Supermarket bosses have urged the Chancellor to shield shops from a forthcoming business rates surtax, arguing that higher bills would be passed to shoppers. The appeal, organised by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and addressed to Rachel Reeves, contends that reducing the tax burden on grocers would help tackle food inflation. Signatories include executives from Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, Asda, Iceland, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons and Waitrose. The BRC said […]

The number of NHS appointments, tests and operations carried out by private hospitals and clinics rose by almost 500,000 this year to about 6.15 million, according to Health Secretary Wes Streeting. He said the policy aims to tackle a two‑tier system by reducing waiting times and ensuring NHS patients in England are treated promptly. Private providers said they carry out around 10% of elective NHS activity. Between August 2024 and […]

The Conservatives have set out a policing plan that aims to reduce crimes by 35,000 by deploying more officers to violent hotspots, including recruiting 10,000 additional police and tripling the use of stop-and-search powers. The proposal would give the home secretary power to set binding operational priorities for forces, concentrating resources on what it regards as real crime rather than intervening only when a force is failing. Shadow home secretary […]

Officers from the MHRA's Criminal Enforcement Unit, supported by Northamptonshire Police, dismantled an illegal laboratory in Northampton and seized unlicensed weight-loss medicines valued at £250,000. The regulator said the site was the first illicit production facility for weight-loss drugs discovered in the UK and described the operation as the largest single seizure of trafficked weight-loss medicines by a law enforcement agency worldwide. The raid also uncovered tens of thousands of […]