
Lidl shoppers are going mad for nostalgic ice cream treat that reminds them of Spanish holidays
The retailer has launched a range of Mediterranean -themed sweet and savoury bites in store with prices starting from 49p.
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But it's one product out that's really got shoppers talking - Sol and Mar orange and lemon sorbets.
One Lidl shopper who bought the orange sorbet in their local branch posted a photo on the Food Finds UK Facebook page, adding: "For all the orange lovers.
"This is the Orange Sorbet from the Lidl Spanish range. It's perfect for the weather we're in atm."
The post has caught the attention of hundreds of fellow shoppers who have been quick to like and comment.
Another, tagging a family member, added: "Omg these are like what dad used to buy! Need to get some for nostalgic purposes."
Meanwhile, a third said: "These are amazing."
Shoppers can buy both the orange and lemon flavour sorbets for £3.99 in their local store.
You can find your nearest store via www.lidl.co.uk/c/store-finder/s10023098.
We have asked Lidl for the calorie information for the desserts and will update this story when we have heard back.
Five simple ways to save cash at Lidl
Bear in mind, you might not be able to get them in all Lidl branches though.
Of course, with anything like this, always remember to shop around to ensure you're getting the best price.
Use price comparison websites like Trolley, Price Spy and Price Runner to scour retailer's online prices.
However, in this instance, we couldn't find any other chains selling lemon or orange sorbets like this.
You can buy tubs of sorbet, without the fruit peel, from retailers including Sainsbury's, M&S and Tesco though.
Tesco is selling a 500ml tub of lemon sorbet for £2.75, while Sainsbury's has a 500ml tub for the same price and M&S a 500ml tub for £3.
If the sorbets aren't for you, Lidl's Spanish range features 76 other products including classic Spanish crisps for £1.49 and tubs of chorizo slices for £1.99.
Shoppers can also buy Piri Piri Aioli for 99p and even Gazpacho-flavoured crisps for £1.25.
In other Lidl news, the retailer was the second cheapest supermarket for a basket of 79 items in June, according to Which?.
Plus, shoppers are going wild for a £30 dupe of a £400 jacket worn by Oasis lead singer Liam Gallagher.
How to save money on your food shop
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how you can save hundreds of pounds a year:
Odd boxes - plenty of retailers offer slightly misshapen fruit and veg or surplus food at a discounted price.
Lidl sells five kilos of fruit and veg for just £1.50 through its Waste Not scheme while Aldi shoppers can get Too Good to Go bags which contain £10 worth of all kinds of products for £3.30.
Sainsbury's also sells £2 "Taste Me, Don't Waste Me" fruit and veg boxes to help shoppers reduced food waste and save cash.
Food waste apps - food waste apps work by helping shops, cafes, restaurants and other businesses shift stock that is due to go out of date and passing it on to members of the public.
Some of the most notable ones include Too Good to Go and Olio.
Too Good to Go's app is free to sign up to and is used by millions of people across the UK, letting users buy food at a discount.
Olio works similarly, except users can collect both food and other household items for free from neighbours and businesses.
Yellow sticker bargains - yellow sticker bargains, sometimes orange and red in certain supermarkets, are a great way of getting food on the cheap.
But what time to head out to get the best deals varies depending on the retailer. You can see the best times for each supermarket here.
Super cheap bargains - sign up to bargain hunter Facebook groups like Extreme Couponing and Bargains UK where shoppers regularly post hauls they've found on the cheap, including food finds.
"Downshift" - you will almost always save money going for a supermarket's own-brand economy lines rather than premium brands.
The move to lower-tier ranges, also known as "downshifting" and hailed by consumer expert Martin Lewis, could save you hundreds of pounds a year on your food shop.
