15 h. ago Government spends nearly £30m of taxpayers' cash on fringe research projects including gay porn studies and recording Syrian harvesting songs

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been given the eye-catching amount of funding for overseas projects, which appear to have no clear benefit to British taxpayers.

Economics

43 h. ago Contract for replacement of cycle hub at Castle Semple Country Park in Lochwinnoch approved

Elected members have approved awarding a deal for the project, which includes demolishing the existing block, to Clark Contracts.

Politics

66 h. ago Finance convener calls on Scottish Government to ensure North Lanarkshire benefits from Chancellor’s spending review

Councillor Andrew Duffy-Lawson has urged the government at Holyrood to ensure that North Lanarkshire receives its fair share of the recently announced investment in Scottish public services as a result of the announcement from Chancellor Rachel Reeves.

Politics

67 h. ago The Lost Tapes, Beethoven sonatas 18,27, 28 & 31 album review – Richter always found something fresh to say

Sviatoslav Richter(Deutsche Grammophon)Sviatoslav Richter’s already huge catalogue is enriched by these rediscovered recordings of recitals of Beethoven’s piano sonatas from 1965Though he claimed to dislike performing in a studio, Sviatoslav Richter became perhaps the most intensively recorded pianist of the 20th century. But while his studio work was extensive, it was the huge volume of recordings made officially and unofficially at his recitals across more than 40 years that really bulked out his discography, with multiple versions available of many of the core works in his repertory. For those reasons the rediscovery of “Lost Tapes” might not initially seem so remarkable. The performances, of four Beethoven piano sonatas, Opp 31 no 3, 90, 101 and 110, are taken from recitals that Richter gave in 1965. Op 110 comes from a performance at the piano festival he had founded the previous year at La Grange de Meslay near Tours, the others are taken from a concert in Lucerne three months...

Politics

69 h. ago Ben Wallace accuses Labour of ‘conning’ public over defence spending boost claim

Concerns have been raised that the increase in defence spending pledged by Keir Starmer’s government is ‘smoke and mirrors’

Politics

2 d. ago The Spending Review: the property announcements in spending plans revealed

All the housing announcements from the Government’s Spending Review

Politics

3 d. ago UK Government ‘committed’ to Acorn carbon capture project in Scotland – minister

Kirsty McNeill said the inclusion of development funding for the scheme in the spending review shows the Government’s support for it.

Politics

3 d. ago Business news live: FTSE 100 flat as UK economy stalls after Asia stocks down overnight

Market reaction and business news ahead of the government’s spending review

Economics

3 d. ago Government Spending Review 2025: Economy shrinks as NHS spending surges and struggling councils miss out

From a surprise economic slump and warnings of a “National Health State”, to council funding concerns, a 74 per cent house price surge, and rising Tesco sales - here are today’s top UK business stories.

Politics

3 d. ago Rachel Reeves seized her moment – whatever the future brings, Labour’s economic course is now set | Martin Kettle

The chancellor is no mere technocrat: her spending review revealed a visceral commitment to social and economic mobilityThe consensus has long been that the 2025 spending review would be a defining moment for Keir Starmer’s government. For once, the consensus proved spot-on. The government’s main priorities were set out on Wednesday in a blizzard of Commons announcements from Rachel Reeves, some economically substantive, others more for show. The upshot is that the shape of the British state, as Labour intends it, is now decided until the eve of the next election.There are further crossroads still to come, some of them major, as the years covered by the review unroll. Taxes are likely to rise, probably as soon as the autumn budget, to pay for Reeves’s big ticket boosts on Wednesday for defence, health and housing. Council tax could rise too, with possibly dramatic results. The review’s emphasis on capital spending means current spending could be squeezed again, perhaps heralding pay...

Economics

3 d. ago Rachel Reeves pumps cash into NHS with 4million more tests and procedures to cut waits

The NHS and defence were big winners from the Chancellor's Spending Review as Rachel Reeves set out the Government's spending plans for the rest of the decade

Economics

3 d. ago Spending review a ‘huge blow’ for police and ‘will hamper efforts to recruit 13,000 neighbourhood police officers’

The government’s £2bn spending plans will cover ‘little more’ than basic pay increases for existing staff, police chiefs have warned

Events

3 d. ago Government can hit NHS waiting times targets despite scepticism, says Reeves

The NHS has received a 3% increase in real terms per year in the Government spending review.

Events

3 d. ago What the spending review means for you: RACHEL RICKARD breaks down Reeves' spending spree

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has unveiled a Government spending spree on Britain's schools, hospitals and armed forces as critics immediately questioned how she would pay for it.

Politics

3 d. ago Treasury minister dismisses claims spending review will lead to autumn tax rises – UK politics live

Darren Jones says such claims are ‘incoherent’ and the government is allocating money that has already been raisedSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Business news live: FTSE 100 closes below new high, Meta set for $15bn AI deal

Market reaction and business news ahead of the government’s spending review

Economics

3 d. ago Britain will be ‘defence industrial superpower’ with extra cash, Reeves says

Defence is one of the areas of Government spending which benefited most at the spending review on Wednesday.

Politics

3 d. ago Spending Review sees UK Government gamble on trust, not just spending

The Spending Review has sparked a row between the administrations

Politics

3 d. ago Business news live: FTSE 100 rises towards new record high, Meta set for $15bn AI deal

Market reaction and business news ahead of the government’s spending review

Economics

3 d. ago WW3 fears in overdrive as UK government give defence spending boost over rising tensions

The Labour Government is planning on turning Britain into a 'defence industrial superpower' as the global security situation means a 'new era for defence and security'

Politics