Welfare concessions: How will the government make up the shortfall?
The u-turn leaves the Treasury with billions to raise and further tough decisions down the road.
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The Sun
23 minutes ago
- The Sun
Lidl's £30 Middle Aisle garden gadget bargain is £20 cheaper than a B&Q one
LIDL is bringing back a sell-out garden gadget in days and it's cheaper than B&Qs alternative. The budget-friendly supermarket will soon be restocking the Grillmeister Barbecue Pizza Oven, a hot weather favourite amongst shoppers. Available for the bargain price of £29.99, it'll hit your local store's Middle Aisle from Sunday, July 6. The oven can be used on charcoal or gas barbecues and the Lidl claims its perfect for creating pizzas with a delicious crispy base. The design features a removable pizza stone and integrated thermostat. For comparison, B&Q stocks a George Foreman alternative priced at £49.99, making Lidl's gadget a fantastic £20 cheaper. Lidl's dupe will be available for a limited time only. This garden gadget is part of Lidl's exclusive Middle of Lidl outdoor event, which will also feature a wide range of items, including garden lights, outdoor tables, and even gazebos. If something catches your eye be sure to get to your local store quickly on July as shops will only receive limited stock and when it's gone, it's gone. You can find your closest Lidl supermarket by visiting When shopping Lidl's special deals, it's always a good idea to compare prices with other retailers to ensure you're getting the best value. You can use online tools like or Google Shopping to help with this. I tested all the high street pizza ovens - this one at over half the price of Lakeland's is the best Prices can vary depending on the model, size, and retailer, so comparing options is essential before making a decision. For example, Ooni is a leading brand for pizza ovens, but their models range from £299.99 to £799.99, making them a significant investment. Lastly, remember that a deal is only worthwhile if you genuinely need the product. Buying something just because it's on offer doesn't necessarily mean you're saving money. How to compare prices to get the best deal JUST because something is on offer, or is part of a sale, it doesn't mean it's always a good deal. There are plenty of comparison websites out there that'll check prices for you - so don't be left paying more than you have to. Most of them work by comparing the prices across hundreds of retailers. Here are some that we recommend: Google Shopping is a tool that lets users search for and compare prices for products across the web. Simply type in keywords, or a product number, to bring up search results. Price Spy logs the history of how much something costs from over 3,000 different retailers, including Argos, Amazon, eBay and the supermarkets. Once you select an individual product you can quickly compare which stores have the best price and which have it in stock. Idealo is another website that lets you compare prices between retailers. All shoppers need to do is search for the item they need and the website will rank them from the cheapest to the most expensive one. CamelCamelCamel only works on goods being sold on Amazon. To use it, type in the URL of the product you want to check the price of. How can I save money when shopping at Lidl? Lidl reduces items at the start of the day, and the best deals can be found between 7am and 8am, when most stores open. Shoppers can often find cooked meats, salmon fillets and breads reduced by 30% or more. Not only does Lidl have its own range of reasonably priced alcohol, it also has its own knock-offs of branded favourites – so say cheers to its bargain booze. Everyone knows about the "Middle of Lidl" – it's here where you'll find a load of random stuff you didn't realise you needed, at decent prices. But if you are hoping to avoid spending more than you planned, you can check what will be in the "Middle of Lidl" on the supermarket's website in advance. The Middle of Lidl is refreshed every Thursday and Sunday. How to bag a bargain SUN Savers Editor Lana Clements explains how to find a cut-price item and bag a bargain… Sign up to loyalty schemes of the brands that you regularly shop with. Big names regularly offer discounts or special lower prices for members, among other perks. Sales are when you can pick up a real steal. Retailers usually have periodic promotions that tie into payday at the end of the month or Bank Holiday weekends, so keep a lookout and shop when these deals are on. Sign up to mailing lists and you'll also be first to know of special offers. It can be worth following retailers on social media too. When buying online, always do a search for money off codes or vouchers that you can use and are just two sites that round up promotions by retailer. Scanner apps are useful to have on your phone. app has a scanner that you can use to compare prices on branded items when out shopping. Bargain hunters can also use B&M's scanner in the app to find discounts in-store before staff have marked them out. And always check if you can get cashback before paying which in effect means you'll get some of your money back or a discount on the item.
