End of "amber-plus"?

Quarantine restrictions

Travel experts are predicting that France will be moved back to the amber travel list next week, from its current amber-plus rating. The controversial new category was created specially for France a few weeks ago, stating that arrivals should self-isolate even if they were double jabbed. Why? Rising cases of the Beta variant, which now seem to be falling again.

Mortgage approvals boom

Mortgage lending showed a record surge in the run up to the stamp duty holiday ending, with £17.9 billion in new deals approved in June alone. That’s the most since the Bank of England started keeping records in 1993. Other debt though? Not so much. Unsecured debt rose by just £300 million, well below the pre-pandemic average, as consumers grow cautious amid rising coronavirus cases.

5 million missing parcels

More than 5 million people had parcels lost or stolen last year according to Citizens Advice. The charity is calling for firms to be fined if they lose people’s deliveries - currently only Royal Mail gets fined for problems. It says complaints about parcel deliveries have tripled since before the pandemic.