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CIPD: Spring statement fails to support employers, risking productivity and jobs

The government’s 2025 spring statement has come under fire from the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, which warns that the Chancellor’s plans risk undermining business productivity and job creation by failing to address the real workplace challenges faced by employers. While the Chancellor announced increased funding for defence and infrastructure, CIPD Head of Public Policy Ben Willmott said the statement lacked meaningful support for businesses and failed to tackle the growing...

Spring statement 2025 key points: what businesses need to know

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her spring statement today, unveiling a £14 billion package of cuts and new investments aimed at restoring the UK’s fiscal credibility and boosting long-term productivity. Against a backdrop of weak growth and rising debt, Reeves outlined measures to rein in public spending, drive efficiency across government departments and invest in critical areas such as defence, housing and AI. Here are the key highlights from today’s statement. Fiscal outlook and debt forecast...

Business reaction to Reeves’s spring statement: confidence remains fragile as costs rise and support lags

Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her 2025 spring statement today, outlining £14 billion in cuts to restore the UK’s fiscal headroom and committing £2.2 billion in defence investment. While the measures are aimed at tackling Britain’s debt and boosting economic resilience, business leaders have voiced concern that the statement did little to support growth, especially among the UK’s SMEs and entrepreneurial community. Theo Chatha, CFO at Bibby Financial Services, described the statement as “a huge disappointment”...

Throwing more money at HMRC won’t fix Britain’s £40bn tax gap, warns leading tax expert

The government’s pledge to invest £300 million in HMRC over the next five years to close the UK’s tax gap has been branded “wholly insufficient” by a leading tax expert, who warned that without a long-term strategy and systemic reform, the country’s complex tax system will continue to hinder progress. Nimesh Shah, CEO of audit, tax and business advisory firm Blick Rothenberg, said the investment — which forms part of the Chancellor’s spring statement —...

Atlantic reporter publishes more texts about attack on Houthi targets

The Atlantic published Wednesday what it described as the ‘attack plans’ at the center of a Signal text chain leak involving senior officials in the Trump administration. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and national security adviser Mike Waltz have faced calls to resign following revelations that the outlet’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg was inadvertently added to a private group chat earlier this month in which Hegseth, Waltz, Vice President JD Vance and other top administration officials...

SCOOP: Top Republican Chuck Grassley sets prompt hearing on judges blocking Trump

: Senate Judiciary Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, will hold a hearing next week on federal judges’ use of nationwide orders to throttle the Trump administration’s actions, which will take place back to back with an identical hearing in the lower chamber.  In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Grassley said, ‘District judges’ abuse of nationwide injunctions has hobbled the executive branch and raised serious questions regarding the lower courts’ appropriate jurisdictional realm.’ ‘Since the...

Hawley presses FBI to probe alleged Biden-era targeting of Christians

Sen. Josh Hawley asked FBI Director Kash Patel Wednesday to look into alleged Biden-era abuses against Christians, urging Patel in a new letter to crack down on what the Missouri Republican described as First Amendment violations he said were carried out under the Biden administration. In the letter, previewed exclusively by Fox News Digital, the Missouri Republican asked Patel to investigate alleged abuses against pro-life activists and Christians. He also urged Patel to release by...

Trump team’s Signal snafu sparks debate over secure comms: ‘Russia and China are listening’

The leak of Houthi strike plans by the Trump administration to a journalist was not the result of a hack but an apparent human error. Still, it sparked debate over whether the nation’s most powerful government officials should communicate sensitive military information on a non-government platform.  Jeffrey Goldberg, editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, wrote on Monday that he was added to a group chat on Signal on March 11 by National Security Advisor Mike Waltz titled...

Federal judge temporarily blocks shutdown of US-funded radio network

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., temporarily blocked the shutdown of a U.S.-funded radio network.  U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth, who was appointed by former President Ronald Reagan, granted a temporary restraining order on the shutdown of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), a non-profit news organization originally founded in the 1950s by the Central Intelligence Agency to broadcast behind the Iron Curtain during the Cold War.  Congress later began funding RFE/RL in the 1970s to...

UK inflation dips to 2.8% in February but pressure on interest rates remains

Inflation in the UK eased more than expected in February, falling to 2.8 per cent from 3 per cent in January, according to official data released ahead of today’s spring statement. The drop offers some temporary relief to policymakers, but underlying pressures and energy price risks mean interest rate cuts are still likely to be slow and measured. The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics show that consumer price inflation came in below...