Cynical reason why Albo may lower Australia's voting age to 16 - and why it would be a colossal mistake. PETER VAN ONSELEN
It's a politically convenient move masquerading as civic advancement, and it's one Australia should resist, regardless of how tempted Albo's government might be to follow suit.
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Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Britons desert UK stores for tax-free EU shopping
Britons are abandoning UK stores for tax-free shopping in Europe amid a boom in tourists travelling abroad to buy high-end goods. UK shoppers have spent 16pc more on tax-free shopping in the EU in 2025 so far compared to the same period last year, new figures from the Association of International Retail (AIR) show. It follows a trend of higher spending in the EU after Brexit allowed UK shoppers to take advantage of the VAT-free shopping scheme across the Continent. Since 2021, British tourists visiting the EU have been able to claim VAT back on their shopping under the bloc's tax-free shopping scheme. Last year, they spent £742m on tax-free shopping in the EU compared to £527m in 2022. Derrick Hardman, AIR's chairman, said UK consumers had 'worked out that the tax rebates they can get on the Continent more than outweigh the costs of hopping on the Eurostar or taking a cheap short-haul flight somewhere'. He said the figures showed that 'a new market in shopping-led tourism has emerged', adding: 'It's sad to see British shoppers taking their business elsewhere.' It will add to pressure on Labour to consider reinstating the UK's VAT-free shopping scheme for overseas visitors in an effort to level the playing field with the EU. In April, Lisa Nandy, the Culture Secretary, opened the door to a rethink of the scheme. While the EU extended tax-free shopping to UK tourists in 2021, the UK scrapped its own scheme the same year. It means that since Brexit, overseas visitors have not been able to claim VAT back when they purchase items in Britain. Campaigners have argued that the decision deters around two million visitors from coming to the UK every year. Companies such as handbag maker Burberry and high-end department store Harrods have claimed that the policy not only deters spending in UK stores, but disproportionately hurts domestic luxury companies. That is because they say that shoppers are more likely to spend on the home-grown brands in the country they are visiting. Mr Hardman said: 'It makes no sense for the UK to remain the only destination in Europe not offering tax-free shopping.' He suggested the UK should seek to lure shoppers away from EU countries with more tourist-friendly policies to boost its economy: 'Thanks to our position outside the EU, we now have a unique chance to reverse the policy of the last government and become the world's shopping capital – offering tax rebates for both EU and non-EU shoppers.' AIR analysis shows that providing tax rebates for EU shoppers into the UK alone would provide a £3.65bn boost to the economy every year and generate over £500m in additional VAT alone for the Treasury. Sir Rocco Forte, the chairman of Rocco Forte Hotels, said: 'We see in our hotels that foreign visitors who would come for lengthy stays in the UK and return to us laden down with parcels are increasingly cutting short their stays and spending time in Europe, where they can still shop tax-free. 'The decision of the last government to scrap tax-free shopping, which had been available for decades, makes no sense and should be reversed immediately by any government serious about promoting economic growth.' A Treasury spokesman said: 'The UK is one of the most visited countries in the world with international tourism driving billions into our economy. 'We are supporting the continued growth of this industry and will be launching a National Visitor Economy Strategy this autumn to help meet our ambition to welcome 50 million international visitors a year to the UK by 2030.'
