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1. Work from home tax loophole to be closed after it cost Treasury ￡500？million
A work from home tax loophole is set to be closed after officials warned Rishi Sunak that it had cost the Treasury nearly ￡500 million during the pandemic.
HM Revenue and Customs is urgently reviewing a rule that allows anyone who works even a single day from home to claim a yearly sum of up to ￡125 in tax relief, The Telegraph can disclose. Read the full story.
2. GPs told to resume face-to-face appointments as focus shifts from rollout of Covid booster vaccines
GPs are being told to get back to offering face-to-face appointments, after official figures showed worsening access to family doctors.
The statistics for December show just 61 per cent of GP consultations in England took place in person, down from 63 per cent the month before. This compares with 80 per cent before the pandemic. Read the full story.
3. Police solving lowest proportion of crimes ever, even as number of sex offences soars
Police are solving the lowest proportion of crimes on record as sex offences hit a new high, official figures show.
Just six per cent of all crimes resulted in a charge in the year to September 2021, equivalent to only one in 17 offences being solved, according to Home Office figures published on Thursday. Read the full story.
4. Rishi Sunak fighting hard to stop invoking Article 16, claim Boris Johnson’s allies
Rishi Sunak has been accused of blocking plans to invoke Article 16 by allies of the Prime Minister who say he is a “nominal Brexiteer” who has stalled progress on the Northern Ireland Protocol.
The claims come amid rising tensions over the Chancellor’s proposed 1.25 percentage point rise in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) as Boris Johnson’s premiership continues to hang by a thread pending the publication of Sue Gray’s “partygate” report. Read the full story.
5. ‘Vile’ kidnapper who left girlfriend unable to walk or talk faces review of seven-year jail sentence
A man who left his teenage girlfriend unable to walk or talk after she fell out of a van at 60mph while being kidnapped faces a potential review of his sentence after being jailed for just seven and a half years.
Suella Braverman, the Attorney General, has received a complaint that the sentence handed out on Thursday to Chay Bowskill, 20, is unduly lenient. Read the full story.
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