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Added on the 30/12/2014 11:52:34 - Copyright : Reuters EN
Having sacked her close ally Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng after a mini-budget which spooked the financial markets as a result of its unfunded tax cuts, United Kingdom Prime Minister Liz Truss confirms that her government will perform a drastic U-turn on its previous commitment not to raise corporation tax. "We need to act now to reassure the markets of our fiscal discipline. I have therefore decided to keep the increase in corporation tax that was planned by the previous government," the under-fire PM says. IMAGES
Prime Minister Boris Johnson promises Britain's full support for Afghanistan, to stop it becoming a haven for extremists, as cities fall to the Taliban after the withdrawal of Western forces. SOUNDBITE
Belgium, France, Germany, UK, Jan 30 (EFE/EPA).- (Camera: EFE/EPA Archive) The European Union has backed down on its plan to subject vaccine exports to checks on the border between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.FOOTAGE OF VACCINATION CENTRES IN FRANCE, GERMANY AND THE UK AND OF THE ASTRAZENECA HQ IN BRUSSELS.
Lisbon, Sep 18 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The pandemic has not only caused infections and deaths in Portugal but it has also lead to poverty. Thousands of workers with stable jobs who overnight they stopped earning money and now have to turn to charity to survive.According to data from the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, in July there were 407,000 people registered in the unemployment centres, 37% more than a year ago, although the figure is highly questioned by economists, unions and politicians who point out that the real unemployment rate is even higher.FOOTAGE OF FOOD BANK IN LISBON AND FAMOES PARISH IN ODIVELAS. SOUNDBITES OF:-ISABEL JONET, PRESIDENT OF THE PORTUGUESE FEDERATION OF FOOD BANKS: "In two months we received more than 60,000 people asking for help. It is a huge increase, incredibly huge. It happened overnight. We started to receive requests and more requests. There were days when we received 2,000 help requests. It was very distressing because we did not see that entities were able to respond to all these people.""They are people who had never experienced poverty and suddenly, from one moment to another, they were left with nothing. They had no money, not even a euro because they had nowhere to work. Their workplaces were closed. For example, we are talking about hairdressers, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists, beauticians, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, Uber drivers ... "."A fifth of the population lives in a situation of poverty. This kind of poverty was traditionally more linked to age, people with low retirement pensions. A set of measures was implemented, such as the solidarity supplement for the elderly or the increase in lower pensions, but we still have people with pensions below 180 euros a month."-SOFIA MARTINS, COORDINATOR OF THE FOOD BANK AT THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Before the pandemic, until March, the food bank helped 48 families from Pontinha and Famões. Nowadays, in August, they are about 140 families. There was a fairly significant increase due to the pandemic."-PAULO PINHEIRO, DIRECTOR OF THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Poverty is not only visible, but it is always a kind of iceberg. There is a type of poverty outside, visible, and people take the initiative and turn to help. But there is also a group of families to whom it is very difficult to help because it is ashamed poverty, they are not used to it or they do not want to say publicly that they are overcoming (financial) difficulties."-ANA PAULA, NEIGHBOUR WHO HAS TURNED TO THE FOOD BANK:"My husband and my baby tested positive and I had to stay at home to take care of them. I was laid-off at work and during the pandemic, I could not leave home since I had to self-isolate after tested positive. I sought help by calling the City Council and the community centre."
Lisbon, Sep 18 (EFE), (Camera: Paula Fernández).- The pandemic has not only caused infections and deaths in Portugal but it has also lead to poverty. Thousands of workers with stable jobs who overnight they stopped earning money and now have to turn to charity to survive.According to data from the Portuguese Institute for Employment and Vocational Training, in July there were 407,000 people registered in the unemployment centres, 37% more than a year ago, although the figure is highly questioned by economists, unions and politicians who point out that the real unemployment rate is even higher.FOOTAGE OF FOOD BANK IN LISBON AND FAMOES PARISH IN ODIVELAS. SOUNDBITES OF:-ISABEL JONET, PRESIDENT OF THE Portuguese Federation of Food Banks: "In two months we received more than 60,000 people asking for help. It is a huge increase, incredibly huge. It happened overnight. We started to receive requests and more requests. There were days when we received 2,000 help requests. It was very distressing because we did not see that entities were able to respond to all these people.""They are people who had never experienced poverty and suddenly, from one moment to another, they were left with nothing. They had no money, not even a euro because they had nowhere to work. Their workplaces were closed. For example, we are talking about hairdressers, personal trainers, physical therapists, dentists, beauticians, domestic workers, street vendors, taxi drivers, Uber drivers ... "."A fifth of the population lives in a situation of poverty. This kind of poverty was traditionally more linked to age, people with low retirement pensions. A set of measures was implemented, such as the solidarity supplement for the elderly or the increase in lower pensions, but we still have people with pensions below 180 euros a month."-SOFIA MARTINS, COORDINATOR OF THE FOOD BANK AT THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Before the pandemic, until March, the food bank helped 48 families from Pontinha and Famões. Nowadays, in August, they are about 140 families. There was a fairly significant increase due to the pandemic ".-PAULO PINHEIRO, DIRECTOR OF THE FAMOES PARISH COMMUNITY CENTRE:"Poverty is not only visible, but it is always a kind of iceberg. There is a type of poverty outside, visible, and people take the initiative and turn to help. But there is also a group of families to whom it is very difficult to help because it is ashamed poverty, they are not used to it or they do not want to say publicly that they are overcoming (financial) difficulties."-ANA PAULA, NEIGHBOR WHO HAS TURNED TO THE FOOD BANK:"My husband and my baby tested positive and I had to stay at home to take care of them. I was laid-off at work and during the pandemic, I could not leave home since I had to self-isolate after tested positive. I sought help by calling the City Council and the community center."