Bridge the gap
HUGE inequalities in the UK between rich areas and poor, and the low-paid and the well-off, have been exposed by the coronavirus crisis.
The much-vaunted furlough scheme has been a lifeline for many people with a job, and many without, while the £20 uplift in Universal Credit has been the difference between food and poverty.
The massive inequalities were not caused by the coronavirus crisis. They were the result of a decade of Tory cuts that left people on the cliff edge of poverty and public services in crisis.
Today’s Budget needs the Tories not to revert to type with their instinct for tax-cutting and aversion to the public sector. Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Budget CAPS maByUbLLeEsTlick in presentation but we feaTrHiEtNwPilIlAbNeOflash in the pan when it comes KEYS to M TO addressing the investment
CHANGE theFOcNoTunPLtrEyArSeally needs.
A SYSTEM of vaccine passports could ultimately allow the return of international travel, MSPs have been told.
Professor Devi Sridhar of Edinburgh University told the Scottish Parliament’s Health Committee: “I think if these vaccines stop transmission, which they look like they might, we will reach a stage of vaccine passports. It’s already being discussed in the EU. Spain and Greece are really keen on this for their tourism industries.”
MORE than a million households are due energy bill refunds after suppliers overcharged customers who switched deals.
Some £10.4million will be repaid by 18 firms including British Gas, npower and EDF.
Some affected customers had switched to another deal with the same supplier.
Anna Rossington of regulator Ofgem said: “Customers should have confidence in switching.”