not be touched. families are being warned to be careful when borrowing money this christmas. more than a quarter of people responding to a yougov survey for the bbc said the cost of christmas is causing stress this year. and according to the organisation stop loan sharks, the pressure to spend means the festive period is when illegal money lenders most often prey on their victims. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has been speaking to one mother about her experience of living under the threat of a loan shark. we ve changed some details to protect her identity. i couldn t get away from it. i was stuck in that house from, like, four o clock, in the dark, on my own, just listening to people shouting stuff through my window. i did have the windows put through. it all started for this mum of three when she borrowed 50 quid. we ll call her michelle. she was new to the area and she met another parent in the school playground. she was a woman and she was a mother, quite persist
of a strong united kingdom. essen of a strong united kingdom. even before the pandemic, of a strong united kingdom. even before the pandemic, the snp was facing criticism of its record on health, education and drugs deaths, and this budget underlines that covid-19 has and this budget underlines that covid 19 has sharpened all of those challenges with a deadly virus now looming over every decision. james cook, bbc news. christmas can be expensive. people are being warned to be careful when borrowing money to pay for it. the organisation stop loan sharks says the pressure to spend means the festive period is when illegal money lenders often prey most on their victims. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has been speaking to one mother about her experience of living under the threat of a loan shark. we ve changed some details to protect her identity. i couldn t get away from it. i was stuck in that house from, like, four o clock, in the dark, on my own, just listening to p
well, they can just grow their own, which they are doing. maybe it s a good idea because, at the end of the day, smoking is bad for you - and it s really hard to quit. the new legislation, being introduced to parliament next year, will also only allow cigarettes with low levels of nicotine and reduce the number of shops selling them. vaping won t be affected. the aim is to get all ages to stub out the habit by 2025. lucy grey, bbc news. an unofficial tribunal looking into allegations of human rights violations in the chinese region of xinjiang has concluded that beijing has carried out genocide and crimes against humanity. in a finaljudgement, it accused china of torture, rape and religious destruction against muslim uyghurs and other ethnic minorities. 0ur correspondent caroline hawley was following the hearing. what authority does this tribunal have? , ., what authority does this tribunal have? , ., ., ., ., ., , what authority does this tribunal have? .,., ., ., , ., have? it s
departments missing out. emma vardy there, ending that sequence. some of the most striking measures affecting business were aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure among the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. shops, pubs and gyms in england will be among businesses to get a 50% cut in their business rates. and the way alcohol is taxed is to be simplified, some drinks will be taxed more, but duty on draught beers will be reduced by 5%. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colleta smith has the details. chancellors like making popular announcements about alcohol. a penny here, 5p there, but this budget is bringing in some much bigger changes, because the way that we drink has changed totally. prosecco and cava have made sparkling wine much more accessible and affordable, and that s a great thing. but at the moment, sparkling wine is charged at a much higher rate than normal wine.
even if it means other departments missing out. some of the most eye catching measures affecting business were aimed at retail, hospitality and leisure among the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic. shops, pubs and gyms in england will be among businesses to get a 50% cut in their business rates. and the way alcohol is taxed is to be simplified , some drinks will be taxed more but duty on draught beers will be reduced by 5%. 0ur consumer affairs correspondent colletta smith has the details. chancellors like making popular announcements about alcohol. a penny here, 5p there, but this budget is bringing in some much bigger changes. the way that we drink has changed totally. prosecco and carver have made sparkling wine much more accessible and affordable, and that s a great thing. at the moment, sparkling wine is charged at a much higher rate than normal wine. the amount of duty we play on different alcohol is a really complicated system, and today s plan is to simplify that. and it mea