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Today

You Don't Have to Inherit a Farm Anymore. But Can Britain Really Open Farming to Everyone?

There is a quiet revolution taking place in British farming, although you might not have noticed it yet.   For generations, farming was something you inherited.  

Today

Households urged to unplug these appliances to save money on energy bills

With household budgets still under pressure, making a few simple changes around the home could help reduce the amount of electricity being wasted every day.   One of the easiest places to start is with appliances and electronic devices that are left switched on or sitting in standby mode when they are not being used.  

Today

Late Payments: Could New Legislation Finally Give Small Businesses More Power?

A new Bill progressing through Parliament could change the way businesses are paid, giving smaller companies greater protection against long payment terms and persistent late payers.   For many small business owners, there is a frustrating contradiction at the heart of running a successful business: You can have plenty of work, plenty of customers and plenty of profit on paper—and still run out of cash.  

Today

Pain At The Pumps and Why British Drivers Pay So Much More Than Americans

There is one thing that British and American motorists can agree on at the moment.   Filling the car is becoming painful.  

Today

 
Britain's Food Resilience: What Happens If the Lorries Stop?

Britain has one of the most efficient food distribution systems in the world.   Walk into almost any supermarket and it is easy to take that efficiency for granted.  

Today

Swinney's Big Public-Sector Shake-Up: How Much Will Reform Really Cost Before It Saves Money?

John Swinney has set out perhaps the most ambitious programme of public-sector restructuring Scotland has seen for many years.   The direction of travel is clear.  

Today

Who's Getting Merged? The Big Shake-Up of Scotland's Public Sector

John Swinney has made it clear that Scotland's public sector cannot continue operating in quite the same way it has for decades.   There are too many organisations, too many overlapping responsibilities and, in some cases, too many layers of management.  

Today

 
North Sea drilling debate risks missing the bigger picture on jobs in places like Aberdeen and Grimsby

Living standards in Aberdeen are now below the UK average for the first time since 2003, with the city’s wage premium having fallen by three quarters since the early 2010s.  Debates about extracting the final oil and gas reserves therefore risk missing the bigger picture on where the city’s future employment will come from, the Resolution Foundation said on Thursday 3 Sepember 2026.  

Today

Why You Should Care About the Government Budget Even If You Think You Can't Change It

I think the public should take much more interest in government budgets, precisely because the idea that ordinary people "cannot affect them" is one of the reasons governments can make decisions with relatively little public scrutiny.   The important point is that an individual cannot normally change a budget on their own.  

Today

Tax rises to pay for higher defence spending will have to be broad based, including higher rates on middle earners

No Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developme (OECD) rich country with a higher tax-to-GDP ratio than the UK in 2025 was able to achieve this without placing a heavier burden on middle earners, suggesting it is unrealistic to say we can have higher defence spending without higher taxes on such workers, the Resolution Foundation said this week.   Thin end of the wedge looks at how workers’ ‘tax wedge’ – total taxes on earnings minus cash benefits – has changed as a result of decisions taken in Autumn Budget 2024.  

Yesterday : Local Authority

 
Eilidh Primrose is the New Highland Youth Convener

The Highlands has a new young people’s champion after confirmation that Eilidh Primrose has taken up the role of Highland Youth Convener for 2026-27.   Twenty-two-year-old Eilidh, who lives in Inverness, is the 18th person appointed to the position and has taken over from Leah McBain.  

Yesterday

Europe Is Moving Its Gold So What Do Central Banks Know That We Don't?

For decades, there was something reassuring about knowing that some of Europe's most valuable national assets were sitting safely in American vaults.   Now that assumption is beginning to change.  

Yesterday

Christmas Food Shock? Why This Summer’s Heat, Drought and Crop Diseases Could Hit Your Shopping Basket

Christmas may still seem a long way away, but what happens to the price of the Christmas dinner is already being decided in fields, orchards, olive groves and plantations thousands of miles from the Highlands.   The warning signs are beginning to appear.  

Yesterday

Is the Bank of England Finally Seeing the Real Economy? How AI Is Changing What It Knows About Britain

For decades, central bankers have had to make decisions about the British economy using information that is inevitably looking backwards.   Inflation figures arrive after prices have already changed.  

Yesterday

 
The FT says the poor should pay for the bond crisis. I say we fight the bond dealers - Richard Murphy

Why should pensioners and people dependent on social security pay the price when bond investors demand higher returns?.   That is the question raised by the latest turmoil in government bond markets.  

Yesterday

Will the New Deposit Return Scheme Work for Scotland's Small Shops, or Will It Become Another Costly Burden?

The Scottish Government has another chance to make its Deposit Return Scheme work.   Whether it will take that opportunity is another matter.  

Yesterday

Now For Something Completely Different - What Would Happen If Britain Had No Internet for 24 Hours?

Imagine waking up tomorrow morning and discovering that the internet has disappeared.   Not your broadband connection - Not your Wi-Fi but the internet itself.  

Yesterday

America Buys the World So Why Does the US Have Such a Huge Trade Deficit, and Who Really Pays for It?

America is the world's richest major economy, its currency dominates international finance and its companies lead the world in everything from technology to entertainment.  Yet year after year, America buys vastly more from the rest of the world than it sells back in physical goods.  

Yesterday

Dodgy Vape Shops and Why Is It Taking So Long to Shut Down Businesses Linked to Organised Crime?

Walk down some British high streets and it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore a rather uncomfortable question.   Who actually owns some of these shops? The brightly lit premises selling disposable vapes, nicotine products, imported cigarettes, sweets and a bewildering assortment of other goods can look perfectly ordinary.  

Yesterday

The Yen Warning and What Japan's Struggling Currency Tells Us About the Pound, the Dollar and Britain's Economy

Most people probably do not think about the Japanese yen very often.   Unless they are planning a holiday to Japan, buying a Japanese car or watching financial news, the exchange rate between the yen and the pound can seem about as relevant to everyday life in Britain as the weather in Tokyo.