I find it interesting to note (Letters, November 2) that the perception in the US that parliament’s victory in the English civil war was a victory for democracy goes back as far as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Certainly I found it a commonly-held view when I lived there. I thought that this idea, espoused by the Levellers, had been summarily dismissed at the Putney debates of 1647.
Bill Buckland
Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire, UK
WHETHER it’s sun-drenched beaches you’re after or an adventure across some of the world’s most breathtaking landscapes, easyJet Holidays has some cracking packages for couples seeking a speedy getaway.
And the below breaks are proof that a romantic escape doesn’t need to come with a hefty price tag.
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All of the following deals come in at less than £450 per person, so you’ll have more cash to splash on a bottle of bubbly or a few fancy dinners.
What’s more, if you book a package holiday with easyJet Holidays, you’ll be protected through the ABTA and ATOL scheme, offering peace of mind.
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If adventure is your thing, couples can’t go wrong with Iceland, a country covered in volcanoes (around 130, to be precise).
Plus, if you haven’t managed to spot the Northern Lights in the UK yet, then your chances are much greater here in winter.
November is one of the best months to see the colourful phenomenon light up the skies.
Wrap up warm and head straight to the 3* Fosshotel in Reykholt, about an hour and a half north of Reykjavik in the car.
The cosy and contemporary property offers respite from the snow outside with a spa that’s home to a Finnish sauna and outdoor wooden hot tubs (there are also cold tubs for those who dare).
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Head to the hotel bar to sample a pint of locally-brewed lager, Gull, then venture out of the village towards the Lava Waterfalls (Hraunfossar).
The falls are a result of a volcanic eruption from many years back. The hot flowing lava created tubes under the earth that water now flows through.
Three nights room-only at the 3* Fosshotel Reykholt is from £197pp with easyJet Holidays, including flights from Manchester on November 25.
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It could be the smell of mint tea wafting through the alleyways or it might be the tightly packed souks, laden with pots of amber spices that match the colour of the sunsets.
Either way, Morocco is the perfect escape for culture vultures.
And at the 5* JAAL Riad Resort at the southern edge of Marrakech you’ll have your fill of culture at your very fingertips.
Couples can participate in leather workshops where they’ll create their own accessories inspired by those they’ve seen in the nearby markets or join an embroidery class where they’ll learn some professional techniques
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Moroccan culture extends throughout the hotel and in the decor which includes bathrooms embellished in mosaic tiles and bedrooms with terracotta terraces.
There are three restaurants, including one serving modern oriental dishes, plus a three-storey wellness area with a pool, Hammam rooms and a gym.
EasyJet holidays offers four nights’ B&B at the 5* JAAL Riad Resort in Marrakech from a bargain £399pp including 23kg of luggage per person, transfers and flights from Luton on March 11 next year.
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Seeking a sizzling retreat before Christmas?
Lanzarote is just the place for you. And easyJet holidays has a seven-night self-catering getaway at the 3* Bitacora Lanzarote Club from just £326pp.
With highs of around 22C in winter, this Canary Island is the optimal winter sun destination for those wanting some heat without flying long haul.
The Bitcora Lanzarote Club certainly knows that, too.
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As well as a large swimming pool surrounded by sun loungers, many of the modern apartments have balconies or terraces from which you can soak up the heat.
The beach is around a ten-minute walk away if you prefer to sunbathe by the ocean on soft sands backed by swaying palm trees.
It’s also the place to head for seafront dining and tipples, with rows of pubs, lively cocktail bars and restaurants lining the promenade.
The above package price includes 23kg of luggage per person, transfers and flights from Luton on December 11.
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There’s a reason Cyprus has become such a popular holiday spot for honeymooners.
It’s home to sprawling sandy beaches and clear waters teeming with tropical fish as well as ancient heritage sites that tell tales of the country’s rich history.
Whether you want to flop onto a sun bed and sip pina coladas all day or hike the craggy cliffs, the 4* Avilda Hotel in Paphos has a lot to offer.
The hotel sits right next to The Tombs of the Kings, a fascinating Unesco World Heritage Site featuring sunken graves and underground chambers.
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The beach is just a 10-minute stroll away, crammed with local cafes serving fresh seafood.
And you’ll also have access to a pool, gym, sauna and restaurant on site.
EasyJet Holidays offer three nights’ B&B at the 4* Avilda Hotel from £404pp including flights from Luton on March 9 as well as transfers and 23kg of luggage per person.
