5 h. ago Are you worried about the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage? Take our poll and have your say

Unions have warned their policies would create job losses, and Nigel Farage has failed to explain which public services his savage near £300 billion of cuts would focus on

Politics

22 h. ago Six immigration officers charged with money laundering after investigation into thefts from migrants

Five of the officers are facing charges including conspiracy to steal and misconduct in public office, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said.

Events

58 h. ago SNP accused of sending services 'down the tubes' amid collapse in public toilets

The Scottish Liberal Democrats hit out at the SNP for ‘underfunding councils’

Politics

3 d. ago My weirdest Christmas: I tried to catch out Santa with a whoopee cushion – but the Big Man outwitted me

Who was Santa, really? Aged eight, I devised a cunning plan to catch him in the act, involving a booby trap and a camera. Unfortunately, the joke was on me It was Christmas Eve, 1987. The cold war was beginning to emit its last frosty guffs, Thatcher had set her sights on gay children, and Michael Fish was keeping his head down. In England’s deep south, my sister and I conspired in our bedroom. We are twins: she got the brains; I, being the eldest by a full six minutes, was to inherit the estates and titles, except there were none because my idealistic pinko parents had spent their working lives in public service.Earlier in the year, my sister had attempted to prove the existence of God. Worried about the health of her pet rabbit, Wodger, she penned him a letter pleading for help, with a rather clever “Please tick if you have read this” box at the end. Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Christmas travel 2025: Which trains run on Boxing Day? One route continues service into London

Transport for London and National Rail services around and through the capital will be interrupted during the festive period

Politics

7 d. ago Christmas travel 2025: What train services run on Boxing Day?

Transport for London and National Rail services around and through the capital will be interrupted throughout the festive period.

Politics

1 week ago ‘The UK needs some media free of US control’: Comcast’s move for ITV starts to focus minds

With public service broadcasters starting to look like ‘endangered species’, many want Channel 4 and BBC to work more closelyThe prospect of Comcast taking over ITV has prompted concerns about the impact on British public service broadcasting, a fact that Channel 4’s new chief executive, moving from a senior post at Sky, will be all too well aware.Sky’s advertising chief, Priya Dogra, will now be expected to lead the charge to block her former employer’s takeover plan to protect Channel 4. Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago Private profit 'draining £3bn a year' from Scots public services, says report

A Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC) report estimated that outsourcing is draining between £2bn and £3bn every year from Scotland’s public services.

Economics

1 week ago Holiday warning as major strike in Portugal set to ground flights

The biggest walkout in a decade is expected to shutter public services and cause severe travel disruption in Portugal

Events

2 w. ago Now shameless Rachel Reeves moans there were 'too many leaks' about Budget as she tells MPs she's hunting for a mole (but it definitely wasn't her)

Rachel Reeves insisted she was 'frustrated' and is now 'doing something about it' by launching an official probe into who was responsible.

Politics

2 w. ago UK will not be haven for dirty money, Lammy to say in corruption crackdown

Exclusive: Justice secretary to announce measures aimed at countering illicit finance as well as bribery in public servicesThe UK will no longer be a haven for dirty money and dictators’ laundered assets, David Lammy is to promise as he announces a new anti-corruption strategy also aimed at tackling bribery and other misconduct across government and public services.Setting out the plan in a speech in London on Monday, Lammy, the justice secretary and deputy prime minister, will announce a series of initiatives including extra funding for an elite anti-corruption police unit. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Eugenie sends festive support to Kate after missing carol service

Beatrice and Eugenie missed Kate’s carol service but sent a public message celebrating the ‘incredible’ event.

Events

2 w. ago Kate the glittering star: How Princess dazzled in £11,195 'Tsar Star' earrings picked for her Christmas carol service that was family's first public outing together since June

Smiling, the princess - who had arrived a little earlier for last-minute checks and to meet some of her guests - walked up to their car to meet them, warmly putting arms around their shoulders.

