Tag Archives: extend

You might be able to boost your state pension by tens of thousands of pounds. Here’s how

Every little helps: but a bit of quick work checking your pension entitlement and the amount you need to pay to ensure you get extra cash could earn you a fortune in pounds, rather than pennies, in the long run.

This could help millions of people.

It’s possible that you could boost the amount of money you receive when you start getting the state pension – possible by tens of thousands of pounds.

It takes a bit of doing but it looks well worth it.

And the deadline for doing it has been extended from April 5 to August 31.

I’ll hand you over to Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis:

I’m going to check this. Are you?

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Jeremy Hunt may extend £2,500 energy price guarantee in major climbdown

Smirking Hunt: did he know he was going to do this all along?

After saying he would not provide any more help for households to pay their energy bills, it seems Jeremy Hunt is preparing to do just that.

The Express is reporting that he will extend the government’s £2,500 energy price guarantee for three months, until wholesale energy prices fall below the current Ofgem price cap in July, as they are expected to do.

Previously, the price guarantee was set to be raised to £3,000 in what would have been a £500 rise in energy bills for the average household.

It still represents an increase of £400, as the government’s grant that has kept bills down until now is ending at the beginning of April.

If the claim is true, it will be a major victory for Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, who had petitioned the government to use some expected savings to protect households.

As This Site stated in February,

According to Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis, when the announcement that the price guarantee would rise by 20 per cent was made in Hunt’s Autumn Statement, energy prices were significantly higher than they are now.

The current expectation is that in July, energy regulator Ofgem’s price cap (rather than the government’s price guarantee) will drop below both the £3,000 set to come in April and the £2,500 limit in force now, so we will all pay less.

This means the government is likely to save around £10 billion on what it was expecting to spend on the price guarantee at the time of the Autumn Statement.

Mr Lewis has written to the Chancellor, informing him of these expectations and calling on him to keep the price guarantee at its current level until July – a measure that will add only £1.5 billion to the current cost (leaving £8.5 billion in the kitty).

He has said this is better than inflicting poverty – and its devastating effects – on the people of the UK.

The Express is now saying the cost is likely to be £3 billion, which is fine because it still leaves £7 billion in expected savings.

Let’s look forward to confirmation of this move in the Budget statement on March 15.

Source: Jeremy Hunt ‘to extend £2,500 energy price guarantee’ for three months

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Will Tories rebel against extension of English lockdown to July 19?

Staying closed: many businesses may be forced to remain closed for a further four weeks – unless Tory backbenchers ruin Boris Johnson’s plans. But will he welcome that?

Well, there it is.

Boris Johnson is expected to announce an extension to the English lockdown, meaning most remaining restrictions won’t be lifted until July 19.

There are good grounds to do so:

Many scientists have called for the reopening to be delayed to enable more people to be vaccinated and receive second doses, amid rising cases of the Delta variant.

A delay would also allow more work to be done on whether vaccines are breaking, or simply weakening, the link between infections and hospitalisations.

But it is possible that the plan will face resistance – from Conservative backbenchers who are sick of the demand that we all wear masks when we go out, observe social distancing and keep some businesses closed, harming the economy.

On the last point, the BBC provides these examples:

If the lifting of restrictions is pushed back, the UK Weddings Taskforce – an industry group – estimates that 50,000 weddings planned in the four weeks from 21 June could be cancelled, with the industry losing £325m for every week of delay.

UKHospitality, which represents pubs, bars and restaurants, said businesses faced losing £3bn in sales if the relaxation of restrictions is delayed by a month.

The Night Time Industries Association said businesses such as nightclubs had already spent millions preparing to reopen, and the association will legally challenge any delay to reopening.

But the BBC also reports that projections based on the current trend show that if the current rate of increase continues, there could be 15,000 new cases per day – at least – by June 21. That’s double the number on June 13.

Ignoring that could be a public relations disaster for Johnson, who has been vilified as a dimwit for failing to acknowledge the warnings and delaying previous lockdowns, thereby assuring the deaths of thousands of people who might otherwise have avoided infection.

Still, collective responsibility for such recklessness is better for Johnson than having the blame piled on his shoulders alone, so he may welcome a vote that defeats his extension plan.

