Royal Navy's ASW Spearhead programme rapidly developed three autonomous testbed platforms - CETUS, PROTEUS, and SCYLLA - to enhance ASW capabilities. CETUS: One of the largest autonomous underwater vehicles (20 tonnes, 12 metres) began trials with the Royal Navy in February 2025.
Migrants granted asylum in the UK will no longer be automatically given settlement and family reunion rights, under landmark policy changes outlined by the Prime Minister. Changes to the leave granted to asylum seekers in the UK will mean they are no longer automatically given settlement and family reunion rights, balancing protection against persecution with controlling our borders.
Are all our major political parties now the same?. Labour, Conservatives, the Lib Dems, and even Reform are united by one ideology: neoliberalism.
An Island solar farm, community ice rink and a small community wind farm are among almost 50 projects to benefit from more than £5.5 million funding. Supported through a combination of Scottish Government and Great British Energy funding, the Community and Renewable Energy Scheme's (CARES) Community Energy Generation Growth Fund will enable 46 community groups to install local renewable energy schemes such as wind turbines and solar panels, to meet local needs.
In the biggest overhaul to marriage law since the 19th century, reforms are set to give marrying couples greater freedom and boost the economy by £535 million. Marrying couples to gain freedoms to get married in new locations - from beaches to castles Reforms to deliver £535 million injection into the economy creating up to 12,000 jobs Part of Plan for Change to kickstart economic growth Marrying couples to have more freedom over how they say ‘I do', with reforms allowing them to get married on beaches and at heritage sites.
While the exact details of the 26 November 2025 Autumn Budget won't be known until the Chancellor speaks, people and businesses can take some prudent steps now to prepare and, in some cases, mitigate possible impacts. Here are some of the main areas where individuals might act early: Income Tax & Fiscal Drag Check allowances: Make sure you are making full use of existing allowances (ISA, pension contributions, marriage allowance transfers).
New £320 million contract for a platform to revolutionise how the Armed Forces manage and maintain defence equipment to help the military make better decisions faster will create 100 new highly-skilled UK jobs. The UK's Armed Forces will be strengthened by a new cutting-edge platform that will revolutionise how the military manages and maintains its equipment, driving efficiency and creating more than 100 highly-skilled jobs.
The Chancellor is set to deliver the Autumn Budget on 26 November 2025, in what many economists describe as one of the most significant financial statements of the decade. The economic backdrop is challenging.
Projects are being rolled out across the country to help more women and people from under-represented groups start their own businesses. Fourteen organisations will share more than £1 million of funding from the Scottish Government's Pathways Pre-Start Fund to deliver a range of initiatives providing practical support ranging from workshops to care vouchers.
Young people aged 18-23 encouraged to find and claim their Child Trust Fund savings account. 758,000 matured Child Trust Fund accounts remain unclaimed.
The underlying UK current account deficit, excluding precious metals, widened to £23.8 billion or 3.2% of gross domestic product (GDP), in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025; this is a change of £7.3 billion compared with the deficit of £16.5 billion (revised from £18.6 billion) for the previous quarter. The UK current account deficit, including trade in precious metals, widened by £7.7 billion to £28.9 billion, or 3.8% of GDP, in Quarter 2 2025.
Digital driving licences (voluntary rollout) The UK government is introducing a digital version of driving licences via a new Gov.uk wallet/app. It will sit alongside the existing photocard licence (i.e.
Summer 2025 went down as provisionally the warmest on record for the UK, but how accurate was the Met Office forecast through the season? We crunch the numbers to find out... The warmest summer on record, drought status for many, thunderstorms and even Storm Floris; Summer 2025 brought its fair share of impactful weather.
Household spending growth (adjusted for inflation) is estimated to have grown by 0.1% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025. The largest contributors to household spending quarterly growth were miscellaneous goods and services, transport, and restaurants and hotels.
UK gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated to have grown by an unrevised 0.3% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025, following an unrevised increase of 0.7% in Quarter 1 (Jan to Mar). In line with our National Accounts Revisions Policy, this release contains data that are consistent with the UK National Accounts, the Blue Book 2025, which will be released on 31 October 2025.
In England, a ban on "buy one, get one free" (BOGOF) and other multi-buy promotions on products high in fat, salt, and sugar (HFSS) took effect on 1st October 2025. This was part of the government's broader strategy to tackle childhood obesity.
Welcome to the Summer 2025 A9 Dualling newsletter. It has been a hugely busy few months, with two major milestones reached on the A9 Dualling programme; award of the construction contract on the fourth section between Tay Crossing and Ballinluig and commencement of procurement of the section between Pitlochry and Killiecrankie.
In the UK, there are several ways people can get assistance with energy bill problems — both with debt/disputes and with affordability. According to Ofgem there are currently over one million people with energy bill problems in the UK.
The number of social homes delivered in the past 18 years in Scotland has passed the 100,000 mark. Latest statistics on affordable housing show that, since 2007, the Scottish Government has helped deliver 140,346 affordable homes, with 100,064 of those for social rent.
In line with our National Accounts Revisions Policy, this release contains data that are consistent with the UK National Accounts and the Blue Book 2025, which will be released on 31st October 2025. UK business investment decreased by 1.1% in Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2025, revised up from a 4.0% decrease in the provisional estimate.