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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The coronavirus pandemic is over, but increased sickness is not. In many developed economies, more working people are reporting illnesses that limit the amount or type of work they can do than pre-pandemic. More sick days are being taken, too. German executives warn high absenteeism is compounding the country’s competitiveness problems; in September, Tesla bosses resorted to snap home visits to check up on absent employees at its Berlin plant. In Norway, workers called in sick in the second quarter more than at any time in the past 15 years.
In the UK, official figures estimated a record 185.6mn working days were lost through sickness absence in 2022, for reasons including minor illnesses, musculoskeletal problems and mental health conditions. Post-pandemic healthcare backlogs are partly responsible. Last year some 3.7mn working-age people were in work with a “work-limiting” condition — up 1.4mn in 10 years. The rate of work-limiting conditions has grown fastest among young workers, with sharp increases in reported mental ill health.
Having fewer people working means economies do not grow as fast as they could. It reduces tax receipts to fund increasingly strained public services. But it is employers and businesses that have to deal with the immediate effects of sickness — managing staff and rotas, and confronting any legal backlash. Changes in diagnosis rates and generational attitudes to mental ill health, in particular, have influenced employee expectations of the workplace.
Prioritising employee wellbeing is about building trust and loyalty as well as ensuring long-term productivity. Compassion has to be balanced with practicality. Bosses must provide adequate support to absent workers — but also take into account the impact on other staff and operations.
A transparent and fair sickness policy is vital. Companies need to lay out expectations for reporting illness, documenting absences and returning to work — including when doctor’s notes are needed. If employees know they will be treated fairly and consistently, they are more likely to adhere to the rules, fostering a culture of mutual respect and accountability.
Identifying patterns of absenteeism can help to reveal underlying issues, such as frequent Monday absences or sick leave during school holidays, and signal when bosses need to step in earlier to address concerns at home, burnout or stress. But any sense that bosses are using data ultimately to punish staff will backfire, breeding resentment.
Data should be a conversation starter to better understand the conditions of absences rather than hitting out at those perceived to be slacking. Absenteeism can reflect deeper issues such as excessive workloads, demotivated staff or a lack of support.
But the need for support during poor health is matched by the need for accountability. Problems arise when managers feel trust is being exploited. Setting boundaries on flexible policies and maintaining clear expectations can prevent abuse while still offering assistance. Employees must understand that flexibility is often a benefit, not an entitlement, and respect the parameters set by their employers.
For bosses, employee health information also needs to be handled with the utmost care, and not just to avoid any legal ramifications. When employees believe that their most sensitive information is met with discretion, they will be more open to sharing health issues, and seeking support at their most vulnerable time.
Some companies rely on high pay or rewarding work to attract staff, but in a competitive market, commitments to wellbeing can also help employers to stand out. Building a successful enterprise relies above all, though, on both sides creating a relationship of trust.
BARGAIN buyers have flocked to B&M after spotting a Maltesers stocking filler on sale for just 50p.
Originally up for grabs for £5, those hoping to self-indulge or gift the sweet-treat fix will want to be quick before the deal disappears from shelves.
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Perfect for sharing, the box boasts a variety of different flavours to make a warming drink during the cold winter nights.
The 90 percent saving offers customers the chance to nab a Maltersers Hot Chocolate Kit for a fraction of the original price.
Great for couples planning a romantic night in, the box holds six sachets inside.
With three Maltesers White and three Maltesers Hot Chocolate Sticks, festive fans can also decorate their hot cocoa with heart marshmallows, sprinkles and chocolate drops.
One eagle-eyed shopper has already posted a picture of the incredible find on Facebook to make sure others don’t miss out on the offer.
The post has claimed nearly 400 reactions and just under 100 comments so far.
One user replied: “Check for these next time you go pls x”
Another said: “Whoever goes first pick the other one a couple up.”
Someone else wrote: “£5 no chance 50p yes”
A fourth put: “run don’t walk.”
Another person said: “Our kids would love these.”
Those hoping to nab the sale offering might want to phone up ahead before visiting in-store to avoid disappointment and check stock levels.
For online shoppers, the kit is available but only for the £5 price which does not include the added postage fee.
Advertised on the B&M website as low in stock, shoppers should hurry if they are desperate to get hold of this deal.
Those wanting to make the most of their cash in the run up to Christmas, could keep their eyes peeled for the Black Friday sale that B&M has already launched.
With Christmas decorations starting as low as 50p as well as 50% of energy-saving gadgets, there could be something for everyone.
We all love a bit of chocolate from now and then, but you don’t have to break the bank buying your favourite bar.
