2 days agoNewsComments Off on Coronation Street cop Kit Green in the frame for murder as shock flashback sheds new light on unsolved death
CORONATION Street cop Kit Green is in the frame for murder as a shock flashback sheds new light on an unsolved death.
The ITV soap is currently airing a whodunnit storyline following the murder of twisted solicitor, Joel Deering.
Coronation cop Kit Green is in the frame for murder as a shock flashback sheds new light on an unsolved deathITVJoel Deering’s murder has triggered a new soapland whodunnit[/caption]
ITVKit recently took over the case from DS Lisa Swain[/caption]
A number of Weatherfield residents have already been identified as suspects, including his ex-fiancee DeeDee Bailey, her father Ed Bailey, her uncle Ronnie and DS Lisa Swain.
But now, a new flashback will reveal Lisa isn’t the only copper who could have committed a crime.
With Joel’s murder investigation still unsolved, DC Kit Green (Jacob Roberts) has been coming under pressure to get a result.
But has his reluctance to take advice on some lines of enquiry from fellow detective DS Swain (Vicky Myers) been down to his own involvement in Joel’s death?
In tonight’s Coronation Street, viewers will see the waters further muddied when a shock flashback takes them back to the night of September 27.
It will show a clearly agitated Kit deleting a phone call while snatching a bottle of whiskey from the Rovers bar.
Where was Kit those moments prior and what does he need to take the edge off?
A second flashback will reveal all as viewers see Kit on the wrong side of the law once more, leaving viewers wondering if the Weatherfield cop is actually the killer?
During Friday’s Coronation Street, viewers watched as Kit was placed in charge of the case, after it was decided Lisa’s daughter Betsy’s involvement with Joel meant she was too close to lead the inquiry.
Lisa had told Kit that whoever was driving the red car that crashed into Greg’s wing mirror could have vital info on what happened to Joel.
The revelation left Kit visibly irked as he snapped at Lisa, asking her why she didn’t bring it up until now.
Craig Tinker was tasked with compiling a list of all the red vehicles in the area at time.
But in shock scenes, Kit was caught deleting his car registration from the list back at the station.
Coronation Street's 2024 shock exits
Corrie has said goodbye to several cast members this year. Let's break down who's left the famous soap:
The youngster moved to live with her dad Dom Everett, who went back on the £10,000 bribe Eliza’s grandfather Stu had offered to keep him out of her life.
The Weatherfield legend left his family and loved ones behind on Boxing Day, 2023, when his wife Carla Connor encouraged him to travel around the world with a friend.
Simon’s been on a downward spiral ever since and his exit could end in tragedy.
Alya Nazir is set to leave the cobbles as actress Sair Khan prepares to go on maternity leave ahead of the birth of her first child.
It looks likely she’ll be heading to Dublin after securing a lucrative new job, leaving her colleague and fling Adam Barlow behind.
Show stalwart Sue Cleaver, who plays Eileen Grimshaw, is taking a break to star in the Sister Act The Musical UK tour. She will be back filming in May once her dates on the tour come to an end.
Her character left the Street after her son Jason broke his back after falling off a moped in Asia.
ITVBut has already displayed some suspicious behaviour, even before the flashback in tonight’s episode[/caption]
Coronation Street airs on ITV1 and is available on ITVX.
2 days agoNewsComments Off on The five common DWP state pension mistakes that can stop or reduce payments
FOR many people, the state pension is a crucial part of their retirement income.
Currently worth £221.20 a week, it adds up to a whopping £11,502.40 a year, and is set to rise significantly next year.
The state pension is currently worth £221.20 a week
The Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association says that singletons need £14,400 a year for a basic retirement, which means that the full state pension gets you 80% of the way there.
For a couple, it says that a basic retirement will costs £22,400, so if both partners get the full state pension then they will have already achieved that goal.
For a moderate retirement, it says that singles need £31,300 per annum and couples need £43,100.
If that’s your goal, then the state pension makes up 37% or 53% of what’s required.
And it’s still a significant chunk of what the PLSA calls a comfortable retirement, which it says costs £41,300 for singles and £59,000 for couples.
The state pension works out as 28% or 39% of that target respectively, if you get the full amount.
Every man born after April 6, 1951 and every woman born after April 6, 1953 can claim the state pension once they reach state pension age.
