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All workers from direct employees to those in the gig economy would be eligible for sick pay, holiday, parental leave and the minimum wage from day one of their jobs under new plans announced by Labour. The party said it would create a new definition of “worker” in law to make sure everyone in employment …

As someone who played a small part in promoting Liverpool’s case for world heritage status in the early 2000s, I was saddened to see the loss of the Unesco designation (Unesco strips Liverpool of its world heritage status). It is, nevertheless, a timely reminder of the responsibilities of local and central government to guard and …

The water regulator for England and Wales is to allow utility companies to increase prices temporarily starting next year to offset higher bad debt costs because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Water companies from April will bear 25% of bad debt costs where these are more than 2% of non-household revenue, and non-household customers will bear …

Q I wonder if you can help. My 42-year-old son has a long-term mental health problem, schizophrenia. We want to establish him in his own home long term. He has long periods when he is well but then stops taking medication and falls into severe illness again. Then he loses his flat and has to …

Can you ask Barclays why it refuses to hand over the balance of my mother’s bank account which it insisted she close after 40 years? She is 83 and lives in Italy. She was told last September that the bank was closing her account on 28 December because of Brexit. I understand she is one …