The director of the antiquities department Dr George Georgiou has warned that continued cuts to its budget will have consequences for the protection of Cyprus’ cultural heritage.

“The continued compression of spending on antiquities will not be without a price,” Georgiou told the House finance committee, accusing the government of using “creative accounting” to present the department’s reduced funding.

The deputy ministry’s proposed budget for next year stands at €64.3 million, down from its present allowance of €65.7 million, however, Deputy Minister Clea Hadjistefanou Papaellina said the previous year’s allocation included €2.2 million for cultural events during Cyprus’ EU council presidency.

Excluding that amount, the next year’s budget represents an increase of €820,000, she said.

The antiquities department has been allocated €23.6 million, including €19.9 million in recurrent expenditure and €3.8 million for development projects.

Akel MP Christos Christofides questioned the government’s commitment to culture, saying the Deputy Ministry’s share of the state budget had fallen from 0.62 per cent to 0.45 per cent.

He also criticised reductions in funding for cultural grant programmes, including support for theatre productions and contemporary cultural creation.

Christofides said Cyprus ranked near the bottom in Europe in terms of the proportion of public spending devoted to culture.

The ‘contemporary culture department’ is set to receive €21.1 million, of which €15.6 million is earmarked for development expenditure.

Its director, Ioanna Hadjicosti, said €300,000 had been cut from sponsorship programmes, with reductions spread across the various schemes.

Papaellina defended the ministry’s use of its available resources, saying they were being fully utilised to modernise cultural infrastructure and protect the island’s heritage.

She also said the ministry was reviewing sponsorship criteria in response to feedback from cultural organisations.

The committee also heard that completion of the new archaeological museum has been delayed to February 3, 2027, representing a 209-day extension to the original timetable.

Director general George Papageorgiou said a further 18 months will be required to transfer antiquities into the building,

She also confirmed that the ministry’s annual contribution to Limassol’s Rialto Theatre was €120,000, with state funding due to end by 2029 under the agreement with the municipality.

“Thirty percent, we won’t consent” chants echoed across Schuman roundabout in the Brussels European quarter this week, as culture, media and journalist workers demanded that national leaders halt plans to reduce cash for culture in a protest on Thursday (29 October).

Representatives from European rights forums, culture groups and a journalism federation gathered in a bid to keep enough money flowing to their organisations.

“There’s a very grim future if we continue with these cuts,” said Rhys Nugent of Culture Action Europe, one of the protest’s organisers. “These sectors are already on their knees.”

The demonstration came after EU leaders discussed giving less money than previously proposed to AgoraEU, an umbrella for culture, media, democracy and rights initiatives, within the EU’s 2028-2034 budget.

30% less for culture

Reacting to the EU Commission’s proposal to give AgoraEU €8.6bn under the long-term budget, the EU parliament’s budget committee asked to ramp this up to €10.7bn.

But national capitals have not agreed to either proposal.

Instead, the Irish presidency of Council presented a plan earlier this month (October 10) to allocate €5.3bn for AgoraEU –  representing a 30 percent cut to the commission’s proposal. It was responding to pressures for frugality from some member states.

National capitals are yet to finalise a budget agreement.

“They picked culture because they think it’s an easy target, but it will affect journalists, artists and NGOs who are the backbone of our democratic society” said Nela Reihl, a German Green MEP and chair of parliament’s culture and education committee.

“If this goes through, people will wake up one day and ask: why are my rights not protected? Why has that film festival disappeared? Where has my local publisher gone?” she said.

“These cuts will save only a tiny percent of the EU budget but cause massive damage to these sectors,” added the German lawmaker. 

What could be chopped?

AgoraEU is a new umbrella for Creative Europe and Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values (CERV).

Protest organiser Nugent said Creative Europe “funds everything from small theatrical productions to large cooperation around Europe.”

He pointed to Flow, an Oscar-winning film, Europa Cinemas, and Culture Moves Europe as examples of the types of bodies that could be affected by a lack of EU funding.

This article continues, but the full version is available only to EUobserver.com subscribers. Visit account.euobserver.com/membership

Britain must prepare for a decade of pain as the country faces the worst decade for household income on record after John Healey’s "tinkering" Budget, the Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned.

The post Prepare for Decade of Pain, Warns IFS appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Prime minister says room for manoeuvre was limited by geopolitical crises and Labour’s 2024 manifesto

Andy Burnham has admitted his first budget as prime minister was not as radical as he would have liked because of the economic uncertainty facing the country.

He said he would have liked to have gone further with this week’s announcement – including with higher energy support payments – but felt hemmed in by external events such as the war in Iran, which has pushed up borrowing costs.

