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Healey backs away from cutting welfare cost amid warnings of public finance shortfall

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

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Bentley revela bastidores do desenvolvimento de seu primeiro elétrico

A Bentley revelou nesta quinta-feira (29) os detalhes do programa de desenvolvimento do Torcal, o primeiro modelo 100% elétrico de sua história.

A frota de protótipos e veículos de pré-série acumulou mais de 1 milhão de quilômetros rodados em testes globais, enfrentando variações térmicas de -38 °C na Suécia até mais de 40 °C em regiões desérticas, além de ensaios em altitudes de até 4.200 metros acima do nível do mar em Pikes Peak, nos Estados Unidos.

O processo de engenharia do veículo combinou simulações virtuais em realidade estendida (XR) para o ajuste da cabine e ergonomia com métodos avançados de escaneamento a laser para verificação de montagem.

O desenvolvimento do sistema elétrico e de software adota ciclos de atualização a cada seis semanas, validados em laboratório e em pista antes da aprovação final.

Tecnologia e segurança do conjunto de baterias

O acumulador de energia do Bentley Torcal possui peso estimado em 625 kg e entrega densidade energética superior a 180 Wh/kg. Para garantir a integridade estrutural do componente, a fabricante instalou um escudo inferior de proteção em material composto contra impactos no assoalho do veículo.

O conjunto foi submetido a rigorosos testes de homologação internacional e segurança passiva. Entre os ensaios aplicados estão a resistência ao fogo por no mínimo duas horas sem propagação de chamas, testes de corrosão por névoa salina e a simulação de impacto por projeção de objetos contra o compartimento das células, na qual um projétil de aço de 111 gramas é disparado a velocidades superiores a 160 km/h contra a estrutura inferior.

Transição de protótipos e produção

Com a conclusão das fases de validação física e de software, a montadora britânica iniciou a remoção gradual das camuflagens da frota de testes. O processo de camuflagem do modelo variou entre adesivagem gráfica para distorção visual e painéis temporários de carroceria para ocultar as linhas finais do design durante as rodagens públicas.

A Bentley ainda não informou o início das entregas do Torcal aos clientes, mas está prevista para constar nas próximas etapas do cronograma de lançamento global da marca.

Range Rover lança primeiro modelo elétrico da história; confira

 

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Emergency stockpiles are a luxury that not everyone can afford | Letters

Keira Callaghan says being prepared should be a public health measure, not a privilege, and Chris Rotheram is experiencing prescription anxiety. Plus five more letters in response to the Be Ready campaign

The Be Ready campaign may offer sensible advice in principle (Every Briton should stockpile water and food supplies, government advises, 22 October), but as a midwife working in Tower Hamlets, one of the poorest boroughs in London, I can see first-hand that its practical recommendations risk excluding precisely those families who are already most vulnerable.

For families living in a single room in a shared house, storing nine litres of water per person alongside three days’ worth of essential supplies may simply be unrealistic. When families are already struggling with the cost of food, heating and everyday necessities, buying additional emergency provisions may also be financially impossible.

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© Photograph: pundapanda/Getty Images

© Photograph: pundapanda/Getty Images

© Photograph: pundapanda/Getty Images

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The ‘breathing space budget’ – breathing space for the government, that is | John Crace

John Healey aced the morning-after media round because his Martin Lewis measures left nothing to challenge him on

Maybe it had been one of the greatest acts of political genius after all. The day after the budget is usually the moment when things start to fall apart. When clued-up journalists and economists have had a chance to go through all the fine points the chancellor would rather everyone had missed. The forecasts that suggest everything is predicated on a wing and a prayer. The hidden unfunded tax cuts. The greater-than-expected spending commitments.

But on Thursday morning Andy Burnham and John Healey could afford themselves a sigh of relief. All had gone about as well as they could have hoped. It turns out that when you don’t make any massive tax or spending commitments, there isn’t a great deal to unravel. All there had been was a raft of small-scale interventions designed to help people with their personal finances. Call it the Martin Lewis budget. In fact, Healey and Lewis now seem unable to get through the day without spending some time with each other. They certainly can’t stop talking about one another. It’s becoming unhealthily co-dependent. The gods of small things.

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© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

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UK politics: Burnham denies preventing ministers from speaking about plans for closer relationship with EU – as it happened

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

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Healey’s budget paves way for ‘brutal’ spending review next year, warns IFS

Thinktank says chancellor has given himself a mountain to climb after ducking big decisions in low-key speech

John Healey has paved the way for a “brutal” spending review next year after his budget failed to cover a £28bn shortfall in the public finances needed to avoid a return to austerity, according to Britain’s leading tax and spending experts.

A day after his address to the Commons, the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said the chancellor had left himself a mountain to climb by ducking several big decisions in his debut tax and spending statement.

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© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

© Photograph: WPA/Getty Images

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Billionaire Tax Campaign Pins Its Hopes on Influencers and Social Media

Supporters of a California wealth tax are short on cash and are relying on cheaper campaign methods to get their word out.

© Minh Connors for The New York Times

Ifeanyi Ifediba usually creates videos about sports, anime and campus life. But he recently agreed to make a political ad to support the billionaire tax.
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John Healey faces questions over budget leak that moved bank share prices

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

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Jessie Buckley cambia los sueldos millonarios de Hollywood por los 167 euros diarios que paga el teatro Royal Court de Londres

Jessie Buckley (36 años, Kerry, Irlanda) es la última ganadora del Oscar a mejor actriz; se lo llevó el pasado mes de marzo por su papel protagonista en la película Hamnet, que le valió el reconocimiento de la crítica y el público en todo el mundo. Pero su primer reflejo no ha sido quedarse en Hollywood, sino volver al teatro. Y lo ha hecho a pesar de los sueldos millonarios de la meca del cine que puede ganar quien se hace con la preciada estatuilla. Tras recibir el Oscar, podría cobrar hasta 5,4 millones de euros por película, según analistas del sector consultados por The Times. Pero ella ha cambiado esos millonarios contratos por los 167 euros diarios que paga el teatro Royal Court de Londres, donde protagonizará la obra experimental Afterbirth.

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© SIPA USA (Sthanlee Mirador/Sipa USA)

Jessie Buckley con su Oscar a mejor actriz por 'Hamnet', el 15 de marzo de 2026 en Los Ángeles, California.
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Lloyds executive criticises Healey for linking bank tax rises to energy bill support

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

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

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Net Zero Costs Continue to Climb in Labour’s Budget

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.

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‘Scattergun’ budget will still leave Britons facing higher energy bills, says thinktank

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

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

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UK politics: Burnham denies preventing ministers from speaking about plans for closer relationship with EU – as it happened

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

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Healey vows to cut welfare bill before next election with ‘tough’ approach to young people

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

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

© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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Angry Labour MPs urge leadership not to overrule energy secretary on Rosebank

Exclusive: Backbenchers voice alarm over ‘intolerable position’ faced by Miatta Fahnbulleh over oilfield decision

Furious Labour MPs have been lobbying the prime minister and chancellor not to overrule the energy secretary should she decide to block the Rosebank oilfield.

MPs say they are alarmed at the cabinet splits that have emerged over the issue after sources told the Guardian that Miatta Fahnbulleh was minded to refuse environmental permission for the field.

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© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

© Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/Treasury

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How will John Healey’s energy support package affect you?

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

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