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Several changes to laws affecting people in Britain will be implemented in 2025, including some impacting those travelling outside of the counrty. Next year will see new laws around vaping, junk food, wages and renting, as well as a number of new travel rules for those travelling to and from the UK. One of those rules involves a €7 charge for UK tourists travelling to certain countries. These are the new laws coming into force next year. This nationwide ban will forbid the sale of single-use vapes to “end this nation’s throwaway culture” according to circular economy minister Mary Creagh. The legislation is currently making its way through Parliament and if approved will come into force on June 1, 2025. Businesses have been advised by Defra to sell their remaining stock before the ban. This new bill holds a lot of the controversial smoking-related laws that have garnered headlines this year including increasing the age limit of buying tobacco products so that children currently aged 15 and under will never be able to legally purchase it. Additionally, it also extends the power to ban smoking in specific outdoor spaces like children’s playgrounds, reports LancsLive. One of the more controversial new laws is the ban on TV adverts for junk food products being advertised before 9pm. The rule is set to come into play from October in order to curb childhood obesity. However, experts have debated the criteria used by the Government to classify “junk food”. National Living Wage, minimum hourly wage for apprentices and the National Minimum Wage are increasing in April with the minimum earnings for 18 to 20-year-olds rising by the highest amount on record, £1.40, to a new high of £10 an hour. There are reportedly plans to eventually create a single rate of minimum wage and national living wage for adults, phasing out the age brackets. From next September, parents of children aged nine months and older will be entitled to up to 30 hours of free childcare per week until their child starts school. This is to ensure eligible working parents, classified as people who individually earn more than £9,518 but less than £100,000 per year, are able to get to work. Some parents may also be able to access 30 minutes of free childcare before school as part of the new breakfast club rollout. The first of which are set to be open from April. New, higher rates for parental leave pay and statutory sick pay will come into effect from April. This includes new rates of statutory maternity pay, statutory paternity pay, statutory adoption pay, statutory shared parental pay and statutory parental bereavement pay will all go up to £187.18 per week and statutory sick pay at £118.75 per week. Labour ’s plans to renationalise British rails starts next year with new laws making public ownership of operators the default option, with a total of three operators to be brought into public ownership over the next year. This includes South Western Railway, the c2c and Greater Anglia. April 1, 2025 could bring the first tax bills for EV drivers through the Vehicle Excise Duty as their exemption to the tax ends. This decision was actually put in place by the former Tory chancellor Jeremy Hunt. EVs registered on or after the tax comes into play will get the lower first-year rate of £10 while those registered before this will face the standard rate of £190 a year. The exemption EVs have for the Expensive Car Supplement is also ending meaning those still liable will have to pay an additional £410 a year for the first five years of ownership if their car is worth more than £40,000. As of April 2025, employers will face a 1.2% higher rate of NI and a lower threshold for when this tax is applicable, dropping from £9,100 per year to £5,000. Small businesses, however, will also see an increase in Employment Allowance which allows them to reduce their NI liability, rising from £5,000 to £10,500. Brits with permanent homes outside the UK will be facing a new tax regime next year which should close the loophole that allows wealthy people to earn income in lower tax countries by nominating it as their primary domicile and not be liable to UK taxes. It will be replaced with a residence-based test, as chancellor Rachel Reeves declared during her autumn budget: “I have always said that if you make Britain your home, you should pay your tax here.” One of Labour’s more ambitious legislative changes is the Renters' Rights Bill, which aims to end no-fault evictions and provide renters with extra protection against being evicted and rent increases. The new legislation would remove the power landlords have to evict tenants without a valid reason like wanting to sell their property . The Bill is currently making its way through parliament but will hopefully come into force over the summer. It will also give renters a one-year period of protection at the start of their tenancy during which the landlord can’t evict them to move in or sell the property. Finally, it also aims to tackle unreasonable rent increases ensuring landlords can only raise the rent once a year at market rate. The Government hopes to update the “feudal” leasehold system by protecting them from “excessive, opaque and escalating costs” imposed by freeholders that own the land their property is on. Starting this week, the