Revelations. Resignations. From BBC bias to Cabinet scandals, read the stories that get the world talking – from the journalists who break them. |  | Mattie Brignal Senior Money Reporter | For millions of Britons, the home is the bedrock of their worldly wealth – and the asset to which they are most emotionally attached.
Yet it now seems certain that the Chancellor will unveil a raid on the property wealth of middle England.
Rachel Reeves has painted herself into a corner after backtracking on a planned manifesto-busting income tax rise.
The promise of releasing even a fraction of the £9tr tied up in the housing market is too alluring to ignore, even if it means hitting the very heart of British family life.
A flurry of recent briefings point to a “mansion tax” in the form of a possible council tax surcharge or an annual property levy to help plug a £20bn deficit in the country’s finances.
This is bad news for an already squeezed cohort of moderately wealthy homeowners whose properties have risen in price but who are already paying the country’s bills.
Even if these reforms aren’t announced in this Budget, they may show up further down the line as part of the Government’s quest to tax wealth.
I looked at which taxes are likely to be in store for middle-class homeowners, and how much they might cost.
Continue reading ➤ | | Susie Coen and Tony Diver US Correspondent and Associate Political Editor, in Johannesburg | Donald Trump has signalled he is ready to make concessions to Ukraine after Sir Keir Starmer said America’s peace deal risked leaving the country open to Russian attack.
On Saturday, the US president said his 28-point proposal, under which Ukraine would surrender key territory and cut the size of its army, was “not my final offer”.
“We’d like to get to peace. It should’ve happened a long time ago... We’re trying to get it ended. One way or the other we have to get it ended,” he said.
Asked whether the plan, which was rejected by European leaders, was his final offer to end the war with Russia, he said: “No, not my final offer”.
However, Mr Trump added that if Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, did not accept the plan by the Thursday deadline then he could “continue to fight his little heart out”.
Continue reading ➤ | | Danny Cohen How much evidence does the corporation need that it has a highly dangerous Israel problem? Continue reading ➤ Janet Daley There is a fatal clash of two ideas at the heart of Western society Continue reading ➤ Daniel Hannan Trump is behaving precisely as he would if he were a Russian asset Continue reading ➤ | Join the debate. Share your thoughts with our journalists and your fellow readers. | | Ben Stokes and Joe Root both failed with the bat in Perth | If you want an indication of how bad England’s batting collapses were in losing the first Ashes Test, then consider this: Sir Alastair Cook faced more balls (428) when scoring his double ton in Brisbane in 2010 than Ben Stokes’s side did over two innings in Perth (405).
To lose within two days is a rare humiliation, and Sir Geoffrey Boycott summed up the nation’s frustration when he advised the Bazballers in his own inimitable fashion that maybe they need to change how they play and even consider engaging their brains once in a while.
Read the full opinion piece by Sir Geoffrey Boycott, I cannot take this stupid England team seriously anymore, here ➤ | | As permanent secretary of the Department of Health from 2016 to 2024, Chris Wormald led the civil servants preparing for a pandemic, and then tackling one when it arrived in 2020. Yet any serious examination of his plans would have revealed they were unfit for purpose. Mr Wormald is known to loathe the limelight, but the pandemic failings by Britain’s top mandarin mean he is, once again, under scrutiny. Continue reading ➤ | | | Sir Jackie Stewart won three Formula One world titles in an era when drivers risked their lives every time they raced. Now 86, the Scot, the last survivor of that golden generation, is still racing. In fact, as he tells Tom Cary in an interview at his home in the Swiss Alps, he is in the race of his life – to find a cure for dementia, a disease which has ravaged Lady Stewart, his beloved wife of 63 years. Continue reading ➤ | |  | | Darlington (left) has not experienced the changing fortunes of once-comparable Gliwice (right) | | The Polish rust belt is hardly a region most would associate with the good life. Yet the sense of optimism in Gliwice, a former coal town, is unshakable. Its improving fortunes contrast with Darlington, a town of similar size, history and geography.
