A push by HMRC to uncover details of how much people are earning from selling goods and services online in “side hustles” could cause confusion because of the way the UK’s tax system operates, a charity has warned.more

Nearly 400,000 fewer people from abroad have applied for UK work or study visas since strict new immigration rules came into force, Home Office figures revealed on Thursday. Provisional data shows 547,000 visa applications were received between April and December 2024, down from 942,500 in the same period in 2023.more

Sainsbury's has said it will raise hourly pay though it is cautious about recruiting new staff this year due to rising costs. The supermarket chain said wages would rise 5% to £12.60 but it will be introduced in two phases "to help manage a particularly tough cost inflation environment".more

A south London borough, known for hosting one of the world’s biggest tennis tournaments, has been named as one of the best places to live in the UK. The Times has named Merton as number four on a list of the UK’s best places to live, with Richmond and Sutton as number one and number eight respectively.more

An England-wide amber health alert has been extended to Tuesday as temperatures are expected to continue to fall over the weekend. The UK Health Security Agency extended the alert, which was previously in place until Sunday, meaning that cold weather impacts are likely to be felt across the whole health service.more

Vacancies for permanent jobs in the UK declined at their fastest pace for four years last month, according to a new survey that adds to the gloomy economic mood.more

A mother has appeared in court charged with murdering her son and attempting to murder her father. Karolina Zurawska, 41, from Gendros, Swansea, appeared before the city’s crown court on Friday morning. She is charged with murdering Alexander Zurawski, six, who was found dead at a property in Gendros on August 29.more

IT specialist James Howells has lost a first-instance lawsuit to recover the disk on which some $740 million worth of bitcoins are currently stored, the Cointelegraph website reported yesterday. Howells was seeking permission to search a landfill site where his old computer was mistakenly found years ago.more

A coalition of countries led by the UK and Latvia has pledged to provide 30,000 FPV drones to Ukraine, AFP reported, quoting a statement from the UK defence ministry. The group, which formed in 2024, has already drawn up an order worth £45 million.more

French President Emmanuel Macron met with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer late last night and the main topic of their conversation was the situation in Ukraine, a British government spokesperson reported.more

London is the only major UK city getting older, a new analysis has revealed, due to post-Brexit migration and falling birthrates. The capital is bucking a trend which shows other big cities are getting younger and that rural and coastal regions are driving the overall ageing population.more

A large number of people are anticipated to take part in the yearly No Trousers Tube Ride when it returns to the London Underground this weekend. The event, which began in 2009, will fall on Sunday, January 12 this year. more

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) lobby group warned that Budget measures mean there is "little hope" of food prices "going anywhere but up" in the second half of 2025.more

The pandemic was supposed to usher in a cashless society, and many businesses have gone card-only – but Britons are finding it hard to let go of notes and coins. Cash is enjoying an unexpected comeback, reflecting the fact that, for many people, physical money remains the ultimate budgeting tool in tricky financial times.more

Plans for an upgraded NHS App to allow more patients in England to book treatments and appointments will be part of a package of measures unveiled by the government on Monday. The changes will allow patients who need non-emergency elective treatment to choose from a range of providers, including those in the private sector.more

A £24m trial to make all Friday fares off-peak did not increase the number of passengers using the network last year, Transport for London (TfL) has said. The Off-Peak Friday fares trial ran between 8 March and 31 May and saw fares on London Underground and Overground, Elizabeth line and DLR, as well as some National Rail services, set at off-peak levels throughout the day.more

Elon Musk, an American billionaire and trusted aide to future US President Donald Trump, is looking for ways to overthrow Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer of Great Britain, the Financial Times reported today, citing sources close to the head of SpaceX and Tesla.more

A top NHS doctor has warned the peak of the flu season is yet to come as hospitals wards across England are “full to bursting”. It comes as several NHS trusts declared critical incidents because of sustained pressure in A&E departments, with people being treated in corridors and a patient at one hospital forced to wait 50 hours to be admitted to a ward. more

The neo-Nazi organisation Blood and Honour, which is linked to parts of the skinhead music scene, has become the first extreme right-wing group to have financial sanctions imposed by the UK government.more

Ten people and their dog have been trapped in snow at Tan Hill In, the highest pub in Britain, the Guardian reported yesterday. They are likely to remain there until the weekend due to forecast snowfall and temperatures of below 10C.more

A new Superloop route across the River Thames is set to be launched within months. Superloop 4, an express Transport for London (TfL) bus service between Canary Wharf and Grove Park in Lewisham, will start running on April 7.more

Rachel Reeves could be forced to make fresh cuts to public spending at her March “spring forecast” as a rise in government borrowing costs risks the chancellor breaking her own fiscal rules.more

Savile Row and nearby streets have been evacuated amid reports of an incident that required a “controlled explosion.” The iconic Mayfair street, known for its array of bespoke and high-end men’s tailoring stores, was cleared of pedestrians and shop staff on Wednesday as police explored a potential threat.more

A prosthetic leg, an ironing board and a hamster are among the things passengers have left on a train operator’s services. Northern said these examples were among more than 32,690 incidents of lost property recorded since July 2022. more

Ketamine, the anaesthetic taken by Elon Musk to control his moods, could be reclassified as a class A drug by the Home Office after illegal use reached record levels.more