The UK’s finance minister, Rishi Sunak, is set to spend billions of pounds more in state support for the economy over the next four months, as an extended lockdown threatens businesses’ survival.
The chancellor of the exchequer will set out the details in his March 3 budget after Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined a timeline for reopening the UK economy, which keeps some companies closed until at least June 21.
Mr Johnson’s four-step road map for lifting the lockdown will influence how fast Treasury subsidies are withdrawn, sources say.
Key aid programmes are due to end as early as next month but Mr Sunak will extend assistance so that companies and people do not face a cliff-edge while restrictions are still in place, the sources said.
“People may be concerned about what these changes mean for the various support packages for livelihoods, for people and for the economy,” Mr Johnson told Parliament on Monday.
“We will not pull the rug out. For the duration of the pandemic, the government will continue to do whatever it takes to protect jobs and livelihoods across the UK.”
Mr Sunak faces a daunting task to put the economy on a path to recovery after suffering its deepest slump in three centuries last year.
The budget deficit is already setting peacetime records after he committed to spending £300 billion ($422bn) to help the health service and businesses cope with the crisis, a sum that is set to increase next week.
Continuation of support will broadly track the exit strategy, while taking into account the fact that business will not immediately return to normal levels even when shops and pubs are allowed to reopen, the sources said.
That suggests assistance will last beyond the date of June 21 set by Mr Johnson to reopen the last sectors of the economy.
The premier’s road map means businesses such as nightclubs will be shut until at least June 21, while theatres, concert halls and sporting venues will have limits on the crowds they can admit until then, making many of them unprofitable.
Pubs and restaurants will not be able to reopen until at least April 12, and then only for outdoor service.
By the time indoor service is allowed in mid-May, many businesses will have been closed for nearly 200 days “with just a couple of weeks of heavily restricted trading in December", said UKHospitality chief executive Kate Nicholls.
“A major package of financial support is imperative,” Ms Nicholls said. “This delay in reopening will make the job of survival all the more difficult for businesses only just clinging on to existence.”
Government support policies due to expire by the end of April include Mr Sunak’s programme that pays furloughed workers up to 80 per cent of their wages, a business rates holiday and lower sales tax for hospitality and tourism.
He faces calls to extend all of them, from business groups and politicians, including two predecessors in his Conservative party.
“The chancellor must deliver on the prime minister’s 'whatever it takes’ pledge,” said Mike Cherry, Federation of Small Businesses national chairman.
“On one side of the coin we have continued restrictions; on the other, we need corresponding business support.”
Conservative Party members also called for the economy to be reopened more quickly, especially when the 32 million people most vulnerable to Covid-19 are due to have been vaccinated by mid-April.
Iran's dirty tricks to dodge sanctions
There’s increased scrutiny on the tricks being used to keep commodities flowing to and from blacklisted countries. Here’s a description of how some work.
1 Going Dark
A common method to transport Iranian oil with stealth is to turn off the Automatic Identification System, an electronic device that pinpoints a ship’s location. Known as going dark, a vessel flicks the switch before berthing and typically reappears days later, masking the location of its load or discharge port.
2. Ship-to-Ship Transfers
A first vessel will take its clandestine cargo away from the country in question before transferring it to a waiting ship, all of this happening out of sight. The vessels will then sail in different directions. For about a third of Iranian exports, more than one tanker typically handles a load before it’s delivered to its final destination, analysts say.
3. Fake Destinations
Signaling the wrong destination to load or unload is another technique. Ships that intend to take cargo from Iran may indicate their loading ports in sanction-free places like Iraq. Ships can keep changing their destinations and end up not berthing at any of them.
4. Rebranded Barrels
Iranian barrels can also be rebranded as oil from a nation free from sanctions such as Iraq. The countries share fields along their border and the crude has similar characteristics. Oil from these deposits can be trucked out to another port and documents forged to hide Iran as the origin.
* Bloomberg
Saudi Cup race day
Schedule in UAE time
5pm: Mohamed Yousuf Naghi Motors Cup (Turf), 5.35pm: 1351 Cup (T), 6.10pm: Longines Turf Handicap (T), 6.45pm: Obaiya Arabian Classic for Purebred Arabians (Dirt), 7.30pm: Jockey Club Handicap (D), 8.10pm: Samba Saudi Derby (D), 8.50pm: Saudia Sprint (D), 9.40pm: Saudi Cup (D)
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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Opening day UAE Premiership fixtures, Friday, September 22:
- Dubai Sports City Eagles v Dubai Exiles
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UAE SQUAD
Goalkeepers: Ali Khaseif, Fahad Al Dhanhani, Mohammed Al Shamsi, Adel Al Hosani
Defenders: Bandar Al Ahbabi, Shaheen Abdulrahman, Walid Abbas, Mahmoud Khamis, Mohammed Barghash, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Hassan Al Mahrami, Yousef Jaber, Salem Rashid, Mohammed Al Attas, Alhassan Saleh
Midfielders: Ali Salmeen, Abdullah Ramadan, Abdullah Al Naqbi, Majed Hassan, Yahya Nader, Ahmed Barman, Abdullah Hamad, Khalfan Mubarak, Khalil Al Hammadi, Tahnoun Al Zaabi, Harib Abdallah, Mohammed Jumah, Yahya Al Ghassani
Forwards: Fabio De Lima, Caio Canedo, Ali Saleh, Ali Mabkhout, Sebastian Tagliabue, Zayed Al Ameri
Water waste
In the UAE’s arid climate, small shrubs, bushes and flower beds usually require about six litres of water per square metre, daily. That increases to 12 litres per square metre a day for small trees, and 300 litres for palm trees.
Horticulturists suggest the best time for watering is before 8am or after 6pm, when water won't be dried up by the sun.
A global report published by the Water Resources Institute in August, ranked the UAE 10th out of 164 nations where water supplies are most stretched.
The Emirates is the world’s third largest per capita water consumer after the US and Canada.
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Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