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Times
an hour ago
- Times
Public sector bigger than before Covid under SNP
Scotland's public sector will remain more bloated than it was before the pandemic even if SNP ministers hit a target requiring some departments to cut one in eight jobs, experts have warned. IPPR Scotland, a think tank, said a promise to protect and in some cases expand frontline roles while finding overall staffing reductions of 0.5 per cent by 2030 would mean exposed departments have to slash 20,000 posts to plug a projected spending gap approaching £5 billion. However, even if the target is met this would 'not undo the increases in devolved public services since 2019', according to separate analysis published by the Fraser of Allander Institute, based at the University of Strathclyde. The institute's independent economists also downgraded their growth forecasts for the Scottish economy and predicted 0.8 per cent growth this year, and just 1 per cent in 2026. This is despite ministers claiming Scotland is a 'modern, high-growth country', an assertion the IPPR analysis said 'might be generously described as optimistic'. Before Holyrood went into recess for the summer, the finance secretary, Shona Robison, outlined the need to tackle a £2.6 billion shortfall in day-to-day resource spending and £2.1 billion deficit on capital projects, which she blamed on 'Westminster austerity'. However, critics lambasted the SNP for 'years of gross financial incompetence', with a significant proportion of the black hole explained by the creation of more generous devolved welfare payments and a ballooning and increasingly well-paid public sector. The wage bill for the devolved public sector is close to £30 billion, which is about 55 per cent of the block grant funding from Westminster. Public sector pay is projected to reach £32 billion by 2029-30 even if the overall workforce shrinks. The Fraser of Allander Institute said that although some of the increases in staffing were accounted for by the creation of Social Security Scotland to administer new devolved welfare payments, this did not account for most of the rapid expansion. 'It's laughable for SNP ministers to claim Scotland is a high-growth country based on the facts,' the Scottish Tory MSP Craig Hoy said. 'The reality is we're a high-tax, low-growth nation as a direct result of their policies. 'The nationalists' addiction to a bloated, inefficient public sector is the reason nobody has faith in their ability to make the cuts needed to plug the huge black hole they have created in Scotland's finances.' Hoy added: 'Their failure to fully pass on the rates relief available to businesses south of the border, coupled with them making Scotland the highest taxed part of the UK, explains why the growth rate here is even lower than the anaemic rate Keir Starmer is presiding over.' There were about 590,000 public sector workers in Scotland in 2024, representing 22 per cent of the workforce. The proportion is lower than in Northern Ireland and Wales but far higher than in England, where 17 per cent of workers are employed by the state. The size of the public sector workforce in Scotland grew by 11 per cent between 2017 and last year, with average public sector pay almost 5 per cent higher than the UK as a whole. Robison said last week that reducing overall staff numbers by 0.5 per cent, largely through 'natural attrition and recruitment controls', could lead to £700 million of savings. Compulsory redundancies, she said, could be used as a 'last resort', reversing a long-standing ban. A 0.5 per cent reduction in the 550,000 workers for devolved functions would mean 11,000 full-time jobs being cut. However, the IPPR said that as frontline jobs, which account for the vast majority of roles, were being protected, the axe would fall heavily on those that were not. 'Taken together, that would mean the rest of the devolved public sector facing staffing cuts of around 3 to 3.5 per cent per year or a drop of about 13 per cent by 2029-30,' a blog co-authored by IPPR Scotland director Stephen Boyd said. 'That amounts to around 20,000 jobs. 'Can the public-sector backroom bear cuts of that scale? Does the distinction between frontline and backroom make any sense? Are there really thousands of backroom public-sector roles that can be replaced by technology over the next four years? 'The Scottish government risks finding out that the answers to these questions are unlikely to be the ones they need to achieve a pain-free balancing of the budget.' Ivan McKee, the public finance minister, said: 'It is clearer than ever that Scotland's economy is being impacted by challenging global trading conditions and uncertainty, conditions mirrored across the rest of the UK.' McKee added: 'We are taking ambitious steps to grow the economy by pursuing new investment, building export potential and driving and capitalising on the Scottish innovation at the forefront of many key global industries. 'But we are doing all of this without the full economic powers of independence that are needed to fully address the issues facing Scottish businesses. We need decisive action from the UK government to counter the damaging economic impacts of Brexit and business uncertainty. This includes reversing its decision to increase employers' national insurance contributions which, as the Scottish Chambers of Commerce has highlighted, is severely damaging business confidence, investment, growth and jobs. 'As set out by the finance secretary last week, savings rising to £2.6 billion in 2029-30 will ensure funding can be targeted at frontline services such as the NHS, social security, action to eradicate child poverty and other priorities. This includes our commitment to reduce annualised Scottish government and public bodies' corporate costs by 20 per cent over the next five years.'


