Exclusive: British Chambers of Commerce president calls for overhaul of business rates and greater powers for local leaders

• How Middleton’s revival could inspire struggling towns

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Andy Burnham has been urged by one of his most senior former advisers to tax internet sales more heavily than in-store purchases to help “level the playing field” for struggling high streets.

As the prime minister and his chancellor, John Healey, prepare for their first budget next week, Andy Haldane joined calls for action to stop more shops closing across the UK.

Some 32 government services are offline while work is carried out to address potential cybersecurity issues, a minister has said

• Tell us: have you been affected by the PHP code flaw?

The Office for National Statistics has also published a report on the gender pay gap. It says:

The gender pay gap for full-time employees has continued to decline in the UK. It was 6.8% in April 2026, down from 7.2% in April 2025. This compares with 9.4% a decade ago and 16.4% 25 years ago.

Secondly, I asked Healey whether he sees the banks as making excessive profits, which would be the coherent justification for him to increase the surcharge on bank profits – as he is expected to do in the Budget next week.

He said: “You know the banks are the engine of investment in this country. The banks are doing well at the moment and that is good to see.

France and Germany have teamed up to press the EU to relax its looming combustion car ban. It’s the latest sign the EU's climate agenda is running on empty, says Ben Pile – and the UK isn't far behind.

The post The EU’s Climate Agenda is Running on Empty – and the UK isn’t Far Behind appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Andy Burnham advertises for policy experts in technology, economic growth and cost-of-living challenges

Andy Burnham is to recruit a number of advisers to plug gaps in No 10, including an expert on how AI will affect society.

The roles advertised by Downing Street give a glimpse into the biggest challenges facing the prime minister – and what he has decided to prioritise.

Some in UK’s security services questioned why Welsh Labour firebrand was of interest

Aneurin “Nye” Bevan, the Welsh Labour firebrand who spearheaded the creation of the NHS, was monitored by security services for more than two decades, though his personal file was “remarkably tame”, according to official files released to the public.

Bevan came to MI5’s attention in the 1930s over concerns about his links with known communists, papers released to the National Archives show. Monitoring continued even after he became a minister in the postwar Labour government that created the NHS.