Category: News Story

STORY

A Bradford second-hand car dealer has been ordered to repay £66,917 after fraudulently securing a £50,000 Covid Bounce Back Loan for his business. Javed Akhtar was given a confiscation order at Bradford Crown Court on 6 August and must repay the money within three months. If he fails to do so, he could face six months in prison while still remaining liable for the full amount.

Akhtar had previously admitted fraudulently applying for the maximum £50,000 Bounce Back Loan available for Natasha Motors Ltd in May 2020. He claimed the company had a turnover of £400,000, but the Insolvency Service said that declaration was false. During an interview under caution, Akhtar gave differing figures for the company’s 2019 turnover and said the loan application had been completed on his instruction by the firm’s accountant. He was sentenced in March to 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, and ordered to carry out 250 hours of unpaid work.

An Insolvency Service financial investigation identified assets including three cars and a solar panel investment worth more than £150,000. Officials said this showed Akhtar had sufficient assets to repay the Bounce Back Loan in full, together with an uplift reflecting the change in the value of money since 2020. Akhtar was separately disqualified as a company director in August 2023 for failing to provide adequate accounting records, with his six-year ban running until August 2029.

STORY

Civil Nuclear Constabulary Chief Constable Simon Chesterman has joined calls opposing the potential early release of two men involved in the death of Thames Valley Police officer Andrew Harper. Chesterman said Jessie Cole and Albert Bowers should remain in prison for the remainder of their sentences, arguing that early release would damage public confidence and police morale.

PC Harper, 28, was killed in August 2019 while responding to the theft of a quad bike in Berkshire. He was dragged behind a vehicle along a country road while carrying out his duties. Three teenagers involved in the incident were subsequently sentenced to a combined 42 years in prison, with Cole and Bowers each receiving 13-year sentences. Under current proposals, the pair could potentially become eligible for release after serving half of their custodial terms.

Chesterman, who served with Thames Valley Police between 1984 and 2007, said he felt compelled to express solidarity with Harper’s family, friends and former colleagues. He said police officers routinely face dangerous situations while protecting the public and argued that allowing those involved in Harper’s death to benefit from early release would fail to reflect the seriousness of the offence and the continuing impact on his family and the policing community.

STORY

A disqualified company director who claimed to be in an induced coma when he was due to appear in court has been jailed after admitting that he continued to run a football magazine business while banned. Peter Etherington, 68, of Ilkley, West Yorkshire, was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court to 18 and a half months in prison, including five months from an activated suspended sentence. He was also disqualified from acting as a company director for a further ten years, taking the ban through to August 2036.

Etherington admitted acting as a director of PP Global Media Limited between April 2019 and October 2022 while disqualified. The company produced Professional Player, described as a luxury lifestyle magazine for professional footballers and their families. The Insolvency Service said Etherington exercised control over the company’s finances, staffing and contracts despite other people being formally listed as directors. Bank records showed that he received more than £100,000 from the company account, more than any named director during the same period.

Etherington had been due before Bradford Magistrates’ Court in January, but an email said to have been sent by a family member claimed that he was in an induced coma. The Insolvency Service contacted two local hospitals and found no record of him being a recent inpatient, while he had also updated his Facebook profile and signed a legal document during the same period. Officials said information suggested that he “may have been seen in Tesco”. Etherington had previously been disqualified as a director three times, in 2017, 2020 and 2022.

STORY

Britain’s permanent jobs market showed signs of stabilising in July, with a survey of recruiters recording no fall in permanent placements for the first time in 45 months. The Recruitment and Employment Confederation and KPMG said their permanent placements index rose to 50.0 from 49.1, the level separating expansion from contraction.

Temporary hiring remained in growth territory, with the temporary staff placements index at 51.9, compared with 52.7 in June. Temporary vacancies increased for the first time in two years, while the availability of temporary workers rose by the smallest amount since May 2023. Starting pay also strengthened, with salary growth for newly hired permanent staff reaching a six-month high and temporary pay growth its strongest in 26 months.

The survey was based on responses from around 400 recruitment agencies between 9 and 27 July. KPMG said businesses would now be looking for evidence that policies from the new Government could translate into confidence to invest and recruit. The Bank of England is also monitoring pay pressures closely as it assesses inflation and the outlook for interest rates.

STORY

A reported 230 people have arrived in Dover after crossing the English Channel in a single small boat, which would be the highest number recorded on one vessel. The boat arrived in the early hours of Monday after travelling from the French coast, surpassing the previous reported single-vessel record of 165 people set in July.

The development comes as smugglers have increasingly placed larger numbers of people on individual boats. A vessel carrying 173 people capsized earlier this month after its engine caught fire. Overall small boat arrivals in 2026 have nevertheless been lower than in 2025, with the total at the end of July reported to be around 45% below the equivalent point last year.

