According to this article the government is reviewing the stamp duty break for first time buyers. Currently first time buyers can take advantage of a two year stamp duty holiday on properties up to the value of £25,000. The stamp duty holiday was granted by the Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling in his pre-election budget. It had been thought that the Conservatives would make it permanent if they were elected but it now seems they are thinking of axing the break instead. They have now said they will review the stamp duty tax relief taking into account affordability and value and money and this statement has led to the speculation that it will be axed.

NICE the National Institute for health and Clinical Excellence has called on the government to cut the amount of fat and salt in food, something which they say could save 40,000 lives a year. Under the guidance NICE say that ministers should consider introducing legislation if manufacturers are not forthcoming in cutting saturated fat and salt in food. According to the article there are around five million people living with the effects of cardiovascular disease in Britain with around 150,000 deaths a year. NICE has calculated that 40,000 deaths a year could be prevented if all trans fats were eliminated from prepared foods. They have also called for the advertising of unhealthy foods to children to be banned until after 9pm and action to be taken to introduce a more transparent food labelling system.

If you like a flutter on the horses then you might want to check out this website that specialises in horse racing betting. It offers real horse race betting and also a really good virtual game called Virtual Derby where you can research jockeys, trainers, horses and conditions before making your selection and play like a real race. Signing up for an account is free and then all you need to do is place your horse racing bet online and sit back and wait to see if you are successful.

This is an interesting idea its a vending machine which will offer prescriptions 24 hours a day. The machines which will initially be put into five hospitals will hold up to 330 different types of drugs. Each pack will include a microchip so that the machine will indentify it. The patient will then insert their prescription into the machine and speak to a pharmacists via a video link where they will check the medicine has been properly prescribed before authorising the transactions. The prescription can be paid for by inserting cash or a debit or credit card. The patient will then receive their prescription along with a leaflet on how the drugs should be taken.

According to this article fraudsters are already starting to take advantage of the upcoming Olympic games and have launched a number of fake ticket scams. Although tickets for the Olympics and Paralymic Games do not go on sale until next year a number of companies are claiming to offer them online. Tickets will only be on sale from official London 2012 channels and are company that is claiming to have them now is bogus. According to the Office of Fair Trading one in 12 tickets brought online is fake. This amounts to around £30 million in fake ticket sales. Customers should be careful to only buy tickets though official channels and bear in mind that if an offer looks too good to true it probably is.

According to this article a new serum promises to give thicker eyelashes. The Rapidlash Eyelash Enhancing Serum which goes on sale at Boots for £39.95 on the 14th of July is designed to enhance the growth of your eyelashes. It is meant to be so effective that there is already a waiting list of people who want the product. The product does not contain any actual growth enhancers but is a treatment that conditions the lashes appearing to enhance their size. In clinical trials it has been shown to give up to 50% longer looking lashes as long as it is used daily for eight weeks.

I came across this website Quicksilvergames recently that offers a lot of online slot machine games. They are much the same as the Slot Games I remember playing in arcades when I have been on holiday and are just as addictive. The games that I really like are the traditional fruit machine slot games but there are also a lot of new games available from famous names such as Monopoly and Cluedo that provide something more challenging. What I like about this particular website is that you can choose to play the games for fun if you want to. Alternatively if you want the chance to win cash prizes you just need to register and you can win prizes ranging from £500 to around £15,000. Either way its a good site if you are bored and are looking for something to pass the time. 

According to this article Asda have recalled a number of paper shredders due to a possible fault. The problem is with the Asda eight sheet diamond cut shredder which has been shown in some cases to have a fault in the plug. The product which was on sale for £19.97 has been recalled as a precaution after some customers experienced a small shock when using it. It is thought that a few thousand of the shredders have been sold. Anyone who has purchased one should stop using the product and return it to their nearest Asda store for a refund.

If this article is to be believed then Waitrose are currently offering more price cuts than the other major supermarkets. This is surprisingly particularly as they tend to have a reputation for being rather expensive. The results come from a survey which was carried out by the online consumer website Supermarket Own Brand Guide. It seems Waitrose have cut more prices in the past year than any of its mainstream rivals particularly when it comes to discounts on their own brand products. Although Waitrose matches Tesco and Asda on most basket items it seems the cheapest place to shop is still Aldi. The survey showed that Waitrose reduced prices on 16 of the 27 items in a typical basket on own brand goods and increased the prices on 8. Tesco cut the price of 14 products from the same basket and increased the prices on 11 and Sainsbury's reduced the prices of 8. I’m guessing, however, that when you take into account the prices of other items not seen as typical basket items the prices are still higher, it would be interesting to see a broader comparison.

According to this article Tesco are currently offering the best deal for school uniforms. They are offering polo shirts for 50p, sweaters for £1.75 and trousers or skirts for £1.50. The price is the same for all ages from three to sixteen year olds. Not to be outdone Sainsbury’s come second on price selling sweatshirts, skirts and trousers for £2.00 and a pack of three polo shirts for £2.00, a total cost of £4.66 for the entire uniform. Asda who have often had the cheapest price in the past are offering the uniform for a total of £6.00.