Daily Mirror
29 minutes ago
- Daily Mirror
Use our map to see if your bank is one of 41 branches set to close in July
There are 41 banks scheduled to close in July and the vast majority (38) are branches of Santander - use our map below to see if your local is closing Dozens of banks are set to shut in July as the wave of summer closures continues - check if you're about to lose your local branch. There are 41 banks scheduled to close in July. The vast majority (38) are branches of Santander. That follows the banking giant's announcement earlier this year that it was shutting 95 branches from June. Some 85 banks shuttered in June, and 69 in May. Another 13 banks are scheduled to close in August and 21 in September. It means that by the end of this year alone, 364 banks will have been lost from the high street. Last year, 399 banks closed, and in 2023, 633 branches shuttered. The latest closures impact every region of England as well as Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Wales. Cornwall will be hit hardest by the latest round of closures, with four branches set to shut this month. You can find out if any branches are due to close near you in July using our interactive map. Since a voluntary agreement saw the major banking groups commit to assessing the impact of every closure in February 2022, 1,879 bank branches have shut or announced their intention to close. That's an average of around 50 closures announced per month or 12 per week. The LINK initiative to assess the impact of closures - which was agreed by all the major banks including Barclays, HSBC, Natwest, Lloyds, and Halifax - was set up to ensure vulnerable customers and small businesses were not left behind in the switch to cashless payments and virtual banking. When closures leave communities without any local bank, banking hubs or free ATMs are set up to fill the gap. Full list of banks due to close in July Lloyds Bank, 27 Norwich Street, Fakenham Lloyds Bank, 14 Molesworth Street, Wadebridge Halifax, 2/3 Mill Street, Pontypridd Santander, 19 Upper English Street Santander, 42 High Street, Bognor Regis Santander, 105-109 Shenley Road, Borehamwood Santander, 1 Bridge Street, Caernarfon Santander, 6 Trelowarren Street, Camborne Santander, 3 Church Street, Colne Santander, 16 Penrhyn Road, Colwyn Bay Santander, 4 High Street, Crowborough Santander, 40-42 Teviot Walk, Cumbernauld Santander, 712-714 Wilmslow Road, Manchester Santander, 19 Rolle Street, Exmouth Santander, 13 Market Street, Falmouth Santander, 17 The Borough, Farnham Santander, 61 Hamilton Road, Felixstowe Santander, 392 Mare Street, London Santander, 56 High Street, Hawick Santander, 135 Mortimer Street, Herne Bay Santander, 20 Maidenhead Street, Hertford Santander, 408 Holloway Road, London Santander, 108 High Street, Honiton Santander, 4 Parade, Kirkby Santander, 22 Worcester Road, Malvern Santander, 4 High Street, Market Harborough Santander, 123 High Street, Musselburgh Santander, 5 Lidget Hill, Pudsey Santander, 15 Bank Street, Rawtenstall Santander, 32 High Street, Ross-on-Wye Santander, 73 High Street, Ruislip Santander, 19 Chapelwell Street, Saltcoats Santander, 28 Broad Street, Seaford Santander, 53 High Street, Shaftesbury Santander, 36-38 Fore Street, Santander, 56 Market Square, St Neots Santander, 48 High Street, Stokesley Santander, 64 Main Street, Strabane Santander, 32 High Street, Tenterden Santander, 472 High Road, London Santander, 2 Main Street, Wishaw
BBC News
41 minutes ago
- BBC News
Malawi inflation: 'I tell my children not to play so we save money on soap'
Suzanna Kathumba, a domestic worker in Malawi, spends every day thinking of ways she can economise to make her salary of 80,000 kwacha ($46; £34) a month stretch to support her she wrings a wet cloth from a bucket of water in the living room and starts by wiping down the tables and chairs, she considers her latest ploy to save money."I've told my youngest children not to get too dirty when playing so we can save on soap," the 43-year-old told the BBC. "But it's hard because children are children, they want to play."For the past few months Ms Kathumba, a divorced mother of four working in the capital, Lilongwe, has been struggling to survive on her salary because of the surging prices of goods in the little financial support from her ex-husband, she is the sole earner for the household. Most of her money goes back to her four children, who live in their home town of Kasungu, around 130km (80 miles) north-west of capital. The two youngest children are still in school and two older ones are May, the annual inflation rate in Malawi was 27.7% - one of the highest in Africa - a decline from 29.2% in April."What is surprising is that salaries are staying the same, but the price of commodities keeps going up on a daily basis," Ms Kathumba said."The money finishes before it even comes. We're living a very hard life." A recent Ernst & Young report said that Malawi was one of the few countries in the world it considered to have what it called a "hyperinflationary economy" - along with Burundi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. This