Category: News Story

STORY

Pubs, shops, restaurants and music venues in England and Wales can now accept certified digital proof of age when selling alcohol. The change allows customers to use an approved application on their telephone instead of presenting a passport, driving licence or other physical document.

A digital service can provide confirmation that somebody is aged 18 or over without disclosing information such as their name or address. Verification could involve showing a temporary QR code or tapping a telephone against a compatible reader. Services must be certified and included on the Government’s statutory register.

Using digital identification remains voluntary for customers and businesses, while physical documents will continue to be accepted. The change does not affect the legal drinking age or the responsibility of licensed premises to prevent sales to children. Ministers acknowledge that acceptance is likely to expand gradually as businesses install compatible systems.

STORY

Jaguar Land Rover has established a dedicated defence division and entered the competition to supply the Ministry of Defence with a new generation of light military vehicles. The company has also begun discussions with other NATO countries about purchasing its Defender Wolf Series II.

The new vehicles are intended as successors to Land Rovers that have served with the British armed forces for more than 70 years. JLR said the Wolf Series II could be adapted for transporting personnel, equipment and weapons in different operational environments. It is competing with several international manufacturers for a contract to replace thousands of ageing British military vehicles.

The Defender is designed and engineered in Britain, with its engine produced in Wolverhampton, although the vehicle itself is manufactured in Slovakia. JLR said winning defence orders could support its network of more than 2,200 British suppliers. No Ministry of Defence contract has yet been awarded, and reports suggest that a decision is not expected until 2027.

STORY

The Bank of England is reportedly preparing to stop actively selling Government bonds with maturities of 20 and 30 years. The change is expected to be announced alongside the Bank’s interest rate decision and annual quantitative tightening plan, although the Bank has declined to confirm the report.

Prices of longer dated gilts fell to their lowest level since 1998 on 14 September amid wider disruption in international bond markets. The Bank already reduced the proportion of longer dated bonds included in its sales during the previous year. Investors expect the overall reduction in its bond holdings to slow from £70 billion to approximately £50 billion during the coming 12 months.

The Bank accumulated £875 billion in Government bonds between 2009 and 2021 through quantitative easing and has since reduced its holdings by more than £400 billion. Reports suggest that ending sales of longer dated gilts could eventually reduce Treasury costs by about £2.5 billion a year, although that estimate depends on future market conditions. The decision remains unconfirmed until the Bank publishes its plans.

STORY

The state pension is likely to increase by 3.9 per cent in April 2027 following the publication of the latest earnings figures. Under the triple lock, pensions rise by the highest of average earnings growth, September inflation or 2.5 per cent.

Average total pay increased by 3.9 per cent during the three months to July. If that remains the highest of the three measures, the full new state pension would rise from £241.30 to approximately £250.70 a week, taking its annual value above £13,000. The full basic state pension would increase from £184.90 to approximately £192.10 a week.

The precise increase will not be known until September’s inflation figure has been published and the Government formally confirms the uprating. A pension exceeding the current £12,570 personal allowance could ordinarily create an income tax liability, although the Government has said pensioners whose only income is the basic or new state pension will not have to pay small amounts of tax through simple assessment from 2027.

STORY

Sir Chris Wormald received a severance payment of £859,496 after leaving his position as Cabinet Secretary and head of the civil service, Cabinet Office accounts have disclosed. Wormald was removed by former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer in February 2026 after serving in the post for 14 months.

The settlement consisted of £332,897 in contractual payments and an additional award of £526,598. Cabinet Office Permanent Secretary Cat Little sought a ministerial direction because the proposed total exceeded Wormald’s contractual entitlement and raised value for money concerns. Starmer approved the payment on the grounds that concluding the matter quickly would prevent further disruption to the operation of Government.

The payment exceeds the £457,000 settlement previously given to former Treasury Permanent Secretary Sir Tom Scholar. The Conservatives described Wormald’s settlement as a waste of public money, while the FDA civil service union argued that his departure had been handled poorly. Wormald was subsequently nominated by Starmer for a crossbench peerage and now sits in the House of Lords.

