The use of contactless technology by consumers has risen sharply in recent years, with more services adopting the technology and most shops offering it as an option.
To protect workers and consumers during the Covid outbreak, an increase to the current limit of £45 was rushed through by the regulator in April last year.
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The latest figures show that the proportion of contactless payments had fallen slightly compared with pre-pandemic levels, because lockdown measures hit the use of pubs, restaurants and public transport. They accounted for 41% of card transactions.
However, there was a 16% increase in the total value of contactless payments in the UK in October, compared with the same month a year earlier, according to the latest data from UK Finance, which represents banks.
The amount spent on contactless hit a monthly record in August, boosted by the Eat Out to Help Out scheme and fewer coronavirus-related restrictions. A total of £8.4bn was spent on credit and debit cards using contactless during that month.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: "As we begin to open the UK economy and people return to the High Street, the contactless limit increase will make it easier than ever before for people to pay for their shopping, providing a welcome boost to retail that will protect jobs and drive growth."
However, there have been worries raised about contactless limits being raised further.
Ian Johnson, managing director, Europe, at payment business Marqeta, said: "The problem with increasing limits on physical contactless cards is if they are stolen or cloned, it will now be even easier for a fraudster to spend large sums of the victim's money in one go.
"Physical cards provide very little security and a fraudster could continue to use their contactless function until they are cancelled."
The Duchess of Sussex has said she is "saddened" by a report she faced a bullying complaint during her time at Kensington Palace, her spokesman has said.
The Times newspaper has reported that the complaint was made in October 2018 by Jason Knauf who was then the Sussexes' communications secretary.
The complaint claimed Meghan had allegedly driven two personal assistants out of the household and was undermining the confidence of a third staff member, the newspaper said.
Image:Harry and Meghan's interview with Oprah. Pic: CBS
But her spokesman said: "The duchess is saddened by this latest attack on her character, particularly as someone who has been the target of bullying herself and is deeply committed to supporting those who have experienced pain and trauma.
"She is determined to continue her work building compassion around the world and will keep striving to set an example for doing what is right and doing what is good."
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There have been no comments so far from Buckingham Palace or Kensington Palace.
The two-hour special will be screened on Sunday in the US and is expected to be shown in the UK on 8 March.
The royal household will be braced for the show's revelations as the couple discuss their life within the royal family and their exit from the working monarchy.
In clips promoting the interview, Winfrey asks Meghan if she was "silent or silenced", with the duchess's answer not revealed.
In response to a comment by the duchess, Winfrey asks: "Almost unsurvivable. Sounds like there was a breaking point?"
Image:The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are expecting their second child
Harry is seen saying of his mother, Diana, while holding Meghan's hand: "I'm just really relieved and happy to be sitting here, talking to you, with my wife by my side, because I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like for her (Diana), going through this process by herself, all those years ago."
A PR expert has described the timing of the interview, with the Duke of Edinburgh currently unwell in hospital, as "horrendous".
Public relations and crisis consultant Mark Borkowski warned that Harry and Meghan are at risk of a "real reputational mess" if they go ahead with the broadcast in the US on Sunday and said it should be postponed.
Harry's grandfather Philip, 99, spent nearly two weeks in the private King Edward VII's Hospital before being transferred to St Bartholomew's Hospital on Mondayfor tests on a pre-existing heart condition.
The 3 March Budget comes amid a backdrop of financial challenges for Chancellor Rishi Sunak.
In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, UK borrowing is at a record high and the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has estimated public debt will hit £394bn by the end of the financial year.
While the end of lockdown may be just around the corner, the country is still very much in the thick of the pandemic and has not even begun its economic recovery.
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Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released last week show unemployment has risen to 5.1 per cent, its highest level since 2015, with the youngest workers most likely to have lost their jobs.
The post-Brexit transition period also came to an end in December, throwing up a series of new challenges around trade and borders which are being navigated by British businesses already struggling due to the pandemic.
And the Government must also consider its legally binding pledge to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS) is expected to be extended to cover the months of February, March and April and Mr Sunak is set to announce that 2019-20 tax returns can be used to claim the support.
Pubs, restaurants, shops and other businesses hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic will be boosted by a £5 billion grant scheme to help them reopen, with the “restart grants” worth up to £6,000 per premises.
Mr Sunak is believed to be preparing to extend the business rates holiday for shops and the reduction of VAT to five per cent for the hospitality sector.
