Spirit-raiser
THERE may be precious few reasons to raise a glass when Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveils her Budget next week.
But she could lift spirits by pulling out all the stops to give the hospitality trade some help.
After brutal years of Covid, a near-recession and the wholly unnecessary threat of banning smoking outside, pubs and restaurants in the UK are already on the brink of bankruptcy.
But they now face another collective £1billion hit.
Failing to extend their 75 per cent business rate discount — due to end in April — would be a fatal mistake by the Chancellor.
It would decimate already-fragile takings and put thousands of jobs at risk.
Ms Reeves would do well to maintain that protection and by doing so throw a lifeline to an industry vital to so many in our depressed communities.
It could also give her something she so desperately needs — some economic growth.
French fiasco
LAST week another 979 migrants arrived illegally in Britain on 16 new boats.
They will join the big-city-sized group of asylum-seekers now being housed in hotels at a cost of £4million per day before most are inevitably allowed to live here permanently.
Among those trying to cross this weekend was a baby boy who drowned after falling overboard as his dinghy sank.
“He slipped out of my hands,” says his shattered father.
Families desperate to get to Britain are still prepared to ignore the obvious dangers.
Which is why these journeys must be stopped before boats even leave the beaches.
In Belgium police are doing just that.
Only one boat has arrived in Britain from there this year.
In neighbouring France — handed £500million by Britain to tackle the problem — cops stand and watch as the migrants gamble with their lives.
What are we paying them for?
Sir Chris’s grit
IT is scarcely believable that a man with such superhuman strength and fitness as Sir Chris Hoy should be struck by terminal cancer.
Sir Chris conquered all his rivals in the Olympic velodrome.
It must have been a crushing blow to this born winner to be told he can never beat his illness.
Yet his courage — and that of his wife Sarra, now diagnosed with MS — remains undimmed.
We salute his bravery as he now no doubt proves a huge inspiration to all those affected by this cruel disease.
