Severn Trent looks to preserve 30-year hosepipe ban record
The Environment Agency announcement of a drought in the Midlands followed England's driest start to the year since 1976, leaving many rivers across the region at extremely low levels.Severn Trent said despite its efforts "we can't escape how hot and dry it is and how little rainfall we've had this year". For that reason, it said it was asking customers to be thoughtful with their water use and take steps to avoid waste.It said that included turning taps off when not in use, fixing leaks and fitting water-saving features, such as a shower timer.
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Daily Mail
23 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Taxman's guilt at being British: Fury as HMRC, which can't even answer your phone calls, allows staff event, held during office hours, discussing the 'Guilt of Being British'
Civil servants working for the taxman has come under fire after holding a seminar on the 'Guilt of Being British'. Staff at HM Revenue and Customs were able to log-in remotely and attend the session during office hours yesterday, prompting a furious backlash. It comes amid repeated criticism of HMRC 's performance, with hundreds of thousands of calls from taxpayers going unanswered every month, customers getting surreptitiously cut off, and general concern from MPs over the 'failing' phone service. Kemi Badenoch on Wednesday night described the session as 'nonsense', and challenged Whitehall aides to leave the service if they were not proud of Britain. The Tory leader told the Mail: 'Is it any wonder the public hate dealing with HMRC, now we learn the staff are being taught to feel guilty about being British? 'In government I fought to remove all this nonsense from the Civil Service. Under my leadership, a Conservative government will ensure public bodies are proud of Britain, not ashamed of it. 'We'll defend our history, not apologise for it. And if that offends the Civil Service's seminar circuit, they're welcome to go somewhere else.' The hour-long 'Guilt of Being British: Listening circle' was run by the HMRC Race Network and held from 11am until midday. It was billed as 'a powerful, interactive, and reflective listening circle exploring the emotional complexity of being South Asian and British', covering topics including 'the emotional weight of colonial history' as part of the taxman's commitment to diversity, equality and inclusion. According to a post published on the HMRC's intranet, the session promised to 'delve into themes of guilt, pride, and identity, offering space for personal stories and cultural insights'. Workers were told participants would explore 'the duality of identity - balancing heritage and belonging', and the 'emotional weight of colonial history and inherited trauma'. The internal advert said those attending would discover more about 'career challenges faced by South Asian women - barriers, bias and expectations', and learn how 'storytelling and representation help reclaim our narratives.' A dumbfounded Civil Service source told the Mail: 'This example of a work-time staff event pushing a highly divisive anti-British narrative perfectly encapsulates the nightmare that is Civil Service staff networks. 'Those focused on race and trans in particular seem to operate entirely without scrutiny, and attract large numbers of activist staff, intent on pushing their personal beliefs on their colleagues rather than identifying and tackling actual workplace issues. 'This is a total abandonment of the vital principle of Civil Service political neutrality and makes a lot of us very uncomfortable, but if you challenge these groups on their approaches you risk putting a target on your back. 'As is seen in this event, these networks also enable many people to treat the workplace like their personal therapy centres. 'So many of us are getting on with our jobs and we see colleagues holding listening circles to talk about personal traumas - it fosters resentment and damages public trust.' Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Tory Cabinet Minister, added: 'It is peculiar that people who hate their country want to run it. 'Perhaps I should offer a course on why being British is to win first prize in the lottery of life.' Joanna Marchong, investigations campaign manager at the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'Taxpayers are fed up of bankrolling woke staff networks. 'While HMRC quangocrats sit around in circles whining about colonialism, hard-working Brits are being left on hold for hours on end. 'Staff networks should not be funded by taxpayers and they certainly shouldn't be happening during working hours.' It is not known how many of HMRC's more than 60,000 staff attended the remote event. A spokesman for the taxman said it would have been less than 0.1% and had no impact on its call handling ability. Earlier this year a report by Parliament's Public Accounts Committee found HMRC answered just 66.4 per cent of customers' attempts to speak to an adviser, well below the target of 85 per cent. It said performance reached 'an all-time low'. Around 40,000 customers were cut off in the year 2023-24 if they were waiting for more than 70 minutes, without an explanation, and no callback option was available. The average call wait time exceeded 23 minutes, with HMRC saying it did not have adequate resources to meet telephone demand from customers. The report said: 'HMRC's already poor service to taxpayers has become even worse. 'The PAC is concerned that HMRC has degraded its own phone services - willing to let them fail, in the hope that people will be forced to go online.' HMRC's most recent monthly performance report, however, shows signs of improvement - 80 per cent of calls were handled in March, while average call time waits were down to 14 minutes and 44 seconds. An HMRC spokesman said: 'Events by staff networks should not be taken as reflecting the views of HMRC. 'An event like this would only be attended by around 0.1% of staff, which would have no impact on our ability to staff our helplines. We have robust processes in place to ensure our phonelines are well-resourced throughout the day.' It comes after the Mail last week revealed the NHS budgeted nearly £2 million for similar staff networks in the health service, many of whom hold 'woke' events for staff. They included an event on 'Embracing Asexuality', a talk on 'Embracing your Afro/Curly hair' and another on 'International Pronouns Day'.
