Oil price rise creates more pressure on UK policymakers before budget
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

Treasury sources concede ‘less room’ for manoeuvre as global bond selloff also hikes government’s borrowing costs

• International bodies warn of rising debt and borrowing risks

• Burnham stands by claim UK is ‘in hock’ to bond markets

Oil prices lurched upwards again on Thursday, creating a growing headache for UK policymakers ahead of John Healey’s budget next month.

While Healey has been keen to present an upbeat picture of the UK’s economic prospects, Treasury sources concede the sharp jump in oil and gas prices means they have “less room” than a month ago.

Read more...

Launch of UK’s ‘largest AI supercomputer’ delayed by power supply problems
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

Datacentre hailed by government was supposed to start operating next year but may be held back into mid-2030s

A huge datacentre project hailed by the UK government will miss its launch date next year and could be delayed into the mid-2030s.

The site in Loughton, Essex, was described as the country’s largest AI supercomputer when it was announced in 2025, but power supply problems mean it now faces a lengthy wait before coming online.

Read more...

BBC ‘risks entering inescapable doom spiral’ as further cuts hit TV and radio
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

Warning from union comes as corporation cuts local specialist correspondent roles as part of plan to save £500m

The BBC has been warned it risks entering a “doom spiral” of endless cuts and weaker public support for its services, as insiders anticipate the imminent closure of some TV and radio services.

Morale at the corporation is said to be extremely low as a series of cuts are slowly revealed to staff. In the latest announcement, the BBC said it would be reducing the number of local specialist correspondent roles.

Read more...

France says EU’s ‘Made in Europe’ law should not include the UK
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

‘If you’re not in the internal market, you don’t get the same protection,’ says French minister of policy designed to curb Chinese competition

France is leading a push to exclude the UK from the EU’s “Made in Europe” policy that could result in British companies losing out in the race to supply European countries with low-carbon technologies and electric cars.

The plans were raised by Andy Burnham when he met the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, on the sidelines of the UN general assembly earlier this week.

Read more...

Nick Clegg plays down fears ‘godlike’ AI could exterminate humanity
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

Former deputy PM now involved in tech industry says many within sector are ‘winding themselves up into a lather’

Nick Clegg has dismissed fears over AI’s “godlike power to exterminate humanity”, calling it a sign that tech bosses are “breathing their own fumes”.

The former UK deputy prime minister said that tech bosses should focus on addressing known specific threats such as cybersecurity and bioweapons rather than the “slightly hand-wavy view that this technology is unavoidably going to develop some godlike power which is going to turn on us and exterminate humanity”.

Read more...

New UK agency to fight ‘information warfare’ from likes of Russia, Burnham tells UN
Posted on Wednesday September 23, 2026

PM aims to ‘stem poisonous tide’ of disinformation and deepfakes with National Centre for Information Defence

Security chiefs will set up a new national centre to tackle disinformation and deepfakes from hostile states such as Russia, Andy Burnham has announced, saying the government had a duty to “stem the poisonous tide” from damaging British interests.

The National Centre for Information Defence will “detect, attribute and disrupt” information attacks by foreign powers, many of which are enabled by AI, bringing together the intelligence agencies, law enforcement and social media companies.

Read more...

João Félix strike for Portugal enough to sink Wales but Ronaldo fever falls flat
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

There was a comic-strip feel to another eventful evening in the world of Cristiano Ronaldo. Where to start? It was the 67th minute when his No 7 went up on the fourth official’s board, prompting Ronaldo to remove the captain’s armband from his left bicep before departing to a universal ovation, but for the pocket of Wales supporters. The referee, Donatas Rumsas, hurried him off the pitch but Ronaldo, his hair glazed copper, was presumably ruminating on a series of missed chances, a sitter from a few yards at the start of the second half, and a disallowed goal. The grandiose “Siu” celebration went to waste, though try telling that to the locals who worship him.

In the end, Portugal earned a narrow Nations League victory courtesy of another Al-Nassr forward, João Félix’s first-half strike from the edge of the box beating Danny Ward in the Wales goal. Nuno Mendes, among the Portugal players who passed up chances, moved infield and located João Félix, who 20 yards from goal sent a shot in via a nick off the Wales captain, Ben Davies. The Wales squad is thin and many of those who started here have been lightly raced of late but they could have snatched an equaliser when Brennan Johnson hit the crossbar and Rúben Dias desperately denied Lewis Koumas.

Read more...

Jos Buttler injury and Kusal Mendis century derail England as Sri Lanka level ODI series
Posted on Thursday September 24, 2026

• Wicketkeeper sustains hamstring injury while taking run

• Series goes to a decider at the Oval on Sunday

A beautiful batting surface and a greased lightning outfield made this second one-day international wildly different from the first 48 hours earlier. Unfortunately for England, on the wrong end of a thriller, the result was wildly different too.

Set 322 to win, and boosted by a rapid-fire 143-run opening stand between Ben Duckett and Tom Banton, England had appeared on course to wrap up the series with a match to spare. But Sri Lanka refused to give up, delivering a famous shutout and profiting from an injury to Jos Buttler to win by 16 runs.

Read more...