50 m. ago UK shoppers issued warning over using popular payment method for 'events and major purchases'

Pay by bank may not carry the same protections as other payment methods

Events

98 m. 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

98 m. ago Albion Rovers 'can't pay wages but we can provide a platform', says boss

Sandy Clark has had his budget completely slashed for the 2025/26 campaign amid tightening purse strings at Cliftonhill

Economics

2 h. ago Gardeners urged to dig out secret weed in June which looks like common flower

Gardening experts are urging gardeners to keep a close eye on weeds this month, including one which produces pretty flowers

Politics

2 h. ago Michelle Mone's firm told 'pay back' £122m of taxpayer's money for bodged Covid PPE

The Department of Health and Social Care is suing PPE Medpro for allegedly breaching a deal for 25 million surgical gowns

Economics

2 h. ago Geert Wilders collapsed the Dutch government. He wanted power, but had no idea how to govern | Koen Vossen

The anti-Islam ideologue has exposed the limits of his insular, badly organised operation. For a ‘radical’, opposition is a much easier placeKoen Vossen is the author of The Power of Populism: Geert Wilders and the Party for Freedom in the NetherlandsEarlier this month, Geert Wilders decided he had had enough. “No signature for our asylum plans. No changes to the coalition agreement. The PVV is leaving the coalition,” he posted on X. After 11 months, he was withdrawing support for the Dutch prime minister Dick Schoof’s rightwing cabinet, forcing the Netherlands back to the polls.The decision put an end to Wilders’ far-right Freedom party’s (PVV) first spell in power. Following an unexpected victory in the 2023 elections, the PVV joined a government for the first time in its 18-year history – alongside the conservative-liberal People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD), the centrist New Social Contract (NSC), and the agrarian-populist Farmer–Citizen Movement (BBB) – although Wild...

Politics

2 h. ago Silver and platinum prices soar as investors seek ‘gold alternatives’

Prices climb more than 10% this month amid search for hedges against dollar weakness

Economics

2 h. ago Treasury gains £500mn to pay off UK debt from Barings banker’s 1927 fund

Windfall in form of ‘patriotic gift’ comes as Chancellor Rachel Reeves strives to balance the books

Economics

2 h. ago UK weather: Exact time thunderstorms end as three Met Office warnings issued

Thunderstorms are set to drench millions of Brits this week with three Met Office warnings issued - half a month's rain in the space of a few hours is on the cards

Events

3 h. ago Jeremy Clarkson slammed by pub punters over '100% British' claim

The Farmer's Dog in Oxfordshire has been inundated with reservations since the controversial presenter's hit series Clarkson's Farm returned to screens earlier this month

Politics

5 h. ago Jonny Evans makes surprise announcement on future after being released by Man Utd

Jonny Evans has been released by Manchester United and the defender remains uncertain about what could come next in his career when he leaves the Red Devils this month

Politics

6 h. ago Firm linked to Baroness Bra 'must pay back £122m for faulty PPE': Government suing over Covid contract 'initiated' by Tory peer

The bra tycoon had recommended PPE Medpro, which went on to provide 25 million 'faulty' surgical gowns.

Economics

6 h. ago NHS gets an extra £29billion a year but waiting list targets may STILL be missed, health chiefs say

Economists described the real-terms rise as 'substantial', with the health service budget now equal to the entire annual income of Portugal.

Economics

7 h. ago Polish nursery worker accused of abusing 24 toddlers was 'sleep deprived from smoking cannabis and staying up late with her boyfriend', court hears

Roksana Lecka is accused of 'badly harming' 23 of the infants, all aged 18 months to two years, at a £1,900-a-month Montessori nursery in Twickenham, south-west London .

Events

7 h. ago Deacon Blue star James Prime seriously ill in hospital as fans asked 'share your love'

James Prime, keyboard player for Deacon Blue, is in hospital for an undisclosed illness and so will no longer be part of the band's upcoming UK tour, including gigs in Liverpool and Birmingham

Politics

7 h. ago Shoppers warned that popular ‘fast’ payment method could leave them unprotected

The relatively new way to pay online could cause more problems if things go wrong, Which? warns

Events

7 h. ago Assisted dying: UK doctor says helping patients die in Australia is ‘privilege’

The Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill is due to return to the House of Commons for debate and more votes on amendments on Friday.

Events

7 h. ago Shoppers urged by Which? to consider protections when using ‘pay by bank’

Innovations such as pay by bank present opportunities for businesses and consumers, but are not without risk, the consumer group said.

Economics

8 h. ago Wynne Evans reveals full video 'BBC wouldn't let him publish' after Katya Jones 'grope'

Former Strictly Come Dancing contestant Wynne Evans has posted a video that he claims the BBC wouldn't let him share with fans in amid a scandal on the show last year

Politics

8 h. ago Flight 149: Hostage of War review – a tale so staggering you couldn’t write it

This excellent documentary tells the tale of a BA plane’s Kuwait stopover just as Saddam Hussein invaded. It’s a crucial tale of a four-month nightmare that is barely believableIf it were a work of fiction, the story of Flight 149 would probably be deemed too horrifying – or too unbelievable – for television. Indeed, as a documentary interspersed with dramatic reconstructions, at points it is almost unbearable to watch. But it is a crucial piece of work: a one-off film that goes deep into a bizarre and increasingly hideous ordeal to ask how and why it happened.On 2 August 1990, a British Airways plane carrying nearly 400 passengers and crew from London to Kuala Lumpur touched down for a scheduled stopover in Kuwait. Those on board knew nothing of the unfolding Iraqi invasion of the country and the brutality Saddam Hussein was inflicting on his neighbours (this would, of course, soon lead to the Gulf war). British Airways maintains that it, too, was unaware of what was taki...

Events