Pressure to make cuts in public spending has intensified in recent weeks, with increased calls on Prime Minister Andy Burnham to find savings urgently. The need to reduce expenditure has become more pressing as the cost of loans used to pay for services has shot up.
Britain is once again facing a huge infrastructure challenge. We need new electricity transmission lines, upgraded railways, new housing, roads, renewable energy and the infrastructure needed to support a rapidly changing economy.
Anyone who has dealt with a major planning application will probably recognise the experience. A project is proposed then the developer spends months, sometimes years, preparing an application.
Brent crude is once again approaching the psychologically important $100-a-barrel threshold. But this time the move is being driven by something considerably more serious than a normal imbalance between supply and demand.
Highland councillors are set to reaffirm their opposition to a massive new 400kV powerline stretching across the region when they meet today. The North and South Planning Committees are joining forces to consider the proposed Spittal–Loch Buidhe–Beauly transmission project, one of the biggest electricity infrastructure schemes ever proposed in the Highlands.
Britain has a problem. We know that we need new railways, electricity networks, housing, roads and other major infrastructure.
The Scottish Government is facing a difficult financial year. But the real question for councils, NHS boards and other public bodies is simple who will absorb the pressure? The latest Scottish Fiscal Commission report contains an important warning for Scotland's public services.
Diesel prices are moving sharply higher — and Scotland could be particularly exposed. The latest figures put Scotland's average diesel price at about 184p a litre.
The Scottish Government is heading towards a difficult 2027-28 Budget. The problem is not a single £1 billion deficit, but a combination of falling real-terms funding, a £720 million tax reconciliation, difficult savings targets and rising spending pressures.
Plans to produce floating offshore wind foundations at Port of Ardersier have taken a step forward with the approval of more than £778,000 in Scottish Government funding. Approval was given by Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) after close collaboration with Scottish Enterprise’s international arm, Scottish Development International (SDI), to secure the project for Scotland.
Britain has so far resisted following Canada down the path of a full-scale tariff confrontation with the United States, choosing negotiation and compromise instead as Donald Trump's administration continues to reshape America's trading relationships. The contrast has become particularly striking this week.
The decision to put Inverness's Eastgate Shopping Centre on the market for a guide price of £18.5 million is a remarkable development, particularly when set against the £116 million paid for the centre in 2015. On the face of it, the figures suggest a spectacular collapse in the value of a major piece of town-centre property.
New UK space strategy to bring government's investment and activity under one plan to drive growth, strengthen security and back everyday technologies. New national space strategy brings together UK’s plans for growth, defence, and national security to help reindustrialise the UK.
Britain's motor industry is facing a moment of truth. The announcement by Jaguar Land Rover that it plans to cut around 4,000 jobs over the next two years is not simply another corporate restructuring.
The Highlands’ first Cultural Assembly will take place in Inverness this September, with Fiona Dalgetty of Fèis Rois confirmed as its first Convener. The Assembly aims to bring together artists, creative practitioners, arts organisations and cultural bodies from across the region to help shape the future of arts and culture in the Highlands while creating a stronger, collective voice for the sector.
There is something increasingly peculiar about Britain's income tax system. A pensioner receiving the full new State Pension is now paid almost exactly the same amount each year as the Government allows an individual to earn before income tax becomes payable.
The trade dispute between the United States and Canada has entered a new and potentially more dangerous phase. On Tuesday, 8 September 2026, Canada put new retaliatory tariffs into effect on roughly C$27.6 billion, or about US$20 billion, of American goods.
Angela Eagle's warning about food supplies may sound alarming, but perhaps the bigger question is why it has taken a potential weather crisis to make us think about resilience. When a government minister tells people to keep extra food and water in the house, it is bound to attract attention.
While the demise of our local pubs is capturing the headlines, another great British institution is in equal danger of vanishing from our towns and cities. From WHSmith's disappearance and its successor TG Jones's shaky finances, to years of turmoil at Clintons and Paperchase, Parcelhero's warnings about the decline of newsagents and stationers are being borne out chain by chain.
Britain has a curious habit when it comes to helping businesses. When a company needs support, the first instinct of government is often to offer a grant.