5 hours ago UK jobcentres not fit for purpose, says Liz Kendall ahead of major reforms

The work and pensions secretary is to overhaul benefits system, pushing young people into work or educationBritain’s network of jobcentres has become a hollowed-out “benefit administration service” that is shunned by employers and jobseekers alike, a cabinet minister has warned before a government overhaul of out-of-work support that will oblige young people to take up education or employment.In an interview with the Observer, Liz Kendall, the work and pensions secretary, warned that the nation’s 650 jobcentres are no longer “fit for purpose” and need to become hubs for those looking for work or a better position, as well as those dependent on welfare. Reforms to integrate the jobcentre network with healthcare and careers services in England will be unveiled this week, as part of a long...

Politics

7 hours ago Russia ‘aggressive’ and ‘reckless’ in cyber realm and threat to Nato, UK minister to warn

Pat McFadden will tell cyber summit that Russia ‘won’t think twice about targeting British businesses’ and danger to Nato must not be underestimatedRussia is “exceptionally aggressive and reckless in the cyber realm” and “no one should underestimate” the threat to Nato, a senior UK minister will warn in a speech on Monday.Pat McFadden, whose portfolio includes national security, will tell a Nato cybersecurity conference in London that Moscow “won’t think twice about targeting British businesses”, according to excerpts of his address released on Sunday by his ministry. Continue reading...

Events

9 hours ago Vladimir Putin could 'turn out the lights for millions of Brits' with advanced cyber attacks, minister says

Russia will 'not think twice' about 'turning the lights off for millions of people' by unleashing a wave of debilitating cyber attacks, senior Cabinet minister Pat MacFadden will warn Nato on Monday.

Politics

15 hours ago The Observer view: Selling a piece of fruit for £4m isn’t bananas, it’s decadent. Art is better than this

The sale of Maurizio Cattelan’s work, Comedian, to a crypto entrepreneur is a grim concept that has little to do with disruptionPaulina Brandberg, the Swedish minister for gender equality and work life, has a phobia of bananas so severe, her aides check rooms for the fruit before she’s due to enter them. Like other sufferers of this most unlikely of conditions, she is triggered by the merest traces of banana: a skin mouldering in a far-off wastepaper basket; a lingering smell; the sense that until recently something bendy and yellow lurked next to the perfectly innocent apples and oranges in the bowl on that coffee table.We can only hope, then, that the minister was – trigger warning – nowhere near the big auction house news of last week, in which a banana sold for $5.2m (£4.1m) at...

Economics

17 hours ago Moscow bans adoption of Russian children to countries that allow gender transition

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed into law a bill banning adoption of Russian children by citizens of countries where gender transitioning is legal

Politics