NowMyNews

One in four home purchases this year will be backed by parents, family and friends The coronavirus crisis has made home buyers even more reliant on the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' to raise a deposit. A survey by insurance giant Legal & General and the Centre for Economics and Business Research has found almost one in four purchases this year will be backed by parents, family and friends. This is up from just under one in five (19 per cent) last year, with almost one in four (24 per cent) borrowers saying they are more dependent on the financial support of loved ones since the pandemic began. Mortgage lenders have rushed to pull loans to those with small deposits.  Bank of Mum and Dad 'lenders' will hand out an average £20,000 towards deposits. Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said the figure 'remains a symptom of our broken housing market'.

As auctioneer Oliver Barker took to his rostrum for the first major live art sale in London since lockdown, the excitement was electric despite the absence of real live bidders. At the Sotheby's Rembrandt To Richter evening event at the end of July, Barker was presiding over a livestreamed, socially distant sale of 65 works of art spanning seven centuries. He was also marking a poignant moment for British Airways, which is so strapped for cash it has had to resort to selling the pictures off the walls. British Airway's Parent company IAG made a £3.8billion loss after exceptional items in the first half of this year One of the most sought-after lots in the sale, Cool Edge by Bridget Riley, had until recently been hanging in BA's Concorde Room at Heathrow's Terminal 5, one of the jewels in a prized corporate collection of mainly British artists. Sixteen other works, including paintings by Terry Frost and Patrick Heron, also went on the block in an online sale of modern Br

The number of whistleblowing reports about potential tax evasion have surged by 10 per cent.  Around 73,000 tips were sent online to HM Revenue & Customs in the year to March 31 – up from 66,000 in 2019. Accounting group UHY Hacker Young, which compiled the data, said the rise was partly down to tax evasion increasingly being seen as unacceptable behaviour. Around 73,000 tax evasion whistleblowing reports were sent online to HM Revenue & Customs in the year to March 31 – up from 66,000 in 2019 Another factor is likely to be tighter rules on accountants and other advisers to report all possible cases.  The figures are expected to increase dramatically in the wake of the furlough scheme. Thousands of reports have already been sent in alleging employers have fraudulently claimed furlough money.  Sean Glancy, of UHY Hacker Young, said: ‘It appears that more people than ever are choosing to report a neighbour, employer or business partner for tax evasion. ‘The financial pressure som

She got the all-clear in December 2014, and finally had her five-year discharge appointment last November.  And, Carol McGiffin, 60, branded husband Mark Cassidy, 36, her 'absolute rock' as she got candid about her breast cancer battle. The Loose Women star also insisted that 'no kids' is the key to their 'great life,' as she opened up in a new interview.  Happily married: Carol McGiffin, 60, branded husband Mark Cassidy, 36, her 'absolute rock' as she got candid about her breast cancer battle (Pictured March 2019) In a chat with OK! Magazine, Carol said of her cancer battle: 'I don't think I'd have made it through without him. Mark was my absolute rock.' The presenter revealed that she knew she had cancer in early 2014 when the couple were on holiday in Thailand. She said: 'I knew straight away what it was. As soon as I got home I got it checked out, I wouldn't let Mark come with me. 'I knew in my heart the diagnosis and I wa

A flight was delayed at LaGuardia airport this weekend when two young women believed to be related got into a heated brawl on the jet bridge. The incident took place on Sunday at the busy New York City airport where a Delta flight was boarding passengers preparing for a departure. But the flight was delayed by 40 minutes when two unruly passengers started to throw punches.  Passenger Destiny Davis took video of the moment two young women started to hit each other and beat each other on the ground.   A Delta flight was delayed at LaGuardia airport on Sunday when two young women got into a heated brawl on the jet bridge In the shocking clip a concerned flight attendant is seen calling for back up saying, 'They’re fighting', as a crowd gathers to watch the brutal beat down In the shocking clip a concerned flight attendant is seen calling for back up saying, 'They’re fighting', as a crowd gathers to watch. The two young women are seen hitting each other in the head and on

