Visitors to America will face an additional £9 fee from the US authorities from 8 September as the government looks to raise money for the American tourism industry. The fee will affect visitors from 36 nations as well as those who apply for the electronic system for travel authorisation which was put in place after 9/11. There are concerns that the US authorities are looking to milk overseas visitors to the country and appear set to make it more expensive and more difficult than ever.
There are fears regarding inflationary pressure in the UK, and around the world, after the Russian government announced a forthcoming ban on the export of grain from the country. Due to abnormal weather conditions in Russia the authorities have decided to retain as much grain as possible within the country to feed domestic demand, something which has had a major impact upon grain prices on the commodity markets.
The Russian authorities have been forced into introducing a ban on the export of grain after severe droughts in the region effectively wiped out much of the supply available in Russia. There are now concerns that the ban from the Russian government will impact on the world wide grain market as immediately after the announcement there was a 7% increase in the price of the commodity.
The future of the Food Standards Agency is today in doubt with the shock revelation that the agency is unaware of how many cloned cattle are in the UK and indeed how many have now entered the food chain. The revelation just a few days ago that one dairy farmer admitted that milk from a cloned cow had entered the UK food chain has now grown into a potential disaster for the Food Standards Agency. So what are the latest revelations?
The UK government has today confirmed plans to introduce a supermarket ombudsman to monitor the relationship between supermarkets and their supplies to ensure there is no abuse of power. For many years there has been constant criticism of the supermarket industry with claims that suppliers are being pressurised to produce goods at wafer thin margins and are effectively at the beck and call of the supermarket industry.
After a period of relative uncertainty regarding the future of electric cars in the UK, the UK government has today reiterated a subsidy programme introduced by the Labour government which will see up to £5000 handed over to those who acquire an electric car, a plug-in petrol/electric hybrid or a car powered by hydrogen fuel cells from January 2011.
Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, has today reported a 65% increase in first-half profits to £1.56 billion. However, it is the near doubling of profits at the company's British Gas residential offshoot which has caused most concern within government and consumer circles. British Gas reported a profit of £585 million for the first six months of 2010 which is of a staggering 98% increase on the same period last year!
Chris Huhne, the energy secretary, has today confirmed that UK businesses will bear the brunt of ongoing policies to cut emissions in the UK. It is forecast that business energy bills will rise by up to 26% over the next decade while at the same time consumers will see a rise of about 1% in their own energy bills. While there is no doubt that the UK needs to revamp and update the energy system there is great concern that a massive increase in the base cost of energy will force UK businesses to eventually pass these increases to consumers.
In years gone by there was major competition on the UK high street with regards to financial services and banking facilities although today the UK sector is dominated by a relatively small band of companies. As a consequence, there is a growing belief that consumers in the UK have lost part of their power to make changes in the UK financial sector and indeed UK banks are actually dictating the finances of not only consumers but also businesses in the UK. Can this be true?
The Consumer Credit Counselling Service has today issued a report into debt in the UK and the effect this has upon relationships and underlying health. The survey found that 37% of those questioned have had problems with their partners because of financial pressure and 22% said this did have an impact upon their relationship with their children. However, it does appear that many people are hiding their financial problems from their partners with many choosing to tell friends and family.