Business boost
A £520 million initiative will be announced to support small and medium UK businesses with training and software under the “Help to Grow” scheme.
Culture and sport
He will offer an extra £400 million of additional support to boost the culture sector damaged due to Covid-19 lockdowns, with £300 million due to be plugged into the £1.57 billion Culture Recovery Fund.
National museums and cultural bodies will also receive £90 million to help keep them afloat until they can reopen and £18.8 million will be provided for community cultural projects.
An additional £77 million will be given to the devolved administrations in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to provide their culture groups with similar backing.
Mr Sunak will also ring-fence a “significant chunk” of a £300 million sports recovery package to cricket as fans prepare to return to stadiums this summer.
A £2.8 million boost will help fund a joint UK and Ireland bid to host the 2030 football World Cup. Vaccines
The Chancellor will give the UK’s coronavirus vaccine rollout £1.65 billion in additional funding to ensure the target of offering a dose to every adult by the end of July is met.
Mr Sunak will also divert £22 million to fund a “world first” trial to test if different vaccines can be used together, or if a third dose is effective, the Treasury said.
Mr Sunak will also give £33 million to improve the ability to respond to new variants and improve vaccine testing, including £5 million to create a “library” of Covid-19 jabs.
That cash, like the funding for the vaccine trial, will come from the Vaccine Taskforce’s existing budget.
The Tory manifesto in 2019 promised not to raise the rates of income tax, National Insurance or VAT.
But Mr Sunak is reported to be considering a freeze in the thresholds at which people start paying income tax or move into higher brackets – meaning more people would be dragged into those categories as wages increase.
The reported proposals include freezing the £12,500 threshold at which people start paying tax and the £50,000 threshold where the 40p rate kicks in.
The UK will launch a sovereign green savings bond for retail investors allowing savers to help drive the country’s transition to net zero by 2050 by investing in bonds thorough NS&I, the Treasury-backed savings group which issues Premium Bonds.
It will invest £20 million in offshore wind, £70 million in long-term, low-carbon energy storage and £4 million to boost green-energy crops.
The Prime Minister has ruled out introducing new consumer taxes – such as a levy on meat or carbon – as part of his green policy drive.
And the fuel duty freeze is set to continue, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson telling The Sun: “I firmly believe the economic recovery is going to be powered by White Van Man amongst others.”
Visa changes
Mr Sunak is expected to unveil a new fast-track technology visa scheme for start-up companies for migrants with a job offer from a tech company.
Community ownership
Community groups will be given up to £250,000 to help buy struggling local pubs in their area through the Community Ownership Fund.
Thalidomide compensation
The Treasury is expected to announce a life-time financial aid package for the victims of the Thalidomide scandal.
According to reports, £39 million will be earmarked for the first four years to fund the thalidomide health grant, which helps about 400 people in the UK gain access to specialist treatment and rehabilitation.
Veterans
The Chancellor is expected to provide £10 million in new funding to support veterans with mental health needs.
Furlough will be extended until the end of September, the chancellor will announce, as he unveils more support for workers and the self-employed.
Ahead of the budget, Rishi Sunak has revealed that millions of workers will continue to have 80% of their wages paid until the end of September.
More than 600,000 additional people, including many of the self-employed who previously missed out on grants, will also get support.
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Budget 2021: To spend or to tax is key query
It comes ahead of a budget in which the government is expected to announce more support to get the country through the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also level with the nation and explain how tax rises will be required in order to balance the books.
Mr Sunak will also set out his long-term vision for the UK and how he intends to make the City more attractive to global investors post-Brexit as part of a three-pronged plan for the next few years.
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The cornerstone of the bid to protect workers will be extending the furlough scheme and supporting more self-employed people who previously missed out on grants.
The so-called Excluded group have campaigned for support from the Treasury after many were missed because they could not show a tax-return for the year in question.
More from Budget 2021
As part of the plan to extend furlough, Mr Sunak will announce that employers must contribute too: 10% in July and 20% in August, as businesses are allowed to reopen and begin to claw back some of their lost earnings.
Watch and follow the budget live with special coverage and analysis from 12.30pm. A special edition of the Sky News Daily podcast will be available to listen to from 7pm.
Over 11 million people have had their wages covered by furlough since the scheme began.
Announcing the extra support, Mr Sunak said: "Our COVID support schemes have been a lifeline to millions, protecting jobs and incomes across the UK.
