Author: Loveworld UK

The government has lost more than £600m in revenue from selling student loans “too cheaply,” the National Audit Office (NAO) has said. A difference of opinion on how to calculate the students’ loan portfolio between the Department of Education and the Treasury “increases the risk that they could be selling loans to private investors too cheaply relative to their long-term value,” the NAO warned.”A key incentive for HM Treasury in selling the loans was to reduce its Public Sector Net Debt (PSND) and avoid future write offs of unpaid student loans,” the independent auditor of government spending added.”However, PSND provides…

Low-cost airline Ryanair has cancelled 24 flights after a quarter of its Irish pilots went on strike. The flights that were cancelled on Friday were between Ireland and the UK.The carrier warned it would cancel another 16 flights next Tuesday if another strike goes ahead.Friday’s strike is the second by Irish pilots over pay and conditions, and the third to hit Ryanair since the airline recognised unions last December.The pilots are concerned about promotions, seniority and annual leave, among other things.In a letter to the Irish Pilots’ union Forsa, Ryanair’s chief people officer Eddie Wilson criticised the union for not…

The US cable giant Comcast has abandoned its takeover bid for 21st Century Fox’s entertainment assets, saying it wants to concentrate on its attempt to buy Sky plc, the owner of Sky News. Comcast launched a $65bn (£50bn) offer for Fox’s entertainment assets at the end of June, which include Hollywood’s fourth-largest movie studio, US cable networks including FX and National Geographic, as well as international pay television assets including Star TV in India and its shareholding in Sky.That offer trumped an existing deal struck between Rupert Murdoch, Fox’s executive chairman, and Disney just before Christmas.Since then, however, Disney has…

Troubled restaurant chain Gaucho has fallen into administration, Deloitte has said. All 22 Cau restaurants are set to close, leading to the loss of 540 jobs.Matt Smith, joint administrator at Deloitte, said:”Unfortunately the Cau brand has struggled in the oversupplied casual dining sector with rapid over-expansion, poor site selection, onerous lease arrangements and a fundamentally poor guest proposition all being factors in its underperformance.”As such, the decision has been made to close this loss-making part of the group with immediate effect, unfortunately resulting in today’s redundancies.”Mr Smith added that Gaucho was still trading well and had strong customer loyalty.The restaurant…

Spain’s Supreme Court has withdrawn European arrest warrants for separatists linked to Catalonia’s independence referendum. The extradition requests were for six Catalan separatist politicians, including ex-regional president Carles Puigdemont, wanted on rebellion charges.The revoking of the arrest warrants is expected to be viewed by Catalan separatists as a major victory against Spain’s central authorities.Judge Pablo Lllarena said he had taken the decision after a ruling by a German court that Puigdemont could not be sent back to Spain for rebellion – only for misuse of public funds.The court said the Spanish charge of rebellion is not recognised in Germany.If the…

The young football players rescued from a flooded cave complex in Thailand have visited a Buddhist temple to pray for protection from misfortunes. Eleven of the boys and their 25-year-old coach spent their first day back with their families at the Wat Pra That Doi Wao temple on Thailand’s northern border with Myanmar.One of the Wild Boar boys, Adul Sargon, was not present as he is not Buddhist.The team has said they would ordain as Buddhist novices in honour of the former Thai navy SEAL diver, Saman Gunan, who died while making preparations for their rescue. 0:58 Video: Emotional Thai…

Murders have risen by 12% and crimes involving knives or sharp instruments by 16% in England and Wales, new figures show. A total of 701 murders were recorded by police in the year to March 2018 – the fourth consecutive increase – according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).This figure excludes cases linked to terror attacks and the Hillsborough disaster.Knife crime has also continued to rise, with police recording 40,147 offences.When it came to overall crime, forces logged a total of 5.5 million offences, a rise of a 11% compared with the previous year.There was also a 2% increase…

The fashion sector is facing calls to scale back production amid revelations Burberry deliberately destroys stock worth millions every year. Figures from the British luxury company showed it burned fashion and beauty products worth £28.6m in its last financial year.The practice, understood to be rife throughout the sector, means unwanted items cannot fall into the hands of counterfeiters or find their way onto other shelves or websites.In Burberry’s case, it is believed trademark items from coats and bags to perfume are incinerated though the company insists the procedure carries an energy benefit to limit the environmental impact. Image: Clothes and…

The leader of neo-Nazi group National Action has been jailed for eight years after he was found guilty of membership of the banned group . Christopher Lythgoe, 32, from Warrington, was sentenced at the Old Bailey. Another prominent National Action member, Matthew Hankinson, 24, was jailed for six years for membership of the group.The far-right group was banned by the Home Secretary over its support of the murder of Labour MP Jo Cox, who was shot and stabbed to death in 2016 by neo-Nazi Thomas Mair.The court was told that Lythgoe had regarded the death of the Batley and Spen…

The crisis engulfing Britain’s high streets will deepen on Wednesday when Gaucho, the steak restaurant chain, crashes into administration after its lenders opted not to pursue a rescue deal. Sky News has learnt that the company, which employs about 1,500 people, has filed a notice of intention to appoint Deloitte as its administrator.While that gives it up to ten days’ breathing space from creditors, sources close to the company said it could fall into administration as soon as Wednesday afternoon.The decision will come after weeks of talks about a sale to new investors, with the restaurant entrepreneur Hugh Osmond among…