Consumer reporter Sam Walker reveals how to cut costs…
Go own brand – if you’re not too fussed about flavour and just want to supplant your chocolate cravings, you’ll save by going for the supermarket’s own brand bars.
Shop around – if you’ve spotted your favourite variety at the supermarket, make sure you check if it’s cheaper elsewhere.
Websites like Trolley.co.uk let you compare prices on products across all the major chains to see if you’re getting the best deal.
Look out for yellow stickers – supermarket staff put yellow, and sometimes orange and red, stickers on to products to show they’ve been reduced.
They usually do this if the product is coming to the end of its best-before date or the packaging is slightly damaged.
Buy bigger bars – most of the time, but not always, chocolate is cheaper per 100g the larger the bar.
So if you’ve got the appetite, and you were going to buy a hefty amount of chocolate anyway, you might as well go bigger.
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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
The chief executive of Neom, Saudi Arabia’s $500bn futuristic development in the desert, has been abruptly replaced after six years in charge of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s flagship project.
The company said on Tuesday that Nadhmi al-Nasr, a veteran former official of state-controlled oil giant Saudi Aramco, had left his role.
It gave no reason for his departure, which comes as the Public Investment Fund, which controls Neom, comes under pressure to deliver on a series of mega-projects across the kingdom.
Nasr’s tenure was often marked by controversy as he oversaw the highly ambitious development that has drawn scepticism inside and outside the kingdom.
Aiman Al-Mudaifer, head of the local real estate division at the PIF, the kingdom’s sovereign wealth fund, will step in as acting chief executive, Neom said. The company is a PIF subsidiary.
“As Neom enters a new phase of delivery, this new leadership will ensure operational continuity, agility and efficiency to match the overall vision and objectives of the project,” the company said.
Neom is the centrepiece of a vast economic transformation programme that Prince Mohammed launched in 2016 to help diversify the economy and wean the kingdom off its dependence on oil revenues. It is located in the desert near the Red Sea coast and close to Jordan and Egypt.
Prince Mohammed first unveiled the idea for Neom in 2017 with the promise of a new concept of urban living based fully on renewable energy and where robots would outnumber humans.
Different elements of the projects were announced in the intervening years, including a linear city called The Line, an industrial port and a ski resort called Trojena that is set to host the Asian Winter Games in 2029.
Neom is one of several huge projects developed as part of the kingdom’s economic diversification plan. Some of these projects, such as tourist resorts in the Red Sea, have welcomed guests, while others remain under construction.
Often described as the word’s largest construction project, Neom has struggled to meet ambitious expectations and seen several leadership changes in recent years.
Klaus Kleinfeld, former CEO of Siemens and Alcoa, was the first head of Neom but was soon replaced by Nasr, who had a reputation for quick delivery of major infrastructure projects while at energy group Saudi Aramco, but faced criticism for his hard-charging managerial style.
The company has seen the departure of several western executives. Wayne Borg, head of Neom’s media unit, was replaced in September.
Additional reporting by Andrew England in London
Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget last month represents “the biggest shake-up to financial planning in a long time”, according to Quilter’s head of technical sales Roddy Munro.
Munro made the comments at the PFS Rewired conference in Manchester today (November 12).
He also warned advisers not to “underestimate the historical importance of this Budget”, particularly bringing pensions into the scope of inheritance tax (IHT) and changes to capital gains tax (CGT).
The chancellor, Munro also observed, “has flagged her intention openly” by allowing frozen IHT allowances to remain through to 2028 but not to 2030.
This will drag 11.5 million people into higher rates of income tax over the next four years, enough to “fill Wembley Stadium several times over”.
However, Munro pointed out that 42% of those people are aged between 50 and 79 – the target market ‘heartland’ of clients heading towards retirement decisions.
The government has stated in the Budget that “pensions should not be a vehicle for the accumulation of capital sums for the purposes of inheritance”.
It also established that IHT will apply to all pension wealth that is transferable on death.
Therefore, said Munro, redefining the primary purpose of a pension will require a massive shift in advice for those with substantial defined contribution (DC) pots.
Munro also said that changes to CGT had “drained the life” out of general investment accounts (GIAs).
For disposals after October 30, the lower rate of CGT will rise from 10% to 18%. The higher rate will rise from 20% to 24%, while trusts have increased to 24%.
In addition, business asset disposal relief (BADR) and investors’ relief (IR) will rise gradually to 14% from April 6, 2025, to align with the lower rate of 18% by April 6, 2026.
This makes it less attractive to transfer ownership to a spouse than before, with GCT annual exempt amounts falling from £12,300 in 2020/21 to £3,000 in 2024/25.
