Defense Official's Data Blunder Forced U.K. to Secretly Relocate Thousands of Afghans
The government went to great lengths to keep the mistake and its ramifications secret, including acquiring a rare court injunction banning all reporting on the matter back in 2023, after it argued that disclosing the existence of the list would alert the Taliban. On Tuesday reporting restrictions were lifted by a judge after a government review concluded that the risk to the Afghans named was now less acute.
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Yahoo
20 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Government asks body to consult on axing ‘discriminatory' minimum wage age bands
The Government has said it is pushing forward with plans to look at removing 'discriminatory' age bands for the national minimum wage as it extended the remit of the Low Pay Commission (LPC). It said the advisory body will consult with employers, trade unions and workers on narrowing the gap between the minimum wage rate for 18 to 20-year-olds, and the so-called national living wage – the UK minimum wage for workers 21 years and older. The LPC will also be required to put forward 'recommendations on achieving a single adult rate in the years ahead'. Chancellor Rachel Reeves said: 'To ensure the right balance is struck between the needs of workers, business affordability and the wider economy, the LPC is being asked to consult on several issues before recommending the new rates.' Last year, Labour committed to removing these age bands to create a 'genuine' national living wage, as part of efforts to bolster employment rights. Currently, the national living wage for workers aged 21 and older is £12.21. Meanwhile, the minimum wage for workers aged between 18 and 20 is £10. There is also a minimum wage for those aged under 18, and apprentices, of £7.55. The Government said the change to the LPC remit will also ensure it actively considers the cost of living in its recommendations for changes to the minimum wage which are next applied from April 2026. The LPC, which was founded in 1997, provides recommendations to the Government each October regarding how it believes the minimum wage should be changed. The Government ultimately sets minimum wage rates for the following April after this advice. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said: 'Low pay drags down living standards for our workers and in turn hurts our high streets and local businesses. 'This Government's plan for change will put money back in people's pockets, with this new remit marking the next step in considering how we ensure a fair deal for our lowest-paid workers while maintaining a competitive economy that boosts businesses and their employees alike.' Baroness Philippa Stroud, chairwoman of the LPC, said: 'We are pleased to receive our remit from the Government. 'Already, since the beginning of the year, we have spent significant time speaking with workers and employers to understand the pressures in the economy and the effects of the most recent increases in the minimum wage. 'We have held a successful call for evidence and received detailed submissions from all sides.'
CBS News
an hour ago
- CBS News
DOGE continues to say it's slashing costs but cuts are fraction of what's claimed, CBS News analysis finds
The spotlight may have moved off the Department of Government Efficiency since the departure of Elon Musk, but the Trump administration's DOGE continues to post about cost cutting on its so-called "wall of receipts." And once again, some of its claims about savings appear to be significantly overstated, according to a CBS News review. The review of three of the largest cuts claimed so far indicates the savings from those contracts are less than 3% of what DOGE said they were. On July 27, DOGE added 705 canceled contracts to the website it uses to track and declare savings from the agency's cost cutting across the federal government, among them three of the largest claimed cuts posted since President Trump launched DOGE in January. The three contracts — all from the Department of Health and Human Services — funded COVID-19 testing and treatment for people who were uninsured or underinsured during the pandemic. DOGE claims canceling those contracts saved $6.4 billion. But CBS News' review of transaction records indicates the actual savings is just a small fraction of that — around $165 million. That's about how much in obligated funds were left unspent in the three contracts by the time Mr. Trump took office and DOGE was launched. There was nearly $7 billion that remained, but this figure represented a ceiling that federal contracting experts say is rarely reached. DOGE adjusted down that total potential value by a combined $6.4 billion — and then reported it as savings. But with the pandemic long over and the contracts set to expire on May 31 of this year, it is highly unlikely the contractors, which included Walgreens and CVS, would have spent anywhere near that sum on COVID-19 testing and treatment. The spending "was never going to reach this number," said Nat Malkus, a senior fellow at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute, referring to the total potential value. "You didn't have to terminate this contract, you are the government — just don't obligate any more money." Since it was launched, multiple news outlets including CBS News have reported that DOGE's "Wall of Receipts" has at times vastly overstated the amount of funds cut and discovered numerous errors in the group's accounting. DOGE now claims it has saved $52.2 billion – just from contracts canceled. Malkus, who analyzed the actual implications of the cancellations rather than the ceiling values, puts the number closer to $17.8 billion. But that would only be if Congress agreed to rescind the funds that it had already voted to spend. The DOGE website reports a grand total of $199 billion saved, when factoring in real estate lease cancellations and other cuts such as personnel reductions. However, it provides no documentation for roughly half of that amount. According to DOGE, the savings equate to $1,236.02 per person in the U.S. "The amount they have per person is fiction," Malkus said. "It's transparency theater." HHS did not respond to a CBS News request for comment about the three contracts. The White House redirected the request to the General Services Administration, which declined to comment. A substantial portion of those purported savings is a result of cuts to USAID. A recent study in the medical journal The Lancet says those cuts could come with a human toll. By the study's estimates, the loss in humanitarian aid could lead to 14 million deaths in children younger than 5 years of age by 2030. Malkus told CBS News, "Their claims are generally to say, 'Hey this is a lot of pain, but it's worth it.'" The update is only the second since Musk, who launched DOGE, departed from his role in the White House advising Mr. Trump. Shortly before Musk's term as a special government employee expired, he told reporters, "This is not the end of DOGE, but really the beginning." "The DOGE team will only grow stronger over time. The DOGE influence will only grow stronger," he said from the Oval Office on May 30, adding that he was confident over time DOGE would cull $1 trillion in savings. It's unclear exactly how DOGE has functioned since then. In late June, The Washington Post reported that federal officials were instructed to stop routing the grant-making process through DOGE, revoking control of the online clearinghouse for all grant opportunities from the group. In DOGE's latest update, only one additional canceled grant was added. Several DOGE-associated government employees have left in recent weeks, including the Department of the Interior's Tyler Hassen, whose last day was Friday, The New York Times reported. Hassen was originally hired as a DOGE staffer, and then was later tasked with trimming costs at the Interior Department, where he was named principal deputy assistant secretary of the interior. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum had allowed him broad authority to make cuts to budgets and staffing, and under his watch, a DOGE-associated employee made the claim that a single survey costing $1 billion dollars had been cut. That claim was repeated by Elon Musk and Burgum, but no evidence was ever supplied to back it up.
Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Dutch to Supply Ukraine With €500 Million in Arms From US Reserves
The Netherlands will contribute €500 million ($579 million) to Ukraine's defense as part of a US initiative, making it the first NATO country to donate funds through the new program. The funds will be given under the Prioritized Ukraine Requirements List, agreed by US President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte in July. Under this program, NATO allies purchase military equipment from US reserves for Ukraine. The Netherlands is the first NATO ally to finance a full package, the country's defense ministry said in a statement Monday.
