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9am Lowdown: Minimum wage raised today

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1st Oct 2015
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Hello! Here’s the news.

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Minimum wage raised today

A 20p increase in the hourly national minimum wage has comes into effect today raising the new adult rate to £6.70 an hour, reports ITV news.

The new rate comes into force ahead of the planned national living wage of £7.20 an hour for over-25s from next April.

The government says the 3% rise in the adult rate is the biggest real increase since 2006.

But TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said the increase is “welcome but hardly cause for euphoria.”

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PwC calls for pension reform

The complexity of pensions is putting people off saving - particularly women and younger workers, PwC has argued.

It also suggested that contribution levels were insufficient to provide the retirement income that workers expect. On average, workers wanted a retirement income of £22,200 a year.

“It is clear that many people's expectations of their pension pot and the reality at retirement will be very different as people simply are not contributing enough to their pensions,” said Raj Mody, head of pensions consulting at PwC.

“Any system that is asking people to lock up their money for many years needs to be simple to understand, trusted and sustainable to encourage greater savings levels. It also needs to include a strong up-front incentive.”

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Animals’ tax free status means they have no rights

Princess Michael of Kent has resolved the time old quandary of animal rights at the Henley Literary Festival when she said animals have no rights because they don’t pay taxes, reports The Telegraph.

The writer and historian, who is married to the Queen’s cousin, Princess Michael of Kent, said animals cannot really be considered to have rights, as many believe today.

Instead, she said, human beings have an “obligation” towards them.

“Well, I’m a great animal lover and involved in a lot of conservation, but animals don’t have rights. They don't have bank accounts, they don’t vote.

“You only have rights if you pay your taxes. You earn your rights.”

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By SteveHa
01st Oct 2015 09:42

As an animal lover

“Well, I’m a great animal lover and involved in a lot of conservation, but animals don’t have rights. They don't have bank accounts, they don’t vote.

“You only have rights if you pay your taxes. You earn your rights.”

 

And who exactly is supposed to have bestowed the "right" to charge tax on the human species in order to raise it's standing in the moral aspect of all life on the planet. The fact that other species with which we share the world were around well before taxes and bank accounts were does kind of make her argument a mockery.

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