The tax-free dividend allowance also fallen from £5,000 in 2016 to 2018, to £500 in 2024 to 2025.
The layering effect of all these fiscal changes has hit hard, said Munro, with tax now potentially the biggest cost to a client.
As a result, tax-wrapper optimisation is now paramount, as wrapper selection could have the biggest impact on total net costs.
Munro illustrated this point using a graph that showed platforms representing 25 basis points (bps), investment 60 bps, advice 50 bps and tax 88 bps (or 65% of the total 223 bps).
As previously flagged at last year’s PFS conference, these changes to IHT and CGT are likely to increase the attractiveness of bonds.
Munro pointed to Quilter’s ongoing tax-comparison tool to assess the ‘here and now’ tax position of retaining an existing CIA/GIA compared to moving to an onshore bond.
Bonds, he emphasised, are “a critical tax-planning tool” in terms of rewrapping client wealth
He also said that quality financial advice in this new tax landscape would be vital.
“Clients are going to need your help,” he concluded, “so your value has gone through the roof.”
Getty ImagesFinancial markets greeted Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential election with a blistering rally.
That’s despite considerable debate about how Trump’s plans for tariffs, lower taxes and mass migrant deportations might affect the world’s largest economy.
A week on, the surge finally appears to be settling. The three major stock indexes in the US are on track to end the day lower, after rising roughly 5% since 4 November, the day before the election.
Here are some of the companies that have come out ahead, as investors try to game out what the next four years might bring.
Tesla shares have surged more than 40% since 4 November.
The rally has pushed the market value of the firm back above $1tn for the first time since 2022 and boosted the wealth of boss Elon Musk, who owns a roughly 13% stake in the company, by more than $50bn.
It marks a bet by investors that a Trump White House might ease up on some of the investigations by safety regulators into features such as self-driving.
The ties between Trump and Musk could also help Tesla navigate shifts in relationship between the US and China, where the company has a significant presence.
Although Trump is generally expected to reduce government support for electric vehicles, such as tax credits, analysts say this could actually benefit Tesla, the market leader in the US, making it harder for rivals to catch up.
Getty ImagesThe price of the best-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, jumped more than 25% to new all-time records this week on the back of Trump’s win, briefly storming past $89,000.
The gains are a sign that investors are anticipating big changes for the sector, which faced a crackdown under the Biden administration from regulators warning it was rife with hucksters and fraudsters.
Trump once also called crypto a scam, but he changed his tune on the campaign trail this year, promising to make the US the “crypto capital of the planet”.
He said he would create a strategic bitcoin stockpile and sack Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler, who had sparked anger by taking legal action against firms under existing financial laws.
Crypto firms insist their sector should be subject to new, tailor-made rules. That likely depends on Congress, where they could also get a friendlier hearing this year.
Getty ImagesShares in some of America’s biggest banks have seen double digit gains since the day before the election as investors bet financial firms will be among the most immediate beneficiaries of Trump’s promises for lighter regulation.
Among other issues, he will now have a voice shaping pending rules that set how much cash banks must keep on hand as financial cushion.
Trump is also expected to part ways with Lina Khan, current head of the Federal Trade Commission, who is known for her anti-monopoly views and is blamed for casting a chill on deal-making, a key business for banks.
Shares in Capital One and Discover, which have a merger under review by regulators, have jumped roughly 20% since the result.
Getty ImagesShares in the leading publicly traded prison firms GEO Group and CoreCivic have jumped more than 70% since 4 November.
The gains point to the big opportunity investors see for private prison operators as Trump vows to round up and deport millions of migrants.
In 2021, President Joe Biden had ordered the Justice Department to stop doing business with private prison companies.
But Trump, who reversed a similar order during his first term, is expected to change that policy and drive new business, as he looks for help to carry out his immigration promises.
Trump’s first actions as president have been focused on assembling the team in charge of immigration policy, a signal it is likely to be a priority.
Getty ImagesThe dollar index is hovering at its highest level since April, rising more than 2% in the last week.
It is good news for American tourists travelling abroad – but a more mixed signal about the economy.
That is in part because the strength of the dollar is closely tied to interest rates, which investors are now betting could stay higher than previously anticipated.
It partially reflects data from before the election suggesting the US economy is stronger than previously understood.
But investors also see a risk that lower taxes, less immigration and new trade barriers could keep pressure on inflation, making the US central bank more reluctant to cut interest rates.
Last week, the Federal Reserve offered little guidance about the months ahead, saying it was too early to tell what impact Trump’s policies might have.
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