Hans van Leeuwen, our International Economics Editor, travelled to Gliwice to find out what the Poles got right, while Eir Nolsoe, our Economics Correspondent, went to Darlington to see why it has struggled to keep up. What they found was a microcosm of both economies: dynamism in Poland and dysfunction in Britain. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | As defining roles go, Linda Hamilton’s casts a long shadow. Her Sarah Connor in the Terminator films redefined how women could appear on screen – muscular, driven, ready to fight to the death – carving out a path for a new generation of screen heroines. In this interview, the straight-talking star discusses breaking conventions as an action hero, ageing and choosing chastity. Continue reading ➤ | | | For some people, no matter how stretched their budgets get, they are unwilling to give up what they consider non-negotiables. Whether it’s a standing appointment for a blow-dry or a £18 deodorant, little treats and rituals become even more sacrosanct to some when times are tough. Readers and Telegraph writers reveal their indulgences... Continue reading ➤ | | | Robert Thomas’s empire now encompasses 17 pubs, and employs around 220 people | | You may not know the name Robert Thomas but, if you care about Britain’s ailing pub industry, you should. The 82-year-old has a knack for saving struggling boozers and now has 17 of them to his name. “The pubs are closing, and people think that there is something wrong with pubs,” he says. “There is nothing wrong with the bloody pubs, and I will demonstrate that to you.” Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Sarah Knapton, our Science Editor, and Joe Pinkstone, our Science Correspondent, demystify your most bizarre personal stories | | “In November 2024, I rented a lovely cottage in Bowness which I stayed in with my daughter, son, daughter-in-law and our three dogs to avoid the fireworks, which one of my dogs is terrified of.
“On my first night there, I needed to get up during the night to use the toilet. I switched on the bedside lamp, which flickered, but this did not bother me; I just put it down to the lightbulb needing to be replaced.
“As I got out of bed, I noticed what I thought was the reflection of my bare feet in what would have been the skirting board. I did think this was a strange place to have a mirror but thought no more of it and returned to bed.
“The next morning, I thought I’d check on the strange mirror but the skirting board was not in any way mirrored. It was painted white, fairly matt (definitely not glossy) and there was no mirror there.
“That evening, as I sat watching television with the family, I noticed that on the inside of my right wrist I had what looked like congealed black blood under the skin. Next to this was a raised wheal that looked like a bite mark.
“Upon my return home from our trip away, I was at the vets for a routine visit when I showed the vet the bite mark. He said it was definitely a human bite, easily recognisable by the size and shape of each of the individual teeth.”
Sarah and Joe answer...
After last week’s transparent beings in the Dorset woods, we’re jumping to the other end of England for “things that go chomp in the night”.
The Lake District has long been associated with strange happenings, likely inspired by the wild grandeur of its peaks and brooding deep, dark lakes.
Lake Windermere, on which Bowness lies, even has its own monster – dubbed Winnie or Bownessie – which is said to bear a striking resemblance to traditional depictions of the Loch Ness Monster.
Bowness is home to the mythical “Tizzie-Whizie”, a little creature resembling a winged hedgehog with the tail of a fox. (The picture of this is well worth Googling!)
However, perhaps more relevant to our latest case, Cumbria is home to one of Britain’s most well-known vampire legends.
Read the full answer here ➤
Plus, send in your questions for Sarah and Joe here ➤ | | Breakfast is often described as the most important meal of the day, but it’s something many of us are getting wrong. If you’re grabbing a pastry on the go or downing a glass of fruit juice, you’re doing your gut health no favours. Dietitian Dr Sammie Gill shares easy swaps to keep you full and fuelled all morning. Continue reading ➤ Below are two more articles that I hope will improve your weekend: - Skiing can quickly become exorbitant. But going in January is your best means of avoiding higher prices. This is why.
- Finally, this is how to elevate a monochrome outfit (without resorting to colour).
| | Susannah Gross, who has died of cancer at the age of 58, was a greatly esteemed literary editor but at the same time had a globe-trotting career as a tournament bridge player, writes Andrew M Brown, obituaries editor. She also had the rare gift of being able to write about bridge in a way that made it interesting to a non-specialist. She was less focused on analysing hands than with providing colourful insights – with plenty of good stories – into the quirky goings-on of the international bridge community. As she put it: “The funny things that happen, how crazy we all are, how addicted we all are.”
She had been introduced to bridge by friends at university, and, as a self-described “very obsessive person”, she devoured books about the game, and hired experts to play with her so that she could get better. She was soon playing rubber bridge for money five times a week, later progressing to top-level international tournaments.
With her striking looks and abundant red hair, Gross was the opposite of the “old-maid” stereotype of the bridge enthusiast – and you can read much more in her obituary here.
| | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
The solution to yesterday’s clue was MAGICALLY. Come back tomorrow for the answer to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Allister Heath, Sunday Telegraph Editor
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