STORY

Reform UK is set to receive a second £36 million donation within 48 hours after cryptocurrency investor Christopher Harborne said he would match the sum announced by Ben Delo. The two pledges give the party £72 million in new funding, an unprecedented concentration of private political donations in Britain, although the latest gifts have not yet appeared in the Electoral Commission’s published register.

Harborne is a British businessman who lives in Thailand and has previously donated to Reform and the Conservative Party. He told The Telegraph that the money would help Reform build its campaigning operation before the next general election. Delo, a British co founder of the BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange, announced his separate £36 million gift on 11 September. Reform leader Nigel Farage has welcomed both contributions.

Political donations must come from permissible sources and parties are required to carry out checks before accepting them and reporting them to the Electoral Commission. The announcements have prompted renewed calls from opponents of Reform and campaign groups for a cap on individual donations, but the United Kingdom currently has no general limit on how much a permissible donor may give. The donations are announced commitments until the relevant checks, transfers and statutory reporting have been completed.

STORY

English whisky has been awarded protected Geographical Indication status, legally recognising it as a distinct category of spirit. The designation restricts use of the name to products meeting an agreed specification and is intended to protect legitimate producers from imitation. The Government announced the decision on 11 September.

More than 70 distilleries are now producing whisky in England, compared with 46 in 2023, while English whisky is exported to more than 30 countries. Industry estimates suggest that maturing stocks held in English casks are worth approximately £1 billion. Producers wishing to use the protected name must be verified through HMRC’s Spirit Drink Verification Scheme.

The application was submitted by the English Whisky Guild following several years of development and consultation. Previous proposals generated disagreement with the Scotch Whisky Association over production rules and the use of descriptions such as single malt. The final designation does not suggest that English and Scotch whisky are made to identical specifications, but gives each category separate legal protection.

STORY

The UK Government has said its position on Irish unity remains unchanged after US President Donald Trump expressed support for a united Ireland during a visit to Dublin. A Downing Street spokesperson reaffirmed that the Government does not currently believe there is sufficient evidence of public support in Northern Ireland to justify holding a border poll.

Under the Belfast Agreement and the Northern Ireland Act 1998, the Secretary of State must call a referendum if it appears likely that a majority of voters in Northern Ireland would support joining a united Ireland. The decision about whether that legal threshold has been reached rests with the UK Government rather than the Irish or US Governments.

Trump said he would “love” to see a united Ireland and believed it would eventually happen, but his comments do not alter the constitutional process. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has previously said a referendum should not be held unless clear evidence emerges that public opinion has shifted. Assessments of that support remain contested and individual opinion polls do not automatically trigger a vote.

STORY

Reform UK is set to receive a second £36 million donation from a cryptocurrency investor, taking the party’s newly announced funding to £72 million within 48 hours. Christopher Harborne said he would match the record contribution announced by BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo on Friday.

Harborne has previously provided substantial financial support to Reform and said he had intended to donate approximately £1 million for each month remaining before the next general election. He said Delo’s announcement had prompted him to make the entire £36 million contribution immediately. Reform leader Nigel Farage described the funding as providing the party with the resources needed to prepare for Government.

The contributions will be subject to checks and reporting requirements under electoral law. They have also renewed political calls for a limit on the amount that an individual may donate, although the Government has not announced that it will introduce such a cap. The donations should not be described as formally verified by the Electoral Commission until they appear in its published records.

STORY

A Devon taxi driver who fraudulently obtained £100,000 through the Government’s Bounce Back Loan scheme has been ordered to repay £63,790. The confiscation order was made against Murat Dogantekin at Exeter Crown Court following an investigation by the Insolvency Service.

Dogantekin secured two loans of £50,000 from separate banks in 2020 after claiming that two taxi businesses had annual turnovers of £200,000 and £205,000. Investigators found that he had declared earnings of £16,500 for the relevant tax year and had overstated his combined turnover by £388,500. He was jailed for two years and seven months in February 2025 after being convicted of fraud offences.

The Insolvency Service said £48,000 of the money was used to purchase a flat in Turkey, while Dogantekin also bought a Peugeot car for £2,840 and a pizza oven for £800. He has been given three months to pay the confiscation order and could face a further five years in prison if he fails to do so, although the debt would remain payable