Any incoming administration under Andy Burnham will face immense pressure to address a soaring social security bill. Three landmark reviews the Timms, Milburn, and Mayfield Reviews will shape his welfare strategy.
The British Retail consortium reports Footfall was down due to the heat wave in many places. Extreme weather meant shoppers stayed away from their local stores last month, leading to a decline in footfall across all three key retail locations.
Consultation on packaging, appearance and display of tobacco and vaping products. Views are being sought on proposals aimed at restricting the appearance of tobacco, vaping and nicotine products and how they are packaged and displayed in shops in Scotland to make them less enticing to children and young people.
There is concrete evidence that top academics and scientists are leaving the US for other countries due to shifts in federal grant funding, budget cuts, and broader policy instability. This outflow is often referred to as a reverse brain drain or an "academic exodus." Surge in Applications Abroad An analysis by the journal Nature indicated that applications from US-based researchers for international positions jumped significantly.
Courts will be given tougher powers to impose Football Banning Orders (FBOs) in Scotland to include specific offences in an effort to improve the matchday experience and safety at games. It comes as the analysis of a consultation on FBO legislation has published.
For many people approaching retirement or already retired the most important economic question surrounding Scottish independence is not mortgages or trade. It is pensions.
The USA grid crisis is spilling over into the UK and EU. This is not because our grids are physically connected, but because the same pressures are hitting all Western grids at the same time: explosive data‑centre demand, electrification, ageing infrastructure, and planning systems that cannot keep up.
Caithness is becoming a hotspot for battery‑storage proposals because developers want to sit close to wind generation and transmission lines. But the scale and clustering of these projects pose real risks to the local grid, landscape, planning system, and community confidence.
Families and businesses will benefit from more solar power as the government has approved a major new solar power project. Marks the 30th nationally significant clean energy project approved by the government since July 2024 – enough clean energy to power the equivalent of more than 19 million homes.
A military strike in the Persian Gulf can raise heating oil prices in Caithness because the Strait of Hormuz carries 20–27% of the world’s crude oil and petroleum products. When that corridor is disrupted, global supply drops, prices spike, and rural areas like Caithness already paying a delivery premium feel the impact fastest and hardest.
50 UK Government-funded 4G masts have been switched on to boost signal in some of Scotland's hardest-to-reach communities. Dozens of 4G mast upgrades have been activated thanks to UK Government funding through the Shared Rural Network, helping put an end to poor phone signal for rural communities across Scotland.
When governments make energy policy, they rarely have the luxury of doing so in calm and predictable times. As ministers consider whether the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea should receive fresh environmental consent, events thousands of miles away are once again reminding the world how fragile global energy supplies can be.
Personal Independence Payment is no longer fit for purpose and is failing to keep pace with how disability, health and work have changed over the past decade, the Timms Review has found. Millions of disabled people are being failed by a benefit that is no longer working, the first ever full review into Personal Independence Payment has found.
Sizewell B nuclear power station to continue operating until 2055, powering millions of homes with clean, homegrown energy and cutting costs for consumers. Government agreed terms with EDF to support 20‑year life extension of Sizewell B.
Heating‑oil prices in Caithness are likely to sit mostly between 95p and £1.10 per litre over the next year, with the lowest quotes appearing in July to September and the highest during January and February. UK averages are currently around 70–75p per litre, but Scotland typically runs higher at 85–90p, and Caithness adds a further rural premium of 10–20p because every tanker must travel long distances from Grangemouth or Inverness.
Proposals for a new independent veterinary ombudsman to give pet owners stronger rights. Millions of pet owners will benefit from the most significant overhaul of veterinary regulation in six decades, as the government today (Thursday 9 July 2026) publishes its White Paper setting out its vision for a thriving and fairer veterinary sector.
The UK Government has just approved the second‑largest solar farm in the country, but that announcement applies only to England, because large onshore energy planning is devolved. Scotland has its own planning system and its own renewable‑energy priorities — and that means big solar farms are far less common here.
The US military says it carried out strikes against more than 80 targets initially, followed by another wave reportedly involving around 90 targets. The stated aim was to reduce Iran’s ability to attack shipping in the Strait of Hormuz.
Life Sciences sector attracts over £3 billion in new public-private investment in 12 months, reflecting international confidence in UK science and innovation. Life Sciences sector attracts more than £3 billion in new public-private investment in just 12 months, reflecting international confidence in the UK’s world-class science, innovation and health ecosystem.
For a few days it looked as though the worst might be over. Oil prices had fallen back, hopes of diplomacy were growing, and motorists and households across Britain were beginning to wonder whether fuel costs might finally ease after months of uncertainty.