But to get the full state pension, you need 35 qualifying years on your national insurance record and to get anything at all you need at least ten.
Simple mistakes can mean that you don’t get everything you’re entitled to, which could leave you in financial trouble later.
Here are the most common errors to avoid:
Not claiming child benefit
If you’re responsible for a child who is under 16 (or under 20 and in approved education), you can get child benefit.
This is a sum of money that’s designed to help you with the costs of raising your family.
But another key benefit is that it also gives you National Insurance Credits.
That means that a stay-at-home parent can still build up their state pension entitlement, and could get up to 12 years’ worth of credits.
What are the different types of pensions?
WE round-up the main types of pension and how they differ:
Personal pension orself-invested personal pension (SIPP) – This is probably the most flexible type of pension as you can choose your own provider and how much you invest.
Workplace pension – The Government has made it compulsory for employers to automatically enrol you in your workplace pension unless you opt out. These so-called defined contribution (DC) pensions are usually chosen by your employer and you won’t be able to change it. Minimum contributions are 8%, with employees paying 5% (1% in tax relief) and employers contributing 3%.
Final salary pension – This is also a workplace pension but here, what you get in retirement is decided based on your salary, and you’ll be paid a set amount each year upon retiring. It’s often referred to as a gold-plated pension or a defined benefit (DB) pension. But they’re not typically offered by employers anymore.
New state pension – This is what the state pays to those who reach state pension age after April 6 2016. The maximum payout is £203.85 a week and you’ll need 35 years of National Insurance contributions to get this. You also need at least ten years’ worth to qualify for anything at all.
Basic state pension – If you reach the state pension age on or before April 2016, you’ll get the basic state pension. The full amount is £156.20 per week and you’ll need 30 years of National Insurance contributions to get this. If you have the basic state pension you may also get a top-up from what’s known as the additional or second state pension. Those who have built up National Insurance contributions under both the basic and new state pensions will get a combination of both schemes.
It also provides a boost for part-time working parents who do not earn enough to pay NICs.
One thing that often puts people off from claiming is the high-income child benefit charge, which essentially means if either partner earns over £50,000 you have to complete a tax return and start paying some of the child benefit payments back.
Over £60,000 and the higher earner has to pay the whole lot back.
However, you can make a claim to get the NI credits, and simply choose not to receive the payments, which avoids those problems.
You’ll get National Insurance credits automatically if you claim Child Benefit and your child is under 12.
If you do not need the National Insurance credits, you could transfer them to your husband, wife or partner.
Alternatively, you could apply for Specified Adult Childcare credits for a different family member who provides care for your child.
Not claiming other benefits
There are lots of other benefits that automatically give you NI credits.
That’s why it’s important to claim anything you might be entitled to.
These include:
Jobseeker’s Allowance
Employment and Support Allowance
Unemployability Supplement
Maternity allowance
Carer’s Allowance
Income Support
Carer Support Payment (Scotland only)
Working Tax Credit
Universal Credit
Failing to claim NI credits on some benefits
There are some benefits or situations where you are entitled to NI credits if you need them, but these aren’t given automatically, and you need to apply.
Failure to do this could mean expensive gaps on your record.
These include:
If you’re unemployed and looking for work, but not on Jobseeker’s Allowance, you can contact your local Jobcentre to claim Class 1 credits
If you’re on Statutory Sick Pay and you do not earn enough to make a qualifying year.
If you’re on Statutory Maternity, Paternity or Adoption Pay, or Additional Statutory Paternity Pay, and you do not earn enough to make a qualifying year.
If you’re a foster carer, or a kinship carer in Scotland
If you’re caring for one or more sick or disabled person for at least 20 hours a week
If you’re over 18 and on a government-approved training course that lasts no longer than 1 year but you were not sent by Jobcentre Plus
If you’re on Jury Service and you’re not self-employed
If you’re married to or a civil partner of a member of the armed forces, went with your partner on an overseas posting after 6 April 2010, and are returning to the UK
If you’re married to or a civil partner of a member of the armed forces, went with your partner on an overseas posting after 6 April 1975, reach state pension age on or after 6 April 2016, and are not getting Class 1 credits
If you were wrongly imprisoned and your conviction was quashed by the Court of Appeal (or the Court of Criminal Appeal in Scotland)
If you’re on Working Tax Credit, you might get credits automatically, but you need to check your record to make sure you’ve received them.
