Richard Murphy has highlighted a newsletter from Robert Reich. Robert Reich, at the age of 79 and just after retiring from university teaching, is one of the most outspoken critics of Trump in the USA right now.
On August 22-23, 2025, President Donald Trump announced that the U.S. government would acquire a 9.9% stake in Intel, roughly valued at $8.9 billion, by converting funds previously allocated under the CHIPS and Science Act along with the Secure Enclave program into equity.
Criminals will be barred from pubs, concerts and sports matches under new sentencing powers. Judges given new powers to punish offenders with bans that curtail freedom.
Employment statistics are designed to tell us what's going on in the labour market, but problems with the Labour Force Survey since the pandemic have muddied the waters. FAI economists Hannah Randolph and Allison Catalano discuss the quality issues with the LFS in recent years and alternative indicators constructed from administrative data.
A new independent body will be set up to speed up decision making on asylum appeal cases. Asylum appeals will be overhauled and speeded up to clear the backlog, accelerate returns and end hotel use under some of the most significant changes to the asylum system in decades.
First what is the OBR. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is the UK's independent fiscal watchdog.
The debate around wages is often dominated by London and the big cities. But in rural Britain, where margins are thinner and workforces smaller, changes to the National Minimum Wage and the National Living Wage carry very different implications.
One in five Britons would consider voting for a new left-wing party, rising to one in three young people and Labour voters. One in five (20%) British adults would consider voting for a new left-wing party founded by Jeremy Corbyn and Zarah Sultana.
Let's be more optimistic in he face of some pretty dreary economic news recently. There are always opportunities so lets take a general look.
Since 2024 the Scottish Government has been considering if a site off the coast at Lybster could become a place to store CO₂. There are a few realistic licensing routes being explored for a Lybster in-shore CO₂ store off the Caithness coast.
New requirement for offshore wind developers to pay for skills training in their local communities. Proposals for companies to pay for training for workers to secure thousands of well-paid, good quality jobs in offshore wind for decades to come.
Speculation is rife in the media about whether or not the chancellor will make changes to various aspects of tax reliefs on pension and inheritance tax in the next budget in October. What's still speculative about whether the UK Chancellor is considering changes to pension lump sums and contribution relief.
The TRA has published its Statement of Essential Facts in the biodiesel investigation, recommending duties to counter dumping by Chinese exporters. The Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) has [22 August 2025] published its Statement of Essential Facts (SEF) in the anti-dumping investigation into biodiesel imports from China.
A new specialist team is expected to stop over £350 million in Child Benefit fraud and error over the next five years. The move follows a successful pilot where just 15 investigators stopped around £17 million in wrongful payments in under 12 months.
The UK is buying six Land Ceptor air defence missile launchers, supporting up to 140 jobs across the country and strengthening our national security. UK buying six new Land Ceptor air defence missile systems to bolster national security and defence.
Labour members want progressive change - from scrapping the two-child cap to stopping arms sales to Israel. The leadership is ignoring them.
Proposals to help alleviate workload pressures faced by teachers have been announced by the Scottish Government. Work is underway with councils and teaching unions to create a plan to reduce class contact time for teachers, which is supported by increased funding for councils of £186.5 million to restore teacher numbers to 2023 levels.
Dr Gwendolyn Kirschner, a researcher at The James Hutton Institute, has won a prestigious postdoctoral prize from the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA) for her work on the control of root angle in barley. She is studying gravity signalling that could help plants to access available resources, like water, via their roots.
Members of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee have confirmed approval of all recommendations outlined in The Highland Council's latest Net Zero, Energy, Investment & Innovation (NZEII) Portfolio report, marking a significant milestone in its commitment to delivering low-carbon energy solutions across the region. Members agreed to commence preparation of an Outline Business Case for the development of solar PV arrays on the Common Good Investment lands at Blarlaith North and South in Tain.
At today's meeting of The Highland Council's Economy and Infrastructure Committee, members discussed a report on the latest update on the Community Wealth Building (CWB) Strategy. The update highlighted significant progress across key areas of economic development aimed at retaining and growing wealth within local communities.