Martin Lewis has helpful tax guidance for pensioners

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Martin Lewis has shared valuable tax guidance that pensioners would do well to take note of. During an episode of his BBC podcast, the consumer champion addressed a broad range of tax-related questions.

The programme explored subjects including income tax changes impacting state pensioners, alongside how inheritance tax and capital gains tax operate. Mr Lewis was accompanied by two tax specialists to help clarify the regulations, including chartered accountant Rebecca Benneyworth.

A listener called Cathy, 80, contacted the show to explain she was finding it difficult to complete her HMRC self-assessment forms – something many people must do annually. The next deadline for submitting your self-assessment tax return for the previous tax year is January 31, 2027 – but Martin advises against waiting until the deadline approaches.

Not submitting your tax return punctually can lead to penalties. The pensioner said she only owed £150 in tax and had attempted to secure assistance from a tax adviser, but many were imposing substantial charges.

Mr Lewis reminded listeners that completing your self-assessment between October and December, well in advance of the annual January deadline, is highly recommended. Ms Benneyworth also detailed some of the support available for elderly taxpayers, reports the Mirror.

She said: “If you are on a low income, there are two tax charities. One I’m thinking of is Tax Help for Older People. They have an army of volunteers – I’ve worked as a volunteer in the past – for elderly people on low incomes.

“They will come round to your house and they will sit with you, and they will sort out your tax.” The tax specialist then pointed the caller towards another charitable organisation that could offer further assistance.

Ms Benneyworth continued: “The other one is Tax Aid. They are more London-based but you can deal with them on the phone or by email. Again, they help people who’ve got low incomes who have got themselves into a mess with their tax affairs for free.

“Lots of tax professionals make donations to those charities at the end of the year because we all think they do an absolutely fabulous job.” The accountant also put forward another route for gaining a better understanding of HMRC regulations.

She went on to say: “I wouldn’t suggest it to everybody but you might get a bit of help on webchat [on the Government website]. HMRC is devoting quite a lot of money and resource to webchat.

“Some of it is the computer says yes or no, but if you are asking questions that they think you need a real life advisor, you may well be able to get put on to an advisor, who might help you.”

Offering his own perspective, Mr Lewis noted that improving services is ultimately in the Government’s interest. He remarked: “This isn’t about a cost [for HMRC]. Ultimately, do it right and you collect more tax revenue, because people are paying the right tax. When you don’t know what to do, it’s not good for society.”

Mr Lewis’ Money Saving Expert website offers guidance regarding the 2027 deadline, stating: “If you’re self-employed or had extra income last year, you may need to file a self-assessment tax return. For the 2025/26 tax year (which ended on 5 April 2026) you have until 31 January 2027 to submit online.”

Ensuring your tax return is filed punctually by January 31 is essential, as missing the cut-off could result in escalating financial penalties. The taxcalc website warns: “If you miss the deadline you’ll be subject to the late filing penalty rules.”

The MSE website further cautions: “Missing the deadline for filing your return means an automatic penalty of £100 – and these penalties increase the longer you leave it.”

The forgotten Canadian crime drama starring David Sutcliffe is gripping UK viewers

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An overlooked crime drama featuring a Gilmore Girls star has arrived on UK streaming, captivating fans from beginning to end. First released back in 2013 on CBC, Cracked follows a former SWAT officer in America, Detective Aidan Black, who was reassigned after a very public incident that left him struggling.

He was transferred to a newly formed psych crimes and crisis unit as the series follows his new move. Being released over a decade ago, Cracked quickly became a massive hit with viewers, with season one being a firm favourite with fans. Starring Gilmore Girls icon David Sutcliffe (known for his role as Christopher Hayden) as Detective Black, the show ran for two seasons before it was removed from television screens.

Now, season one of the hit crime drama series is available to stream on Prime Video and is currently trending on the streaming platform. However, the second season has not yet been made available, reports the Mirror.

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Prime Video teases: “Former SWAT officer Detective Aidan Black is taken aback when he learns that his new partner isn’t a cop. He’s been assigned to work with forensic psychiatrist Dr. Daniella Ridley in a newly established unit tasked with solving the city’s most horrific crimes. Their contrasting perspectives and methods are meant to help crack even the toughest cases.”

With 13 episodes in season one, Cracked has been hailed as a must-watch by viewers.

