In October 2007 we should see the UK minimum wage rise across all age groups. For over 21’s the rate is currently set at £5.35 but will rise by 17p to £5.52. Workers aged 18 – 21 will see an increase from to £4.45 - £4.60 (15p) and workers aged 16 and 17 will see their hourly wage rise from £3.30 to £3.40 (10p). This increase will affect 1.3 million workers in the UK and is also in line with inflation.

Home secretary John Reid spoke out on the BBC news this morning about how he plans to reduce illegal immigration in the UK. New plans include introducing ID cards for foreign nationals, using text messaging to alert when visa’s are due to expire, high landlord fines for anyone housing an illegal immigrant and the generation of a ‘watch list’ of people who aren’t entitled to public services.

Mr. Reid stated “It is unfair that foreigners come to this country illegitimately and steal our benefits, steal our services like the NHS and undermine the minimum wage by working”.

I personally agree with Mr. Reid and hope they are able to implement the suggestions made this morning. However as usual, this will cost millions of pounds to put into action so we’ll have to wait and see what happens.
You can read more about the story on the BBC News Website.

I’m a huge fan of high rise buildings. I have been sad enough to spend a fair few hours on a summer day just lying on the grass outside One Canada Square, staring up in wonder. However today for the first time I find myself joining the “keep London’s skyline as it is!” protest.

As I was flicking through the paper whilst sitting on the train approaching the city, I was amused to see a picture of the north bank of the Thames including a building which was foreign to me. Actually it looked like something more at home on the story board of a Sponge Bob Squarpants episode.

I glanced out of the train window - conveniently I could just about see the area where the building would be - to check that this structure had not infact been inflated overnight, and was relieved to see no sign of it. However, as I read on my amusement turned to worry as I discovered that this was a picture of how the skyline would actually look in a few years time after the recently approved “Walkie Talkie” tower is built.

I don’t want to sound like some pompous art student but it really would ruin the composition of the skyline, which at the moment has a few elegant tall buildings nicely grouped together. I’m all for having a high rise district but in my opinion this should remain in docklands. Random overbearing buildings like this are not the sort of thing I want to see spoiling the view from the oxo tower restaurant! I don’t think the expression, sticking out like a sore thumb has ever been so apt.

Read more about the Walkie Talkie Building here. Also visit Skyscraper News for more architectural news. Image by Miller Hare

House prices have been rising at an extraordinary rate, there’s one question most people want to know: should I buy now or wait? Tonight had a really interesting debate on whether or not there’s going to be a house price crash. The first case put towards the panel argued that prices will continue to rise; with money continually flooding into London and its success and profitability, the impact will be prices remaining high all across the UK. The average house price currently stands at about £200,000 and those arguing against the crash predicted that house prices will continue to rise by about 15% this year.

Those arguing that a house price crash is inevitable forecast prices would fall by 20 – 30% if not more, by the end of the year. With interest rates rising, demand is likely to slow, which will force house prices down according to some. Inflation is high, interest rates are high and increasing, and borrowing is high – all this will encourage property prices to fall.

There are so many people looking to get on the property ladder that won’t any slight fall in demand be seen as a buying opportunity therefore preventing the crash? The answer is that we’ll have to wait and see. Some advice from the panel was that if you do buy now, only buy what you can comfortably afford or a rise in interest rates could cause real trouble - last year 17,000 homes in the UK were repossessed.

Have you ever spent £2 more than what is in your account and been charged something ridiculous by the bank? If so, there may be a chance you can get your money back.

Recently there was an article in the Sun about a woman who managed to reclaim thousands of pounds worth of bank charges after simply writing a letter to her bank. I’m sure many of us won’t have charges to this extent but even if it’s just £100 I think it’s worth it.

If the amount you have been charged is disproportional to the amount you went over then there’s a good chance you can get your money back, I have just read a great article on Money Saving Expert on how you go about doing this. They include a step-by-step guide on the process and even supply templates for you to use when writing your letter to the bank.

The photograph of 21 year old Tony Blair supposedly making a rude hand gesture has until now only been shown as a cropped version. However, Newsnight reporter Michael Crick discovered the photograph while undertaking research about David Cameron and the full picture has now been shown.

Some say it is possible that Tony was playing an air guitar in the photograph as apparently he had always wanted to be in a rock band, whether people will believe this or not, I’m not too sure.

Read more at BBC News.

If you’ve got as many geeky friends as me you know how popular and addictive online gaming can be. Games like World of Warcraft, Guildwars, are noticing upto 7.5 million subscribers worldwide. Most notorious is a game called Second life - where you can literally build yourself a virtual life and convert real dollars into “linden” dollars to buy yourself property and your dream lifestyle.

This game recently came to the attention of “normal people” in the press, when it was revealed that Anshe Chung had become the games first millionaire by buying and selling virtual property on the game and converting linden dollars into real currency. Even giants such as IBM are setting up virtual offices and meeting inside the game – I guess it’s more fun than a regular business meeting.

According to Money Week if you want to cash in on the rise in popularity of such games without getting involved in the addictive and time consuming games themselves, you should invest in companies that stand to benefit. Companies in the East are gaining most from this sort of gaming, as the hobby is seeing its biggest surge in popularity in countries like china. The companies behind the game are good bets. Blizzard Entertainment are the creators of World of Warcraft also The9 has seen a huge rise in stock price thanks to owning the licence to the game, so get trading!

Labour has posted a video on YouTube (below) of former Welsh Secretary John Redwood messing up the words to Wales’ national anthem. Apparently this is the first time a party has put an official broadcast on the site and it has been labelled as ‘too offensive for television’.

Election rules for standard TV political broadcasts ban the use of moving images of opponents, however these rules do not currently apply to the Internet.

Via icWales

I’m quite into programs like News Night and This Week especially when there’s a younger personality involved in the debate or discussion. Last night on This Week, Lily Allen was asked the question “What are the main issues affecting young people?”. She spoke out about her views on money, debt and the cost of housing in the UK and seemed rather angry about the state of the economy and kept mentioning the ridiculous cost of houses. She revealed that although she earns good money, she still can’t afford a one bedroom flat in London. If Lily Allen cannot afford to buy a property, is there any hope for the rest of us?

I am the same age as Lily and I agree that the cost of UK houses must come down or level off at some point; they simply cannot continue their steady increase for much longer. I was annoyed while watching the program because Lily came out with many good points yet Andrew, Diane and Michael just seemed to ignore what she was saying and move onto new subjects.

I think it’s great that a high profile celeb like Lily is so down to earth and aware of what’s going on in the economy, it would be great if more people our age could speak out. Read more about Lily Allen’s housing opinions at House Price Crash.