56 h. ago UK could face up to £30bn of tax rises to fund defence spending boost, economist says

Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to boost defence spending to 2.7 per cent of GDP by 2027, as Nato allies push for ‘dramatic increase’

Economics

65 h. ago Straw review – Taraji P Henson rises above Tyler Perry’s tortured Netflix thriller

The Oscar nominated actor gives a powerhouse performance as a woman pushed to the edge but the punishing film around her does a disserviceTyler Perry is not beating the allegations. For decades, the content-creating studio chief has been roundly criticized for making the traumatization of Black women a persistent theme in his work. In Straw, his latest exercise in misogynoir for Netflix, he pulls out all the stops to break the camel’s back.The guinea pig for this cultural stress test is Janiyah (Taraji P Henson), an apex Perry caricature who is past the point of exhaustion. Her loud, hot and dumpy apartment isn’t all that keeps her in perennial discomfort. There’s also a precocious young daughter (Gabrielle E Jackson) with nagging medical issues, and that eviction notice on the dining table. She can’t make ends meet despite working three jobs, and her cashier’s position at the local food desert grocery store is especially thankless. When an angry customer spikes a bottle of fizzy dr...

Politics

1 week ago 217 days and counting: Trump's rules slow the release of migrant children to their families

Releases of immigrant children in U.S. custody have slowed dramatically since the Trump administration increased vetting of people seeking to take care of them

Politics

1 week ago Paisley cafe sees 'dramatic' increase in customers after becoming local hit

Paisley Pie Co. has seen footfall increase after benefitting from Renfrewshire Council’s town centre premises fund.

Economics

1 week ago Historic Kilmaurs landmark reopens as community exhibition space

The Jougs served as a meeting place for local worthies and the magistrate, as a collection point for customs dues, and as a place of imprisonment and punishment for miscreants.

Politics

1 week ago The dark side of Spudman's runaway success: TikTok sensation faces bitter allegations as his baked potato empire tears his town apart

The takeaway boss is facing fury from local café owners who claim that his customers use their toilets and sit down to eat his potatoes at their tables and chairs.

Politics

1 week ago The dark side of Spudman's runaway success: TikTok sensation faces bitter allegations as his baked potatoes empire tears his town apart

The takeaway boss is facing fury from local café owners who claim that his customers use their toilets and sit down to eat his potatoes at their tables and chairs.

Politics

1 week ago The huge increase in Brits caught smuggling cannabis out of Thailand

The UK said there was a dramatic increase in the amount of cannabis sent to the UK from Thailand by post

Events

2 w. ago The Guardian view on billionaire Britain: tax wealth fairly or face democratic unravelling | Editorial

Without bold reform which makes the rich pull their weight, rising inequality risks eroding public trust and fracturing social stabilityBritain for the last decade has experienced a bleak paradox: rising child poverty alongside a dramatic increase in billionaire wealth. This inequality has been tolerated partly because greed has been rehabilitated as virtue. The Billionaire Britain report, published this week by the Equality Trust, reveals what many instinctively feel but few in parliament will admit: the UK economy has become a machine for the upward redistribution of wealth.Using Sunday Times Rich List data, the report found that the 50 wealthiest UK families now own more than the poorest half of the population combined. Their opulence is no accident. It’s largely built on the labour and consumption of those 34 million other Britons. The gains of society are being hoarded by those least in need. There’s a lexicon that sells it all as “entrepreneurial spirit” and bus...

Economics

2 w. ago UK inflation jumps higher than expected to 3.5% amid bills increase

Annual rise in April follows upturn in national insurance contributions and higher household costsInflation jumped in April by more than expected to 3.5% after dramatic increases in water bills, energy costs and council tax, according to official figures.A rise in employer national insurance contributions and a boost to the national minimum wage also put pressure on companies to raise prices last month by more than City analysts had forecast. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago Popular Paisley Pie shop sees hike in customers following Business Gateway support

A popular Paisley Pie shop has seen a dramatic increase in customers after the business owner accessed support from Business Gateway.

Economics

3 w. ago Family run West Lothian butchers celebrates half a century of business

Boghall Butchers in Bathgate welcomed the community to their shop where they marked half a century of trade with a performance from a local piper and a visit from their first ever customer.

Politics