In more news that’s sure to ruin your week, Premier League players are reportedly set to receive £240,000 more a year in wages following the recent raft of tax cuts announced.
The announcement comes following fledgling chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s mini-budget revealed on Friday, 23 September, which saw cuts on everything from corporation tax to bankers’ bonuses and more.
As part of the economic adjustment which was designed to address the growing cost of living crisis, it would appear that many of the wealthiest currently living in the UK will be the first to reap the benefits of the new policy — multi-millionaire footballers being one such group.
First broke by the Times, the newly adjusted figures project that Premier League players will be receiving just under a cool quarter of a million in additional funds on average, namely thanks to the government revisions on income tax and national insurance.
More specifically, the outlet explains that the highest tax bracket for those earning over £150,000 per annum is now moving from 45% down to 40%, with many of the UK’s players obviously already on astronomical contracts.
Sitting as one of the Prem’s highest earners, Ronaldo currently nets an annual salary of just over £26.5m a year. As Maguire goes on to comment: “I’m not party political but it seems to be inconsistent with the Government’s levelling-up agenda.” He already makes more than enough for 10 lifetimes.
Not only does he point out that this kind of money could be put to much greater use by spreading it out across, say, the likes of football clubs’ service staff – averaging around £1,300 extra for around 1,000 staff members – but it hardly makes you want to go and cheer them on at the weekend, does it?
For further context, Manchester City’s star midfielder Kevin de Bruyne is said to earn around £400k a week and new boy Erling Halaand arrived at the club on a £375k-a-week contract.
While we don’t have the exact numbers per player – nor do we want to know, really – they are among dozens of others on £150,000+ a week who will now be taking home even more than usual following these tax cuts.
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Circling back to the Times, they estimate that the average top-flight player earns in the region of £4m a year, paying around a grand total of around £1.4billion in tax; that figure will soon drop by a full £70m when the changes become law.
Not just life-changing amounts – enough to help genuinely fix socio-economic issues on a national scale.
Uber has officially started trialling driverless taxis in Manchester
Emily Sergeant
It’s official… driverless taxis have hit the streets of Manchester.
As the leading transportation company looks to bring robotaxis to other major cities around the UK, it has been confirmed that a trial of autonomous vehicles is now underway in Manchester – with the services being operated using the technology of Uber’s partner firms, Pony and Verne.
Uber said it was ‘excited’ to take this first step toward ‘making this technology accessible’ to people across the UK.
The three companies first collaborated on the deployment of a commercial robotaxi service back in March of this year, combining Pony.ai’s autonomous driving system, Uber’s global mobility platform, and Verne’s service ecosystem and operational framework.
At this time, there has been no official application to launch passenger services in Manchester, according to The Guardian.
However, posts on various social media platforms – such as X, LinkedIn, and Instagram – by each of the companies this week have confirmed that trials are underway in the city.
“New technologies play an increasingly important role in the growth of our city region,” TfGM said. “But they need to be introduced responsibly, safely and with real thought about what it means for our residents.
“Safety will always be our top priority, and we will need strong assurances that no vehicles will operate on our roads that pose any risk to residents.”
Manchester, we’re on our way! Today, we’re announcing that we’re partnering with @Verne_robotaxi and @PonyAI_tech to pilot autonomous vehicles in Manchester. Building on our service together in Zagreb, Gen-7 Robotaxis are now testing in Manchester.
We’re excited to take this first step toward making this technology accessible to people across the UK. 🇬🇧
“By bringing together Pony.ai’s proven autonomous driving technology, Verne’s operational and market expertise, and Uber’s global platform, we’re taking an important step toward making autonomous ride-hailing available to more riders in more places.”
Featured Image – Uber Investor
News
Police issue urgent warning following a rise in scam calls across Greater Manchester
Emily Sergeant
The public is being urged to ‘remain vigilant’ following a rise of scam calls across Greater Manchester.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) says it has been made aware that scammers, who are impersonating police officers, are contacting people trying to convince them to hand over personal and sensitive information linked to their ownership of cryptocurrency.
From the numerous reports that GMP has received, one common method the offenders appear to be using is claiming that a suspect has been arrested and was found to be in possession of the victim’s personal documents – such as their passport, driving licence, or banking details.
On several occasions, fraudsters asked victims about their cryptocurrency accounts – specifically looking for their IDs, recovery phrases, and security codes.
GMP is urging the public to know that the police would never ask you to share this information or move your accounts.
The police have issued an urgent warning following a rise in scam calls across Greater Manchester / Credit: Rawpixel | Nordwood Themes (via Unsplash)
“These calls can appear convincing and are being made through spoofed GMP phone numbers but we are urging the public to remain vigilant, especially when providing sensitive information via phone calls,’ GMP said in a statement this week.
GMP is asking that the public ‘be wary’ of unsolicited calls, emails or messages relating to cryptocurrency investments or accounts, and that they never share passwords, recovery phrases, or security codes with anyone, as well as refusing to transfer any money or cryptocurrency to accounts suggested by a caller.
DS Reed, from GMP’s Cyber Crime Team, said these calls are ‘incredibly sophisticated’, and those responsible are targeting ‘vulnerable communities’
“We take offences of this nature incredibly seriously, and our Cyber Crime Team are working around the clock to understand how these offences have occurred, and how to prevent it from continuing,” DS Reed concluded.
Featured Image – Priscilla Du Preez (via Unsplash)
Danny Jones -
29th September 2022 
