Defence review a response to ‘world of growing threats,’ says Healey June 1, 2025 The strategic defence review will send a “message to Moscow” amid daily Russian cyber attacks on the UK, the defence secretary John Healey has said. “This is a message to Moscow as well. This is Britain standing behind, making our armed forces stronger but making our industrial base stronger, and this is part of our readiness to fight, if [...]
FRC: We will take an axe to City stewardship code, says boss June 1, 2025 The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) plans to take the axe to a key City code that governs how shareholders should hold companies to account. The UK Stewardship Code was created following the 2008 financial crisis to address fears that shareholders had failed to adequately police risk-taking. Signatories are required to publicly report on their stewardship [...]
Reeves’ spending review ‘natural point’ to boost defence -IFS June 1, 2025 The Chancellor’s upcoming spending review provides a “natural point” to put the UK on the path to further boost defence spending, an economic think tank has said. Defence and NHS spending will dominate the review, the Institute for Fiscal Studies said in an analysis. It said Rachel Reeves will face “unavoidably” tough choices on 11 [...]
Spending review: Government poised to boost NHS and defence sector June 1, 2025 The government’s spending review is likely to focus on the UK’s health and defence sectors, a report from the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests. The spending review, which will be published on 11 June, will allocate departmental funding and budgets for the next three to four years. It has been the subject of speculation [...]
Government plan to build munitions factories to ‘better deter our adversaries’ May 31, 2025 Building at least six munitions and energetics factories will “better deter our adversaries”, defence secretary John Healey has said as part of plans for an “always on” weapons pipeline. The Government has pledged £1.5bn as part of the strategic defence review (SDR) to set up at least six factories, and will support the procurement of [...]
US court won’t lift judge’s block on Trump’s government overhaul May 31, 2025 A US appeals court on Friday refused to allow President Donald Trump’s administration to carry out mass layoffs of federal workers and a restructuring of agencies, leaving a lower court order in place that blocked the sweeping government overhaul. The decision by the San Francisco-based US Circuit Court of Appeals means that, for now, the Trump administration [...]
Ukrainian girl killed and another hurt in Russian missile attack May 31, 2025 A Russian missile has hit a front-line region in Ukraine, killing a child and injuring another, as uncertainty remains as to whether Kyiv diplomats will attend a new round of peace talks proposed by Moscow for early next week in Istanbul. Russian troops launched some 109 drones and five missiles across Ukraine overnight and into [...]
Hegseth: US will stand by allies against ‘imminent’ China threat May 31, 2025 US defence secretary Pete Hegseth reassured allies in the Indo-Pacific on Saturday that they will not be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, while insisting that they also contribute more to their own defence. He said Washington will bolster its defences overseas to counter what the Pentagon sees as rapidly [...]
‘No doubt’ UK will spend three per cent of GDP on defence by mid-2030s, Healey says May 31, 2025 Defence spending at three per cent of GDP by 2034 is a firm commitment, John Healey has said. The government has previously set out its “ambition to reach three per cent in the next parliament”, after meeting its pledge to ratchet up defence spending to 2.5 per cent of GDP by April 2027. But the [...]
Trump says he will double tariffs on foreign steel to 50 per cent May 31, 2025 President Donald Trump said that he is doubling the tariff rate on steel to 50 per cent, a dramatic increase that could further push up prices for a metal used to make housing, cars and other goods. Trump spoke at US Steel’s Mon Valley Works–Irvin Plant in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania, to discuss investments by Japan’s [...]
