Author: News Desk

Council tax bills could rise by 5% after Labour keeps cap in place Labour has confirmed council tax rises will be kept at the 5% cap next year, which could mean a rise of £100 for the average family’s bills. The prime minister’s press secretary said on Wednesday that the threshold by which local authorities can increase bills would “remain the same”. Hours earlier Keir Starmer had dodged a question from Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, at prime minister’s questions about whether he would keep the cap on council tax. Speaking in the Commons, he said MPs “will know what…

Pentagon stunned after Trump picks Pete Hegseth for defence secretary The Pentagon has been stunned by Donald Trump’s pick for defence secretary, Pete Hegseth, a national guard veteran and Fox News presenter who has called for a purge of generals for pursuing “woke” diversity policies. Hegseth has questioned whether the chair of the joint chiefs of staff, Gen Charles Brown, was given the top job because he is black and accused him of “pursuing the radical positions of leftwing politicians”. Hegseth was a major in the Minnesota national guard who served as a prison guard at Guantánamo Bay detention camp…

Harry Kane set to be left out by Carsley for England’s crunch match with Greece Harry Kane is set to be a shock omission from Lee Carsley’s England team for Thursday’s must-win Nations League match against Greece in Athens. The captain has travelled to the Greek capital and is not believed to have an injury, with the selection news understood to have caused surprise within a dressing room that has been undermined by a flurry of withdrawals. Carsley has been keen to try new things during his interim tenure; he started Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden as false 9s in…

PGMOL aware of video allegedly showing David Coote snorting white powder Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) is “aware of the allegations” and “taking them very seriously” after a video appeared to show suspended Premier League referee David Coote snorting white powder. Comments Coote is alleged to have made about former Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and the club in previous video footage have led to him being suspended by PGMOL and investigated by the body and the Football Association. On Wednesday evening, another video appeared on the Sun’s website which it said showed Coote snorting white powder during the summer’s Euros in Germany, where he was officiating. Source link

Pension ‘megafunds’ to be created to boost investment and economic growth Pension “megafunds” are set to be created to help unlock billions of pounds of investment in UK businesses and infrastructure. Rachel Reeves will use her first Mansion House speech on Thursday as chancellor to outline what is billed as the biggest pensions shake-up in decades. Consolidating assets into a handful of funds run by professional fund managers will allow them to invest more in infrastructure, supporting economic growth and local investment on behalf of the UK’s 6.7 million public servants, the government says. Source link

Chancellor Rachel Reeve’s Budget continues to be scrutinised as do other Labour plans across the print media today.

Ongoing coverage of US politics – from Trump’s meeting with Biden to the appointments being made to Cabinet, find space in the UK media landscape.

The back pages – and social media – are dominated by the latest from English football. The ongoing search for a presenter to replace Gary Lineker as Match of the Day host is heavily featured on social media. There’s also coverage of another leaked video of EPL referee David Cootes who appeared to be snorting a white powder in the video during the summer’s EUROS.

A grey start for many with some fog patches and a little drizzle in places. Remaining grey across many northwestern areas. However, some bright or sunny spells developing elsewhere. Gentle winds, with temperatures around or a little above average.TONIGHT: Cloudy with hill fog and patchy drizzle across many northern areas, where increasingly breezy. Clear spells eastern Scotland, central and southern England and Wales, with patchy fog and frost.

Trump defence chief is TV host – that’s the headline on the front page of the Metro newspaper.