is when there is cumulative inflation over three years of around 100% or accounting firm said that according to the World Economic Outlook database, compiled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Malawi had a three-year cumulative rate of inflation of 116% as of December 2024 and it forecast three-year cumulative rates of inflation of 102% for 2025 and 66% for from the World Bank also shows that the country is one of the poorest in the world. It estimates that 70% of the southern African nation's population lives on less than $2.15 a current cost-of-living crisis has left many citizens, like Ms Kathumba, without any savings."I would be lying if I say that I save some money at the end of the month. I have absolutely nothing left," she said."I pay 50,000 kwacha [$29] in school fees each term. Then you need to buy exercise books, food, soap - all from the same small salary. Sugar [1kg] is now 4,500 kwacha [$3]." Economists put Malawi's current inflation problems partly down to the shortage of foreign money - known as "forex" - in the has often struggled with forex as the country imports much more than it exports."We are not exporting high-value products," Dr Bertha Bangara Chikadza, senior lecturer in macroeconomics at the University of Malawi and the president of the Economics Association of Malawi, told the BBC."We export products like maize, soya beans and sugar, but import expensive products such as fertilisers, medicine and furniture, so we need a huge amount of forex for this," she wanting to import goods say that when they apply to the banks for forex - in particular US dollars - they are often turned down because there is none forces some to look for US dollars on the black market, where the exchange rate is higher than the official rate of 1,750 kwacha for $ can pay between 4,000 and 5,000 kwacha for $1 - which has a knock-on effect for owners, like Mohammed Hanif Waka, who owns a stationery shop in the capital, says he has lost many customers since putting up prices."Sales have drastically dropped. We have had to make redundancies," he told the he would usually import items for his shop, like office supplies, pens and notepads, the lack of foreign exchange means he is now trying to access goods locally."I can't remember when our banks gave us forex," he for change, informal traders took to the streets to protest in February, hundreds blocking the entrance to Malawi's parliament."We are really affected, we are supposed to get a profit from our businesses," Steve Magombo, the chairman of Lilongwe's Tsoka Flea Market, told the BBC."But the way things are, we are failing. Malawians are failing to buy our commodities."Earlier this year it was announced that a loan agreement of $175m with the IMF had been suspended temporarily. The four-year loan was approved in November 2023, with $35m disbursed so far."Under IMF policy, if reviews are not completed over an 18-month period the programme automatically expires, and no reviews have been successfully completed," Justin Tyson, the IMF mission chief for Malawi, told the Tyson added that "fiscal discipline" had "proven difficult to maintain in the current environment due to elevated spending pressures". However, Malawi's Finance Minister Simplex Chithyola Banda said it was the government's decision to suspend the loan as there was a disagreement over terms."When you are told you need to build up reserves but at the same time the country is running dry because you don't have fuel - you choose to procure fuel [rather] than to build up reserves," Banda told the BBC's World Business Report last month."We were told in order to stay in the programme, you need to adjust prices of fuel, but that could have a negative impact on the prices of basic commodities."With Malawi's national elections scheduled for September, the government says it is taking a number of steps to bring prices Minister Vitumbiko Mumba has acknowledged that forex has to be rationed but says registered businesses can apply for essentials via the reserve bank or finance ministry. But he also blames traders for inflating prices."We are setting up an economic sabotage bill and there is also going to be an essential goods and services bill to regulate this," he told the the main opposition has laid the blame for inflation at the feet of those in the cause of inflating prices, the cost-of-living is likely to be a huge campaign hope their daily struggles will be eased by the government's plans - and everyone wants a solution that brings lasting stability to the economy."We depend on the government for assistance," said Ms Kathumba."I hope the politicians remember the less privileged Malawians when making their decisions."Additional reporting by Jack McBrams in Lilongwe. You may also be interested in: 'My bananas were seized and destroyed' - Malawi-Tanzania trade row escalatesHIV clinics shut in Malawi after USAID freeze Malawi seeks billions of dollars from US firm over ruby salesBanana wine brings sweet taste of success to Malawi farmers Go to for more news from the African us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica
