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Organisation’s experts say pledge puts pressure on UK public finances and ‘adds significant fiscal risks’Labour should ditch the triple-lock pensions promise to help tackle the UK’s straitened public finances, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has urged.In its latest survey of the UK economy, the Paris-based club of industrialised nations added its voice to those calling for an end to the pledge, which uprates the state pension each year by whichever is the high

Donald Trump’s tariff threat recasts Brazil’s attempt to protect its democracy as unfair commercial practice – and gives Bolsonarism a Washington stageLast June, Brazil’s supreme court responded to the online lies that helped fuel Jair Bolsonaro’s failed far-right coup attempt in 2023. It ruled that social media platforms could be held liable for some users’ posts, forcing firms such as Elon Musk’s X and Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta to remove hate speech and anti-democratic content. A month

Timing of Devon switchoff ‘could not be worse’, says board, as members face an estimated £2m in lost revenue Britain’s biggest community solar project has been forced to shut for the duration of its first summer by the government’s energy system operator to avoid overloading the local grid with renewable energy.The north Devon solar farm was ordered to shut weeks before record high temperatures across Europe led to power supply warnings, due to concerns that the large amount of rooftop

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsThis week’s question: Why is there no rugby culture in Germany?I would like to know why we build solar farms over green space, when we could just put them over massive car parks as a popular current internet meme suggests. Chris, MiddlesbroughSend new questions to [email protected]. Continue reading...

These financiers want to remodel the UK into a form that suits them – one that could threaten to erode the barriers between crime and businessThis coming Tuesday, the government’s representation of the people bill comes back to the House of Commons for its third reading. It bundles up a multitude of measures, including an extension of the franchise to 16- and 17-year-olds and welcome changes to voter registration. But thanks to the continuing furore around Nigel Farage and his extremel

Chancellor says PM-in-waiting needs ‘worked through plan’, in what could be one of her final interviews in No 11Rachel Reeves has urged Andy Burnham to arrive in Downing Street with a “worked through plan”, saying the incoming prime minister will be tested quickly by a range of incoming “shocks and challenges”.In what could be one of the first female chancellor’s final major interviews while in No 11, Reeves said Burnham should remain focused on the priorities that first brought him in

Weather cycle threatens harvests worldwide, adding to inflation already fuelled by the Iran warEconomists are warning that a “super” El Niño weather cycle this year could cause a severe shock to global food prices lasting into 2028.As the Iran war pushes up world food prices to the highest level in three years, economists said supply chains faced “two shocks at once” stoked by extreme weather linked to global heating. Continue reading...

Direct oversight of ‘critical third parties’ such as Oracle and Microsoft given to ensure resilient cyber-defences and help safeguard UK economyThe Bank of England has been handed powers to regulate important tech firms including Amazon and Google from next week, amid fears that system failures could threaten financial stability and harm consumers.From Monday, the Bank and fellow City regulator the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) will be in charge of ensuring that four large-scale pr

Ministers consider bringing e-cigarette laws in line with tobacco as data shows 20% of teenagers have tried vapingVapes could be sold in plain packaging as part of a range of proposals to stop them being marketed to children.The UK-wide plans also include limiting device colours to white, black or grey, and keeping vapes out of sight in shops, according to the Department of Health and Social Care. Continue reading...

Outsourcing firm counts cost of failures that left retired UK civil servants without an income for monthsCapita has revealed that the bill for cleaning up its mess at the crisis-hit Civil Service Pension Scheme could wipe up to £40m off annual profits – a day after its chief executive apologised to MPs for a “very poor service”.The company had faced a grilling at a Commons committee hearing on Wednesday, with its chief executive Adolfo Hernandez repeatedly apologising for failures that

AI companies want to capture the value created by entire industries. That concentration of wealth and power is society’s greatest riskOpposition to AI datacenters has emerged as a primary theme in US politics, one that – surprisingly – doesn’t fall along party lines. We applaud people coming together for constructive debate on any issue, and agree that communities need to evaluate whether any economic benefits these datacenters bring is worth their costs. Still, we worry that a focus o

Neso asks for extra supplies from electricity generators to cope with added demand on Thursday nightGreat Britain’s energy system operator has warned that “extreme temperatures” could hit power supplies on Thursday night, as the UK entered its third heatwave of the year.The National Energy System Operator (Neso) issued a notice overnight asking for extra supplies from power generators to cope with the added demand from households turning on fans and air conditioners to cope with the hi