Wrap up. It's very cold outside, wherever you are in the UK. And with freezing winds coming in from Russia, it will feel like -10C to -15C today. Yellow and amber weather warnings are in place for southern and eastern England on Monday and Tuesday, spreading during that period to cover the Midlands, Scotland and Wales. Wednesday and Thursday's yellow warnings will also cover Cornwall and Northern Ireland. Roads in many areas will become difficult, with many train services likely to be cancelled. Use our interactive guide to find out how cold it is where you are compared with other parts of the world.

The ABC have long argued against blanket discrimination of those on benefits.

Lettings agents and landlords around the country who reject housing benefit claimants could be flouting equality laws, due a recent legal case.

Single mother Rosie Keogh won compensation for sex discrimination from a lettings agency that refused to consider her as a tenant because she was on state benefit.

Rosie Keogh a cleaner and former paralegal successfully argued that blanket bans on benefit claimants indirectly discriminated against women, especially single women after attempt to rent a property in a smart area of Birmingham in May 2016 was blocked when the lettings agent found she would pay some of the rent via housing benefit.

This is because they are proportionately more likely to be claiming housing benefit than single men, according to official figures.

Image: Single mother Rosie Keogh and son.

The agent told her it would not be proceeding with her application for a property in Kings Heath before it had looked into her individual circumstances or assessed how reliable a tenant she would be. She had been living in the same property for 11 years with the rent being paid in full every time.

After a letter of complaint was dismissed by the agents, the mother of one issued a claim for discrimination in the county court.

And Rosie is not alone. There are whole areas of towns and cities in England that have become virtual no-go zones for people on housing benefit because lettings agents and landlords are unwilling to deal with them.

According to the BBC a survey of 1,137 private landlords for housing charity Shelter in 2017 found that 43% had an outright ban on letting to such claimants. A further 18% preferred not to let to them. Rosie was supported in her case by Shelter.

Eighteen months after Rosie first began her fightback, lettings agent Nicholas George admitted indirect discrimination on the grounds of her sex, settling out of court with £2,000 compensation.

The case established the principle of sexual discrimination under the Equality Act. The government has stated this kind of discrimination against people on benefits is illegal. 

Social Democrats Political Director Anne-Marie McNally has urged homeless agencies and their facilities to take heed of the significant weather warnings in place for the coming days and ensure people are not forced onto the street during daytime hours, as is the usual practice. 

Ms McNally said that with Met Éireann predicting ‘exceptionally cold weather and disruptive snow’ it is imperative that shelter facilities are available 24/7 to those who need them. The Government must also prepare and publicise emergency shelters across the country so that those who are homeless or vulnerable can be protected and cared for.

Speaking after Met Éireann issued its latest weather warning Ms McNally said:

“At the moment homeless facilities require people to leave the premises in the morning and return again at night meaning many people spend the day on the streets. The forecast for the week ahead predicts bitterly cold weather, with some models showing potential wind chill factors taking the temperature to minus 9 degrees. It would be absolutely inhumane for services to put people out on the streets in such weather.”

“I recognise that many of these services are under significant pressure in terms of resources and I would urge housing and homeless officials from both local authorities and the Department of Housing to work with the homeless services to ensure the shelters can operate 24/7 while this weather event is underway.”

 “I would also remind people everywhere to check in on elderly or vulnerable neighbours during this period to ensure adequate supplies and heat sources are available.”

Wednesday, 21st February 2018: Employment Affairs & Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, T.D. has launched National Jobs Week 2018, which will have a particular focus on the catering sector this year. Over 100 events will be held across the country as part of Jobs Week 2018which will run from Friday 2nd March to Friday 9th March. This annual dedicated week of activity showcases the services and supports available to jobseekers and employers from the Department's Intreo service. 

Launching Jobs Week 2018 Minister Doherty said: "Jobs Week provides jobseekers and employers with a great opportunity to meet and connect. There are jobs on offer and employers are actively recruiting at these events. I encourage jobseekers and employers to get involved and visit an event locally." Over 15,000 people are expected to attend the week's events.

The Minister added: "It was a privilege for me to visit staff and students in the DIT School of Culinary Arts and Food Technology, at Cathal Brugha Street. The School is supporting our targeted hospitality recruitment campaign during Jobs Week 2018. With severe staff shortages in this sector, my Department through EURES is providing recruitment solutions nationally and across Europe, through the online job days being held on 1st and 9th March."

The Department will host a number of recruitment events throughout the country during Jobs Week where employers will be in attendance with jobs on offer. There will be 1-2-1 CV clinics available where jobseekers will have the option to get individual advice on completing their CV. Advice on interview preparation and career coaching sessions will also be provided at these events.

Two online Jobs Fairs bookending the week on 1st and 9th March and focusing on hospitality and tourism will be on offer. These innovative events are aimed at attracting Irish and European jobseekers with the skills and experience to join the thriving hospitality and tourism sectors throughout Ireland.

On 1st March, EURES Ireland (European Employment Service of the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection), together with the direct support of the European Commission will host an online Jobs Fair "Connect to your Future" running from 11am to 1pm with employers recruiting for the hospitality and tourism sector.  This is being managed by EURES Ireland and officials in Donegal. 

This online Jobs Fair will put talented jobseekers from all EU/EEA countries in touch with hospitality and catering employers who are providing job opportunities across the North West region of Ireland. Employers who take part in the online event will have access to a range of recruitment services including registering an exhibitor account, publishing their vacancies on the event website and promoting their organisation to a large pool of European jobseekers. Interested parties will have the opportunity to communicate with exhibitors via individual online chats and to attend the virtual presentations.

