Railway strikes in the UK have halted services throughout July and Augst 2022.
Sony, owners and creators of the gaming sensation PlayStation, have been hit with a lawsuit with a possible £5 billion pay out.
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The UK government has once again extended its trade sanctions with Russia.
The UK underwent a record-breaking heatwave in July with another hitting the country in August.
The UK has blocked a Chinese company from purchasing intellectual property from the University of Manchester using its powers under the National Security and Investment Act.
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On Tuesday 14th July, Oliver Dowden, the UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media, and Sport announced a UK ban on Huawei supplying kit for the construction of the country’s 5G mobile phone network and that by 2027 all existing Huawei equipment integrated into the network will be removed. This is a U-turn from the position the government took in January when Boris Johnson declared that the Chinese company could have a limited role as a 5G supplier.
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The economic activity in the United Kingdom and all over the world has declined drastically amid the global health emergency caused by coronavirus. Foremost among the industries most affected by the economic lockdown is the UK's travel sector, depending on the duration of the crisis, OECD estimates indicate that the potential shock could range between a 60-80% decline in the international tourism industry in 2020.
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The PPI scandal has become the largest consumer redress scheme in British history, with an estimated £38 million paid out to consumers who were mis-sold the policy, with yet more to come. The deadline to file for compensation for PPI fell in August 2019. However, the case has not been put to rest as there is, in fact, another layer to the PPI scandal.[1] On top of the initial mis-selling of the product, which banks have been ordered to compensate buyers for, lenders took a huge commission from the insurance broker in some cases 95% of the original policy's cost, without telling the customer they were doing so.
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Potentially one of the most unexpected consequences of Covid-19 has been the revelation of a symbiotic relationship between human prosperity and the environment. Inextricable links have been identified between the natural world with all areas of human experience. Beyond environmentalism, sustainability has become imperative for national recovery in its entirety.
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Temporary changes have been made to the UK Mental Health Act (MHA) 1983 due to the coronavirus outbreak, the Coronavirus Act 2020 is a new UK law to help under staffed mental health services cope during times of crisis. Although currently, the changes don’t apply, they are available to be used if the situation demands so.
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The General Court (GC), Europe’s second-highest court, annulled a 2016 ruling made by the European Commission to block a proposed £10.25bn merger between O2 and Three on consumer interest grounds. The court ruled that the Commission had made several ‘errors of law’ and could not prove that competition would be harmed in the crowded UK telecoms market. This landmark ruling strikes a blow for Margrethe Vestager, the EU’s tough-acting competition commissioner, and could pave the way for further consolidation between Europe’s mobile operators.
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In a clause added to the Domestic Abuse Bill, on 6th July 2020, the House of Commons ruled out ‘consent for sexual gratification’ as a defense for serious harm caused to a person. This would make it difficult for defendants in cases of sexual harm, rape or murder to take the defense that the offence occurred ‘accidentally’ in the course of sexual act that was completely consensual.
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At the beginning of the summer, the government launched its ‘Pick for Britain’ campaign, to encourage the unemployed, furloughed or students to take minimum wage harvesting and packing jobs in the agricultural sector. An inquiry carried out by BBC’s Farming Today has revealed what the new workers experienced when performing roles usually held by foreign workers. The things they were faced with ranged from poor industry practices to fully-fledged human rights abuses and situations that could qualify as modern slavery.
A York County Court has ruled that the use of the ‘No DSS’ letting ban is unlawful, due to indirect discrimination.[1] The case was brought by the charity Shelter on behalf of a disabled single mother who enquired about renting a two-bedroom property in the city and was told her application would not be considered as she was in receipt of housing benefit.
Judges at one of the EU’s leading courts quashed an order by the European Commission (EC) for Apple to repay over €14.3bn in taxes to Ireland. The ruling stated that the EC had failed to achieve the ‘necessary legal standard’ when claiming that Apple had received an illegal and selective economic advantage from Irelands’ Revenue Authority.
The Wirecard incident is one of Europe’s biggest accounting fraud scandals. It shook confidence in corporate Germany as Wirecard was forced to file for insolvency last month after admitting that €1.9bn of its cash probably did not exist. This has triggered a criminal probe into the group’s former executives as well as an EU investigation into BaFin, Germany’s financial regulator.
The national security law is a new piece of Beijing backed legislation that allows for the extradition of Hong Kong citizens to the Chinese mainland. It leaves some of the world’s largest businesses facing an unenviable choice: between losing out on the island’s unique financial possibilities and tacitly supporting an expansionist government.
In recent years, online retailers such as ‘Missguided’ and ‘PrettyLittleThing’ can provide you with ‘wear once and throw away’ goods. They are cheap, cheerful and can be delivered to your doorstep within 24 hours of ordering. Yet, despite their benefits, cheaper on-trend garments come with consequences to those who are producing the goods.
Within the coming days, Ethiopia is to fill the $4.8bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERDP), which is set to become the largest on the continent. The ambitious reservoir has been deemed controversial by other nations, who view the mega-dam as a violation of historical water rights within the region.
