit the Carnell Estate, Ayrshire Scotland between August 12, 2025 and August17 and as part of the security arrangements the Secretary of State for Transport has decided that it is necessary, on the grounds of public safety and security, to introduce Restriction of Flying Regulations under Article 239 of the Air Navigation Order 2016 to restrict the operation of all types of aircraft.'
Carnell Estate is owned by Michael Findlay and has been family-owned since the 1300s. William Wallace was one of his ancestors.
A description of the country pile on its website states Carnell 'is home to a stunning 14th-century tower and historic and luxurious mansion house hidden within beautiful, prize-winning gardens and over 2,000 acres of parkland in Ayrshire, Scotland'.
It added: 'The estate is renowned for its private hospitality and can be rented for exclusive use including corporate think tanks, product launches, bespoke wedding parties, golf groups and shooting.'
Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie stayed at Carnell House while filming World War Z in Glasgow in 2013.
Mr Vance and his family were in Kent last week, where they stayed at Chevening House, the official residence of the Foreign Secretary, before spending time in the Cotswolds.
The Stop Trump Coalition said the Vice President was a 'hideous moral vacuum and the British public want nothing to do with him'.
Today, a protest against Mr Vance's visit was staged in Charlbury, Oxfordshire.
The demonstration, organised by the Stop Trump Coalition and locals, featured placards such as 'Cotswold childless cat ladies say go home'.
Mr Vance's planned trip north of the Border comes just weeks after Mr Trump visited his Turnberry estate, near Girvan, Ayrshire.
The US President also travelled to Aberdeenshire, where he opened his new golf course at Menie.
The police operation is believed to have cost more than £3million, with more than 7,000 officers involved.
One source close to the preparations for Mr Vance's visit told the Mail: 'It is another security headache for the police - another VIP who is likely to trigger protests.
'It won't be quite as big as the Trump operation but it will still be very significant.'
Mr Vance used a major speech in Munich in February to suggest Scots could face prosecution for praying in their own homes.
The Vice President attacked what he viewed as an erosion of free speech across Europe.
And he pointed to the recent introduction of buffer zones around Scottish abortion clinics as an example of the kind of crackdown he feared.
Mr Vance said during his speech in February: 'This last October, the Scottish Government began distributing letters to citizens whose houses lay within so-called 'safe access zones', warning them that even private prayer, within their own home may amount to breaking the law.
'Naturally, the Government urged readers to report any fellow citizens suspected guilty of thought crime.
'In Britain, and across Europe, free speech, I fear, is in retreat.'
The Scottish Government insisted that Mr Vance's claim was 'incorrect'.
A Police Scotland spokesman said: 'Planning is under way for a potential visit to Scotland by the Vice President of the United States.
'Details of any visit would be for the White House to comment on; however it is important that we prepare in advance for what would be a significant policing operation.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
5 minutes ago
- Reuters
Russia, under war spending pressure, set for more austerity, tax hikes
MOSCOW, Aug 20 (Reuters) - Moscow is preparing to raise taxes and cut spending as it tries to maintain high defence expenditure with Russia's economy creaking under the weight of financing the more than three-year war in Ukraine, officials and economists say. President Vladimir Putin has rejected suggestions that the war is killing Russia's economy, but the budget deficit is widening as spending mounts, while revenue from oil and gas is declining under pressure from Western sanctions. Highly anticipated talks between Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump in Alaska last week did not yield a ceasefire, giving Moscow, which would prefer to move straight to a peace settlement, a strategic boost, but a spending headache. Russia's economy is cooling, with some officials warning of recession risks, and though interest rates are starting to come down from 20-year highs, its budget deficit has widened to 4.9 trillion roubles ($61 