UK news
UK news in brief for Russian speakers: laws, tax, prices and rules, each linked to its primary source. Search and filter by date.
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Book at bedtime: Alice in Wonderland and one street in Oxford
The 1865 book written by a mathematics lecturer at Christ Church. The text is free on Project Gutenberg, and the whole Alice route fits into a single Oxford street.
Broadband social tariffs: £10 a month if you are on benefits
Tariffs from £10 to £24 for people on Universal Credit, Pension Credit, ESA, JSA and Income Support. Switching is free even mid-contract. Ofcom found 5.1% of eligible households were using one as of February 2023.
Poems on the Underground at 40: the autumn set and Saturday's concert
Poems on the Underground began in January 1986 as a scheme by three friends; its posters now reach three million travellers a day. The autumn set went up on 19 October, and the fortieth anniversary evening is at the Purcell Room on 24 October, tickets from £17.
Life in the UK Test: £50, 24 questions and a 75% pass mark
No settlement and no citizenship without it. £50 an attempt, 24 questions in 45 minutes, a 75% pass mark. Who is exempt, which ID to bring, and what gets people turned away at the door.
Stamp Duty on buying a home in England: bands, reliefs and the 14-day deadline
The tax on buying a home is charged in slices, not on the whole price at once. The threshold is £125,000, first-time buyers start at £300,000, an additional property adds 5%, and the return and payment are due within 14 days.
Notice periods: what you owe and what you are owed
An employee who resigns owes one week by law, whatever their service. An employer owes a week for every year worked, up to twelve. When notice starts running, how notice pay is calculated and what payment in lieu of notice buys.
British citizenship: five years, 450 days and £1,839
Naturalising after ILR takes five years in the country, twelve months holding settlement and two separate absence ceilings — 450 days over five years and 90 days in the last twelve months. The £50 Life in the UK test, the English levels and what the fee buys.
Jobs Plans: 22,400 apprenticeships a year for under-25s and 40,000 on site
The government has published Jobs Plans for professional services and construction: 22,400 apprenticeships a year for under-25s, 40,000 construction placements, up to £2,000 for an employer taking an apprentice and 14,000 defence places by 2035. Here is what is promised and where to look today.
Council Tax discounts: who pays 25% or 50% less and how to claim
Council Tax is charged on the property, not the people — yet the number of adults in a home can halve the bill. Here is who qualifies for 25% and 50%, the ten categories the council does not count as adults, why an empty flat can cost four times the normal rate, and the deadlines for appealing.
Sold a second property: 60 days to report it to HMRC
UK residential property has its own HMRC deadline: report and pay within 60 days of completion, not next spring with the tax return. Rates of 18% and 24%, a £3,000 tax-free allowance.
Neonatal care leave in the UK: 12 weeks and £187.18 a week
The care must start within 28 days of birth, one week of leave is earned for every 7 full days on the ward, and the cap is 12 weeks. The leave is a day-one right; the £187.18 pay needs 26 weeks of service.
UK mobile plans compared: where £8 buys what £25 does
SIM-only prices as of 19 October 2026: SMARTY, giffgaff, VOXI and 1pMobile all run on the big four's masts. Plus switching by one text, £10 social tariffs and what the networks give away.
Stairs and guarding: England reviews Part K after more than 20 years
The Building Safety Regulator has opened a call for evidence on Part K of the building regulations. Stair dimensions, guarding heights and glazing are all in scope, and it closes on 28 December.
Refunds in the UK: 14 days online, less in a shop
An online purchase can be returned with no reason given: 14 days to cancel, 14 more to send it back, 14 for the refund. In a shop that right does not exist. And when a fault appears, the first six months decide who has to prove what.
Rent repayment orders: how tenants claim back up to two years' rent
The ceiling is now two years' rent and the window is two years from the offence. The ten listed offences, Form RRO1, tribunal fees and the defences a landlord can run.
Missing abroad: who to call first from the UK
On 19 October 2026 the Foreign Office announced a partnership with the charity Missing People: consular teams will refer consenting families directly. Here is who to contact in the first hours, what the FCDO can do and what it will never do.
Drought: minister lets the Agency take more water to avoid rota cuts
On 19 October the minister's direction to the Environment Agency was published: in the severe drought zones around the Wimbleball, Ardingly, Roadford and Colliford reservoirs, public water supply comes before environmental releases. The stated aim is to avoid rota cuts.
Moving house in the UK: who needs your new address
Not telling the DVLA about a change of address can cost up to £1,000, though the process itself is free. And it is not one action but four: licence, V5C, tax Direct Debit and the personalised number document. Here is the full list.
Airport assistance for disabled passengers in the UK: what changes
More than 1,000 wheelchairs were damaged in transit in 2023 — over eighty a month. On 19 October the Department for Transport published the industry accessibility group's report: some measures are already running, while scrapping the compensation cap for a broken wheelchair on domestic flights is still before Parliament.
Carer's Credit: 20 hours of care a week that protect your State Pension record
The National Insurance credit pays nothing, but it fills the gaps in the record behind a £241.30-a-week State Pension. You need 20 hours of caring a week and to be 16 or over.
London penalty fares: £100, £50 and three appeals
A Penalty Fare in London is £100, halved to £50 if paid within 21 days. The appeal runs in three stages with deadlines of 21, 14 and 14 days. Miss the new window after a rejection and the discount is gone.
UK fuel prices: petrol 174.2p, diesel 199.1p — weekly review
The average price of E10 petrol in the UK is 174.2p a litre and B7 diesel 199.1p. Petrol is down by 0.5p over the week, diesel by 0.6p. Calculated across 8131 forecourts from the government Fuel Finder dataset.
Tax-Free Childcare: how to get £2,000 a year towards childcare
For every £8 you pay in the government adds £2 — up to £500 per child every three months. The earnings floors, the £100,000 ceiling, the Universal Credit clash and the three-month reconfirmation.
Food hygiene ratings in the UK: what 0 to 5 mean and where to check them
The sticker with a number on a cafe door is a local council inspector's score on a scale of 0 to 5. England does not require businesses to display it; Wales and Northern Ireland do, by law. Here is what sits behind each number, who is not rated at all, and why the three-part breakdown matters more than the score.
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