Britain’s biggest retailers are warning their stock levels have fallen to the lowest since 1983 amid a sharp drop in imports and pandemic staff shortages across the economy. The Confederation of British Industry’s monthly survey of big retail and wholesale firms found that stock
Cabinet ministers have been accused of undermining Covid advice and putting MPs’ and parliamentary staff’s safety at risk by declining to wear masks, as they packed the Commons chamber full to debate Afghanistan’s takeover by the Taliban. Just two government frontbenchers chose
1. Scotland’s Covid restrictions ease but ‘virus still with us’ Covid is “still here” so the Scottish government is reluctant to call today “freedom day”, Health Secretary Humza Yousaf says. But for those living in Scotland, the day where almost all remaining
Vital UN climate talks are at risk of failure because Boris Johnson is “missing in action” while his climate spokesperson talks about freezing bread, Keir Starmer has warned. The Labour leader said there is already “dystopia” all around caused by climate breakdown, but Johnson’s
Dominic Cummings personally called a former colleague on the Vote Leave Brexit campaign and asked if his company would work for the government on its response to the Covid pandemic, leading to the award of a £580,000 Cabinet Office contract with no
A murder investigation has been launched after a man was stabbed to death in Essex. Four people, including a 42-year-old woman, two men aged 41 and 45, and a 15-year-old boy, have been arrested following the attack. Police were called to reports of an injured man Northlands
Food prices could rise by about 5% by the autumn – and turkeys and pigs in blankets could be in short supply this Christmas – as shortages of delivery drivers, abattoir staff and other workers drive up pay and other costs. Industry
A London hospital has celebrated the NHS’s 73rd birthday with a special performance of a new piece of classical music composed by a six-year-old boy in tribute to health workers and scientists. Apollo Premadasa first emailed St Bart’s hospital in the City of London
The deterioration in relations with the EU, partly driven by the Northern Ireland “sausage war”, has come as a surprise to those, who campaigned to leave the bloc five years ago, the government has admitted. The Brexit minister, David Frost, said they had dreamed of
Sir David Attenborough has warned that the government is pursuing “short-sighted political and financial attacks” on the UK’s television networks, as ministers prepare to announce plans to privatise Channel 4. The wildlife broadcaster has put his name to a campaign saying that ministers risk
