Author: Liam Porter

Getty ImagesIan Murray said he was “100%” confident the prime minister would be in his job come the next electionThe UK’s welfare system will “explode” and become unaffordable if it is not reformed, Scottish Secretary Ian Murray has said.Sir Keir Starmer’s government has been forced into a series of climbdowns on its benefits bill by Labour backbenchers at Westminster.Murray insisted that “really positive, progressive” changes were being made to fix a “broken” system.It comes after First Minister John Swinney accused the UK government of taking an “absolutely appalling” approach to reform.Labour ministers were forced to U-turn on some cuts to…

Families in Barnsley could soon get up to £100 per child to help with school uniform and equipment costs.The council plans to spend £2.7m on a voucher scheme in time for the next academic year. If the idea is approved, pupils in secondary school would receive a uniform voucher of £100 each, with £50 going to primary school pupils.For pupils in Year 11 a support pack containing study material and information about their health and wellbeing would also be provided.The council’s cabinet meeting on 9 July is due to consider the scheme, which it said was to help remove barriers…

Prime Day 2025 is coming soon on July 8-11, but you don’t have to wait to grab good tech deals — and that goes for everyone, not just Prime members. Early deals have already started popping up on Amazon, and one of the best at the moment is on an Engadget-approved air purifier. The Levoit Core 400S air purifier is on sale for $183, which is $37 off its usual price and not too far off of the lowest price we’ve seen. It’s part of a larger sale on all kinds of Levoit devices including other air purifiers, cordless vacuums…

Things are changing in the Czech Republic, says Karlovy Vary Film Festival artistic director Karel Och. Also when it comes to the #MeToo movement.   “What we need is a conversation – and films like ‘Broken Voices,’” he says. Ondřej Provazní’s drama, selected for the Crystal Globe Competition, was inspired by the Bambini di Praga case: a famous children’s choir which saw its choirmaster arrested and charged with sexual abuse of minors that went on for years. “It’s a strong, intimate piece of cinema which ultimately succeeds in communicating strong political ideas. When I had lunch with the director and the…

If winter is for extravagant tablescapes and decadent menus, summer is the time to do less. Your wrinkly linen napkins can be re-branded as rustic; simple white plates are the preferred pairing for swirls of spaghetti al pomodoro; family-style platters lean in to the relaxed mood of the season. It is completely acceptable to pop a bowl of farmers’ market produce on the table and call it a centerpiece. So when it comes to the best outdoor entertaining essentials, a few key essentials will go a long way.Vogue’s Outdoor Entertaining Essentials:Once you have your outdoor furniture set up and cracked…

PHILADELPHIA — Chelsea sealed their place in the Club World Cup semifinals in dramatic fashion via an own goal from Palmeiras in a 2-1 victory in front of 65,782 at Lincoln Financial Field on Friday. Playing in temperatures more akin to what they’re used to, after the searing heat of earlier in the tournament, a shot by Malo Gusto squirted past the Brazilian keeper to restore Chelsea’s lead, ultimately being credited as an own-goal to Palmeiras defender Agustín Giay. The result pushes the Blues to a match where they’ll face off against Fluminense next week.The Blues thought they had the game…

Do people from different cultures and environments see the world differently? Two recent studies have different takes on this decades-long controversy. The answer might be more complicated, and more interesting, than either study suggests.One study, led by Ivan Kroupin at the London School of Economics, asked how people from different cultures perceived a visual illusion known as the Coffer illusion. They discovered that people in the UK and US saw it mainly in one way, as comprising rectangles – while people from rural communities in Namibia typically saw it another way: as containing circles.To explain these differences, Kroupin and colleagues…

The annual Space-Out Competition in South Korea was created to draw attention to the benefits of zoning out in a competitive society.

In a stiflingly hot room at a health centre in East London, as he announced the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS on Thursday, Keir Starmer was confronted with a brutal assessment of his first year in power.“You’ve U-turned on your reforms, your MPs don’t trust you, and markets worry that you’ve lost resolve on fiscal discipline. It’s the epitome, isn’t it, of sticking-plaster politics and chaos that you promised voters you would end?” a television journalist asked.Initially, Starmer avoided answering the question, but he eventually addressed the fall-out from his government’s chaotic handling of its welfare bill. “I’m not…

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.There are few industries with a more “old world” feel than European insurers. The average age among the continent’s 10 largest listed players is almost 170. Yet quietly, these old-timers have been racking up the sort of market gains that would make many tech start-ups jealous.The Stoxx 600 insurance sub-index, which tracks 30 large European insurance groups, climbed 15 per cent in the first half of 2025 for its best half-year since 2019. And the performance is no flash in the pan:…