After all, how many of you will remember if your MP votes to end lockdown too soon? How many of you will even check what your MP does?

Source: Covid: Lockdown easing in England to be delayed by four weeks – BBC News

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Prolonging the agony: Johnson to delay lifting lockdown for four weeks

Closed (still): lockdown restrictions are likely to continue beyond June 21 for another four weeks. Let’s hope Boris Johnson’s stupidity doesn’t force another extension after that.

‘Freedom Day’ – the moment when the UK is set to be free of all Covid-19-related lockdown restrictions – is to be delayed until July 19 because of Johnson’s failure to keep the delta variant out.

The new date happens to be This Writer’s birthday. Happy birthday to me!

I’m thinking of having a big party where everyone who knows me can come and do all the things we’ve all been banned from doing for the previous 16 months…

The number of infections has increased again. On Friday (June 11) there was an increase of 8,125 – up 30 per cent on the previous Friday’s 6,238 new cases, themselves a 49 per cent increase on the Friday before.

A further 17 deaths (within 28 days of a positive Covid diagnosis) were recorded – which is massively up from the zero deaths of Bank Holiday Monday (obviously).

Conspiracy theorists will be delighted because it gives them a chance to claim that the government simply doesn’t want to lift restrictions on our freedoms.

Some of them will be saying the Tories are looking for a new illness to keep us isolated. Well, it won’t be monkeypox (I hope); Hancock has reported an outbreak but it’s only two cases, isolated in North Wales.

And after all the traumatic experiences we’ve had since March 2020, our politicians would have to be really bad – a danger to the public – to let this one run as badly out of control as Covid.

Oh dear.

I suppose you’d better all prepare for the worst.

Source: June Freedom Day ‘delayed until July 19’ – but social distancing may end earlier – Mirror Online

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Tory u-turn over eviction ban – but is it really the reprieve renters needed?

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Faced with a widespread campaign, supported by the media, the Tories have done what they always do – and u-turned on the plan to restore tenant evictions.

Landlords would have been able to evict tenants from August 24 – for the first time since the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed in March.

But now the Tories have extended the ban… for just one month.

Why so short a period? And what’s going on with all the conditions and caveats they’ve applied?

Apparently, after the ban ends, landlords won’t be able to evict anybody for a further six months – until March 2021 – because they’ll only be able to issue notice of evictions from the new date the ban ends (September 20).

So when is the ban actually ending? September 2020 or March 2021?

And Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick has said possession cases brought by landlords will be heard again “when the courts reopen” – after the summer vacation? After lockdown restrictions are lifted? Where’s the clarity.

It is fair enough that what Jenrick calls “the most egregious cases, for example those involving anti-social behaviour or domestic abuse perpetrators” be handled as soon as possible.

But I wonder exactly what will be done for renters who are falling behind on their payments during the four week delay that couldn’t be done during the previous six months.

People need protection from losing their homes; they are more vulnerable to it now than at any time since This Writer was born.

But most of that vulnerability has been created by Conservative politics.

So what are the Tories going to do? And why haven’t they done it already?

Source: Eviction ban extended for another month in last-minute government u-turn – Mirror Online

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Disability benefits extended by six months if due reassessment within three months

The coronavirus crisis isn’t all bad news, it seems:

The Minister for Disabled People, Justin Tomlinson MP (pictured below), has today confirmed that disability benefit awards have been automatically extended by six months for claimants due to be reassessed within the next three months.

PIP (Personal Independence Payment) reassessments are notoriously harsh on claimants because these are people with serious conditions who find the demands of the assessments extremely difficult.

So this is good – if it’s true.

Tory government promises haven’t been wonderfully reliable so far.

Source: Disability benefits extended by six months if due reassessment within three months – Welfare Weekly

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Extended jail term plan will lead to disaster

Behind bars: Boris Johnson’s plan for extended jail terms – stretching overstrained prisons beyond their limits – is criminal. But Johnson seems immune to punishment.

Conservatives can’t run prisons.

We all know this – right?

They tried privatising prisons and the cuts imposed by the privateers (in order to make a profit) meant wardens could not keep control.

Consider the failure to control drug use or even to stop drugs being passed into prisons.

Overcrowding led to unrest and even the occasional riot.