One IMDb reviewer penned: “The First season of CRACKED had the promise of being something TRULY GREAT and the first of its kind on Canadian TV.” They later added: “Its rare that ANY television show has made me care so much for ALL of its characters. Even the weekly antagonist.”

Another expressed: “I love the crime show genre, and this one is different enough to stand out from the crowd and entice me to watch every episode. Too many crime shows are built from the same mould.

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“This show contains plenty of storyline and plot development, but still has a certain amount of thrill to it…so its not just mindless guts and gore, its not just another Drama, not just another who-dun-it show. I think it dips its toes just enough into each.”

A third declared it was “excellent… excellent… excellent”, adding: ” The show has the suspense and also the drama. I was literally holding on to my pillow as I watched this show, trying not to miss even the tinniest details.”

Watch The Summer I Turned Pretty on Amazon Prime

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The last season of The Summer I Turned Pretty dropped on Amazon Prime in the autumn of 2025, with the promise of a movie on the horizon. Shoppers can watch the show with a Prime Video account, which costs £8.99/month.

The first episode plunges viewers straight into chaos as it has been teased: “When Detective Aidan Black publicly loses it, he is reassigned to the Psych Crimes Unit, pairing police with mental health experts.

“On his first case, he teams up with Doctor Daniella Ridley to investigate a teen hockey star’s bizarre murder involving a lightbulb in the chest. As they uncover a pattern, they race to decode a delusion linking lightbulbs to power-before the killer strikes again.”

Viewers may also recognise Stefanie von Pfetten as Dr. Daniella Ridley , Dayo Ade as Leo Beckett and Luisa D’Oliveira as Detective Poppy Wisnefski. Other familiar faces include Karen LeBlanc, Paul Popowich and Brooke Nevin.

Cracked season one can be streamed on Prime Video.

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Environmental groups on Tuesday asked a federal appellate court panel to drop its temporary halt of a lower court’s order instructing state officials to close an immigration detention center in the heart of the Florida Everglades known as “Alligator Alcatraz.”

The Everglades facility remains open, still holding detainees, because the appellate court in early September relied on arguments by Florida and the Trump administration that the state had not yet applied for federal reimbursement, and therefore wasn’t required to follow federal environmental law. State officials opened the detention center last summer to support President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown.

Questions by the three appellate judges during oral arguments in a Miami courtroom focused on how much control the federal government had over the state-built facility and under what circumstances an environmental review was required to be in compliance with federal law. The judges did not indicate when they would rule.

Jesse Panuccio, an attorney for the Florida Department of Emergency Management, told the judges federal funding and federal control of the facility were the two criteria for determining if the federal environmental law would apply and the federal agencies had no control over the state-run detention center.

Florida was notified in late September that FEMA had approved $608 million in federal funding to support the center’s construction and operation.

“You need both,” Panuccio said. “Even with funding, I don’t think that would follow because they don’t have federal control.”

An attorney for the environmental groups said the law requiring a review applied to the facility because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security had authorized the funding and immigration was a responsibility of the federal government, not the state. There only needed to be “substantial federal control” and not complete control, said Paul Schwiep, an attorney representing the Friends of the Everglades and the Center for Biological Diversity.

Chief Judge William Pryor, who was appointed to the appellate court by President George W. Bush, responded, “It’s not federally controlled when the state retains authority to make decisions.”

Judge Nancy Abudu, who was named to the appellate court by President Joe Biden, asked an attorney for the federal government if states can be in charge of immigration matters. Adam Gustafson responded that the federal government can delegate certain responsibilities to states.

“Is it also, once the federal government gives the states its authority, it’s the ‘Wild, Wild West?’ Abudu asked.

The federal district judge in Miami in mid-August ordered the facility to wind down operations over two months because officials had failed to do a review of the detention center’s environmental impact according to federal law. That judge concluded that a reimbursement decision already had been made. The appellate court halted the order on an appeal.

The environmental lawsuit was one of three federal court challenges to the Everglades facility since it opened. In the others, a detainee said Florida agencies and private contractors hired by the state had no authority to operate the center under federal law. The challenge ended after the immigrant detainee who filed the lawsuit agreed to be removed from the United States.

In the third lawsuit, a federal judge in Fort Myers, Florida, ruled the Everglades facility must provide detainees there with better access to their attorneys, as well as confidential, unmonitored and unrecorded outgoing legal calls.