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE 'Why would I get a job? I get your monthly wage in a week!' As Starmer's bid to cut disability benefits is sunk by Labour MPs, social media tutorials show claimants how to milk the system - and you'll be the one left feeling sick
As anyone who has had the misfortune of dealing with civil service bureaucracy will know, it can be a complicated endeavour. There is the jargon, the minutes that bleed into hours spent on hold on the phone and, of course, the endless form-filling. But mastering this red tape – particularly in relation to Britain's bloated benefits system – can apparently also present extraordinarily lucrative business opportunities. Just ask Charlie Anderson, a YouTube blogger who says her chronic arthritis and fatigue has rendered her unable to work. Thanks to her lengthy experience with the welfare system, she is extremely proficient at filling out forms used to claim the Personal Independence Payment [PIP] allowance disability benefit. So adept has she become in applying for this taxpayer-funded help that she has taken to explaining the 'tricks of the trade' to any prospective benefits claimant – for a hefty fee, of course. For £750, Ms Anderson will provide a three-hour online consultation in which she will discuss the best way to fill out a PIP claim form. If she can work her magic, the pricey up-front outlay will quickly be repaid by the taxpayer. She also offers a premium service to people whose initial PIP claim was turned down. Her £950 fee includes a four-hour, one-to-one video call during which Ms Anderson will talk them through their 'mandatory reconsideration' – civil service-speak for a free appeal. All from the comfort of her shed-turned-office at the bottom of her garden in Bucknall, Staffordshire. Charlie Anderson, a YouTube blogger who says her chronic arthritis and fatigue has rendered her unable to work, charges disability benefit applicants large fees for help explaining the 'tricks of the trade' Remarkably, Ms Anderson – whose YouTube tutorials and emotional diatribes against the state of Britain's benefits system have attracted almost four million views – claims that she has a '100 per cent success rate at winning PIP' and has 'helped over 150 people receive their PIP claims'. A video with more than 200,000 views starts with a bouncy, 'Hi, my name is Charlie and I'm really good at PIP'. She then describes the 'trickery' used by the Government's assessors. If asked whether you can go to the shops or hospital unaided, don't say yes, she warns, or you won't be awarded benefits. Despite the fact that her tutorials have attracted criticism from various quarters, business is apparently booming – with Ms Anderson even seemingly 'employing' two people to assist her in administering her customer base. The 46-year-old is far from the only online influencer – or 'sickfluencer' – exploiting a lucrative market in helping claimants navigate the welfare system's complexities. Take Whitney Ainscough, who boasts 750,000 followers across TikTok and Instagram. The Range Rover-driving 31-year-old mother from Rotherham, South Yorkshire, says her lifestyle is funded by benefits, claiming in one video posted in May that she receives £1,151.90 a week. 'Why would I get a job?' she said. 'I get your monthly wage in a week. Why would I go out and get a job? I'm living my f***ing best life.' In another video from earlier this year she advised her followers to withdraw their PIP money in cash so nobody would be able to track what it was being spent on. It is this sort of abuse of the system that the Government sought to address with its £5billion cuts to the ballooning welfare budget announced earlier this year. But ministers were this week forced into a humiliating climbdown following a rebellion by Labour MPs. Now there will be no reform of PIP rules until the Government has had time to consider a review of current procedures. One anonymous Labour MP said the series of U-turns on the bill had turned it into 'a total clusterf**k of Godzilla proportions'. Mel Stride, the shadow chancellor, said: 'This farcical climbdown is the most humiliating moment of Labour's first year in office.' But it's not hard to see why the Government targeted disability benefits for cuts. Around one in ten working-age adults – some four million people – are claiming either disability or incapacity benefit, up from less than three million six years ago. This means taxpayers are footing a bill of £70billion a year for such claimants – up £20billion since the pandemic. One of the key factors behind this surge is the number of people reporting mental health conditions such as anxiety or depression as what makes them eligible for PIP. Earlier this year, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said there was an 'overdiagnosis' of mental health conditions, contributing to 1,000 new PIP claimants every day. Even those suffering from conditions such as acne, alcoholism and Tourette syndrome (a neurological condition that causes involuntary, repetitive movements and sounds) are receiving welfare payments. The Mail can reveal that last year alone, more than £2billion was paid out in benefits to claimants suffering from mixed anxiety and depressive disorders – an average of around £6,600 per claimant. The figures compiled by the Taxpayers' Alliance also reveal £291million was spent on almost 47,000 claimants who cited anxiety disorders as their main condition and more than £26million was paid out to help people with obesity. Another £60million went to 9,000 people claiming to have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). This absurd liberalisation of the system has not gone unnoticed by bloggers such as Chantelle Knight. The Southampton-based 43-year-old has told her TikTok followers that sufferers of conditions such as ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) don't need an official medical diagnosis to get benefits but just to show how the condition affects their everyday life – advice echoed by Charlie Anderson. In another TikTok video, Ms Knight said: 'I have a client with ADHD who is undiagnosed. And I've just secured him an award of high rate daily living allowance and low rate mobility [payments made on the basis of how serious the client's perceived disability is]. 