Prince George has been taken along on a grouse shoot by his father while on a family holiday in Scotland. The seven-year-old watched as Prince William, 38, and other senior royals spent the morning bagging birds in Corgarff, a short drive from Balmoral, on Saturday. It is not the first time that the young prince has watched a shooting party from the sidelines. And it shows that George, the third in line to the throne, will very much be brought up in the country sports tradition that the royals enjoy, despite continuing condemnation from anti-bloodsports campaigners. Both William and his brother, Prince Harry, hunted and shot from a young age. They were so enthusiastic that their mother Diana, Princess of Wales, jokingly dubbed them her 'Killer Wales'.  Prince Willaim sporting a beard while on a shoot at the Sandringham estate in December 2008. On Saturday, he took his seven-year-old son George on a grouse shoot in Corgarff, near Balmoral The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spent

A former aide to Prince William will today be appointed as Britain's top civil servant. Whitehall sources last night confirmed that Boris Johnson has picked Simon Case to be the UK's new Cabinet Secretary. He will replace Sir Mark Sedwill, who announced he was quitting in June after losing a power struggle with the Prime Minister's chief aide Dominic Cummings. Mr Case, 41, will become the youngest Cabinet Secretary in modern times.  He will now be expected to help drive through the radical civil service reform demanded by Mr Cummings, who has warned a 'hard rain is coming' to Whitehall. But allies dismissed the idea his relative inexperience would make him a pushover for the chief aide. 'He's a problem solver who gets things done,' said one. 'He has impressed everyone since he came back.'  Whitehall sources last night confirmed that Boris Johnson has picked Simon Case to be the UK's new Cabinet Secretary Pictured: Mr Case with David Cameron

The job of Chancellor of the Exchequer is always one of the most difficult in Government, as I know from personal experience.  During my spell at the Treasury in the early 1990s, I had to grapple with a series of momentous problems – the advent of recession, rising inflation and the impact of Black Wednesday, when Britain left the European Exchange Rate Mechanism.  Rishi Sunak has faced a bigger challenge than any other modern peacetime Chancellor.  He took office only in February, yet almost immediately was confronted by the fallout from the coronavirus crisis.  In response, he has shown boldness and creativity, adopting imaginative measures such as his furlough job protection scheme and the Eat Out to Help Out initiative.  Rishi Sunak has faced a bigger challenge than any other modern peacetime Chancellor, says Norman Lamont Implementing such policies required courage and verve, but the bill for them is heavy. For the first time in history, Britain’s national debt has passed the £2tr

Getting the flu jab while pregnant doesn't increase the baby's risk of being diagnosed with autism later on, another study has found. Researchers in Sweden compared autism diagnoses among seven-year-old children whose mothers had a swine flu vaccine during pregnancy and those whose did not. Of almost 70,000 children, 39,700 had been exposed to the H1N1 vaccine - which will be included in this seasons jab - while in the womb.  Rates of autism were no different compared with children whose mothers did not get vaccinated, confirming there is no link.  Child health is a touchy subject for people who are against vaccines, and the Swedish researchers said people have claimed in the past that there may be a link between the H1N1 jab and autism.   Uptake of the flu jab during pregnancy is moderate at best, experts say, and one reason mothers-to-be are put off may be due to safety concerns.  Scientists do not know what causes autism but they have repeatedly stressed it is not related to

Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator will hold emergency talks with his EU counterpart today amid warnings that there is just a month left to strike a deal. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will travel to London for the unscheduled talks with David Frost in a bid to break the deadlock. The ‘informal’ discussions are expected to focus on state aid rules and fishing rights, the two issues that have emerged as the biggest barriers to a deal.  Formal negotiations will resume next week. EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier will travel to London for the unscheduled talks with David Frost in a bid to break the deadlock A Whitehall source said that although the UK’s transition period from the EU is not due to finish until the end of the year, there is ‘realistically only a month’ to agree a deal in time for it to be ratified. Both sides have become increasingly gloomy about the prospects for a deal in recent weeks after hopes of a summer breakthrough faded. France yesterday accused Britai

In the dead of night, bull elks are going head-to-head to win the affection of the females in the herd – and the ritual has been captured in a video. Yellowstone National Park released footage of a ‘bull fight,’ complete with the clanging of antlers and grunting of two males tussling in the wilderness. Officials released the footage to warn rut season has begun, which can be extremely dangerous to park visitors – the animals can turn their aggression towards humans. Mating season for elks begins in August and runs through October, which consists of males displaying their strength in order to woo a female away from the 'stud' that may hold a herd up to 30 cows. The sparring begins with slow movements of the animals’ antlers, as one bull presents his rack for the to accept and although violent, officials say elks are rarely harmed. Scroll down for video  In the dead of night, bull elks are going head-to-head to win the affection of a females in the herd – and the ritual has bee