rule that leaseholders need to wait two years before buying their freehold or extending their lease will be removed. In the spring, Right to Manage rules will also come into play, ensuring owners in mixed-use buildings can take over management. Lastly, the Government hopes to introduce the Leasehold and Commonhold Reform Bill, which is currently in its draft stage, in late 2025 to transition to a commonhold system. This would treat flats and apartments as individual freehold properties and common areas will be managed by a commonhold association owned by the flat freeholders. While not part of the UK’s legislation changes, travellers must be warned that as they may need the new ETIAS permit to travel within the Schengen zone in Europe. This will cost around €7 for people aged 18 to 70 and will be mandatory for non-EU and non-Schengen citizens if they don’t need a visa to enter the country. The ETIAS scheme has been delayed multiple times but governments are assuring it will be implemented six months after the ESS adoption. This second scheme will affect non-EU citizens travelling in the EU, registering travellers with an automated system every time they cross an external EU border, meaning travellers may have to provide biometric data at EU borders instead of getting passport stamps. Back in the UK, tourists need to be aware of the new ETA scheme to be rolled out in full next year. It costs £10 and allows multiple journeys to the UK for stays of up to six months at a time. ETAs are digitally linked to a traveller’s passport and is meant to provide more robust security checks at UK borders. By January 8, all non-Europeans will need an ETA to travel to the UK. This will then be continually extended to different nationalities, until April 2025 when all visitors to the UK will need either an ETA or an eVisa to travel through the UK. British and Irish citizens will reportedly be exempted from the ETA system. ChronicleLive is now on WhatsApp and we want you to join our communities. We have a number of communities to join, so you can choose which one you want to be part of and we'll send you the latest news direct to your phone. You could even join them all! To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'. No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'. If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice . Join the ChronicleLive Breaking News and Top Stories community Join our Court & Crime community Join the Things to do in Newcastle and the North East community Join our Northumberland community Join our County Durham community Join our Sunderland community Join our NUFC community Join our SAFC community Join our Great North Run communityCHENNAI: Representatives from the fishermen, Irula, and Puthirai Vannar communities, as well as slum dwellers from Chennai and other parts of the state, vented their ire against successive state governments for denying them land rights at a public hearing on land rights on Sunday. They expressed strong discontent before the five-member panel, headed by social activist Medha Patkar, over successive governments’ lack of political will and persistent red tape that denied them a dignified life. Upon hearing the testimony of the homeless and slum dwellers, Patkar remarked that the labourers built the city and continue to serve it. “They should be given due recognition, and no one should be evicted or displaced from their homes. Moving them to distant locations would have a devastating impact, as it would cause them to lose their livelihoods, and children would struggle to continue their education,” she noted. She also pointed out that while the state government had resettled slum dwellers in Kannagi Nagar, they were not properly rehabilitated. The government should recognise the contribution of these labourers and provide them with housing and essential facilities at their place of living. A group of women from Sathya Nagar, opposite the War Memorial, shared that they had been fighting for land rights for more than half a century, yet successive state governments had failed to address their demands. Nevertheless, they vowed to continue their struggle to secure their land rights. These women were among the 14 groups representing slum dwellers from various parts of Chennai, including coastal slum and Adyar riverside slum in Pattinapakkam. In addition to the slum dwellers, representatives from the Narikuravas, Irula community, released bonded labourers, and Puthirai Vannar from Tiruchy, Perambalur, Tiruvannamalai, Tiruvallur, and Chengalpattu districts attended the public hearing and shared their hardships. R Geetha of the Unorganised Workers Federation stated that the government had declared over 1,500 sites as slums in Chennai between 1971 and 1974. Under the Tamil Nadu Slum Areas (Improvement and Clearance) Act, 1971, these declared-slums should be protected from eviction, and the residents should be granted land rights. However, the authorities have failed to comply with this pioneering Act, which was enacted by the government of then Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 1971. “The panel will prepare its recommendations in the next 15 days, which will be submitted to the government to address the grievances of the slum dwellers and homeless people in Chennai and other parts of the state,” Patkar said.