'He doesn't have a diagnosis. And it just goes to show you can have an abundance of diagnoses and no evidence and not get an award. Equally you can have an abundance of evidence and no diagnosis and get the award.' Last month, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that Ms Knight had breached advertising rules for 'potentially harmful' promotions of a saffron-based food supplement via her website and 'irresponsibly discouraged' people from taking medically-prescribed treatments for ADHD. Last night, her website appeared to have been closed. It would seem that one of the main contributory factors to this trend is the fact that many PIP claimants are no longer obliged to attend a face-to-face assessment. The switch to assessments carried out over the phone started in the pandemic when lockdowns made in-person ones impossible. Outsourcing firm Maximus, which conducts PIP assessments on behalf of the Government in the north of England and Scotland, says on its website that some assessments can even be completed solely based on the information provided in the initial form. It then says that 'if there is not enough information to complete the assessment, you will be invited to attend a consultation'. 'Most consultations are carried out by telephone,' it adds, 'but we may invite you to a video or face-to-face consultation if needed.' Critics say the use of telephone assessments makes it easier for claimants to exaggerate their symptoms because the assessor is not in a position to scrutinise their condition properly. In December, former assessor Michael Houston told a Channel 4 Dispatches documentary that 'people were encouraged to do six cases a day' and that they received cash incentives to process more. 'If you did any more than that, you would get £80 per case,' he added. 'If the claimant met the highest category [of sickness benefit] then the assessment could be curtailed early. This would allow them to fit in more cases per day.' As the phone interviews are not recorded, leaving no way of checking if guidelines are being applied properly, the system is vulnerable to abuse. Former Spectator editor Fraser Nelson, who made the Dispatches documentary, recently argued that returning to face-to-face interviews is vital if the welfare budget is to be brought under control. He said: 'Record and spot-check all claims, not just rejected ones. Publish all sickness benefit data, daily. How many applied and were approved? How many bonuses were paid? Such transparency could be transformative. A Covid-style live data dashboard would focus minds more than any ministerial edict.' But to understand why the welfare reforms provoked such outrage, it's worth looking at what the Government initially wanted to do. PIP is not means-tested and does not affect other benefits or the benefits cap. It can even be claimed if you are working. It includes a daily living component and a mobility component. To be entitled to the daily living part, claimants need to explain how much difficulty they have performing everyday activities, including tasks such as cooking, washing and getting dressed or undressed. A points system is used where, for example, requiring supervision or assistance to prepare or cook a simple meal would be awarded four points. Being completely unable to prepare and cook food would warrant eight points. Under the Government's initial proposals, claimants would have needed to score a minimum of four points on at least one activity to be eligible for that component – rather than a range of different ones. But scrapping the change was one of the Government's concessions to the rebels on Tuesday. People claiming daily living payments can receive the standard weekly rate of £73.90 or an enhanced one of £110.40, depending on their level of difficulty performing the relevant tasks. The mobility part comprises a standard rate of £29.20 per week or an enhanced rate of £77.05 per week. Those who qualify for the higher rate can also choose to exchange this for a car under the Motability scheme. This arrangement came under fire after it emerged it accounts for one in five new cars sold in Britain and, in March, the Mail revealed that the company behind the scheme is sitting on a £4billion stockpile of reserves – including £1.3billion in cash in the bank. So many people are now entitled to disability benefits that, in some parts of the country, an astonishing one in five people are in receipt of handouts. In the Welsh county of Blaenau Gwent, 211 out of every 1,000 people are claiming PIP – the highest proportion in the country. In Sunderland, the figure stands at 173 per 1,000 people and, in this PIP hotspot on Thursday afternoon, sisters Maureen and Mary Robey and their friend Olga Koch were enjoying the sunshine in the city centre. All three have been claiming PIP for a number of years. Maureen, 71, said she was finally granted the £600-a-month benefit following a phone consultation. 'It wasn't as easy as it could have been to claim PIP,' she said. 