flamingos

The new-build Perry Barr estate, described by local people as a ghost town, with many flats standing empty for more than a year, was intended to be an athletes’ village for the Commonwealth Games, which Birmingham hosted in 2022.

Due to delays caused by Covid, the development was not completed in time for the event so athletes were housed in student accommodation. The council said the Perry Barr apartments would become homes for local people instead.

But the properties have sat empty for months, with the council unable to sell them due to a lack of “market appetite” for one- and two-bedroom apartments in the area, and issues with mortgage providers valuing the properties at less than they were being sold for.

A report presented to the council’s cabinet last week said selling off 755 properties to a private bidder, who has yet to be named, would result in a “significant loss to the public purse” but was the best outcome.
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The council has spent £325m on the development, of which £292m was borrowed. After selling off the homes, it is expected that £142m-£152m of debt will remain unpaid, costing £8m-£9m a year over a 40-year period to repay, taking the projected total loss in the region of £320m.

The multi-millionaire businessman admits he set up a family trust in the Channel Islands tax haven of Jersey more than three decades ago.
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Tice said the trust, called the RJS Tice Family Settlement, was set up to avoid being “double taxed” on his “international investments”.

He would not tell us what "international investments" were in the trust. But in 2016, when it was still offshore in Jersey, Tice transferred one million of his shares in his UK property business Quidnet Reit Limited into the trust.

Quidnet owns £32m worth of commercial property in the UK and the trust now owns a 17% stake which is worth around £3m. Tice told us the beneficiaries of the trust were his three children with his ex-wife and insisted they are all UK taxpayers like him.

The trust was listed by Tice’s company Quidnet as having an address in Jersey as recently as July 2021. Tice said this was just a “correspondence address” and that he had already brought the trust onshore to the UK. But our investigation with the Good Law Project raises awkward questions for Mr Tice and his Reform UK party who present themselves as patriots standing up against “elites”.
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We asked Tice why he accused [union boss Steve Hedley] of libel, he told us: “Because he was alleging/insinuating illegal activity.” We have found a separate company registered in Jersey linked to Tice. Gellymill Limited, with the same Jersey office address as the trust, lent £125,000 to Quidnet in 2022.

Tice told us he was not a director of Gellymill but admitted: “Gellymill is under my ultimate control.” Mr Tice was elected as the MP for Boston and Skegness in last month's general election and is required to declare details of his financial interests, which will be published later this month.

The rules state that MPs must register "formal unpaid roles such as an unpaid directorship, a directorship of a company not currently trading, or a trusteeship".

They must also declare any companies that they own more than 15% of, or shares worth more than £70,000. Mr Tice initially told us he was not declaring Gellymill as he is “not a director so not needed”.

He later added that “as you have asked and taken an interest, I have voluntarily declared to Parliament Authorities the Family Settlement trust which includes Gellymill, even though strictly according to the rules I do not have to”. Asked about his trust in Jersey, he said: "It's been relocated to the UK.

"I was living abroad at the time back in 1990 and it was unclear if I would ever come back to the UK. It is very simple. The reason for the Jersey trust was to avoid double taxation on international investments as I have been an international businessman for much of my career but always UK taxpayer. I have always been a UK taxpayer, as have my children. It was set up when I was living in Paris."

The skipper of a Royal Navy 'bomber boat' submarine that carries nuclear missiles has been given the boot. Top brass saw an X-rated video he made while on duty, according to reports.

The Sun reported that he was in command of a Vanguard-class nuclear submarine, armed with Trident Two missiles, when he shared the graphic vid with a junior sailor on the sub. It is not clear which of the four Vanguard subs – HMS Vanguard, Vengeance, Victorious and Vigilant – he skippered.

Colleagues alleged that the pair had an illicit physical relationship when the bomber boat was at sea, but a Royal Navy source reportedly told the aforementioned title that sex on board did not form part of the investigation.

Cabinet ministers have been ordered to search for cost-cutting reforms and prepare for difficult decisions over spending, as chancellor Rachel Reeves and her team formally begin the process of compiling a pivotal review of public spending.

The chancellor has already made clear that she is planning to raise taxes and take tough decisions on welfare and spending in what will be a crucial autumn for the new Labour government. She will present her first budget and a spending review setting departmental budgets for this year and next.

Despite her surprise decision last month to end universal winter fuel allowance payments to pensioners as part of plans to close what she described as a £22bn black hole in spending, it is understood £16bn is still needed to bridge the gap this year.

Darren Jones, the chief secretary to the Treasury, has now written to cabinet ministers ordering them to find reforms and deploy technology that can save cash. He has also warned that funding will only be prioritised for the “first steps” announced by Keir Starmer during the election campaign – reducing NHS waiting lists, launching a new border security command, teacher recruitment and cracking down on antisocial behaviour.

All spending requests will be tested against whether they will help deliver these priorities by the new “mission boards” already set up in Whitehall by Starmer. While insiders would not be drawn on whether departments are being asked to draw up cuts, the demand for reform and innovation suggests some will be asked to provide the same services for considerably less in some areas.
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She is planning to slash fraud and error from the welfare system, and to cut down on government consultancy contracts. But those moves alone will be far from enough to make the savings or revenue increases she is seeking. Capital gains tax, relief on pension contributions and inheritance tax have all been raised as possible cash-raising targets. Reeves has also refused to rule out tweaking fiscal rules in a way that would give her slightly more room for investment spending.

James Cleverly and Dame Priti Patel are the only candidates whose names are widely recognised, according to a BMG Research poll for [I].

Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, the two favourites in the race, are familiar to fewer than half of voters with Tom Tugendhat and Mel Stride also relatively little known, the survey found.

Asked who they would like to see win the leadership election which concludes in November, two thirds of the public said they did not know or had no preference – suggesting most voters are not engaging with the process.

Even among Conservative voters, almost half declined to name a preferred candidate from the six contenders. Mr Cleverly, the former Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary, came out top among Tories with 15 per cent of the votes and ex-Security Minister Mr Tugendhat was second on 12 per cent. No other candidate attracted as much as 10 per cent support from Conservative backers.

Among voters as a whole, the most popular candidate was Mr Cleverly with 8 per cent, with 61 per cent saying they had heard of him, behind only Dame Priti on 82 per cent name recognition. 49 per cent knew of Ms Badenoch, the former Business Secretary, 44 per cent recognised Mr Tugendhat, 42 per cent had heard of ex-Immigration Minister Mr Jenrick, and just 30 per cent said they could identify Mr Stride, the former Work and Pensions Secretary who is the dark horse in the contest.
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A poll of members by the website Conservative Home last week found that Ms Badenoch is the favourite among activists with the support of 38 per cent, followed by Mr Jenrick on 19 per cent.

The British government has already begun to suspend arms export licences to Israel while ministers carry out a policy review, evidence seen by the JC confirms.

While Foreign Secretary David Lammy is yet to make a final decision on whether to halt weapons sales to the Jewish state, civil servants have already stopped granting permits.

One individual involved in arms exports to Israel, who was seeking permission, received a notice in response that stated: “suspended pending policy review”.

Such a move would put Jerusalem alongside North Korea and Iran.

Asked to confirm whether the government had suspended all arms export licences for Israel, a Department for Business and Trade spokesperson said: "It is vital that we uphold both our domestic and international legal obligations when it comes to arms exports.

"We are reviewing the advice available and will come to a considered decision."