"There's now light at the end of the tunnel with a roadmap for reopening, so it's only right that we continue to help business and individuals through the challenging months ahead - and beyond."
Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson, said: "These changes to support schemes could have been made months ago.
"Businesses and workers have been pleading with the chancellor to give them certainty - but they have had to wait because he said it wouldn't be appropriate until the budget.
"Announcing it the night before shows the focus is on Rishi Sunak getting his moment in the sun rather than protecting jobs and livelihoods."
Commenting on the decision to extend the scheme, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality said: "Extending the full furlough support for businesses up to and beyond the full reopening date for hospitality is a very positive move.
"It will help keep businesses afloat and more jobs secure as they trade their way back to prosperity in the months and years to come.
"It will help businesses bring back staff flexibly which will be particularly helpful to those businesses, such as hotels, which will take longer to recover."
And Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain, added: "I am also pleased to see the chancellor has extended the number of people eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), to take into account the newly self-employed.
"With the pandemic restrictions continuing for a much longer period that originally anticipated, it is right that eligibility is extended.
"This intervention from the government will directly support sole traders and entrepreneurs who will no doubt play an important role in the UK's economic recovery and future growth."
Furlough will be extended until the end of September, the chancellor will announce, as he unveils more support for workers and the self-employed.
Ahead of the budget, Rishi Sunak has revealed that millions of workers will continue to have 80% of their wages paid until the end of September.
More than 600,000 additional people, including many of the self-employed who previously missed out on grants, will also get support.
Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player
Budget 2021: To spend or to tax is key query
It comes ahead of a budget in which the government is expected to announce more support to get the country through the later stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, but also level with the nation and explain how tax rises will be required in order to balance the books.
Mr Sunak will also set out his long-term vision for the UK and how he intends to make the City more attractive to global investors post-Brexit as part of a three-pronged plan for the next few years.
Advertisement
The cornerstone of the bid to protect workers will be extending the furlough scheme and supporting more self-employed people who previously missed out on grants.
The so-called Excluded group have campaigned for support from the Treasury after many were missed because they could not show a tax-return for the year in question.
More from Budget 2021
As part of the plan to extend furlough, Mr Sunak will announce that employers must contribute too: 10% in July and 20% in August, as businesses are allowed to reopen and begin to claw back some of their lost earnings.
Watch and follow the budget live with special coverage and analysis from 12.30pm. A special edition of the Sky News Daily podcast will be available to listen to from 7pm.
Over 11 million people have had their wages covered by furlough since the scheme began.
Announcing the extra support, Mr Sunak said: "Our COVID support schemes have been a lifeline to millions, protecting jobs and incomes across the UK.
"There's now light at the end of the tunnel with a roadmap for reopening, so it's only right that we continue to help business and individuals through the challenging months ahead - and beyond."
Labour's shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, Bridget Phillipson, said: "These changes to support schemes could have been made months ago.
"Businesses and workers have been pleading with the chancellor to give them certainty - but they have had to wait because he said it wouldn't be appropriate until the budget.
"Announcing it the night before shows the focus is on Rishi Sunak getting his moment in the sun rather than protecting jobs and livelihoods."
Commenting on the decision to extend the scheme, Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UKHospitality said: "Extending the full furlough support for businesses up to and beyond the full reopening date for hospitality is a very positive move.
"It will help keep businesses afloat and more jobs secure as they trade their way back to prosperity in the months and years to come.
"It will help businesses bring back staff flexibly which will be particularly helpful to those businesses, such as hotels, which will take longer to recover."
And Michelle Ovens CBE, founder of Small Business Britain, added: "I am also pleased to see the chancellor has extended the number of people eligible for the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme (SEISS), to take into account the newly self-employed.
"With the pandemic restrictions continuing for a much longer period that originally anticipated, it is right that eligibility is extended.
"This intervention from the government will directly support sole traders and entrepreneurs who will no doubt play an important role in the UK's economic recovery and future growth."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign amidst fresh claims that she lied to parliament.
It follows the Scottish government's publication of legal advice surrounding a court challenge by Alex Salmond in 2018.
It shows that legal counsel warned the Scottish government of a "very real problem" more than two months before they were forced to concede in court.
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Sturgeon denies cover-up accusations
Mr Salmond has accused Ms Sturgeon of breaching the ministerial code by not halting her government's legal challenge and costing the taxpayer more than £600,000 in legal costs.
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Douglas Ross said his party would be submitting a vote of no confidence in Ms Sturgeon.
