It's an uncomfortable reality, but modern slavery is endemic in global supply chains. Statistics on the scale of this issue are becoming as well known as they are shocking.
Throughout 2024, many home owners and prospective first-time buyers would have kept a close eye on the Bank of England's base interest rate. Eventually, the first cut arrived in August (from 5.25% to 5%), followed by another drop to 4.75% in November.
UK borrowing costs have risen rapidly to their highest level since the banking crisis of 2007-08, with implications for the government's tax and spending plans. Yields on gilts, as UK government bonds are called, have been rising - and these yields are effectively the level of interest that the government pays on its borrowing.
The Bank of England is crashing the UK economy. And apparently, our politicians want to do nothing about that.
"UK house prices finished 2024 up +3.3% over the year, with the average house price £297,166. Prices fell back slightly in December, by -0.2%, following five consecutive monthly increases.
Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed the United States is 'subsidizing' Canada 'to the tune of $100B.' Where does that number come from? And is Canada really getting a free ride from the U.S.? Andrew Chang dives into the math, the money and the politics of the Canada-U.S. trade relationship to uncover how much — if any — of what Trump says is actually true..
Managing potholes is a core, unglamourous and unthanked task of government. Reform only knows about gesture politics.
Researchers achieve 10x production cost savings for reduced activation steel. A United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) working group has successfully demonstrated the industrial scale production of fusion-grade steel.
Telford's skilled manufacturing base is helping equip soldiers with high-tech equipment and drive the government's growth mission, Defence Minister Maria Eagle has said. State-of-the-art facility in Telford plays a key role in delivering cutting-edge armoured vehicles to the British Army.
Joint Expeditionary Force partners and NATO will be alerted by the system of any ships deemed a risk to key areas of interest. The Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) has activated an advanced UK-led reaction system to track potential threats to undersea infrastructure and monitor the Russian shadow fleet, following reported damage to a major undersea cable in the Baltic Sea.
It comes as a further £190m for the UK-administered International Fund for Ukraine was announced following further pledges from allies. 30,000 drones will be sent to Ukraine after £45 million worth of contracts were placed by the international Drone Capability Coalition, co-led by the UK and Latvia as the UK steps up leadership supporting Ukraine in 2025.
The government's target to drive removal of foreign criminals and immigration offenders to highest level since 2018 has been smashed, with 16,400 people removed. The government's pledge to deliver the highest rate of removals since 2018 has been surpassed, with a surge in returns activity since the election leading to 16,400 people with no right to be in the UK being removed.
Discounted rail ticket prices will apply to journeys made between 17 January and 31 March 2025 across Great Britain. rail sale returns with more discounted tickets than ever before offers on thousands of popular routes across UK to encourage more people to travel by train comes as government continues biggest overhaul of the railways in a generation putting passengers at the heart of services Next week, passengers will be able to get their hands on millions of train tickets at half the price as part of the government's annual rail sale.
Overall retail footfall decreased by 5% in the week to 5 January 2025 when compared with the previous week but increased by 5% when compared with the equivalent week of 2024 (MRI OnLocation). High street and shopping centre footfall both decreased by 7% when compared with the previous week but increased by 6% when compared with the equivalent week of 2024.
A new cap on the price of resold tickets for concerts, live sport and other events are among measures that have been announced by the government today. Consultation will look at new measures to prevent consumers being fleeced by ticket touts as part of government's Plan for Change Announcement puts music, theatre, comedy and sports fans back at the heart of live events and delivers plan for change to keep more money in the pockets of working people.
In late December 2024, nearly three in five (59%) businesses reported that they were not concerned about the impact climate change may have on their business. This is up 3 percentage points from late September 2024 and is the highest proportion reported since the question was first introduced into the Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) in September 2022.
Scotland's First Minister has welcomed the opening of the UK's first safer drugs consumption facility in Glasgow. The First Minister and Health Secretary Neil Gray received a tour of the Thistle Centre, ahead of it supporting its first service users on Monday 13 January.
Top UK business leaders will spearhead a major new drive to get thousands of offenders into stable jobs and away from a life of crime. New Employment Councils to bring probation, prisons and local businesses together.
As government finances deteriorate as shown by the borrowing issues that surfaced this week in the bond market. Added to the problems is the falling value of the pound so Capital Gains Tax is being more and more discussed as one way to fill the gap.
Remediation works on the Cairngorm funicular railway are resumed this week [Mon 6 January 2025], with the aim of returning the train to service as soon as possible. Crews working for Balfour Beatty had substantially completed an extensive programme to strengthen the 1.8km viaduct just before Christmas, focusing on the tension of joints, beams and diaphragms.
