UK toy sales rose for the first time in five years last year, offering rare optimism for a sector that has struggled since the pandemic, but industry leaders are now watching closely for any fallout from potential social media bans aimed at under-16s. The value of UK toy sales increased by 6 per cent in 2025, according to data from Circana, marking the first year of value growth since 2020. The total market was valued...
More than 130 senior hotel and holiday park executives have written to the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, warning that Labour’s planned changes to business rates represent the most serious threat to the sector’s viability and must not be limited to pubs alone. In a letter coordinated by UKHospitality, industry leaders said the government’s proposed relief package for pubs risks leaving large parts of hospitality “hung out to dry”, despite facing similarly sharp increases in costs. Signatories...
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson addressed Britain’s Parliament on Tuesday, telling them that he had come to ‘calm the waters,’ as tensions between Washington and its European allies have intensified in recent weeks over President Donald Trump’s push to acquire Greenland. Johnson’s address — the first ever delivered by a sitting U.S. House speaker to the British Parliament — came on the eve of the United States’ 250th anniversary and against a backdrop of strain...
President Donald Trump, who has been pressing for the U.S. to acquire Greenland, continued to beat the drum on the issue early on Tuesday. ‘I had a very good telephone call with Mark Rutte, the Secretary General of NATO, concerning Greenland. I agreed to a meeting of the various parties in Davos, Switzerland. As I expressed to everyone, very plainly, Greenland is imperative for National and World Security. There can be no going back —...
Donald J. Trump was inaugurated for a second term as president exactly one year ago. It is safe to say the country, and the world, will never be the same. President Trump has engaged in energetic and bold governing and diplomacy, fulfilling campaign promises like boosting domestic energy production, while also seeking peace in turbulent parts of the world and attempting to follow through on long-term ambitions, like acquiring Greenland. He has engaged with the...
Unemployment remained stuck at a near five-year high in the run-up to Rachel Reeves’s November Budget, while wage growth continued to ease, reinforcing expectations that interest rate cuts are edging closer. Figures published on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics showed the UK unemployment rate holding steady at 5.1 per cent in the three months to November. That is the highest level since early 2021 and broadly in line with economists’ forecasts. Joblessness has...
MPs have thrown their weight behind calls for greater Government support for British businesses developing alternatives to plastic packaging, as Parliament steps up its focus on tackling the global plastics crisis. At a Westminster briefing hosted by the Natural Polymers Group, parliamentarians heard how UK-led innovation in nature-based materials could form a £4.2 billion industry and create more than 35,000 high-skilled green jobs across the country. More than a dozen MPs, peers and civil servants...
The resumption of the Sky Train trial this week signalled a significant development in the proceedings, particularly as the court entered a phase that is often crucial in complex financial cases. A turning point was marked by the court’s decision to admit key email correspondence into evidence, despite the prosecution’s unexpected objections. This shift underscored the importance of documentary records and highlighted the vital role that contemporaneous materials play in evaluating institutional decision-making in large-scale...
Denmark on Monday ramped up its military presence in Greenland, deploying extra troops to the strategic Arctic territory amid escalating tensions with President Donald Trump. Local Danish broadcaster TV 2 said the Danish Armed Forces confirmed a new contingent of troops, described as ‘a substantial contribution,’ were arriving at Greenland’s main international airport Monday night. Maj. Gen. Søren Andersen, head of Denmark’s Arctic Command, said about 100 Danish soldiers have already arrived in Nuuk, Greenland’s...
Fence posts are very important for any kind of fencing. Even if the panels or mesh are strong, the whole thing relies on the posts that hold it up. Picking the right fence posts makes sure your fence stays strong for a long time. It helps your fence stand up to bad weather, and you will not have to fix it as often. Knowing about the different types of materials, how they are treated, and...