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He said: "There is no longer any doubt that Nicola Sturgeon lied to the Scottish Parliament and broke the Ministerial Code on numerous counts.
"No first minister can be allowed to mislead the Scottish people and continue in office, especially when they have tried to cover up the truth and abused the power of their office in the process.
More from Alex Salmond
"The weight of the evidence is overwhelming. Nicola Sturgeon must resign."
However, John Swinney MSP, Scotland's deputy first minister, refuted claims that the government's legal advice had been wholly predictable of defeat in court.
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'Scotland's leadership has failed'
He said: "These documents are clear. Our legal advice was optimistic about the government's prospects for success at the start. It became gradually but progressively less optimistic over time.
"It was only in December that the advice concluded that our case was no longer stateable and we should concede. Indeed, as late as 11 December, Ministers were advised that we should continue.
"Within a matter of days of being advised that the case was no stateable, we have taken the decision to concede. That was right and proper.
"Significantly, however, this comprehensively disproves claims that we had continued the case in defiance of legal advice. That is categorically untrue and these documents put that beyond doubt."
And a spokesperson for the first minister said: "The first minister will address all of the issues raised - and much more besides - at the committee tomorrow, while the independent adviser on the ministerial code will report in due course.
"But to call a vote of no confidence in the middle of a pandemic, before hearing a single word of the first minister's evidence, is utterly irresponsible.
"It is for the public to decide who they want to govern Scotland and - while we continue to fight the COVID pandemic - with the election campaign starting in just 20 days, that is precisely what they will be able to do."
Ms Sturgeon faced added pressure from fresh evidence submitted to the Scottish parliament's harassment committee by two prominent figures, respected within the SNP.
Kevin Pringle, a former aide to Mr Salmond and Duncan Hamilton, a former MSP who is Mr Salmond's legal adviser, backed up claims by Mr Salmond in his evidence to the committee that the name of a woman who had complained about him was shared with his former chief of staff, Geoff Aberdein.
Both men also said that Mr Aberdein had told them he discussed complaints against Mr Salmond in a meeting with Ms Sturgeon on a date before the first minister says she learned of them.
Nicola Sturgeon is facing calls to resign and a potential no-confidence vote as evidence submitted to Holyrood’s harassment complaints committee appears to back the accusation that she breached the ministerial code.
Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, 6:36 pm
Updated Tuesday, 2nd March 2021, 7:37 pm
The demands for her resignation from Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross come on the eve of her appearance in front of the Salmond inquiry on Wednesday morning.
They come after two additional witnesses provided written submissions to the committee in which they confirmed the meeting with Geoff Aberdein, Alex Salmond’s former chief of staff, on March 29, 2018, was “for the purpose of discussing the complaints”.
Legal advice around the judicial review brought by Alex Salmond against the Scottish Government has been published.
Kevin Pringle, the SNP’s former communications chief, and Duncan Hamilton, Mr Salmond’s QC, also corroborated the accusation that a name of one of the complainers had been disclosed to Mr Aberdein.
In his written submission, Mr Hamilton said the purpose of the meeting in Parliament on March 29, 2018 was “for the purpose of discussing the complaints”.
He said: “I spoke to Geoff Aberdein on 29th March 2018 after his meeting in the Scottish Parliament. At that time, he intimated that a further meeting would be arranged to discuss the complaints with the First Minister.
"That meeting was arranged for 2nd April 2018. I was invited to that meeting and travelled to it along with Mr Salmond and Mr Aberdein.
“Further, when we arrived, everyone in the room knew exactly why we were there. No introduction to the subject was needed and no one was in any doubt what we were there to discuss.”
On the subject of potential intervention by the First Minister, Mr Hamilton said: “My clear recollection is that her words were ‘if it comes to it, I will intervene’.”
He adds that he believes Ms Sturgeon later changed her mind.
In his evidence, Mr Pringle said: “Based on my contact with Mr Aberdein, I know he was clear that the purpose of the meeting on 29 March 2018 was to discuss the two complaints that had been made against Mr Salmond.”
Ms Sturgeon has consistently denied that she breached the ministerial code despite ‘forgetting’ the March 29 meeting with Mr Aberdein.
In response to a question in Holyrood last week, the First Minister also said that “to the best of her knowledge” the name of a complainant had not been shared with Mr Salmond’s former chief of staff.