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© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

© Photograph: Darren Staples/PA

Experts round on chancellor over ‘scattergun’ budget, saying he ducked big tax and spending decisions

John Healey has backed away from cutting the cost of welfare this parliament, amid dire warnings his first budget could lead to brutal spending cuts because of a £28bn shortfall in public finances.

Experts rounded on Healey’s steady-as-she-goes budget on Thursday, with the Institute for Fiscal Studies saying he had left himself a mountain to climb by ducking big tax and spending decisions.

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© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

© Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Future Publishing/Getty Images

Prime minister wrote to ministers saying he did not want them to ‘advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process’

Selling nicotine-free vapes to children under the age of 18 has become illegal from today, the government has said.

Children were already banned from buying vapes containing nicotine. But, under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, shops across the UK will now be banned from selling nicotine-free vapes, and nicotine pouches, to children.

Vaping can be a way to help established adult smokers who are already addicted to nicotine from tobacco to swap to a less dangerous product. Vaping is considered safer than smoking, but that is a low bar. Vapes should therefore never be used by children or non-smokers.

Some children have already come to harm from bad reactions to vapes. The long-term health harms of vaping in today’s children will only become clear over time. They are however unlikely to be good; inhaling multiple, often heated, chemicals into the lungs may well do irreversible harm.

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© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

Caroline Voaden says Reform UK leader grabbed her by the arm and tried to push past her in incident in May

A female Liberal Democrat MP has accused Nigel Farage of shoving her aside at the state opening of parliament after which one of her male colleagues intervened.

Caroline Voaden gave her account of the incident in May this year after Farage revealed on Wednesday that there had been a “physical altercation” in parliament which meant he had decided to avoid the budget.

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© Composite: House of Commons; Stefan Rousseau/PA

© Composite: House of Commons; Stefan Rousseau/PA

© Composite: House of Commons; Stefan Rousseau/PA

The Portuguese Veterinary Association (OMV) is submitting a petition to parliament today with the aim of bringing down IVA (VAT) on veterinary services for pets – currently priced at top

The post Veterinarians deliver petition to parliament calling for minimal IVA on pet bills appeared first on Portugal Resident.

Treasury select committee asks FCA to investigate whether tax surcharge leak led to ‘improper release of inside information’

John Healey is facing pressure to clarify whether he permitted a market-sensitive budget leak ahead of his statement, which moved bank share prices.

The chair of the influential Commons Treasury select committe, Meg Hillier, has written to the Treasury and the Financial Conduct Authority watchdog (FCA) to assess whether a story leaked to Bloomberg, and published more than an hour before the budget was revealed, led to an “improper release of inside information”.

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© Photograph: House of Commons/Reuters

© Photograph: House of Commons/Reuters

© Photograph: House of Commons/Reuters

Chief financial officer says he hopes budget measure is temporary as sector provides loans that fuel growth

• Business live – latest updates

A senior Lloyds Banking Group executive has criticised the chancellor for linking bank tax increases to energy bill support for UK households, as he warned the government against extending the higher levy beyond March 2028.

Lloyds’s chief financial officer, William Chalmers, acknowledged that the economic environment was “challenging” but said the government should not seek to ease pressure on households at the expense of the banking sector as it provides loans that could fuel UK growth.

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© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

© Photograph: Nathan Stirk/Getty Images

Net Zero costs have continued to climb in Labour's Budget, with tens of billions in subsidies being poured into renewables and other green boondoggles. We simply can't afford it, says Paul Homewood.

The post Net Zero Costs Continue to Climb in Labour’s Budget appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Healey’s attempt to provide ‘breathing space’ gives rich almost as much as poor, says Resolution Foundation

• Business live – latest updates

• Budget 2026: what it means for your wallet, your mortgage and your pay

John Healey delivered a “scattergun” budget that did little to boost living standards and left Britain facing “a painful second half” of the parliament, a leading economic thinktank has warned.

The Resolution Foundation said on Thursday that measures to ease household gas and electricity costs would still leave energy bills higher this year than during the last energy shock.

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© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

© Photograph: RichSTOCK/Alamy

Prime minister wrote to ministers saying he did not want them to ‘advocate for specific options or opine on the likely outcome of the process’

Selling nicotine-free vapes to children under the age of 18 has become illegal from today, the government has said.

Children were already banned from buying vapes containing nicotine. But, under the Tobacco and Vapes Act, shops across the UK will now be banned from selling nicotine-free vapes, and nicotine pouches, to children.

