UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak has announced a six-month cut in VAT from 20% to 5% for the hospitality and tourism sectors. He also announced new job retention bonus for employers who bring back furloughed staff. And also Temporary cut to VAT on food,accommodation and attractions from 20% to 5% is announced.
Speaking to the media afterwards the chancellor said, the government had been right to act “in the way we have during this crisis”.
The chancellor confirmed the furlough scheme will end in October
A new Jobs Retention Bonus will be introduced for businesses to retain staff. They’ll be paid £1,000 for every furloughed employee they keep on up to January 2021
A £2bn “kickstart” scheme to help create job placements for 16-24 year olds for six months
VAT will be cut from 20% to 5% from 13 July to 12 January 2021 for some areas
Travellers arriving in the UK from dozens of countries no longer have to self-isolate for two weeks from Friday.
The rules are being relaxed for arrivals from more than 60 countries and British overseas territories. However, Scotland still requires people travelling from Spain to quarantine – unlike England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The Foreign Office’s advice against taking a cruise holiday remains in place.
From Friday morning, people arriving in the UK from France, Italy, Belgium, Germany and dozens of other countries will no longer have to spend 14 days in quarantine.
The European Union announced Tuesday that it will reopen its borders to travellers from 14 countries, but most Americans have been refused entry for at least another two weeks due to soaring coronavirus infections in the US.
Travellers from other big countries like Russia, Brazil and India will also miss out.
Non-EU citizens who are already living in Europe are not included in the ban. The EU list does not apply to travel to Britain, which left the EU in January. Britain now requires all incoming travellers – bar a few exceptions like truck drivers – to go into a self-imposed 14-day quarantine, although the measure is under review and is likely to ease in the coming weeks
The Australian government has confirmed it will soon trial a program to fly in international students into the country. Students will be required to undergo 14 days quarantine on arrival, paid for by the universities themselves. South Australia and the ACT are set to be the first state and territory to participate in the trial.
The Australian government could soon be flying foreign students in by the planeful as it seeks to inject some life back into the university sector.
“The UK is in a good position to take market share from the US in India and a further improvement in the post-study work offer would help the sector overcome new concerns about studying in the UK that have arisen in the wake of Covid-19,” says Jo Johnson
The UK’s former universities minister, Jo Johnson, has recommended doubling the duration of the post-study work visa from two to four years among a range of measures that would help the UK higher education sector overcome the shocks of Covid-19 and Brexit.
“Imagine if trees gave off Wifi signals, we would be planting so many trees and we’d probably save the planet too. Too bad they only produce the oxygen we breathe.”
World Environment Day, also known as ‘Eco Day’ or ‘Environment Day’, is celebrated on June 5 under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to spread awareness about the importance of the environment and why we need to protect the nature for a better life.
World Environment Day, also known as ‘Eco Day’ or ‘Environment Day’, is celebrated on June 5 under the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) to spread awareness about the importance of the environment and why we need to protect the nature for a better life.