The event "Connect to your Future" will be widely advertised throughout Europe via social media platforms and online advertising at www.europeanjobdays.eu.

Additionally, EURES Ireland will hold an Online European Job Day on 9th March. This ‘online only' Jobs Fair is aimed at attracting Irish and European Jobseekers with the hospitality skills and experience to join the hospitality and tourism sector in Ireland.

 The "Arrive & Revive – Ireland" Job Day will be a virtual event created on the European portal: www.europeanjobdays.eu.   

Through this website and its interactive elements employers will have free and direct access to a range of recruitment services, including publishing their vacancies on the event's website, automatic screening and matching of CVs and scheduling and conducting online interviews throughout the day.

Jobseekers will be able to apply for jobs and book job interviews in advance of the event.
The event will go live on 9th March with broadcast of company presentations, EURES presentations, pre-recorded videos and public and private chats. Jobseekers based across Europe and Ireland will have the option to attend online, ask questions after each presentation and engage with employers and other exhibitors.  

Poorer people set to struggle for at least another three years thanks to welfare cuts, Think Tank Says:

The outlook is poor for low income working-age households Growth is expected to be (and to have been) particularly weak for low income non-pensioner households.

Roughly the bottom 40 per cent of the working-age population is expected to face relatively weak or even negative income growth, with higher and relatively equal growth for the rest (though note that growth here is relative to income: in cash terms incomes grow fastest for the richest.) 

The full report is below. Please download:

The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell to a near 45-year low last week, pointing to strong job growth in February. 

Initial claims for state unemployment benefits dropped 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 222,000 for the week ended Feb. 17, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims fell to 216,000 in mid-January, which was the lowest level since January 1973.

Fairtrade Fortnight  takes place this year from 26 February to 11 March 2018.

It raises awareness about Fair Trade across Wales and the UK.

The theme for 2018 is ‘Come on in’; inviting people to join in the Fair Trade movement, and learn more about how Fairtrade impacts the lives of producer communities across the world.

Your business could be making a difference to people’s lives by switching to Fairtrade. As a business, you can change the world simply by offering Fairtrade products to your staff and visitors. Switching to Fairtrade is easy, and a great way to evidence your internal Corporate Social Responsibility and build a stronger profile within your community for your good work.

Estimates from the Labour Force Survey show that, between July to September 2017 and October to December 2017, the number of people in work and the number of unemployed people both increased, but the number of people aged from 16 to 64 not working and not seeking or available to work (economically inactive) decreased.

There were 32.15 million people in work, 88,000 more than for July to September 2017 and 321,000 more than for a year earlier.

The employment rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were in work) was 75.2%, higher than for a year earlier (74.6%).

There were 901,000 people (not seasonally adjusted) in employment on “zero-hours contracts” in their main job, little changed compared with a year earlier.

There were 1.47 million unemployed people (people not in work but seeking and available to work), 46,000 more than for July to September 2017 but 123,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

The unemployment rate (the proportion of those in work plus those unemployed, that were unemployed) was 4.4%, down from 4.8% for a year earlier.

There were 8.77 million people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive (not working and not seeking or available to work), 109,000 fewer than for July to September 2017 and 95,000 fewer than for a year earlier.

The inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged from 16 to 64 who were economically inactive) was 21.3%, lower than for a year earlier (21.6%).

Latest estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in nominal terms (that is, not adjusted for price inflation) increased by 2.5% both including and excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.

Latest estimates show that average weekly earnings for employees in Great Britain in real terms (that is, adjusted for price inflation) fell by 0.3% both including and excluding bonuses compared with a year earlier.

ABC Note: The unemployment rate in Wales has risen to 5% - higher than the UK average, according to latest figures.

Figures courtesy of the ONS

People in the lowest income quartile in the EU are going without fresh fruit and vegetables to save, and a higher proportion are buying cheaper cuts of meat or buying less meat because of money concerns. This practice is occurring throughout Europe, but there are vast differences between Member States.

The findings from the European Quality of Life Survey 2016 show that economising on fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as meat, is less common in western and northern EU countries such as Sweden, Ireland, Austria and Finland; whereas it was much more common in eastern EU Member States such as Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia and Slovakia.

Differences were significant on the extreme ends of the scale. For example, 6% of people on the lowest incomes in Sweden have gone without fresh fruit and vegetables to save, whereas this was 42% of those on the lowest incomes in Bulgaria.

ABC Note: Epicurus (Greek Philosopher) belived, the purpose of philosophy was to attain the happy, tranquil life, characterized by ataraxia—peace and freedom from fear—and aponia—the absence of pain—and by living a self-sufficient life surrounded by friends. He taught that the root of all human neurosis was death denial, and the tendency for human beings to assume that death will be horrific and painful, which he claimed causes unnecessary anxiety, selfish self-protective behaviors, and hypocrisy. According to Epicurus, death is the end of both the body and the soul and therefore should not be feared. He also taught that the gods neither reward nor punish humans; that the universe is infinite and eternal; and that occurrences in the natural world are ultimately the result of atoms moving and interacting in empty space. Courtesy Wikipedia.

We say eating properly is key to a happy life and the absense of illness and suffering. 

Time is running out to spend your old £10 notes, as the 1 March deadline is approaching.

In 10 days time shops, post offices and local banks will no longer be legally required to accept the old notes.

 
However, if you end up finding an old paper tenner in your jacket pocket you haven’t worn for a while after the deadline, there’s no need for frustration – you will be able to exchange it indefinitely by posting it to the Bank of England or visiting the Bank in person in the City of London.

If you do not have £10 new or old we understand