In most cases where you need to claim, you need to write to PT Operations North East England, HM Revenue and Customs, BX9 1AN, United Kingdom.
You should include your National Insurance number and say when the credits are for and why you’re eligible.
Not filling gaps in your record
If you’ve applied for all the credits you’re entitled to and your record is still not full, you can make voluntary payments to fill the gaps.
You might have missing years if you were:
employed but had low earnings
unemployed and were not claiming benefits
self-employed but did not pay contributions because of small profits
living or working outside the UK
However, you should only do this if you are unlikely to have enough years by the time you reach state pension age.
Otherwise, you’ll end up paying for more years than you need, with no extra benefit.
If you’re below State Pension age, you can check your State Pension forecast to find out if you’ll benefit from paying voluntary contributions and how much they will cost.
A gap of one year is typically worth 1/35 of the full pension rate.
At this year’s rates, that’s £6.32 per week, £328 per year, or a little over £6,500 across twenty-year for every one year gap that you fill.
You should check for gaps now, because the rules on how many years you can fill change from April 6.
Currently, you can go back to 2006, but after then you will only be able to pay for the previous six years.
State pension errors
A series of government mistakes have meant that hundreds of thousands of people have been paid less state pension than they should have been.
Women have been hardest hit, but anyone can be impacted. The main categories include:
People who took time off work because of caring responsibilities between 1978 and 2010
Women who reached state pension age before 2016
Women who divorced their partners after state pension age
Widows whose husbands died after March 17, 2008
Anyone aged over-60
Heirs and widows of people in the categories above
Anyone who is getting less than £93 a week in state pension
You can find out more, including how to correct the errors and get a refund in our guide.
Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.
2 days agoNewsComments Off on I tried all the supermarket wines – the best costs £3 and reminds me of a classic soft drink
MULLED wine is a Christmas classic, but which supermarket makes the best one?
We’ve tested some festive classics to find out which supermarket own-brand goods are the best value for money.
Rosie Taylor tested all the supermarket offerings
In this test, we compared standard own-brand mulled wines from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl with the version from posh supermarket Waitrose.
For each one, we gave it a score out of ten for taste and a score out of ten for value, based on the price per 100ml. This score also took into account the alcohol content (ABV percentage).
Here’s how the mulled wines scored out of 20 overall:
Waitrose Mulled Wine, £5.49 for 75cl (10% ABV)
Waitrose’s wine was strongly cinnamon-flavoured
Waitrose’s mulled wine was twice as strong as most of the other supermarket brands and was made from a base of Spanish wine.
It had a smooth, earthy red wine taste but was disappointingly lacking in Christmas spices. The only strong flavour was an artificial cinnamon taste.
With double the alcohol percentage, at 10% ABV, it is not surprising this was nearly double the price of the cheapest version we tested.
If you choose to splash out on this one, be aware it’s twice as strong as most mulled wines.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 12/20
Tesco Vineyards Mulled Wine, £3 for 75cl (5% ABV)
Tesco’s drink was like a cinnamon-flavoured squash
Tesco’s festive drink was more like drinking cinnamon-flavoured blackcurrant squash than wine.
It tasted thin and synthetic – but it was easy to drink and would be good for a festive party.
It had an alcohol content of just 5.0 per cent ABV, the same as most other supermarkets, and was one of the cheaper wines we tested, at 40p per 100ml.
Taste: 7/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 13/20
Asda Mulled Wine, £3 for 75cl (5% ABV)
Asda’s mulled wine was fruity but had less Christmas flavour than rivals
The mulled wine from Asda also tasted a lot like a warm, fruity juice rather than a wine-based drink.
It was the same price as Tesco, at 40p per 100ml, but with fewer Christmas spice flavours like star anise.
Taste: 5/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 11/20
Morrisons Winter Warmer Mulled Wine, £4 for 75cl (5% ABV)
Rosie found Morrisons’ wine disappointing and more like warm juice
Like the Asda and Tesco versions, this year’s Morrisons mulled wine was disappointing.
It had a strange fake cinnamon flavour and tasted like thin, sweet, warm juice.