billion), suggesting Russia will struggle to fulfil its current obligations and keep financing the war at its current pace. "Given the more pessimistic estimates of economic indicators and the decline in oil and gas revenues, we will need to urgently start fiscal consolidation," Anatoly Artamonov, head of the upper house of parliament's budget committee, said in late July. Budget spending has almost doubled in nominal terms since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, a significant fiscal injection that fuelled inflation and forced the central bank to hike rates to as high as 21%, sharply raising corporate borrowing costs. Combined spending of 17 trillion roubles on defence and national security in 2025 is at its highest since the Cold War, accounting for 41% of total spending and making the defence sector the primary driver of economic growth as civilian output declines. Putin said in June that Russia plans to reduce military spending, but for now, officials still expect an increase. "We cannot cut spending on national defence and ... in all likelihood, we will have to increase it," Artamonov said. The 2025 budget, to be presented in September, provides for defence and security spending at 8% of GDP, but a Russian government source said the actual figure was slightly higher. There will be no reduction in defence spending in 2026, the person said, but a decline is possible in 2027 should hostilities cease, as other spending areas fight for resources. "Even with a ceasefire, shells and drones will still need to be made, but on a slightly smaller scale," the person said, noting that Moscow will need to keep up with higher Western defence spending. "There will be no return to the level that existed before the 'special military operation'," the person said. Artamonov, writing for the RBC daily, suggested Russia may need to reduce non-defence spending by 2 trillion roubles each year until 2028 and redirect those savings to the defence budget. "In the next three years, we will not have enough means to live as comfortably as we do now," Artamonov said. This year is the first when total education and healthcare expenditure at the federal and regional level is noticeably decreasing as a share of GDP, said Sergei Aleksashenko, former deputy governor of Russia's central bank and a senior fellow at the NEST Centre in London. Aleksashenko said he expects tax rises and a spending cut in real terms by indexing expenditure on things like pensions below the inflation rate, which the central bank forecasts at 6-7% this year. The government source said raising taxes was unavoidable: "Otherwise, we simply won't be able to make ends meet, even with a reduction in defence spending. Oil and gas revenues are falling and the economy cannot fully compensate for this." Finance Minister Anton Siluanov hinted at austerity measures as early as April, advising government colleagues "to be modest in their desires" regarding spending. Deputy Finance Minister Pavel Kadochnikov in July said spending on soldiers fighting in Ukraine and their families was the priority and that Russia should consider "eliminating" non-priority spending. Budget consolidation ultimately puts more pressure on Russia's economic growth, although a low net debt-to-GDP ratio of around 20% gives Moscow some wiggle room. "Russia's economy is struggling under the weight of high interest rates and the ongoing war effort," said Liam Peach, senior emerging markets economist at Capital Economics. "A prolonged period of weak growth lies in store." Analysts expect Russia's budget deficit, which exceeded the full-year target in January-July by over 1 trillion roubles, to be wider than planned. The government source estimates this year's deficit at around 5 trillion roubles, or 2.5% of GDP. CentroCreditBank economist Yevgeny Suvorov said the deficit could stretch to 8 trillion roubles as Moscow's spending would require an almost 20% year-on-year real-terms cut in August-December to meet the 2025 spending target of 42.3 trillion roubles. "The central bank is in no hurry to lower the key rate, including because the budget deficit may be higher than planned," said a senior source familiar with finance ministry plans. Last week, Putin called Russia's current budget situation stable. ($1 = 80.3500 roubles)
Daily Mail
5 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Rachel Reeves' 'mansion tax' plan: What is capital gains tax, who pays and what could change?