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The historic 110-lap ‘Grand Prix of the Royal Automobile Club’ took place on a fast, specially designed 2.61-mile course around the famous oval circuit at Brooklands, in Weybridge, Surrey. Sections of the renowned, steeply banked track were incorporated, alongside the Finishing Straight, where challenging temporary sandbank chicanes were installed on either side of the refuelling pits.

Like Prima Facie, Inter Alia deals with the fact that the system remains rigged against women, particularly the legal system, where convictions for rape and sexual assault are rare and victim-blaming common. And as with the earlier play, the price of Miller’s insider information is the occasional impenetrable thicket of legalese. She and Martin are adroit, though, at sudden shifts of mood, from comedy into something stark.

The Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around potential targets

Iranians have been forming human chains at bridges and power plants ahead of Trump’s threat to obliterate the sites. The protest came after the president warned “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran does not re-open the Strait of Hormuz before his 8pm ET deadline (1am Wednesday UK time).

The Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other potential targets. Before the deadline, airstrikes had hit two bridges and a train station, and the US hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island.

Iranian official Alireza Rahimi issued a video message calling on ‘all young people, athletes, artists, students and university students and their professors’ to form human chains around power plants. Iranians gathered to form the human chains in the past around nuclear sites at times of heightened tensions with the West.

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Some images of people surrounding power plants were posted on Tuesday (April 7) by local Iranian media, though how widespread the practice was is unknown.

Before the deadline, airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, and the US hit military infrastructure on Kharg Island. It was the second time American forces struck the island, a key hub for Iranian oil production. Meanwhile, an Iranian envoy says Tehran will ‘take immediate and proportionate’ action if the US president follows through on his threats.

Tehran’s United Nations representative, Amir-Saeid Iravani, said Mr Trump’s threats ‘constitute incitement to war crimes and potentially genocide’.

Iran has since launched a series of cyber attacks against the US hours after Donald Trump made the threat to wipe out the country’s civilisation. According to the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency “Iran-affiliated” hackers are “conducting exploitation activity targeting internet-facing operational technology (OT) devices, including programmable logic controllers (PLCs) manufactured by Rockwell Automation/Allen-Bradley”.

Since the war began, Mr Trump has repeatedly imposed deadlines linked to threats, only to extend them. But the president insisted this one is final and will expire at 8pm in Washington without a major diplomatic breakthrough.

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Mr Trump has made reopening the strait — through which a fifth of the world’s oil transits in peacetime — part of avoiding wider attacks and suggested that the waterway is not as vital to US oil interests as it to other countries. He has also said he would be willing to deploy ground troops to seize Iranian oil, while maintaining that major combat operations in that country could soon conclude.

Meanwhile, Iran’s president said 14 million people, including himself, have volunteered to fight. This is despite Mr Trump threatening that US forces could wipe out all bridges in Iran in a matter of hours and reduce all power plants to smoking rubble in roughly the same time frame.

He also suggested the entire country could be wiped off the map. It was not clear if the latest airstrikes were linked to Mr Trump’s threats to widen the civilian target list.

At least two of the targets were connected to Iran’s rail network, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli warplanes struck bridges and railways in Iran. Tehran fired on Israel and Saudi Arabia, prompting the temporary closure of a major bridge.

Officials involved in diplomatic efforts said talks were ongoing, but Iran has rejected the latest American proposal.

“A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” if a deal is not reached, Mr Trump said in an online post on Tuesday morning.

President Masoud Pezeshkian posted on X that 14 million Iranians had answered campaigns urging people to volunteer to fight — and said he would join them — while a Revolutionary Guard general urged parents to send their children to man checkpoints.

The Guard warned that Iran would ‘deprive the US and its allies of the region’s oil and gas for years’ and expand its attacks across the Gulf region if Mr Trump carried out his threat.

French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot joined a growing chorus of international voices saying that attacks targeting civilian and energy infrastructure could constitute a war crime. Mr Trump said he is “not at all” concerned about committing war crimes.

Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said he deplored the rhetoric being used over the last two weeks “by all parties, including the latest threats to annihilate a whole civilization and to target civilian infrastructure”.

Manchester United may not have been in the Champions League tonight, but their season has been heavily impacted by one of the results this evening

Arsenal’s win against Sporting means fifth will be enough for Manchester United to qualify for next season’s Champions League. The Gunners needed a draw or a victory in Lisbon this evening to ensure the Premier League topped the UEFA co-efficient rankings.

