Northern Rail Project risks repeating costly HS2 failures, MPs warn

The £45bn scheme to link cities across north of England with new or upgraded lines has no convincing or properly costed plan, committee says

1 July changes: minimum wage rises, payday super, parental leave tweaks and everything else coming for 2026–27

New financial year will also see a tax cut, more anti-price-gouging measures and SMS sender ID changes designed to protect against scam texts

Story from Nina Totenberg removed and replaced with editor’s note after journalist misheard announcement made by chief justice

Financing options to be investigated for first two subsea projects that would link Mainland with Yell and Unst

Scott Bessent says he ‘encourages them to be good actors’ after Trump ranted about prices not dropping fast enough

ONS confirms 0.6% GDP growth in first quarter, with services, production and construction sectors expanding

Thirteen countries with a free trade agreement with Brussels have their quota reduced by just one-third

Acquisition by Axel Springer ends three years of uncertainty over ownership of 171-year-old titles

Reform UK leader’s Direct Bullion payment is double his fee from 2025

Lisa Nandy, Secretary of State for Culture, cites need for sufficient plurality of views in news media

CMA says developers should be able to steer users away from app stores for payments to increase competition

London to Manchester among routes affected after cows blocked west coast mainline for more than three hours

Billionaires’ wealth grew by 25% on average in the year ended in April, research from Swiss bank UBS finds

Drop to 10% for pubs and eateries would be in line with most of Europe, but critics say it favours multinationals

Lisa Nandy to ask regulators to assess mega-merger involving Channel 5, CNN and TNT Sports on grounds of media plurality and competition