Workplace NDA ban may lead to more tribunals May 28, 2026 A government proposal to ban the use of non-disclosure agreements in cases of workplace harassment or discrimination may make it harder for disputes to be settled outside of tribunals. The proposal, ‘Make Work Pay’, which is open for consultation until 8 July and part of the recent overhaul of the Employment Rights Act, would ban [...]
Treasury still has £5bn to spend on Covid-19 – taking total bill to £385bn May 28, 2026 The Treasury has said it still needs to spend £5bn more on Covid-19 measures more than four years after the last lockdown restriction was lifted, taking the total estimated costs to taxpayers to £385bn. In a cost tracker update on Thursday, the government said it had already spent £380bn on Covid-19 support since the pandemic [...]
Family-owned Tottenham brewer falls into administration as industry pressures mount May 28, 2026 A beloved family-owned Tottenham brewery that was a key player in London’s craft beer renaissance has fallen into administration amidst mounting cost pressures on the industry. Redemption Brewing Company, which was the first commercial brewery to open in Tottenham in nearly 100 years, is officially listed on the formal register of new insolvency appointments as [...]
Visa data leak piles pressure on Britain’s digital ID push May 28, 2026 The leak of more than 100,000 passport scans and biometric selfies linked to a third-party visa website has renewed concerns over the security risks surrounding Britain’s growing shift towards digital ID systems. A site operating under the name UK Visa Portal – which is not affiliated with the UK government – was found on Wednesday [...]
Milburn review: Youth unemployment crisis costs £125bn a year due to ‘broken system’ May 28, 2026 The crisis of nearly a million young people who are out of education, employment or training – known as ‘Neets’ – costs the UK economy up to £125bn a year, the Alan Milburn review has found, as both the government and the private sector were blamed for failing to address youth unemployment. An extensive report [...]
On this day: Britain’s youngest ever Prime Minister is born May 28, 2026 A prodigy and exception, William Pitt the Younger was Britain's youngest ever Prime Minister. On this day in 1759, he was born, writes Eliot Wilson
‘Enough to keep investors interested’: SSE charges up UK investment May 28, 2026 SSE hailed a record year of investment as it aims to end UK dependence on global volatile energy markets. The electricity infrastructure company invested £3.6bn in the 2025/26 financial year, up from £2.9bn the prior year, as it looks to ramp up the UK’s electricity grid and create lower energy bills. The FTSE 100 group [...]
As it happened: Stocks plummet on latest Iran war tensions; Neets crisis a ‘human tragedy’ May 28, 2026 Good morning and welcome back to the Morning Wire liveblog. The US and Iran are back to exchanging fire in a major blow to hopes of peace in the Middle East. Tehran struck an American airbase overnight in its retaliation for the US striking a military site that it said “posed a threat to US forces [...]
Tony Blair is the only sensible voice left in Labour May 28, 2026 After reading Tony Blair’s essay on the state of Britain (and the state of the Labour party) I was struck by the realisation that large parts of it sounded as if they’d come straight out of one of my own columns. Regular readers will know that I’ve often used this slot to point out the contradiction [...]
Local authorities thwart housebuilding with ‘manifestly unfair’ council tax raid on developers May 28, 2026 Cash-strapped local authorities across Britain are thwarting efforts to increase housebuilding by hitting property developers with steep council tax bills as soon as their homes are listed as complete, an influential industry body has warned. In a paper shared with Morning Wire, the boss of the Home Builders Federation (HBF) accused local councils of slapping [...]