Olly Mann and The Week delve behind the headlines and debate what really matters from the past seven days. With Harriet Marsden, Guy Anker and Rebekah Evans
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In this week’s episode, we discuss:
Mayoral strife
Sadiq Khan has accused the Conservative candidate for London mayor, Susan Hall, of “promoting divisive and racist content on social media”. She has liked tweets praising Enoch Powell and retweeted the far-right Islamophobic trope “Londonistan”. The mayoral election in May will likely be “the first test of whether the extreme right can be held back”, said the Labour incumbent. Although Khan is still in the lead to win, could the government’s changes to the electoral system work in Hall’s favour? What does her rising profile say about politicians and social media?
Tax changes
As of 1 January, digital platforms like Vinted, Etsy, Ebay and Airbnb are obliged to pass on extra information about sellers to the HMRC, including how many sales they have made and how much income they have generated. What are the tax rules for selling goods online and how are they changing? Will the new policies catch out tax cheats? And how many of us use such platforms as part of a so-called “side-hustle” to earn extra income ?
Disney unbound
The first version of Disney’s famous Mickey Mouse has entered the public domain in the United States, in a landmark day following years of the animation company lobbying for longer copyright terms. What will we do with the first copyright-free Disney cartoon? And could it spell trouble for Disney?
Why is the race to be Mayor of London so fractious? Will new tax laws snare unsuspecting eBayers? And what will we do with the first copyright-free Disney cartoon?