The Sun
23 minutes ago
- The Sun
Argos slashes the price on back to school must-haves and prices start from £3
ARGOS has slashed the price of some of its must-have back to school items, with prices starting from as little as £3. The retailer is offering 25% off selected back to school products, including backpacks, lunch bags, water bottles and stationary. You can also pick up boys' and girls' school uniforms at Argos ahead of the start of the new term in September. The new offers include a Smash Strawberry Backpack in pink, reduced to just £8 from £12, and a Smash Yellow Stainless Steel Sipper 1l Water Bottle reduced to £10.50 from £14. Wicked Hydra Travel Mugs are reduced to £13.50 from £18, while Bluey and Spiderman lunch bags are reduced to £7.50 from £10. A Lego stationary set is reduced to £6 from £8, while 12-pack of Sharpie S-Note Highlighters are on sale for £7.50 from £10. There's also a gadget on sale that's perfect for parents who want to make sure their children's belongings don't get lost during term time. Dymo LT200B Letra Tag Label Printer is now £36.50, rather than £50. The Casio FX-991CW Scientific Calculator is also on sale for £25.50, down from £34. Meanwhile, Argos' school uniform range starts from just £3 for a 2-pack of Unisex Polo Shirts. Its 2-pack of red knitted cardigans start from £8, while its pleated skirts and trousers are £7 each for a 2-pack. The offers are available now on the Argos website and in stores, many of which can be found inside Sainsbury's stores. Shoppers who order by 5pm can receive their items by 10pm on the same day with the retailer's Fast Track same-day delivery. Other back to school offers Argos isn't the only retailer where you can bag some great back to school offers. Lidl last month launched a school uniform bundle for just £5, which includes two polo shirts, sweatshirts and trousers to choose from. Singular items can also be bought for cheap, with a sweatshirt going for just £1.50, and trousers, shirts, skirts or shorts for £1.75 during the sale. Lidl also offers a price-match promise, saying: "If you see a cheaper deal elsewhere, we'll match it." Aldi is also offering a £5 school uniform bundle this summer, which includes two polo shirts, a sweatshirt or cardigan, and a choice of trousers, skirt or cargo shorts – with individual items starting from just £1.50. Meanwhile, it's bad news for M&S shoppers as the retailer confirmed it would not be offering its usual 20% off sale on school uniforms this summer. The decision came after a cyber incident forced the company to suspend online operations for nearly six weeks, resulting in estimated losses of around £300 million. However, it said it had frozen prices on its school uniforms for the fifth year running. Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Middle-income workers shoulder biggest tax burden increase
Middle-class workers are shouldering the biggest increase in the tax burden thanks to a stealth raid on thresholds, analysis suggests. The share of income tax paid by those who earn between £43,000 and £61,900 rose from 15.1pc to 17pc between 2021-22 and 2025-26, according to the TaxPayers' Alliance. During the same five-year period, the share of income tax paid by the top 1pc, those earning more than £201,000 a year, fell from 30.7pc to 26.6pc, the pressure group found. It comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves faces a £50bn black hole in the public finances and declining tax revenue as high-net-worth individuals look to move abroad. Analysis by the Financial Times this month revealed there had been a 40pc rise in directors moving abroad since Labour's autumn Budget. The Taxpayers' Alliance report found the proportion of total income tax receipts increased for every group except for the top 1pc of earners, thanks to a series of stealth taxes first introduced by the Conservatives. Income tax thresholds, including the £12,570 tax-free 'personal allowance', were frozen at the 2021 budget by then