Vaping can be a way to help established adult smokers who are already addicted to nicotine from tobacco to swap to a less dangerous product. Vaping is considered safer than smoking, but that is a low bar. Vapes should therefore never be used by children or non-smokers.

Some children have already come to harm from bad reactions to vapes. The long-term health harms of vaping in today’s children will only become clear over time. They are however unlikely to be good; inhaling multiple, often heated, chemicals into the lungs may well do irreversible harm.

Continue reading...

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Darren Staples/AFP/Getty Images

The Guardian’s money and economics editors Hilary Osborne and Heather Stewart answered your questions on energy prices, tax thresholds and the global events pressuring the economy.

FelonMarmer asks: What is going to stop landlords just transferring their tax increase onto tenants, while complaining about how hard done by they are?

Heather says: Unfortunately, there’s nothing to stop landlords passing their higher tax bills onto their tenants, aside from what the local rental market will bear. Indeed, the Office for Budget Responsibility did suggest one result of this and other recent policies (the 2p rise this year followed another 2p last year) could be “a steady rise in rents,” as some landlords whack up rents and others leave the market altogether. I think John Healey’s answer would probably be a fairness one - that income made through renting out property should be taxed more heavily than that earned through work.

Heather says: That’s a really good question: Labour strategists are adamant that they wouldn’t. I can’t help thinking that voters were so convinced the public services were in a dire state, they could have accepted the argument that taxes needed to rise. Certainly, the Tories didn’t seem to get much electoral credit for Jeremy Hunt’s desperate cuts to national insurance contributions in his last couple of budgets. But we’ll never know.

Another question is whether Labour should have bust the manifesto promises - either when they first got in, on the basis the public finances were worse than they thought; or at some point in the last year, given the impact of the Iran war (which has added £14bn to the government’s interest costs this year alone).

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© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

© Composite: Guardian Design

Chancellor’s comments come as fiscal watchdog says disability benefits will cost £100bn a year before end of decade

• Business live – latest updates

John Healey had said there will be a reduction in the welfare bill before the next election, with a “tough” approach to young people who do not accept support to get a job or training.

The chancellor was repeatedly pressed on the issue in broadcast interviews after documents from the Office for Budget Responsibility suggested sickness and disability benefits would cost £100bn a year before the end of the decade.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

From a young chef and a single father to business owners and a pensioner, Guardian readers reveal how John Healey’s measures will affect them

• What the budget means for you

Louie, 24, a chef living in London, says a lot of people have “written off the idea of even considering getting a property” in their 20s.

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© Photograph: Graham Robinson

© Photograph: Graham Robinson

© Photograph: Graham Robinson

Chancellor’s ‘new course’ includes a £100 one-off payment, low-carbon upgrade loans and an end to standing charges

John Healey has unveiled a package of support for households being buffeted by “global economic storms”.

“I’m setting a new course to get energy costs down in line with Europe,” the chancellor said in his maiden budget. In the long term, he hopes that changes in how Britain covers the cost of renewables and grid upgrades will “drive down all aspects of energy bills”.

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© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

© Photograph: Washington Imaging/Alamy

Few surprises as chancellor uses low-key speech blaming ‘global economic storms’ for stoking energy prices and cost of living crisis

• Budget 2026: key points at a glance

• Briefing: key questions answered by Heather Stewart and Pippa Crerar

• Editorial: Budget’s bold ambitions and welcome first steps

John Healey raised taxes on banks and landlords to fund a £100 winter handout for 20 million families as official forecasts made clear there is no end in sight for the cost of living crisis.

In his first budget, the chancellor blamed “global economic storms” for the grim outlook, as the war in Iran drives up oil and gas prices.

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© Photograph: House of Commons/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: House of Commons/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: House of Commons/AFP/Getty Images

With no last-minute surprises, the proposed State Budget for next year was approved, in general terms, with only the governing parties voting in favor and PS, PAN and JPP abstaining.

The post 2027 State Budget approved in general terms thanks to PS abstention appeared first on Portugal Resident.

Reform UK leader ‘shocked’ by £10bn pledged to Ukraine and doubles down on cutting tax for crypto investors

• Budget 2026: key points at a glance

Nigel Farage skipped the chancellor’s first budget because he was worried he would get in a “physical altercation” with another MP in a row over seating arrangements.

The Reform UK leader was not present in the House of Commons but gave a press conference afterwards in which he said he was “shocked” by the £10bn going to support Ukraine and doubled down on his party’s policies on cutting tax for crypto investors.

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© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Zeynep Demir Aslim/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock