12 h. ago Government spends nearly £30m of taxpayers' cash on fringe research projects including gay porn studies and recording Syrian harvesting songs

UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) has been given the eye-catching amount of funding for overseas projects, which appear to have no clear benefit to British taxpayers.

Economics

25 h. ago Readers' Letters: Governments must stop taking so much from us in taxes

Taxation in the UK is beyond a joke, reckons reader

Politics

26 h. ago Voices: Starmer and Reeves are back from the brink – here’s what they must do next

After a spending review that came as a relief to many Labour backbenchers, the government must now start making the case for the ‘inevitable’ tax rises in the autumn that will be needed to deliver better public services, says Andrew Grice

Politics

42 h. ago Voices: ‘Tax the rich first’: Readers demand fairer burden as Reeves faces fiscal squeeze

Our community overwhelmingly believes that to tackle the UK’s economic challenges fairly, the wealthy must pay their share through higher taxes and reforms, while calling on the government to move beyond austerity and provide clear, responsible funding plans

Politics

49 h. ago Readers Letters: Believe carbon capture project support when we see it

Chancellor Rachel Reeves says financial backing for the Acorn carbon capture and storage project is coming but when, asks reader

Politics

3 d. ago Readers' Letters: Yes the NHS has problems, but what are the solutions?

Readers respond to a plea for a better NHS

Politics

3 d. ago Council tax 'bombshell' warning over Chancellor's police funding plans

The government was accused of ‘relying on a hidden council tax bombshell to fund a half-hearted rise in police funding’

Events

3 d. ago Treasury minister dismisses claims spending review will lead to autumn tax rises – UK politics live

Darren Jones says such claims are ‘incoherent’ and the government is allocating money that has already been raisedSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ – UK politics live

Chancellor delivers spending review, claiming asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists joined a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealth Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Reeves says use of hotels for asylum seekers to end ‘in this parliament’ and NHS spending to rise 3% a year – UK politics live

Chancellor claims asylum move will save £1bn and says health spending represents a record cash investmentSpending review: key points at a glanceGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership...

Politics

3 d. ago PMQs: Starmer says there is ‘no easy answer’ to finding way of seizing frozen Russian assets to support Ukraine – UK politics live

Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, asks prime minister about frozen Russian assets in the UK after sanctioning of two Israeli ministers on TuesdayGreen party MPs and activists staged a protest outside parliament today saying the government should use the spending review to announce a wealth tax. In a post on social media, Adrian Ramsay, the party’s co-leader, said:We expect the Chancellor to take another axe to public spending today: decline by design from a govt that refuses to tax wealth to properly fund our overstretched public services & support the most vulnerable. We need to invest in a secure & fairer future. #TaxExtremeWealthSenior SNP figures held a secret meeting on Monday night to discuss removing John Swinney as party leader, The Herald has learned, following last week’s defeat in the Hamilton, Larkhall and Stonehouse byelection.One of the 25 attendees said the first minister had two weeks to come up with a new strategy on independence — or risk facing a leadership ch...

Politics

5 d. ago Readers' Letters: Reform's policies are not far right, they're common sense

Reform has plenty to offer moderate voters, says reader

Events

6 d. ago Readers' Letters: Potholes prevalence is problem caused by council choices

Edinburgh Council’s collection of potholes continues to frustrate and annoy

Politics

6 d. ago Newsom is warned of ‘criminal tax evasion’ if he withholds federal taxes

California governor made threat amid reports Trump is weighing huge federal funding cuts targeting stateThe US treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, has warned California governor Gavin Newsom that he would be guilty of “criminal tax evasion” if he withholds his state’s tax payments to the federal government amid threats of a funding cut by Donald Trump.Newsom had threatened to cut tax payments to the federal government two days ago after reports that Trump was preparing huge federal funding cuts targeting Democrat-dominated California, including its state university system. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago Unions pile pressure on Reeves to avoid cuts and impose wealth taxes

Exclusive: The TUC has ratcheted up pressure on the government to introduce wealth taxes amid a growing expectation that the chancellor will unveil a swathe of spending cuts next week

Economics

8 d. ago Readers’ Letters: Councils need to be better informed on road pollution

A reader is unimpressed with the latest road proposals from Edinburgh City Council

Politics

1 week ago HMRC loses £47million to major fraud that saw organised criminals 'masquerading' as 100,000 taxpayers to extract rebates from government

Facing MPs HMRC 's chief executive JP Marks said around 100,000 people were affected by an operation mounted by 'organised crime.

Economics

1 week ago Germany's new government launches a program to encourage investment and boost the economy

Germany’s new government has launched a package of tax breaks and eventual tax cuts for companies

Politics

1 week ago How the use of a word in the Guardian has gotten some readers upset | Elisabeth Ribbans

‘Got’ was changed during the editing of an opinion piece, leading to correspondence lamenting a slide into American English. But language isn’t a fortressIn Shakespeare’s Henry VI, Part II, a messenger breathlessly announces to the king that, “Jack Cade hath gotten London bridge”. Hold this late 16th-century text in mind as we fast forward to last week when Martin Kettle, associate editor and columnist at the Guardian in the UK, was seen to suggest in an opinion piece that, if King Charles has pushed the boundaries of neutrality, such as with his speech to open the new Canadian parliament, he has so far “gotten away with it”.In a letter published the next day, a reader asked teasingly if this use of “gotten” – and another writer’s reference to a “faucet” – were signs the Guardian had fallen into line with Donald Trump’s demand that news agencies adopt current US terminology, such as referring to the “Gulf of America”.Elisabeth Ribbans is the Guardian’s global readers’ editorguardian...

Politics

1 week ago Readers' Letters: SNP would leave Scots defenceless in face of aggressive Russia

Government policies have shot down chance of a lucrative welding plant being sighted in Scotland, says reader

Politics