chancellor Rishi Sunak until 2025-26. A year later, his successor, Jeremy Hunt, extended the freeze until 2027-28. Despite promising not to raise taxes on working people, Sir Keir Starmer has not ruled out extending the freeze further to 2029-30. Keeping thresholds frozen means earners lose a larger share of their incomes to tax, as inflation pushes up wages in a process known as fiscal drag. The stealth raid means almost 2.9 million more people will pay the basic rate of income tax in 2025-26 than in 2021-22, while over 2.6 million more will pay the higher rate. Including other rates, almost 6 million more people are forecast to be paying income tax than in 2021-22. John O'Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: 'This is the sad but inevitable result of successive governments' assortment of anti-affluence tax policies, which penalise aspiration and success. 'The UK is now trapped in a doom loop with the Chancellor desperately scrabbling around for more cash to fill the fiscal black hole and increasingly finding her only option is to come after the middle classes. 'Rachel Reeves needs to now show some humility and reverse the policies that have done so much to drive away high earners.' The respected National Institute of Economic and Social Research on Tuesday warned slowing economic growth, a weak jobs market and Labour's failure to commit to welfare reform meant Ms Reeves was on course to miss her borrowing targets by £41.2bn. When combined with the £9.9bn of headroom the Chancellor has committed to keeping, it means she is facing a £51.1bn deficit in the autumn that will either have to be solved by raising taxes or cutting spending. The study also underlined the importance for the Treasury's balance sheet to keep the highest earners in Britain. Despite the proportion of tax paid by the top 1pc of earners falling, the group still accounts for more than a quarter of all income tax receipts. Analysis of Companies House by the Financial Times found that 3,790 company directors had left Britain between October and July compared with 2,712 in the same period a year earlier. Significant names have included Richard Gnodde, Goldman Sachs ' most senior banker outside the US, Nassef Sawiris, the Aston Villa co-owner, and British property tycoon brothers Ian and Richard Livingstone. It comes after Labour launched a wide-ranging tax raid after coming to power last year. This included abolishing the non-dom status and tightening inheritance tax rules. Laura Suter, of AJ Bell, said: 'Government tax policy in the past few years has had the dual outcome of pushing some of the wealthiest to leave the UK and also landing more taxpayers with higher tax bills at the same time. 'Together, this means that an increasing proportion of the total tax bill of the country is paid by middle earners, rather than the super-rich. 'Looking ahead, any potential tax-raising measures that Rachel Reeves makes in her next Budget could exacerbate this dynamic further.' Trevor Williams, a former chief economist at Lloyds Bank, previously warned Britain was facing a millionaires' exodus. Mr Williams said: 'Since 2014, the number of resident millionaires in the UK dropped by 9pc compared with the world's 10 wealthiest countries' global average growth of more than 40pc. 'Over the same period, the US saw a 78pc increase in millionaires – the fastest wealth growth [among these countries].' The Treasury insisted that under its Plan for Change it would keep more money in people's pockets. A spokesman said: 'This government inherited the previous government's policy of frozen tax thresholds. At the Budget and the Spring Statement, the Chancellor announced that we would not extend that freeze. 'We are also protecting payslips for working people by keeping our promise to not raise the basic, higher or additional rates of income tax, employee National Insurance or VAT. That's the Plan for Change – protecting people's incomes and putting money into people's pockets.'