Defeat for Mikel Arteta’s side would have put the onus on Liverpool against Paris Saint-Germain tomorrow evening, with a draw or a victory for the Merseysiders being enough to top the table. However, Arsenal’s 1-0 victory in Portugal has guaranteed the Premier League an unassailable lead at the top of the rankings.

This is a huge boost for United as it means a fifth-placed finish will be enough to qualify for Europe’s elite competition.

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Michael Carrick’s side are comfortably lodged in third position, but Arsenal’s performance this evening gives the Reds an extra layer of security in regard to the race for Champions League qualification.

This was provided by Kai Havertz’s late goal for the north Londoners in Lisbon. The German’s late strike wrapped up a 1-0 away victory for Arteta’s side and ensured at least five Premier League teams will be among the 36 sides in next season’s competition.

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Carrick’s side are back in action in the Premier League this weekend. They travel to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in west London.

The Blues, who are currently sixth in the table, would have also been buoyed by the Gunners’ result, although their margin for error is much smaller than United’s. While the Arsenal result is undoubtedly good news for United, Carrick will not allow his players to rest on their laurels.

Before the international break, the United interim manager warned his stars they have to aim for a much higher finish than fifth position. The ex-United midfielder said: “We just need everything we’ve got fully flat down on the floor, there’s no other way.

“It might change, it might not. There needs to be quite a big swing for it to not be fifth but, ultimately, that’s not something that we can control.

“Ideally, we’d like to be fighting above that anyway. So we’re not in the mindset of what’s going to be enough. It’s literally game by game and trying to win.

“It sounds really obvious, but you can’t plan for if you finish fourth or fifth. You’re going to the next game, and we’re all in on this game.

“It’s not something you can plan for really is what I’m getting at. So if we keep our heads up, be really positive and focus on what we can achieve and try and move up the table, it’s a lot better place to have that mindset for.”

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Sky has slashed the price of its Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle for the 2025/26 season, saving £336 and offering more than 1,400 live matches across the Premier League, EFL and more.

Sky shows at least 215 live Premier League games each season, an increase of up to 100, plus Formula 1, darts, golf and more.

She came ahead of second-place Reform UK candidate Matthew Goodwin, with Labour’s Angeliki Stogia in third.

The by-election received national attention, especially after Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was blocked from standing as a candidate by Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC).

The win was monumental for the Green Party, which now has the highest number of seats it has ever had in the Commons.

However, Ms Spencer’s journey into politics has been a more unconventional one.

Born in Bolton, she left school at 16 and began training as a plumber around 2008.

In a recent interview with The Guardian, Ms Spencer recalled a happy upbringing in “nice schools in Bolton” until “everyone starting to get their head down and thinking about mocks”.

Reflecting on opting for vocational training, she said it allowed her to “reach her potential”.

She completed a National Vocational Qualification at Bolton College and went on to work on jobs including installing heat pumps.

Determined to build her skills, she undertook an apprenticeship to qualify as a gas engineer and established her own firm, Hannah’s Household Plumbing.

Since 2010, The Sutton Trust, the UK’s leading social mobility charity, has been investigating the educational backgrounds of Members of Parliament elected to the House of Commons.

Ninety per cent of MPs in the 2024 Parliament attended university to study for an undergraduate qualification, with 55 per cent going to a Russell Group university and 20 per cent having attended Oxbridge.

According to the Trust, these figures differ substantially from the population as a whole, with 19 per cent attending university in 2024.

In the Education Census 2021 (released in 2023), apprenticeships were the highest qualification for 6.2 per cent of people in Bolton.

22.6 per cent (52,451) of “usual residents” aged 16 years and over said they had no qualifications, higher than the proportion seen nationally at the time.

However, Ms Spencer hasn’t let not going to university stop her from breaking the glass ceiling in the political world.

Andy Burnham at the new NESTA training centre (Image: NQ)

Mr Burnham has also recently highlighted the benefits and importance of apprenticeships and vocational training.

He discussed this on Monday, March 23, at a new Bolton training academy supporting children and young people without access to conventional educational pathways.

As of the end of 2025, nearly one million young people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training.

When asked by The Bolton News what more can be done about this in Bolton, Mr Burnham said: “Navigators [the training academy] is still growing, but there is more that I need to do.