Original MLS clubs LA Galaxy, NY Red Bulls cap their amazing turnarounds with showdown for MLS Cup
No. 24 Arizona is coming off consecutive defeats for the first time in the Tommy Lloyd era when it faces undefeated Davidson on Wednesday to begin the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. Arizona (2-2) lost at Wisconsin 103-88 on Nov. 15 and followed that with a home loss against Duke 69-55 on Friday. The Wildcats have dropped 15 spots in the Associated Press Top 25 poll in two weeks. Arizona's record is .500 this early in a season for the first time since it was 3-3 to start the 2017-18 schedule. "I've got work to do, so let's get to work," said Lloyd, in his fourth year as Arizona's head coach. "Let's see where we're at in a month, and if we're still struggling, you know what I'll do? I still got work to do, but I'm gonna get to it." Arizona shot 39.6 percent from the field against Duke, and just 26.1 percent (6 of 23) from 3-point range. The Wildcats were outrebounded by 43-30 and their 15 turnovers led to 19 points. Jaden Bradley led Arizona with 18 points and KJ Lewis added 12. Preseason All-American Caleb Love had eight points on 3-of-13 shooting from the field, including 1-of-9 from 3-point range. Arizona made only one field goal in the last 5:39 as Duke pulled away after its lead was trimmed to six points. "We didn't play great," Lloyd said. "Now we need to take a step back and figure out why. Are there some schematic problems? Are there some problems with how our personnel is kind of put together? "We got to figure out what our certainties are, and the things we have to have, and then over the course of the next couple of days, if there's adjustments we need to make, we need to figure out what those are." Davidson is 4-0 after a 15-17 record last season, in which it lost its last six games to put an end to postseason hopes. A 93-66 win over visiting VMI on Friday followed a 91-85 win at Bowling Green and 76-70 victory over visiting East Tennessee State. The two wins by 10 points or fewer are important because Davidson was 6-12 in such games last season. It was 4-11 in games decided by five points or fewer. "The goal (is) to get better," Davidson head coach Matt McKillop said after the season opener. "We talk about fighting to win every possession. I think we had to figure out what that really felt like with the lights on." Davidson made 13 shots from 3-point range in the win over VMI. Reed Bailey had 23 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Bobby Durkin added 19 points, including 17 of them and a career-best five 3-pointers in the first half. Bailey leads Davidson in scoring (19 points per game) and rebounding (7.8). Durkin is shooting 57.9 percent (22 of 38) from the field and 54.2 percent (13 of 24) from 3-point range. By contrast, Arizona's Love is shooting 32 percent (16 of 50) from the field and 21.4 percent (6 of 28) from beyond the arc. Bradley leads Arizona with 15.5 points per game. He is shooting 50 percent (24 of 48) from the field and is 35.7 percent (5 of 14) from 3-point range. --Field Level MediaUS stock indices pushed to fresh records Tuesday, shrugging off tariff threats from President-elect Donald Trump while European equities retreated. Trump, who doesn't take office until January 20, made his threat in social media posts Monday night, announcing huge import tariffs against neighbors Canada and Mexico and also rival China if they do not stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling. Both the Dow and S&P 500 notched all-time highs, with investors regarding the incoming president's words as a bargaining chip. "In theory, higher tariffs should not be good news for stocks. But, you know, I think the market's chosen to think of (it) as a negotiating tactic," said Steve Sosnick of Interactive Brokers. "You have bullish sentiment," said LBBW's Karl Haeling. "People are tending to look at things as positively as possible." But General Motors, which imports autos from Mexico to the United States, slumped 9.0 percent, while rival Ford dropped 2.6 percent. Overseas bourses were also buffeted by the news. European stocks followed losses in Asia, despite Trump excluding Europe as an immediate target for tariffs. "These are his first direct comments on tariffs and tariff levels since becoming president-elect, and they have roiled markets," said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB trading group, ahead of the Wall Street open. "It is early days, and there are plenty of opportunities for Trump to direct