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Boris Johnson rejects energy bill VAT cuts to help struggling familiesTory MPs hit back after Prime Minister says such a move would help ‘a lot of people who perhaps don’t need the support’Boris Johnson has indicated that he will not cut VAT on energy bills because it would help “a lot of people who perhaps don’t need the support” with rising living costs.The Prime Minister on Tuesday night dismissed demands to enact the move to help struggling families, amid fears that residential energy bills could double to £2,000 in April when the price cap is set to rise.His intervention sparked a backlash among Tory MPs, who have insisted that slashing VAT from energy bills should be a “Brexit dividend” now Britain has quit the European Union, which mandates the tax is levied at a minimum of five per cent.Speaking at a televised Downing Street press conference, Mr Johnson was challenged about a vow he himself made in May 2016 to scrap VAT from energy bills if Britons voted Leave.He denied having misled voters with his previous remarks.
Italy returns Parthenon fragment to Greece amid UK row over marblesLoan deal could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate ancient Parthenon marbles to AthensItaly is returning a fragment belonging to the Parthenon’s eastern frieze to Greece in a breakthrough deal that could renew pressure on Britain to repatriate the 2,500-year-old Parthenon marbles removed by Lord Elgin in the early 19th century.The marble fragment, which depicts the foot of a goddess, either Peitho or Artemis, peeking out from beneath an elaborate tunic, is currently held at the Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum in Palermo, Sicily. It was originally bought by the University of Palermo from the widow of Robert Fagan, the British consul for Sicily and Malta, after his death in 1816.The artefact is being returned on a four-year loan as part of a cultural exchange agreement between Sicily and Greece, with the intention for the loan period to be extended by a further four years. However, the move back to Greece could eventually become permanent.