Politics

2 w. ago Experts urge release of boat strike video as US admiral denies ‘kill them all’ order

Democrat Jim Himes calls footage ‘one of the most troubling scenes’ he’s observed in public serviceAnalysis: Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyTop Democratic and Republican lawmakers in Congress on Thursday said that the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, had not ordered the military to kill surviving members of a a deadly attack on a boat alleged to be carrying drugs in the Caribbean, but differed over whether the double strike was appropriate.The allegation that Hegseth ordered the killing of survivors sparked bipartisan concern in Washington that he or others involved may have committed a war crime. On Thursday, US navy admiral Frank Bradley, who commanded the attack, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Dan Caine, appeared before the House and Senate’s armed services and intelligence committees for a closed briefing in which they showed video and discussed the attack with lawmakers. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago US lawmakers call for inquiry into second US military strike on alleged Caribbean drug boat

Democratic representative Jim Himes, who saw footage of attack, called it ‘one of the most troubling scenes’ he’s observed in public serviceAnalysis: Killing of survivors sparks outrage – but entire US ‘drug boat’ war is legally shakyA Democratic congressman described an unedited video of an extrajudicial military strike that killed two survivors in the Caribbean as “one of the most troubling scenes” he’s seen in public service, as human rights advocates and policy experts are lining up to demand the video’s public release.Congressman Jim Himes, the ranking member of the House intelligence committee, made the remarks on Thursday after viewing footage in a classified briefing of the 2 September follow-up attack that killed two men clinging to wreckage off the coast of Venezuela. His assessment came as experts called the operation murder under international law. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Is the UK economy really as bad as we think it is? Here is the truth of the matter | Jonathan Swarbrick

From income to home ownership and public services, everybody is disgruntled – but for different reasonsThe British economy has endured a series of setbacks in recent years: austerity, Brexit, the global pandemic, soaring energy prices and an increasingly fractured and uncertain world. The early optimism that accompanied Labour’s election victory faded quickly, with a recent poll ranking Rachel Reeves as the worst chancellor in modern history.But is this fair? Is the economy really in as bad a shape as people feel?Jonathan Swarbrick is a lecturer in economics at the University of St Andrews Business School Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Novichok poisonings, Russia’s role and UK response: key questions of inquiry

Innocent people were caught up in an assassination attempt on a former Russian spy in Salisbury in March 2018. How did this happen?The novichok attack on Salisbury in south-west England in March 2018 was an extraordinary event, sending shock waves across the world. The targeted man, the former Russian agent Sergei Skripal, recovered from an audacious assassination attempt, but an innocent British citizen, Dawn Sturgess, died. An inquiry was heard in Salisbury and London last year investigating the attack on the Skripals, the response of the emergency services and other public bodies, and how Sturgess was tragically caught up in an international incident. Here are some of the key questions it examined. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago How much resident doctors really earn as they strike over NHS pay

Doctors are striking against pay rises which they believe are below inflation; but how much do they earn and how do their salaries compare to other countries, and public services?

Events

3 w. ago First look as Swansea's new library and public services hub Y Storfa opens in old BHS

The new development is now home to Central Library and several council services

Politics

3 w. ago There are those on the left and right who offer only grievance: Labour is getting on with the job of economic renewal | Keir Starmer

Judge last week’s budget in the light of our bold plans to sweep away red tape, tackle inactivity among young people and pursue a closer trading relationship with the EUKeir Starmer is the prime minister of the United KingdomReport: Labour’s economic plan will take years to deliver, Starmer saysAt the budget last week, we made the right choices for Britain, cutting the cost of energy with £150 off bills, protecting the NHS and tackling the scourge of child poverty by removing the two-child limit. We also ensured that the revenue we raised through taxes was done fairly, with everyone contributing but those with the broadest shoulders contributing their fair share. As a result of the choices we made, the budget created a more stable economic environment, driving down inflation and government bond yields. This is vital for protecting our public services, when £1 in every £10 spent by government goes on debt interest.The budget builds on the action we have already taken to improve the e...

Economics