'I wasn't expecting to have to answer questions over the phone. I had been told that filling out a form would be all I needed to do. But I filled out a long form and my doctor's notes were sent over to back up my claim. I expected the money to be sent to my account quickly after. 'They rang me and asked questions about my COPD [Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease], which I didn't think was necessary. 'All three of us have been on it for years and it's helped to make our lives easier, so this uncertainty about it being reformed has caused some concern.' Mary, 72, said she has anxiety and depression but her PIP claim was initially rejected. 'I turned to Age Concern for help and they filled out my forms for me,' she said. 'It was only after their involvement that I got the help I needed.' Under PIP terms, new claims cannot be made after reaching state pension age. But if you already get PIP and hit pension age, your payments continue. Former soldier John Heskett, 73, said he believed there were a number of people in the city fooling the system: 'There are a lot of kidders out there who are claiming PIP when there's not a thing wrong with them. 'I know of people in this town who are claiming and they're fitter than me. I have problems with my legs and I know I would qualify but I don't ask for help when I don't feel I need it. 'Everyone should be tested properly because people are working the system.' Back online, Charlie Anderson, as part of her £750 online tutorial, says she will analyse answers to ensure 'what we write matches your life AND is communicated in a way that suits the DWP [Department for Work and Pensions] so they can assess you.' Ms Anderson, with more than 52,000 YouTube subscribers, then says she can send answers back so the claimant can 'copy what we wrote straight on to your form'. She adds: 'By the end of the meeting, you will feel much better and you will probably have the best nap you have had in years!' Last night, a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions hit out at those trying to cash in on the benefits boom. 'We condemn attempts to charge people for support with their PIP applications, and strongly encourage customers to seek additional support through free channels, such as, the website, our dedicated helpline, and relevant charities,' he said. 'And we are bringing forward the biggest fraud crackdown in a generation as part of wider plans that will save £9.6billion by 2030 – protecting taxpayers' money and investing in our public services through our Plan for Change.'


Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
ALEX BRUMMER: Chancellor's emotional rollercoaster set to continue
When in difficulty, politicians grasp at straws. The weird scenes in the Commons on Wednesday of a lachrymose Chancellor and a seemingly oblivious Prime Minister as the markets tanked frame Labour's first year in office. Labour apparatchiks claim the surge in gilt yields – as Keir Starmer left Rachel Reeves blowing in the wind – as evidence that financial markets believe in the Chancellor's ironclad grip on the public finances. Bond buying by BlackRock, Schroders and Fidelity as gilt yields soared is cited as confidence that the budget rules will hold. Fascinating that L&G, among the biggest UK asset managers, says a 'lack of clarity' in the Government's fiscal stance has unsettled markets. The unusual juxtaposition of Reeves in tears on Wednesday and cackling in the company of Starmer a day later doesn't suggest stability. The markets don't really believe it. The yield on the 30-year-long bond has jumped 0.64 of a percentage point to 5.33 per cent in the 12-months since Labour won. The ten-year yield is 0.36 per cent higher at 4.56 per cent. Some of this can be attributed to Trump mayhem. UK rates shadowing the US are only part of the story. Oxford Economics suggests that the U-turns on welfare and winter fuel, together with likely revisions to Office for Budget Responsibility growth assumptions, have opened a £20billion to £30billion funding chasm to be closed in the autumn. A black hole of that size cannot be surmounted by small shifts in secondary taxes such as a bank levy or punishing wealth. Similar charges already have caused enough damage with private equity princelings among those fleeing to Milan. The Chancellor's only choice may be to raid one of the bigger pots of government income, flying in the face of manifesto promises. Freezing tax thresholds for a further two years is a possibility, even though it already has propelled millions of working people into higher bands. A surcharge on corporation tax is an option. That would be a fresh blow to business confidence. It is going to be a long, hot summer for Reeves on a personal roller-coaster. Beautiful day July 4 for this writer will always be associated with the delightful celebration in our Washington DC neighbourhood. The children's bikes would be decorated with red, white and blue ribbons and balloons, and join a procession down to the local Palisades Park. US Independence Day this year is marked by Donald Trump's 'big beautiful' tax and spending bill. It reinstates Trump's first term tax cuts for the better off and lifts spending on defence and border security. It also slashes benefits for the less well and elderly with cuts in Medicare and Medicaid. The estimated outcome is a $3.4 trillion hit to the nation debt over the next decade. That underestimates the supply side impact of lower personal and corporate tax on enterprise, entrepreneurship and output. Bank robbery A letter from a reader in Abingdon bemoans NatWest's decision to close its listed bank building in the town. Meanwhile, Santander is making no secret of its intention to shutter unspecified TSB outlets if it reclaims the bank from Sabadell. That's no way to win hearts and minds.