his attention to Europe down the line," Brooks added. The US dollar rallied against its Canadian equivalent, China's yuan and Mexico's peso, which hit its lowest level since August 2022. In other economic news, the Conference Board's consumer confidence index rose to 111.7 this month, up from 109.6 in October, boosted by greater optimism surrounding the labor market. "November's increase was mainly driven by more positive consumer assessments of the present situation, particularly regarding the labor market," said Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board. Pantheon Macroeconomics chief US economist Samuel Tombs added in a note that the increase in consumer confidence overall "likely was driven by euphoria among Republicans." "The index also jumped in late 2016, when Mr. Trump was elected for the first time," he said. Federal Reserve meeting minutes showed policy makers expect inflation to keep cooling, signaling a gradual approach to interest rate cuts if price increases ease further and the job market remains strong. New York - Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 44,860.31 (close) New York - S&P 500: UP 0.6 percent at 6,021.63 (close) New York - Nasdaq: UP 0.6 percent at 19,174.30 (close) London - FTSE 100: DOWN 0.4 percent at 8,258.61 (close) Paris - CAC 40: DOWN 0.9 percent at 7,194.51 (close) Frankfurt - DAX: DOWN 0.6 percent at 19,295.98 (close) Tokyo - Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.9 percent at 38,442.00 (close) Hong Kong - Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 19,159.20 (close) Shanghai - Composite: DOWN 0.1 percent at 3,259.76 (close) Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.0482 from $1.0495 on Monday Pound/dollar: DOWN at $1.2567 from $1.2568 Dollar/yen: DOWN at 153.06 yen from 154.23 yen Euro/pound: DOWN at 83.41 pence from 83.51 pence Brent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $72.81 per barrel West Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $68.77 per barrel bur-jmb/st
Did you know with an ad-lite subscription to Luton Today, you get 70% fewer ads while viewing the news that matters to you. Midfielder Liam Walsh has issued a personal apology to Luton supporters for the manner in which he has let them down after picking up his second red card of the season at Blackburn Rovers earlier this month. The 27-year-old, who was snapped up by Town on a free transfer in the summer, despite an injury-hit season in which he featured just 20 times for Swansea City , had looked good in his opening few appearances for the club. However, he was then sent off a mere 36 seconds after coming off the bench against Oxford United in October, shown a straight red card for a poorly timed and reckless sliding challenge. Advertisement Advertisement Banned for three games, Walsh had impressed once more when brought on in the 1-0 victory over Hull City , before missing a further four matches due to injury. The ex-Everton youngster returned to the squad for the trip to Ewood Park, introduced just after the hour mark, as this time he lasted 11 minutes, once more dismissed after another rash tackle on Yuki Ohashi. Sipper Carlton Morris showing his disapproval towards his team-mate when shoving him from the pitch, Town Gary Sweet confirming he had been fined the maximum amount possible for his ‘mind-boggling' actions. After reflecting on the difficult start to his life in Bedfordshire, Walsh took to Instagram to say sorry, writing: “Firstly, I just want to say that since the first day I walked into this special club, I’ve had nothing but positive support from the fans, staff and players. As a football fan myself I understand how much I’ve let you down and I own up to that, there is no excuse. I have made not one but two mistakes now that I know myself are not good enough and not up to the standards expected as a professional. "I’ve had a week or so to think how I can make it up to the fans of this great football club, because Luton Town is a club I want to be at and succeed at. I will be working hard now to stay as fit as possible so I am ready to come back to the pitch to help the boys, and also showcase to you fans how much you mean to me. I know a lot of people won’t take my apology well and rightly so, but I look forward to playing in front of you Hatters again, backing up my words and helping this club go on to success."Walmart’s DEI rollback signals a profound shift in the wake of Trump’s election victory
Steelers WR George Pickens returns to practice, hopeful to play against Chiefs