14 h. ago John Swinney blasted for spending public money to block publication of Alex Salmond files

Anas Sarwar said his party would release files relating to a probe over whether Nicola Sturgeon broke the ministerial code.

Economics

4 d. ago Rights groups hail acquittal after seven years of aid workers prosecuted during Greece refugee crisis

Lesbos court clears aid workers of people smuggling, a move Human Rights Watch called a vindication of their lifesaving activities at seaTwo dozen aid workers, who had faced up to 20 years in prison if found guilty of smuggling migrants into Greece, have been acquitted by a court on Lesbos.The verdict was met with cheers, tears and cries of jubilation as the presiding judge announced the words that would end a seven-year legal ordeal for the humanitarians. All 24 had engaged in rescue work on the Aegean island at the height of the refugee crisis. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago POLL OF THE DAY: Should Labour scrap digital IDs entirely, after axing mandatory plan for workers in latest U

Keir Starmer had vowed to crack down on illegal immigration by making digital ID compulsory to verify a person's right to work in the UK, but he was forced into a 13th U-turn since becoming PM.

Politics

6 d. ago Business confidence collapses under Labour's 'crushing' tax burden and workers' rights laws

Worries about tax have more than doubled since the last general election, a poll by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales found.

Economics

6 d. ago How the Scottish Budget affects you – from Child Payment increase to new council tax bands

SCOTTISH Government Finance Secretary Shona Robison today unveiled the SNP's Budget for the year from April, as Holyrood gears up for May's election. The Nats minister had around £750million more than expected due to extra cash from the Treasury and better forecasts. But with mounting spending on devolved benefits and public sector pay, SNP chiefs...

Economics

6 d. ago Workers at Chinese factory that produces Labubu toys are being exploited, says NGO

Exclusive: China Labor Watch says people aged 16-18 employed without required special protectionsA labour rights NGO says it has found evidence of worker exploitation in the supply chain of Labubus, the furry toys that took the world by storm last year and which are expected to continue to grow in popularity in 2026.Labubus, toothy gremlins made by the Chinese toy company Pop Mart, have become one of China’s hottest cultural exports. In the first half of 2025 alone, “the Monsters” line of toys, which includes Labubus, generated 4.8bn yuan (£511m) in sales for the Hong Kong-listed company. In August, Pop Mart’s chief executive, Wang Ning, said the company was on track to reach 20bn yuan in revenues in 2025. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Labour 'piles on red tape' to businesses as ministers push ahead with plans to give workers parental leave from day one in a job

The reforms, part of Labour's flagship workers' rights package, include unpaid parental leave from the first day in a new job.

Politics

7 d. ago What are the new parental leave laws? Labour's sweeping plan to give workers paternity leave from day one and up to a year off for bereavements

The reforms, part of Labour's flagship workers' rights package, include unpaid parental leave from the first day in a new job.

Society

1 week ago Visiting EU leaders pledge to support Syria's recovery after years of civil war

European Union officials have visited Syria for the first time to meet with interim President Ahmad al-Sharaa

Politics

1 week ago UK government cuts estimated cost to businesses of workers’ rights bill

Revised impact assessment says ministers had been ‘deliberately cautious’ in their initial review

Economics

1 week ago UK ministers cut estimated annual cost to business of worker rights act to £1bn

The government previously calculated the flagship legislation would impose a £5bn hit on companies

Economics

1 week ago Anas Sarwar criticises 'idiotic' Scottish Labour MPs for secret briefing against Keir Starmer

The Scottish Labour leader has called on his colleagues briefing against the Prime Minister to come out of the shadows

Events

1 week ago ‘Catastrophic’ MoJ leasing of jail with toxic gas set to cost more than £100m

MPs criticise 10-year deal struck in ‘blind panic’ to rent Dartmoor prison, where high levels of radon had been detectedA “catastrophic” decision by the Ministry of Justice to sign a 10-year lease on a prison where high levels of a poisonous gas had been detected is expected to cost the UK taxpayer more than £100m, parliament’s spending watchdog has concluded.The public accounts committee said the 2022 deal to rent HMP Dartmoor from the Duchy of Cornwall was signed “in a blind panic” by senior civil servants looking to guarantee prison places. Continue reading...

Economics

1 week ago Artists decry dismantling of Belgium’s oldest contemporary art museum

Cost-saving plan to transfer Antwerp museum’s entire collection to another city described as ‘simply insane’Prominent artists have spoken out against an “arbitrary reshaping” of Belgium’s museum landscape, as the Flanders region seeks to cut public spending by dismantling the country’s oldest contemporary art gallery and transplanting its entire collection to another city.At a press conference in Antwerp on Tuesday, the directors of the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art (M HKA), which was founded in 1985, decried what they called the “flagrant illegalities” of the museum sector shake-up, which is due to be debated in Belgium’s parliament on Friday. Continue reading...

Culture

2 w. ago Far right hate and 'poison is infecting British schools, hospitals and prisons'

In an exclusive interview with The Mirror, the new boss of the Trade Union Congress, which represents 5.5 million workers, warns of the rise of the 'poisonous' far right

Events

2 w. ago Newborn babies could be given Digital ID in 'deeply sinister' expansion of controversial Labour policy discussed in secret by ministers

Ministers have privately raised the prospect of the new technology being issued to children at birth alongside the 'red book' of health records given to new parents.

Politics

3 w. ago Public spending on union officials to be kept SECRET under Labour's workers' rights overhaul

The Employment Rights Bill, which gained Royal Assent last week, will essentially allow reps to decide how to use 'facility time', paid leave from their workplace they can use to carry out union work.

Politics

4 w. ago Now Labour could ban Christmas songs: Employment Rights Bill could see end of Jingle Bells and more sung in pubs over 'racist' origins

Supposedly 'offensive' lyrics in seasonal classic songs could come under the watch of the Government's new workers' rights legislation, it has been suggested.

Politics

4 w. ago The workers' rights bill will lead to 'fewer jobs not better ones', warns head of the British Retail Consortium

If government is serious about growth, it must start treating business as a genuine partner in delivering it.

Events