Storm clouds are gathering. In the space of a few days the biggest mortgage lenders have suddenly scrapped their most popular fixed-rate mortgages. No prizes for guessing why. Interest rates are gradually creeping up. Another rise is expected from the Bank of England in November, with the possibility of a further hike in the New […]
The long-feared council-tax revaluation, postponed from the General Election year of 2005, is gathering pace. The aim is not to raise a little extra from each household but to hike bills by hundreds of pounds. It will be done simply by revaluing properties on the basis of soaring house prices.
Not so long ago, a Sky Sports TV screen in a pub was a licence to print money. Now it’s beginning to look like an own goal. Wolverhampton and Dudley Breweries has removed Sky Sports from 100 of its 2,352 pubs - and profits are up.
More than a million and a half Britons have considered moving to escape from a pestilential scourge which makes us afraid to leave our own homes. It is known as - the younger generation. There is more to today’s trauma, reported by the Institute of Public Policy Research, than the age-old fear and envy of the […]
Our hearts go out to the thousands of Farepak customers who are today facing the grimmest of Christmases. The wonder is that saving clubs like Farepak have survived into the 21st Century.
David Cameron is determined, if he comes to power, not to damage the British economy. That is why he wisely refused to promise tax cuts at last month’s Tory conference. But the tax reform proposed today by Tory economists is an intelligent package. It will strike a chord with middle England. It will delight businesses. […]
It is a sum too big to visualise, too enormous to comprehend. Six plastic balls tumbled from a drum and a couple in Bilston were suddenly £9.3 million richer. The dream chased by millions of Britons every week has come true, and we wish these jackpot winners well in a future which will be unlike […]
Here we go again. At a time when a quarter of primary-school leavers cannot read and write properly and a million British pupils are being failed by sub-standard schools, Whitehall decides to put slavery on the curriculum. Why worry about wholesale illiteracy when there’s a chance to bring political correctness into the classroom?
| Typical APR | Min Loan | Max Loan | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Moneyback Bank Loan | |||
| 7.8% | £7500 | £15000 |  |
| Halifax Personal Loan (Semi-exclusive) | |||
| 8.6% | £7000 | £13000 | |
| Bank of Scotland Personal Loan (Semi-exclusive) | |||
| 8.6% | £7000 | £13000 | |
| Alliance & Leicester Personal Loan | |||
| 8.7% | £7500 | £15000 | |
| Rate | Duration | Typical APR | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Capital One BT Exclusive | |||
| 0% | Until 01/11/2009 | 15.9% | |
| Capital One Platinum Exclusive | |||
| 0% | Until 01/09/2009 | 12.9% | |
| Halifax One Online Special | |||
| 0% | 10 mths | 15.9% | |
| Bank of Scotland | |||
| 0% | 10 mths | 15.9% | |
Environment is just an excuse
How does a Labour government react to the threat of global warming, as revealed today in Sir Nicholas Stern’s alarming report? Do we really need to ask? The answer, as far as Tony Blair and Gordon Brown are concerned, is to tax, tax and tax again.