3 h. ago Starmer’s cuts are a huge mistake – foreign aid is an investment, not an expense | Halima Begum

At the height of the cold war, the west advanced its soft power through aid and development spending. If we cut that now, who will fill the vacuum?Halima Begum is the chief executive of Oxfam GBThe savagely deep cuts that Keir Starmer has announced to the international aid budget make a mockery of the pledge his party made to the British people in its manifesto. Then, it promised to restore development spending at the level of 0.7% of gross national income “as soon as fiscal circumstances allow”. On Tuesday the prime minister stood in front of parliament and announced that he will cut it from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP. In the same manifesto, Labour made a commitment to “rebuild Britain’s reputation on international development with a new approach based on genuine respect and partnership with the global south”. This week, the government turned its back on it.Of course, I understand the argument that defence spending has to be increased, but cutting our aid budget still further when governm...

Politics

6 h. ago Fire authority has to 'cut its coat according to its cloth' as 5.75% budget increase approved

The four commissioners of South Wales Fire Authority approved a 5.75% increase to the budget contributions from the 10 council areas for next year

Events

18 h. ago US student loan repayments could increase by $200 under new GOP budget plans

Republicans are looking to cut $2 trillion in federal spending, which will include targeting student loan programs

Economics

20 h. ago Starmer announces big cut to UK aid budget to boost defence spending

PM confirms rise in military spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than plannedUK politics live – latest updatesKeir Starmer has announced drastic cuts to Britain’s international aid budget to help pay for a major increase in defence spending, amid fears over Donald Trump’s commitment to European security.The prime minister said the UK government would increase defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 – three years earlier than planned – as he prepared for what is likely to be a diplomatically fraught visit to Washington DC this week. Continue reading...

Economics

24 h. ago Sir Keir Starmer announces cuts to UK aid budget to fund defence spending increase

The Prime Minister announced the increase ahead of a meeting with Donald Trump

Economics

4 d. ago New Look shutting another three stores starting from today in latest string of closures

Earlier this year, the Times reported that the chain was looking to "accelerate future store closures" when leases expire due to the tax increases revealed in October’s budget.

Politics

6 d. ago Denmark to spend billions on defence, citing fears over Russian rearmament

Mette Frederiksen says situation is ‘most dangerous’ in many years as she increases defence budget to 3% of GDPMette Frederiksen admitted that Denmark and other countries made a mistake by cutting their defence spending as she announced a 50bn Danish kroner (£5.5bn) package, saying: “It must never happen again.”The Danish prime minister increased defence spending to 3% of GDP in the next two years – up from 2.4% in 2024 – as she said Denmark needed a “massive rearmament” to avoid war. Continue reading...

Economics