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described the latest crossing as evidence of what he called a national security emergency. The Home Office has previously said criminal smuggling gangs are using increasingly dangerous tactics and the Government has expanded co-operation with France, including additional resources for enforcement activity on the French coast.

STORY

The Government has announced nearly £130 million of public and private investment for zero-emission vehicle technology, including funding for automotive research and connected transport projects. Almost £65 million will come from public funds, with the remainder being provided by industry partners.

Nearly £50 million of Government funding has been awarded to automotive companies and research partners to develop and scale technologies intended for zero-emission vehicles. A further £17 million is being provided for nine connected and automated mobility projects covering areas including sensors, brake-by-wire systems and artificial intelligence simulation.

Industry minister Blair McDougall said the Government wanted the next generation of vehicles to be designed and manufactured in Britain. The funding forms part of wider efforts to support the automotive sector as manufacturers prepare for the transition away from new cars powered solely by petrol or diesel, sales of which are due to end in 2030, with all new cars required to be zero-emission by 2035.

STORY

Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced plans for a crackdown on misleading retail discounts and unwanted subscription renewals as part of the Government’s cost of living programme. Ministers intend to consult on adding practices such as false previous prices, invented discounts and misleading recommended retail prices to the list of commercial practices that are explicitly prohibited under consumer law.

The Government also intends to bring new protections for subscription customers into force from January 2027. Businesses will be required to provide clearer information before customers sign up, send reminders before renewals and make cancellation easier. Consumers will also receive a new 14-day cooling-off period after a free or discounted trial ends or after certain longer-term subscriptions renew.

The British Retail Consortium said major retailers already comply with rules requiring promotions to offer genuine savings. Conservatives said parts of the package implement measures originating in legislation passed under the previous Government, while the Liberal Democrats called for stronger action in other areas of household costs. Burnham said further cost of living measures would follow.

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Reform UK has proposed deporting foreign national offenders serving sentences in England and Wales as part of a plan it says would ease pressure on the prison system. Nigel Farage and the party’s home affairs spokesperson Zia Yusuf are setting out proposals to transfer foreign prisoners either to their home countries or, where that is not possible, to third countries including El Salvador and Kosovo.

There are just over 10,000 foreign nationals currently in custody in England and Wales, although nearly a third are being held on remand rather than serving a sentence following conviction. Reform officials have said the deportation plan would apply to foreign nationals once convicted. The party is also proposing around 12,000 temporary prison places through what it has described as ‘Nightingale prisons’, alongside measures intended to restore greater use of short custodial sentences.

Labour rejected the proposals and said the Government was already working to deport foreign criminals and expand prison capacity. The dispute comes as the Government reviews its own early release arrangements, which were introduced to prevent prisons reaching capacity. Reform says its proposals would create space to keep more offenders in custody, while questions remain over the legal, diplomatic and financial arrangements that would be required to hold prisoners in third countries.

STORY

Business leaders have called on Chancellor John Healey to accompany the Government’s ‘Buy British by design’ procurement policy with action on taxation, energy costs and regulation. Healey has said that public procurement should be used to support British jobs, apprenticeships and businesses, with departments expected to favour domestic economic benefits when spending public money.

Industry figures quoted by The Sun said that procurement changes would not on their own address the pressures facing firms. Representatives from construction, motoring, farming and hospitality called for measures including changes to VAT, lower energy costs and reductions in regulatory burdens. Hospitality businesses renewed calls for a lower rate of VAT, while manufacturing and motoring figures highlighted the effect of high industrial energy prices on competitiveness.

The Government has said that supporting British business and using public spending to generate domestic jobs form part of its wider growth strategy. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has also promised a stronger relationship with business and greater use of procurement to support UK companies. The specific tax and regulatory changes sought by the industry groups have not been adopted by the Government and will add to pressure on Healey ahead of his first Budget.

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The European Union is reported to be considering extending temporary flexibility around its Entry/Exit System beyond 6 September amid concerns about disruption and queues at busy borders. The Times reported that EU transport commissioner Apostolos Tzitzikostas is supporting an extension and has privately reassured UK officials that additional flexibility is likely.

The Entry/Exit System records the arrival and departure of non-EU travellers visiting the Schengen area and requires biometric information, including a photograph and, for many travellers, fingerprints. The system has been fully operational since April, but temporary arrangements allow border authorities greater flexibility when checks create excessive congestion. Several EU member states have already sought an extension of those arrangements beyond the summer.

The UK Government has repeatedly said that it supports the security objectives of EES while wanting implementation to minimise disruption for British travellers. Ministers have raised the issue with EU counterparts and provided additional funding for preparations at UK transport points where French border checks take place. No formal extension beyond 6 September has yet been announced.