“One thing I am doing is working on getting a 45-day work placement in Bolton for every young person who wants one.

“What we’ve found is when they are of that length and high quality, they work for the young person and the employer as well.”

He added: “It’s a plan that we’re working on towards the end of this decade; unfortunately, it can’t be done overnight.

“I want to get very soon to a position where there is a guaranteed offer for every young person in Greater Manchester of a placement once they turn 16.”

The government has now introduced V Levels, which offer new qualifications, equivalent to an A level.

V Levels are designed around real jobs and the skills employers actually need.

The Department for Education said that “too many young people have been held back by a system that didn’t value every route to success”.

It is hoped the V Levels will help to cut the number of young people not in education, employment or training and drive economic growth.

President Trump has announced a two-week suspension of attacks on Iran if the country agrees to completely reopen the Strait of Hormuz shipping route

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President Donald Trump has announced a ceasefire between the US and Iran, contingent on the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.

The announcement came ahead of Trump’s stark deadline, in which he threatened to send Iran “back to the stone age”.

In a post on his social media platform on Tuesday evening, Trump stated that should Iran agree “to the COMPLETE, IMMEDIATE, and SAFE OPENING of the Strait of Hormuz” he would “suspend the bombing and attack of Iran for a period of two weeks.”

Since hostilities began in February, Trump has issued a series of escalating threats, only to pull back moments before each deadline passes.

In his most recent warning on Tuesday, he claimed that a “whole civilization will die tonight” should Iran fail to comply with his latest ultimatum, reports the Express.

The president revealed that the decision followed consultations with Pakistan’s leadership.

He said: “This will be a double sided CEASEFIRE!”

He added: “We received a 10 point proposal from Iran, and believe it is a workable basis on which to negotiate.

“Almost all of the various points of past contention have been agreed to between the United States and Iran, but a two week period will allow the Agreement to be finalized and consummated.

“On behalf of the United States of America, as President, and also representing the Countries of the Middle East, it is an Honor to have this Longterm problem close to resolution.

“Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

Tesco says it wants to give shoppers a breather after Easter, with its research showing four in ten (42%) Brits admit to escaping to the supermarket

Tesco is giving away free drinks and food this weekend – if you visit one of its car parks.

The supermarket is launching limited edition Park & Pause bays in ten of its stores this Saturday, April 11, where visitors can will get a free Tesco Finest hot drink and a biscuit.

Tesco says it wants to give shoppers a breather after Easter, with its research showing four in ten (42%) Brits admit to escaping to the supermarket to get a few minutes to themselves.

Tesco ambassadors will hand-deliver a cuppa to car windows at the Park & Pause bays between 8am and 5pm. The spaces will be marked with a stopwatch symbol.

Parents of children under four are the most likely to offer to do a Tesco shop simply to get some alone time (68%) – almost twice as likely as those without kids (38%).

The Park & Pause spaces have been launched to support Tesco’s new “Need anything from Tesco?” campaign.

It comes after Tesco in Kirkwall, Orkney, gave away thousands of bananas for free after an accidental over-order.

The supermarket ordered 380 excess boxes of the fruit, and rather than throw them away or send them back, it gave them out to local community groups and schools.

On a Facebook group page dedicated to the Kirkwall store, Tesco community champion Paula Clarke posted a photo showing “mountains and mountains” of bananas and urged various groups to come forward to collect a free box.

Tesco said that all the bananas had been donated in line with the store’s community policy.

A spokesperson said: “We received an over-order of bananas at our Kirkwall superstore and so offered the fruit to local schools and community groups.

“All the bananas have now been redistributed to these good causes.”

Tesco has also just implemented a pay rise for thousands of workers as part of a £200million investment. Pay for shop workers and staff at online fulfilment centres increased by 5.1% to £13.28 an hour at the end of last month.

Employees working in London saw their hourly allowance increase to £1.27, taking the hourly rate to £14.55 for those within the M25.

Full list of Tesco stores giving away free food and drink

The Park & Pause spaces can be found in the following Tesco stores across the UK on April 11:

• Cardiff Culverhouse Cross Extra (Wales)
• Coventry Walsgrave Superstore
• Leeds Seacroft Extra
• Musselburgh Extra (Scotland)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne Extra
• Nottingham Top Valley Extra
• Portsmouth Extra
• Royston Extra
• Southport Extra
• Wembley Extra