Reacting, Mr Ross said the First Minister must now resign and the party would submit a vote of no confidence in Ms Sturgeon.
He said: “Credible witnesses have now backed up Alex Salmond’s claims and the legal advice shows the government knew months in advance that the judicial review was doomed, but they still went on to waste more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money.
“There is no longer any doubt that Nicola Sturgeon lied to the Scottish Parliament and broke the ministerial code on numerous counts.
“No First Minister can be allowed to mislead the Scottish people and continue in office, especially when they have tried to cover up the truth and abused the power of their office in the process.
“The weight of the evidence is overwhelming. Nicola Sturgeon must resign.
“No evidence she can provide tomorrow will counter the claims of numerous witnesses or refute that her government ignored the legal advice for months and lost more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money in the process.
“We will be submitting a vote of no confidence in the First Minister.”
The Greens indicated they would not back the vote of no confidence in Ms Sturgeon at this stage.
Demands for Ms Sturgeon’s resignation came shortly after the key legal advice provided by external counsel to the Scottish Government on the judicial review was published.
The documents show concerns around the “procedural unfairness” of the harassment complaints procedure from the very start of the judicial review.
However, only following the revelation of further documents in mid-December did the case become unstatable, according to counsel.
Advice from the Lord Advocate to the Scottish Government also followed this timeline.
Concerns were first raised about the prior contact between Judith McKinnon, the investigating officer of the complaints, and the complainers in late October, the documents state, when the
external counsel are described as “extremely concerned”.
At this point, on October 31, Roddy Dunlop QC, the dean of the Faculty of Advocates, said it would make “little sense to defend the indefensible”.
On December 6, Mr Dunlop further advised that it would be “less attractive” to continue defending the petition due to the fact defeat would see “far higher” expenses and Mr Salmond “trumpeting far louder”.
However, by December 11, the position of the Scottish Government was still there were “credible arguments to make across the petition”.
By December 19, counsel advised the petition should be conceded due to the government’s position being unstatable.
Ms McKinnon is the subject of the harshest criticism within this part of the legal advice.
Counsel wrote to the Scottish Government on December 19 stating: “Suffice to say that we have each experienced extreme professional embarrassment as a result of assurances which we have given … turning out to be false as a result of the revelation of further documents, highly relevant yet undisclosed”.
The comments from counsel came after two further documents and the details of a meeting between Ms McKinnon and a complainer on January 16, 2018 to “discuss the experience about the alleged misconduct of a former minister” were disclosed at a late stage by the Scottish Government.
Counsel added: “As to the late nature of the revelation, this is unexplained and frankly inexplicable.
"The lack of any mention of the meeting of January 16, 2018 in what is meant to be a sworn affidavit for use in court is, frankly, alarming.
“We are now in a position where we think that maintaining a defence of the appointment of the IO [investigating officer] may be unstatable.”
Deputy first minister John Swinney, who had earlier agreed to publish the key legal advice on the judicial review, said: “These documents are clear. Our legal advice was optimistic about the government’s prospects for success at the start. It became gradually, but progressively less optimistic over time.
“It was only in December that the advice concluded that our case was no longer stateable and we should concede. Indeed, as late as December 11, ministers were advised that we should continue.
“Within a matter of days of being advised that the case was not stateable, we have taken the decision to concede. That was right and proper.
“Significantly, however, this comprehensively disproves claims that we had continued the case in defiance of legal advice. That is categorically untrue and these documents put that beyond doubt."
Commenting on the publication of the legal advice, Scottish Labour deputy leader and committee member Jackie Baillie said: “The comments from counsel make it explicitly clear that the conduct of the investigation and the actions of those involved greatly jeopardised the proceedings.
"That counsel were expressing grave concerns in October and that the Lord Advocate wished to continue with proceedings as late as December 2018 simply beggars belief.
“The Scottish Government’s unlawful handling of harassment complaints appears to be indefensible and I look forward to having the opportunity to question the First Minister on the failings of her government.”
In a statement in response to earlier claims the First Minister breached the ministerial code, a Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The First Minister stands by what she has said to Parliament and by her written evidence to the committee and looks forward to answering questions at the committee.”
The Salmond inquiry is examining the botched handling of harassment complaints against Mr Salmond by the Scottish Government, which led to a £500,000 legal bill after the Government conceded a judicial review challenge on grounds the process was “tainted by apparent bias”.
Mr Salmond was also acquitted of sexual offence charges in a trial last year.
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