Telegraph
29 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Russia issues warning to West as it pulls out of missile treaty
Russia has formerly pulled out of a treaty prohibiting the deployment of short and medium-range nuclear missiles, warning the West to 'expect further steps'. As missiles continued to rain down on Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president, blamed Nato countries for their withdrawal from the Cold War-era agreement. Medvedev, who has been exchanging barbs on social media with Donald Trump, made his comments after Russia's foreign ministry said Moscow no longer considered itself bound by the moratorium on the deployment of short and medium-range nuclear missiles. 'The Russian foreign ministry's statement on the withdrawal of the moratorium on the deployment of medium- and short-range missiles is the result of Nato countries' anti-Russian policy,' Medvedev posted in English on X. 'This is a new reality all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps.' Medvedev, who now serves as deputy head of Russia's powerful Security Council, did not elaborate. The US withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty in 2019, citing Russian non-compliance. Russia later said it would not deploy such weapons provided that Washington did not do so. However, Sergei Lavrov, the foreign minister, signalled last December that Moscow would respond to what he called 'destabilising actions' by the US and Nato. 'Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, the Russian foreign ministry notes that the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared,' the ministry said in a statement. The INF treaty, signed in 1987 by Mikhail Gorbachev, the then Soviet leader and Ronald Reagan, the US president, eliminated an entire class of weapons – ground-launched missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometres (311 to 3,418 miles). Medvedev, seen initially in the West as a potential moderate and reformer, has become one of the most hawkish senior officials on foreign policy in Moscow. Mr Trump last Friday said he had ordered two nuclear submarines to be moved to 'the appropriate regions' in response to remarks from Medvedev about the risk of war between the nuclear-armed adversaries. Overnight, Russian strikes hit a railway station in eastern Ukraine, killing a mechanic and wounding four workers, the national rail company said. 'Russian terrorists inflicted a massive strike on the railway infrastructure of Lozova,' Ukrainian Railways said in a Telegram post. 'A duty mechanic of one of the units was killed, four more railway workers were wounded. All the wounded are receiving necessary medical care.' Several trains have been rerouted, it added. Lozova's mayor said two children were among the wounded and residential quarters had been damaged. 'Lozova has survived the most massive attack since the beginning of the war,' Sergiy Zelensky said in a Facebook post. Two people were also wounded in a separate Russian drone attack on Zaporizhzhia, the region's military administration said. Ukraine's air force meanwhile said air defence units had downed 29 Iranian-made Shahed drones overnight in the north and east of the country. It comes as a deadline set by Mr Trump for Russia to take steps to ending the war in Ukraine or face unspecified new sanctions looms. Three rounds of peace talks in Istanbul have failed to make headway on a possible ceasefire, with the two sides appearing as far apart as ever.
Reuters
29 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK to start returning some migrants to France within days under new deal
LONDON, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Britain said it will begin implementing a deal to return some migrants who arrive on small boats to France within days, a key part of its plans to cut illegal migration, after a treaty on the arrangement is ratified on Tuesday. Under the new deal, France has agreed to accept the return of undocumented people arriving in Britain by small boats, in exchange for Britain agreeing to accept an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with British family connections. Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the "one in, one out" pilot scheme on migrant returns last month. More than 25,000 people have come to Britain on small boats so far in 2025, and Starmer has pledged to "smash the gangs" of smugglers to try to reduce the number of arrivals. Starmer, whose popularity has fallen since winning an election landslide last year, is facing pressure to stop small boats from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which leads national opinion polls. In recent weeks in England, there have been a number of protests around hotels housing the asylum seekers who have arrived on small boats, attended by both anti-immigration and pro-immigration groups. French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau said on X that the new agreement between the countries has a "clear objective" to break up the people-smuggling networks, although British interior minister Yvette Cooper would not say how many people would be returned under the scheme. "The numbers will start lower and then build up," she told Sky News on Tuesday, adding that the people returned would be those who had immediately arrived on small boats, rather than people already in Britain. Government sources previously said the agreement would involve about 50 returns a week, or 2,600 a year, a fraction of the more than 35,000 arrivals reported last year. Critics of the scheme have said that the scale will not be sufficient to act as a deterrent, but Cooper said that the agreement with France was just one part of the government's wider plan. The government has also targeted people smugglers with sanctions, clamped down on social media adverts and is working with delivery firms to tackle the illegal work that is often promised to migrants. A treaty on the scheme was signed last week but not previously announced ahead of Tuesday's ratification. Britain said the European Commission and European Union member states had given the green light to the plan.
