Markets are rising even as consumer confidence collapses and oil prices surge. In this video we examine why investors are ignoring growing economic risks — from energy shocks to the AI investment boom and rising private credit.
At first glance, the decision to repaint the iconic Dounreay dome as it is a structure already scheduled for demolition seems baffling. Why spend money maintaining a building that will soon be torn down? Why refresh the exterior of a landmark whose days are numbered? The answer is far more practical than it appears.
Entrepreneurship plays a significant role in economic growth, innovation, and job creation. In Scotland, the landscape of new business creation has changed noticeably in recent years, particularly in relation to gender.
When Highland Council's North Planning Applications Committee met to consider Boralex Ltd's proposal for a major battery‑energy‑storage system (BESS) near Reay in Caithness, many expected a lively debate. Large energy projects in the Highlands often attract controversy concerns about landscape impact, cumulative development, and pressure on rural infrastructure are common.
Following a successful pilot in 2025, Regional EDGE, the regional arm of Scottish EDGE, returned in 2026 to offer entrepreneurs from across the region the chance to pitch for a share of the £100,00 prize fund. Funds were allocated through a competitive process, which involved pitching to a panel of judges, and delivered in collaboration with Highlands and Island Enterprise (HIE).
Scotland's teachers will see a reduction in class contact time after a landmark agreement was reached - averting industrial action in schools. A weekly reduction of 90 minutes will be introduced on a phased basis, with primary school teachers and those working in special schools benefiting from August 2027.
Every winter, rural Britain braces for the same familiar shock: the price of heating oil surges, and thousands of off‑grid households are left scrambling to afford the fuel they need simply to stay warm. Politicians express concern, emergency payments are debated, and yet the underlying unfairness remains untouched.
For generations, the farmhouse sat at the heart of rural life — a place where work and home blended seamlessly, where the kitchen table doubled as the farm office, and where heat often came from peat cut by hand from the land itself. In those days, the idea that a farmer might claim household heating costs as a business expense made perfect sense.
Every winter, the same story plays out across rural Britain. As temperatures fall, heating‑oil prices rise.
For decades, the UK government has quietly maintained a tax rule that allows farmers to claim a substantial portion of their household heating and energy costs as business expenses. It is a rule rooted in history a time when farmhouses were heated by peat cut from the land, when energy costs were negligible, and when the farmhouse truly was the beating heart of the farm's daily operations.
The UK and Ireland will be better protected against common threats as the two nations sign a refreshed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to enhance bilateral defence cooperation. Secretary of State for Defence and Irish Minister for Defence Helen McEntee sign refreshed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to strengthen bilateral defence cooperation.
For millions of households across the United Kingdom, the cost‑of‑living crisis has been defined by soaring energy bills, shrinking budgets, and a constant sense of uncertainty. Yet within this national struggle lies a quieter, often overlooked group: the families who rely on heating oil to warm their homes.
Project Vigilant is expanding to 9 more forces, boosting undercover patrols to disrupt predatory behaviour and prevent violence against women and girls. Women and girls will be safer on nights out as an undercover police operation to catch predators is boosted across 9 police forces in England and Wales.
There is no single UK‑wide statistic that directly states what proportion of heating‑oil homes are elderly households. However, by combining census data, rural demographics, and Scottish housing surveys, we can make a strong, evidence supported estimate and it shows that heating‑oil users are disproportionately older, especially in the Highlands and rural Scotland.
War does not just test armed services. It tests economies.
There's a quiet truth that people in the Central Belt rarely grasp that representation in the Highlands is not the same as representation anywhere else in Scotland. Here, distance isn’t an inconvenience — it’s a defining feature of daily life.
A review of the publicly-funded contribution rates paid to help deliver modern apprenticeships (MAs) will be undertaken soon to ensure they continue to meet the country's economy priorities and maximise public value. Contributions are made to training costs for around 39,000 MAs each year from £90 million of Scottish Government funding.
People across England and Wales can find out if they are due a government-backed broadband upgrade with new gigabit address checker. New GOV.UK service for people in England and Wales to check quickly if they can access or are included in plans for government-backed broadband upgrades.
The latest construction figures from the Office for National Statistics paint a sobering picture for the UK's building sector. Output across Great Britain has now fallen for the fourth consecutive quarter, driven primarily by a sharp contraction in new housing activity.
Oil recently moved around $100 due to geopolitical tensions and supply risks in the Middle East, which pushed prices higher this week. Prices are subject to moves very quickly as he US/Iran war continues.