Handforth Parish Council meets for the first time since December - and members of the public join the chaos

Thousands of people watched as the country's most famous parish council got back to business - and back to its old antics.

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  • Rishi Sunak plots tax raid on parcels and freelance workers

    Rishi Sunak is plotting a new tax on online deliveries next month and a raid on the self-employed later this year, The Telegraph can reveal. The Chancellor will use Wednesday's Budget to announce a £5 billion fund to help high street pubs, restaurants and non-essential shops that have remained closed as a result of the Covid lockdown. On March 23 – dubbed "tax day" in Whitehall – he will then unveil a series of consultations on further tax increases to start paying for the £300 billion cost of dealing with the virus crisis. The Telegraph has learnt that this will include options to tax online retail more heavily, including the possibility of a new green tax on every internet delivery, alongside other online tax ideas. However, it is understood that he has turned his back on a mooted windfall tax on the "excess profits" of internet companies. Mr Sunak is also planning to use a Budget in the autumn to increase National Insurance Contributions paid by Britain's 4.5 million self-employed, arguing that they too benefited from state support in the pandemic. A Treasury source said: "The idea of an online sales tax is being looked at as part of the business rates review. "Responses to the consultation are being considered in the round, but the Chancellor is cognisant of the need to level up the playing field between the high street and online taxation."

  • Gordon Ramsay criticised for commenting on woman's teeth during 'Saturday Night Takeaway' game

    The celebrity chef is under fire on Twitter after making a 'humiliating' remark about a woman's teeth.

  • Iran dismisses idea of talks with EU and U.S. to revive 2015 nuclear deal

    Iran on Sunday ruled out holding an informal meeting with the United States and European powers to discuss ways to revive its 2015 nuclear deal with major powers, insisting that Washington must lift all its unilateral sanctions. "Considering the recent actions and statements by the United States and three European powers, Iran does not consider this the time to hold an informal meeting with these countries, which was proposed by the EU foreign policy chief," Foreign Ministry spokesman Saeed Khatibzadeh said, according to Iranian media.

  • Holby City star Belinda Owusu is expecting her first child

    As is the character she plays.

  • Nicola Sturgeon faces triple threat as MSPs demand evidence to corroborate Alex Salmond allegations

    Nicola Sturgeon is facing a triple threat to her political career as a Holyrood inquiry and opposition MSPs demanded the evidence that would corroborate Alex Salmond's claim she had repeatedly breached the ministerial code. Ahead of the First Minister's appearance on Wednesday, the committee conducting the inquiry is on Monday expected to formally request a cache of documents from Mr Salmond's solicitors that he claimed proved there was a "malicious" plot against him. It is understood a majority of the committee supports the move, which was suggested by Mr Salmond in his closing remarks of his six-hour evidence session on Friday as a means of circumventing the Scottish Government and Crown Office. MSPs hope to have the evidence cleared by the committee's legal advisors in time for Lord Advocate James Wolffe and Crown agent David Harvie giving evidence on Tuesday and Ms Sturgeon on Wednesday. The First Minister is believed to have set aside five hours in her diary. The Scottish Tories also lodged a motion of no confidence in John Swinney, the Deputy First Minister, over his refusal to hand over the SNP government's legal advice during Mr Salmond's successful judicial review. Douglas Ross, their leader, gave Mr Swinney 24 hours to release the advice or face a vote to remove him after the SNP government ignored two Holyrood demands for it to be provided. The Liberal Democrats said they would back the Tory motion and it will be considered today by Anas Sarwar, the new Scottish Labour leader. It is understood that the Greens will wait to see what is said in the motion before making a decision. Mr Salmond told the inquiry that the external counsel appointed by Ms Sturgeon's government advised that it would probably lose the case and later threatened to resign unless it was conceded. The Scottish Government has been accused of wasting £600,000 of public money by only collapsing the judicial review case at the eleventh hour, a potential breach of the ministerial code.

  • Nearly a quarter of NHS staff in London are refusing Covid vaccines

    Almost a quarter of NHS staff in some parts of the country are refusing Covid jabs, with official statistics showing more than 200,000 health and care workers putting patients at risk. NHS figures show that 91 percent of front line healthcare staff across the country have taken up the offer of a vaccine, but that dips to 76 per cent in London – the worst refusal rate. In total, more than 41,000 front line healthcare workers in the capital, including medics, hospital porters, cleaners and laboratory staff, have not had the jab. The national picture among care home staff is even worse, with uptake of less than 73 percent. The statistics show that around 106,000 front line healthcare staff and more than 121,000 care workers have yet to take up the vaccine. Last week, Prof Chris Whitty, the chief medical officer, said NHS and care home staff had a "professional responsibility" to get vaccinated, while the Queen said those who refuse the vaccine "ought to think about other people rather than themselves".