At 53p per 100ml, this was around a third more expensive than other supermarket wines (except Waitrose) – and definitely not worth the extra cost.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 5/10
Total: 11/20
Sainsbury’s Mull It Over Mulled Wine, £3 for 75cl (5% ABV)
Sainsbury’s wine was quite dry and fruity
The Sainsbury’s mulled wine smelt and tasted festive and fruity at first, but had a chemical aftertaste of synthetic spices.
It also made our mouths feel dry after drinking it.
It cost the same, at 40p per 100ml, and had the same alcohol content as the Tesco and Asda versions.
Taste: 6/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 12/20
Aldi Mulled Wine, £2.79 for 75cl (5% ABV)
Aldi’s wine was the cheapest on offer but had a soapy taste
The Aldi mulled wine had an intense perfumed smell and flavour – the scent was overpowering, like drinking a cup of juice flavoured with incense sticks.
Maybe this was meant to give it Christmassy frankincense and myrrh vibes, but we felt it would have been better in a soap than in a mulled wine.
At just 37p per 100ml, this was the cheapest mulled wine we tasted – so it was a shame it didn’t actually taste like mulled wine.
Taste: 3/10
Value: 7/10
Total: 10/20
Lidl Christkindl Gluhwein, £5.99 for 1litre (8% ABV)
Lidl’s wine was sweet and sugary, and the strongest too
Lidl’s Gluhwein had a vibrant, sugary taste – it was a bit like drinking liquid Haribo or other jelly sweets.
This was the strongest mulled wine, apart from the Waitrose version, at 8.0 per cent ABV, and the large bottle would make it good for parties.
But it cost 60p per 100ml, making it the most expensive supermarket mulled wine (outside Waitrose) – we weren’t convinced the extra strength made up for the strange taste.
Taste: 4/10
Value: 6/10
Total: 10/20
The verdict
Overall, we weren’t too impressed with supermarkets’ mulled wines, but Tesco came out as the winner.
How to save money on your supermarket shop
THERE are plenty of ways to save on your grocery shop.
You can look out for yellow or red stickers on products, which show when they’ve been reduced.
If the food is fresh, you’ll have to eat it quickly or freeze it for another time.
Making a list should also save you money, as you’ll be less likely to make any rash purchases when you get to the supermarket.
Going own brand can be one easy way to save hundreds of pounds a year on your food bills too.
This means ditching “finest” or “luxury” products and instead going for “own” or value” type of lines.
Plenty of supermarkets run wonky veg and fruit schemes where you can get cheap prices if they’re misshapen or imperfect.
For example, Lidl runs its Waste Not scheme, offering boxes of 5kg of fruit and vegetables for just £1.50.
If you’re on a low income and a parent, you may be able to get up to £442 a year in Healthy Start vouchers to use at the supermarket too.
Plus, many councils offer supermarket vouchers as part of the Household Support Fund.
2 days agoNewsComments Off on How Channel 4 star helped non-league Chesham United to 3900 per cent increase in shirt sales in ‘first serious job’
CHANNEL 4 star Alex Horne has turned non-league Chesham United from minnows into potential FA Cup giant killers while also boosting shirt sales by 3900 per cent.
Channel 4 star Alex Horne has helped transform Chesham United over the past few yearsPAThe comedian stars alongside Greg Davies on Channel 4 show Taskmaster[/caption]
And the sixth-tier club have since gone from strength to strength on and off the pitch.
They achieved promotion to the National League South last season.
And their average attendance has increased from a few hundred to over 1,000 fans.
Shirt sales continue to rise too, with last term seeing 1,200 jerseys flogged compared to just THIRTY the previous campaign.
Around 4,000 fans are now set to descend on The Meadow for tonight’s FA Cup first round tie against League One Lincoln City, with a second round trip to Crawley Town the reward.
The match will be shown live on ITV, with Chesham having to quickly install TV gantries and even extra toilets.
And Horne is hoping to find a way to see the action unfold as he will be performing a comedy gig in Edinburgh at the same time.
He told The Guardian: “Elton John apparently watched Watford’s FA Cup final on an iPad on his piano during a gig in Copenhagen.
2 days agoNewsComments Off on Upstate NY author allegedly beat up stranger for wearing Trump 2024 hat inside Tops supermarket
An upstate New York author allegedly pummeled a stranger inside a supermarket for sporting Donald Trump swag just a few days before Election Day, authorities said.
