28 h. ago Demonstration held as union warns West Dunbartonshire GP support staff cuts will affect most vulnerable

A demonstration was staged at the offices of West Dunbartonshire HSCP and West Dunbartonshire Council to voice opposition to job cuts to the region's GP support staff.

Events

36 h. ago Most AAPI adults don't support cutting agencies and want a focus on costs: AP

A new AP-NORC/AAPI Data poll shows that most Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders do not agree with the strategy of putting entire federal agencies on the chopping block, nor are they broadly on board with mass layoffs of federal workers

Politics

50 h. ago The US Postal Service helped build the Black middle class. Trump could end that legacy

Trump is expected to privatize the USPS, where Black people make up 29% of the staff, and cut down on the number of jobsIn recent weeks, the fate of the United States Postal Service (USPS), a revered and vital public institution, has been uncertain. Since the start of his second presidency, Donald Trump has launched major changes to the federal government. Along with billionaire Elon Musk’s so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge), the president has carried out widespread layoffs at agencies such as the Small Business Administration and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, with the purported goal of cutting costs and boosting efficiency. Now, Trump is turning his focus to the post office, an agency he has long been critical of and one that he may be privatizing.In addition to delivering upwards of 343.5m pieces of mail and packages a day, the post office is responsible for administering official government forms such as passport applications, and providing banking...

Politics

3 d. ago More support for people in ill health to stay in work ‘could save UK £1bn’

Commission for Healthier Working Lives warns against cutting benefits and calls for proactive route for 8m affectedProviding more support for people in ill health to stay in work could save the UK government more than £1bn, according to a report warning ministers against cutting benefits.As the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, looks for savings before the 26 March spring statement, the cross-sector Commission for Healthier Working Lives has called for a new approach to supporting the 8 million people in Britain with a work-limiting health condition. Continue reading...

Economics

7 d. ago Trump’s NIH pick makes pitch for good science – in this administration?

Jay Bhattacharya tells hearing he is intent on protecting research, even as president takes axe to federal fundingDonald Trump’s nominee to run the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Jay Bhattacharya, told senators he was committed to ensuring scientists “have the resources they need” – even as the $48bn agency he hopes to lead has become a focus of the administration’s ideological war and cost-cutting efforts.At a confirmation hearing on Wednesday, Bhattacharya made a pitch for free scientific inquiry and an examination of the chronic disease epidemic, now a cornerstone of Republican health rhetoric, while hoping to serve in an administration that has frightened scientists into self-censorship. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago ScaleUp Standard: Entrepreneur Simon Squibb's blackmail regrets plus focus on digital agency Wander

Entrepreneur Simon Squibb reflects on his business regrets, including trademark battles, while the digital agency Wander flourishes, driven by its co-founders' unique approach.

Politics

1 week ago Trump reportedly wants to shrink size and focus of state department; climate agency braces for more cuts – live

President wants radical overhaul of state department, including fewer diplomats and embassies, Politico reports; Noaa expects more cuts after hundreds firedUS aid cuts have forced the UN children’s agency Unicef to suspend or scale back many programmes in Lebanon, with more than half of children under the age of two experiencing severe food poverty in the country’s east, a Unicef official said on Friday.“We have been forced to suspend or cut back or drastically reduce many of our programmes and that includes nutrition programmes,” Unicef’s deputy representative in Lebanon, Ettie Higgins, told reporters in Geneva via video link from Beirut, Reuters reports. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago EU reveals plans to hit climate goals by helping dirty industries clean up

European Commission recommits to 90% emissions cut by 2040, and will support steel and cement in transitionThe EU executive has insisted it will stay the course on its climate goals, while setting out plans to help Europe’s most polluting industries reach the green transition and watering down environmental reporting demands on companies.Publishing its “clean industrial deal” on Wednesday, the European Commission said it had a plan to help polluting industries, such as steel and cement, make the switch to the net zero emissions future, as well as boosting clean tech companies, such as firms making electric vehicle charging points. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Dumbarton MSP slams 'devastating' cuts to GP support staff as she calls for move to be reversed

Dumbarton's Labour MSP Jackie Baillie has taken aim at the SNP over cuts to vital GP support staff in West Dunbartonshire.

Politics

3 w. ago IRS reportedly set to fire 7,000 workers at the height of tax

Probationary employees targeted for cuts thought to mainly be auditors and support staff; Vance due to give speech at CPACIRS to lay off roughly 7,000 employees in Trump downsizing spree‘He’s taking a sledgehammer to it’: Trump voters’ view on first monthDonald Trump signed another round of executive orders onboard Air Force One last night, among them one aimed at ending federal benefits for people in the country illegally.The order seeks to end “all taxpayer-funded benefits for illegal aliens”, according to the White House, although it was not clear which benefits will be targeted. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago IRS reportedly set to fire 6,000 workers at the height of tax

Probationary employees targeted for cuts thought to mainly be auditors and support staff; Vance due to give speech at CPACHow will Trump and Musk USAid freeze affect millions around world?‘He’s taking a sledgehammer to it’: Trump voters’ view on first monthA federal appeals court in San Francisco denied the Trump administration’s request to reinstate a ban on birthright citizenship.Donald Trump signed an executive order on his first day in office that ordered an end to birthright citizenship for children for whom neither parent is a US citizen or legal permanent resident.The time for preparation is over – we must act urgently to revive the warrior ethos, rebuild our military, and re-establish deterrence. Our budget will resource the fighting force we need, cease unnecessary defense spending, reject excessive bureaucracy, and drive actionable reform including progress on the audit. Continue reading...

Economics

3 w. ago Federal Reserve officials see risks of higher inflation ahead, support pause in rate cuts

Federal Reserve officials at a meeting last month pointed to rising risks that inflation could worsen, a key reason they kept their benchmark interest rate unchanged

Politics

3 w. ago Scottish Labour faces ‘challenge’ to win next Holyrood elections, Sarwar reveals

Exclusive: Increases in support for Reform UK and Scottish Greens suggest a comfortable win for the SNP in 2026Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has admitted his party faces a significant challenge to win the next Holyrood elections after its popularity slumped in the polls.His party’s support has fallen by half since the chancellor cut the winter fuel payment and raised national insurance costs last year, leaving it trailing behind the Scottish National party (SNP). Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Scottish Labour faces ‘challenge’ to win next Holyrood elections, Sarwar admits

Exclusive: Increases in support for Reform UK and Scottish Greens suggest a comfortable win for the SNP in 2026Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has admitted his party faces a significant challenge to win the next Holyrood elections after its popularity slumped in the polls.His party’s support has fallen by half since the chancellor cut the winter fuel payment and raised national insurance costs last year, leaving it trailing behind the Scottish National party (SNP). Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago As the US retreats, Europe must look out for itself – so is Macron’s nuclear offer the answer? | Simon Tisdall

Development of a joint defence shield would be politically explosive for Keir Starmer. But it’s an idea whose time has comeThe startling contempt for Europe’s intensifying security concerns displayed by Donald Trump and his henchmen has brought an old, controversial question back to the fore: should Britain and France pool their nuclear weapons capabilities and create a Europe-wide defensive nuclear shield to deter Vladimir Putin’s Russia, if the US reduces or withdraws its support?Trump has not so far explicitly threatened to cut US nuclear forces based in Europe. But speaking last week, the president said he wanted to halve the US’s defence spending, especially on nuclear weapons. Trump often denigrates Nato, keystone of European security. Last year, he encouraged Russia “to do whatever the hell they want” to member states that, in his view, spend too little on defence. Continue reading...

Politics