In the latest furore over Labour's plans for property taxes, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is reported to be considering charging some homeowners a levy if they sell their home and make a profit. It follows reports in the last few days that the Government is mulling over sweeping changes to stamp duty and council tax, in a bid to fill the £51billion fiscal black hole. At the moment, people don't have to pay tax if they sell the home they live in and the price has increased since they bought it - known in tax parlance as a 'capital gain'. But according to The Times, Reeves is considering changing this rules so they would have to pay this, if they made more than a certain amount of money. We explain what taxes people currently pay when selling property, how much they pay and what could potentially change. What is capital gains tax? Capital gains tax is levied on profits from assets including second homes, buy-to-let properties, stocks and shares and personal possessions. It is not currently charged when people sell their main home, which they live in full-time, but this is what Reeves is reported to be considering changing. It's important to note that it is only charged on increase in value or 'gain' made on the property or shares, not on the whole value. Everyone also gets an annual capital gains tax-free allowance of £3,000, so any gains below this aren't taxed. How much is capital gains tax? It depends on which tax band the person is in. If you are a basic rate taxpayer, with an annual income of up to £50,271, you pay 18 per cent. If you are a higher or additional-rate taxpayer, earning £50,271 or more, you pay 24 per cent. Take, for example, a landlord who purchased a buy-to-let property for £200,000 and sold it a decade later for £230,000 - requiring them to pay capital gains tax under the current rules. They would only pay tax on the £30,000 increase in value. If they were a basic-rate taxpayer, this would be charged at 18 per cent. This would set their bill at £5,400. However, if they hadn't made any other capital gains that tax year, they could use their £3,000 annual allowance to cut the bill to £2,400. Selling costs such as an estate agent and solicitors can sometimes be deducted. What is private residence relief? Private residence relief is the name for the tax exemption which means those selling their main home don't pay capital gains tax, no matter how much it increases in value. This is what Rachel Reeves is said to be considering taking away, or making changes to. What is being proposed? According to The Times, people selling their home would now need to pay capital gains tax at the rates described above - but only if their home was above a certain price threshold. It is not yet known how much a property would need to be worth, or how much the 'gain' would need to be, for the home seller to be drawn into the tax net. The Times said a threshold of £1.5million would hit around 120,000 homeowners who are higher-rate taxpayers with capital gains tax bills of £199,973. At current rates, a home bought for £800,000 and sold for £1millon by a higher-rate taxpayer would attract a capital gains tax bill of £47,280, before any deductions. Who will it affect? Older homeowners looking to downsize could be hit especially hard, as well as anyone who has lived in their property for a long time or experienced big house price gains. Those who have stayed in the same home for decades and enjoyed large property price rises could find themselves hit with a bill worth tens or even hundreds of thousands. This could prevent them from downsizing at all. The average house price in London in 1980 was £25,732, according to the Land Registry. Today, that has jumped to about £561,000 - though many family-sized homes in areas of the capital that have experienced gentrification could be worth double that. If capital gains tax was charged at current rates, a basic rate-taxpayer couple selling a £561,000 home could face a tax bill of £114,180, after deducting £5,000 for selling costs. However, it may be that a home worth that much could fall under the threshold. Stephen Perkins, managing director at Norwich-based Yellow Brick Mortgages, said: 'I can see a lot of families in London being caught with this higher tax bill. 'It may push more wealthy tax contributors to exodus the UK, which is already a problem following the Chancellor's last budget.' Why is it controversial? Some are terming the increase a 'mansion tax' which punishes people who have worked hard to buy a nice home. Harps Garcha, director at Slough-based financial adviser Brooklyns Financial, told the news agency Newspage: 'The Government's plan will have a massive impact on London and the South East, where many middle-class families have sacrificed themselves for years to build wealth through their homes. 'These homeowners expected to rely on that equity in retirement by downsizing, yet they now face being taxed twice, first through stamp duty and then capital gains. 'Rather than rewarding prudence, this policy punishes those who have worked hard and planned responsibly for their future.' Property experts also say taxing homeowners could would gum up the property market, as people at the top end of the ladder would be less inclined to move. This could increase the number of older people in homes that are too big, and young families could struggle to upsize. If people were less likely to move because of the policy, this might even limit the amount of money the Treasury might raise from the tax. Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at estate agent Knight Frank, said: 'Anyone with a taxable gain would think twice before selling, which would reduce transaction numbers. 'The Government seems to want a predictable flow of revenue that is skewed towards the wealthiest homeowners. 'That would be best achieved by re-banding council tax rather than introducing transaction taxes that change behaviour in the most discretionary part of the property market to the point they fail to raise what is intended.' When could this change happen? This change is reported to be an announcement being tabled for the Autumn Budget, in October or November. It is unclear when the new rule, if it was announced, would come into effect. One potential problem is that any announcement could create a rush of people trying to sell their homes before the new tax was put in place, to avoid paying it. When Rachel Reeves announced an additional stamp duty levy on landlords last year, this came into effect immediately to stop people from doing this. What has changed already? In recent years, both Conservative and Labour governments have made the capital gains tax allowances less generous. The annual capital gains tax-free allowance was £12,300 until April 2023, which meant it was typically only levied on wealthier taxpayers. However, radical cuts to the CGT allowance - to £6,000 in spring 2023 and £3,000 from April 2024 - make it inevitable that many more people will now have to pay capital gains tax. Rachel Reeves also increased capital gains tax for stocks and shares investors in last year's Autumn Budget. The rate charged increased from 10 per cent to 18 per cent for basic rate taxpayers and 20 per cent to 24 per cent for those paying higher rates of tax. This brought them into line with the already higher levies on property. The Treasury's response The Treasury declined to comment to the Daily Mail on 'speculation' about future changes to tax policy. A spokesman said: 'As set out in the Plan for Change, the best way to strengthen public finances is by growing the economy – which is our focus. 'Changes to tax and spend policy are not the only ways of doing this, as seen with our planning reforms, which are expected to grow the economy by £6.8billion and cut borrowing by £3.4billion 'We are committed to keeping taxes for working people as low as possible, which is why at last autumn's Budget, we protected working people's payslips and kept our promise not to raise the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, employee National Insurance, or VAT.'
Telegraph
5 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Hedge funds pile into Ukraine on Trump peace hopes
Hedge funds are piling into companies set to benefit from a Ukraine peace deal after moves by Donald Trump to end the war. Data from Morgan Stanley show that companies poised to benefit from Mr Trump's peace efforts were the most purchased by hedge funds last week. Elite finance is 'salivating' at the profits to be made from peace in Ukraine, fund managers said. As part of the strategy, hedge funds can make a series of bets on a selection of stocks grouped together by Morgan Stanley into a basket called 'Rebuild Ukraine'. These include cement, energy and security companies that would likely be boosted by Ukraine's efforts to rebuild the homes, transport networks and infrastructure assets destroyed during Vladimir Putin's invasion. They include Vinci, the French construction giant; Heidelberg Materials, a German cement maker; and Assa Abloy, a Swedish lock manufacturer; as well as cement groups Holcim, CRH and Buzzi. Last week the 'Rebuild Ukraine' strategy was the most popular bet among global hedge funds tracked by Morgan Stanley after Mr Trump met Putin in Alaska. The data suggests investors now expect Mr Trump's negotiations with Putin will soon see the launch of major reconstruction efforts that could drive a surge in demand for building materials. The World Bank has estimated it will cost $486bn (£360bn) to rebuild all of the buildings and infrastructure assets that have been destroyed in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of the country three years ago. Harald Berlinicke, a partner at Sarnia Asset Management, said: 'Where there is war, there is opportunity for investors. And the same is the case when a war ends. I know many investors who are salivating at the prospect of peace in Ukraine.' Morgan Stanley predicts that Ukraine currently has capacity to supply the bulk of the materials it needs for its reconstruction efforts. However, it expects Ukraine will be forced to import 14pc of the cement it needs and all of the sheet glass it needs to completely rebuild the homes and infrastructure that has been destroyed. The reconstruction efforts could also be complicated by the fact that the worst destruction of the Ukraine war has all happened in the territories currently being occupied by Russia: Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson. Bruno Schneller, a managing partner at Erlen Capital Management, said: 'The eventual reconstruction of Ukraine will involve huge sums flowing into infrastructure, materials and engineering that likely drive a stock market rally in the event of a ceasefire deal.'