Now Boris Johnson has announced an intention to extend jail terms, meaning even more people will be packed into our limited prison space.

Or is he going to build more (like he promised to build more hospitals)?

Even if he achieved this – and I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting – would he not simply turn them over to private companies that would cock it all up again?

Yes, of course he would.

The UK’s prime minister is deliberately plotting a disaster for the justice system.

Or is there evidence that I am mistaken?

Source: Watchdog warns of prison overcrowding as Boris Johnson vows to extend jail terms | The Independent

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Right again, Vox Political! Tories admit This Site’s claim that Brexit may be delayed to allow needed legislation

What plan: This image was originally used to illustrate a story about Mr Hunt’s mismanagement of the NHS but it is appropriate here, as the Conservative government does not currently have a Brexit plan that will be accepted by both the UK and the remaining countries of the EU.

Once again, This Site has been proved correct as Jeremy Hunt admitted the EU may agree to extend the deadline for Brexit if a new deal is struck – to allow the UK to pass necessary laws.

According to The Guardian (other news sources are available), Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt has admitted article 50 may have to be extended if an agreement with the EU is reached with only a short period of time left before the March 29 deadline.

Vox Political asserted this here.

Asked if a technical delay would be necessary, Mr Hunt said: “We might need some extra time to pass critical legislation.”

Vox Political said this was likely here.

It should be noted that Mr Hunt said if an agreement was reached earlier, a delay may not be necessary. I think that is building castles in the air. With nine major Parliamentary Bills and more than 600 pieces of secondary legislation to be passed, it seems highly unlikely the government would get through it all if it started today (January 31).

Mr Hunt’s words demonstrate not only that the Conservative government has been misleading the nation on the necessity for Brexit to be delayed because of the way Theresa May has run down the clock…

… but also that This Site is the best place to find informed commentary and opinion about political matters. While the mainstream media hysterically parrot their right-wing masters, Vox Political has the balanced view.

Forgive me for sharing my pleasure at that fact.

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Daniel Kawczynski’s Brexit appeal to Poland – so much for sovereignty and ‘taking back control’

Daniel Kawczynski: He really wants sovereignty for the UK but seems to have a problem understanding what sovereignty means.

So here’s Daniel Kawczynski: A confirmed Brextremist, he is dead set on the UK regaining its sovereignty on March 29 and making decisions for itself, rather than relying on any of the nations in the European Union.

And here’s the same Daniel Kawczynski – Polish-born Tory MP for Shrewsbury – proudly telling us he’s relying on the Polish Government to impose its will on the UK by preventing us from extending the date of Brexit to a later date; if the UK approves an extension, the EU would have to approve it too – otherwise it couldn’t happen. Here he is:

It’s great to see such a complete absence of self-awareness, isn’t it?

Even better to see so many people enjoying it too. Here‘s Daisy Ecksamania: “This is actively encouraging a foreign power to interfere in UK national affairs, which I would say is tantamount to treason ”

I love this one – Dr Karen QueueJumper Schafheutle: “Working with a foreign government to subvert the will of the UK parliament. And you put it in a tweet.”

Mike Vine: “We are now at the point where a serving MP openly boasts about working with a foreign government (a pretty extreme right wing one at that) against the interests of this country! Surely there must a word for such activities with associated legal sanctions!”

“The Amazin’ Chris Graylin'” had a new perspective: “Good plan. Could we reach out to France, Germany, Italy, etc as well. In fact, perhaps we could formalise this reaching out with some sort of permanent agreement that all the Euro countries agree to help each other out. Will put it to the PM, this could be a winner.”

London John told us all why he thinks Mr Kawczynski is keen on hard Brexit:

… and Huw Peach told us what happened when he told the public about it: “After I posted the same Private Eye article last summer, Mr Kawczynski asked by DM for my phone no, called me up & shouted at me for about 20 minutes, saying I was bringing politics into the gutter & that I was responsible for him being attacked in ”

(I’m not giving out my own phone number but I can’t wait for that call. I only hope I’m quick enough to be able to record it all!)

The worst of it is, he clearly doesn’t even understand how he has brought all this ridicule on himself. But we’re back to the self-awareness thing again.

And this is how Brexit happened: Complete lack of self-awareness by Tories.

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