  • Budget 2021: Sunak’s £5bn plan to rescue high streets from collapse

    Budget 2021: Sunak’s £5bn plan to rescue high streets from collapse. Grants will be offered to stricken shops and pubs but NHS fears its pleas for cash will be ignored

  • Ant and Dec forced to apologise after Gordon Ramsay ‘swears’ on Saturday Night Takeaway

    Ant and Dec joked they had installed a ‘bleeper machine’ for the notoriously sweary chef

  • Germany urged to follow Britain’s vaccine strategy as regulators look set to approve AstraZeneca for over 65s

    Germany was under pressure to change its covid vaccination strategy yesterday/SUN after the country's top vaccine regulator acknowledged that advice against giving the AstraZeneca jab to over 65s had been flawed. The announcement came as a term of German scientists called on the government to follow the UK in delaying second doses after a study showed it could save up to 15,000 lives. Thomas Mertens, the head of Germany’s Standing Committee on Vaccination (Stiko), said on Saturday that the country was likely to change its controversial guidelines against not to give the AstraZeneca vaccine to over 65s, saying errors had been made. Promising “a new, updated recommendation very soon”, Mertens said: “somehow the whole thing went very badly”. “We had the data that we had and based on this data we made the recommendation. But we never criticized the vaccine. We only criticised the fact that the data situation for the age group over 65 was not good or not sufficient,” he said on Germany’s ZDF news network.

  • Nearly two million people age 60 to 63 to be offered Covid vaccine

    Nearly two million people aged 60 to 63 in England are being invited to book a coronavirus jab as part of the continued expansion of the vaccine programme. NHS England said that the letters will start landing on doormats from Monday, explaining how people can make an appointment to get jabbed through the national booking service. They have been sent out after more than three in four people aged 65 to 70 took up the offer of a vaccination, it added. It comes as leaders from 60 of the UK's black majority churches joined forces on Sunday to show their support for the Covid-19 vaccine to their congregations. They will say they support the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccine programme, and urge their congregations to seek out the facts about the vaccine from trusted sources. They will also say that they have either already been vaccinated or that they will get the vaccine when it is their turn. The alliance of Christian leaders, which includes Bishop of Dover the Rt Rev Rose Hudson-Wilkin, said they felt compelled to act after data suggested black people are among those most likely to be hesitant about receiving the Covid-19 vaccine. Bishop Hudson-Wilkin said: "When you are offered the Covid vaccine, please take it. "This is our chance to show we care for ourselves and our neighbours. "Don't let misinformation rob you of your opportunity to protect yourself and others." This initiative has been organised by Christian umbrella organisations Churches Together in England, Evangelical Alliance and YourNeighbour.

  • Debbie McGee says she and Paul Daniels' son have mended their relationship after estate dispute

    Paul Daniels Jr. previously referred to his late father's wife as a 'witch'.

  • Republican predicts Trump won’t be party’s presidential nominee in 2024

    Republican predicts Trump won’t be party’s presidential nominee in 2024. Senator Bill Cassidy points to seats lost in House and Senate during Trump presidency and says ‘if we idolize one person, we will lose’

  • Covid ‘likely to get worse again’ as new variants spread, Biden warns

    ‘The current improvement could reverse’, says president of rising infections

  • 20ft-long king cobra caught in family's home

    A 20ft-long deadly cobra sparked panic after it was caught slithering through a family's home.

  • German states call for unused AstraZeneca vaccine to be given to younger people

    Several German states called on Sunday for unused AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccines to be given to younger people, as worries about side effects and efficacy, as well as a recommendation it be used only for under 65s, have meant low take-up of available doses. The German health ministry said this week it had administered only 15% of the AstraZeneca shots it has available, confirming concerns that Germans were being selective, slowing vaccination efforts. Elderly people are first in line to be vaccinated, but Germany has recommended that the AstraZeneca vaccine be given only to people aged 18 to 64.

  • Britain has a moral and legal obligation to Shamima Begum

    Britain has a moral and legal obligation to Shamima BegumHowever monstrous her actions in joining Isis, her citizenship isn’t conditional because her parents were born abroad Shamima Begum: deprived of British citizenship. Photograph: PA

  • Le Creuset vs Aldi cast iron cookware: Can the 11 times cheaper casserole dish beat the market leader?

    Not all cooking pots are made equal. Or are they? We put them to the test

  • Public backs new taxes on wealthy and business to pay for Covid debt

    Chancellor unveils £5bn ‘restart grants’ for pubs, shops and restaurants

  • Court papers reveal reason for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West divorce

    Kim Kardashian West has cited “irreconcilable differences” as the reason she is divorcing rapper Kanye West. The reality TV star filed divorce papers with an LA court that also confirmed she is seeking joint custody of their four children - North, seven, Saint, five, Chicago, three, and Psalm, one. The businesswoman has enlisted the services of lawyer Laura Wasser, who earned the title “disso queen” thanks to her work sorting out the divorces of high-profile celebrities.

  • South Carolina Woman's Apartment Infested With Bats

    A woman in Columbia, South Carolina, has been forced to leave her apartment because of a bat infestation.Dionne Wilks said she first noticed bats inside her apartment on February 2. Speaking to Storyful, she said she thought “nothing of it” at the time as she had left her windows open overnight.When she spotted more bats in her apartment on February 8 and February 10, she knew there was a problem.Wilks said she contacted the apartment building management and submitted a maintenance request for help, but it took them several days to send someone.Wilks said a doctor advised her and her son to get a post-exposure rabies vaccine and that she’d had to stay in hotels while the problem was addressed.The apartment management company told WIS News 10 they were aware of the problem and working to fix it. They said they expected the bats to be gone by Friday, February 26.Wilks told Storyful she’d been told she could move back in on Monday, March 1. However, she said: “I do not want to stay there. It’s bat guano all over that apartment.”A GoFundMe page for Wicks and her son has raised over $1,700 at the time of writing. Credit: Dionne Wilks via Storyful