Care minister Stephen Kinnock has refused to say the government will publish contextual meeting minutes and correspondence around Deputy National Security Adviser Matthew Collins’ written evidence to the CPS. Speaking to GB News Kinnock said there are “government processes and protocols around this, of course we have to be very careful about the information that gets released.” Kinnock found time to praise Starmer for the “huge amounts of transparency” he showed in deploying the red herring evidence…
Kinnock added the published statements “clearly show the position of the government from the Conservative to Labour transition.” This is despite the fact that the new evidence provided in August contains political language to describe China literally lifted from the Labour manifesto…
The minister claimed “the broad position has remained the same which is that youcan’t boil the relationship with China down to one word of it being an enemy, you have to see it in the round in terms of all of the important cooperation we need to have with them on vital issues like climate change.” Crikey…
The government is now going hard on its blame game with the CPS over the case’s collapse. Poisoned chalice…
Rachel Reeves admitted that tax rises for the wealthy will be “be part of the story” in Washington last night. She told The Guardian:
“Last year, when we announced things like the non-doms, like the [tax increase for] private equity, like the VAT on private school fees, there was so much bleating that it wasn’t going to raise the money – that people would leave. And that scaremongering didn’t pay off, because this is a brilliant country and people want to live here. When people scaremonger again this year, we should take some of that with a pinch of salt.”
The 16,000 millionaires expected to leave this year might disagree. Care minister Stephen Kinnock also refused to rule out a wealth tax this morning on LBC. Brace for winter…
Latest figures from the ONS shows GDP grew by 0.1% in August. Production grew by 0.4%, whereas services showed no growth and construction fell by 0.3% in August 2025. Modest as expected…
The ONS also revised its figure for July, estimating the UK economy shrank by 0.1%. Meanwhile the IMF predicts GDP per capita growth in the UK would be the lowest out of all G7 countries next year…
Modella Capital has become one of the most active buyers on Britain’s high streets, moving quickly to acquire assets left vulnerable by years of contraction. The investment firm has taken ownership of Hobbycraft, WHSmith’s retail division now operating as TG Jones, The Original Factory Shop, and part of Claire’s outlets. With close to 1,000 stores and about 10,000 employees under its control, Modella adds fresh private capital into a sector that has spent much of the last decade downsizing.
The backdrop to this expansion is a retail economy still balancing recovery with decline. Hundreds of stores have disappeared since the pandemic, leaving vacancy rates near 13 per cent and reshaping town centres around discount chains and service outlets. Analysts say the result is a market where strong balance sheets can buy distressed assets at a fraction of their previous value. The opportunity lies in reconfiguring leases, tightening costs, and turning low valuations into sustainable profit margins.
Within that environment, investors are relying more heavily on data to judge potential returns. Funds measure risk and performance through metrics such as customer retention and average transaction value rather than brand strength alone. The same reliance on quantifiable results is visible in sectors like UK online casinos, where game variety, payout speed, and bonus efficiency are tracked to measure long-term engagement. In both cases, investors follow data that shows how customers behave, using numbers rather than sentiment to define value.
Capital flows depend not only on investor appetite but also on the cost of money. The Bank of England’s official update on interest rates shows the base rate easing to 4 per cent from 5.25 per cent a year earlier. The reduction indicates a cautiously improving credit environment and has given investors more scope to plan acquisitions. Borrowing costs remain well above the near-zero levels of the 2010s, yet the recent decline has restored movement to markets that stalled during the period of higher rates.
That easier flow of capital has also brought closer scrutiny to how investors manage the businesses they acquire. At Hobbycraft, the company used a Company Voluntary Arrangement that closed at least nine stores and cut more than 100 jobs; affected staff were able to access statutory redundancy processes. Supporters describe the decision as a necessary intervention to preserve the wider chain, while critics draw comparisons with earlier retail failures where short-term restructuring failed to deliver recovery.
The largest test of Modella’s strategy is its acquisition of WHSmith’s high-street business, transferred after a £76 million sale that gave the investor control of hundreds of local outlets under the TG Jones name. The new chain is designed to integrate postal, banking, and concession services with standard retail operations. Industry observers suggest the format could help smaller towns maintain footfall and local access to essential services while reducing fixed costs. If it succeeds, it could provide a model for stabilising parts of the high street still exposed to online competition.
For now, Britain’s high streets remain in transition, caught between continued contraction and cautious renewal. The coming trading results will show whether investors can convert distressed purchases into stable returns or whether another cycle of ownership change will define the next phase of retail adjustment.
The BBC is set to cut back on its current affairs coverage as more and more Brits cancel their licence fees. The broadcaster has asked media watchdog Ofcom to slash its mandatory peak-time current affairs quota across BBC One and BBC Two, arguing they need to adapt to changing viewer habits and a lack of cash. Ofcom, the benevolent media overlords that they are when not policing the internet, say they are considering the BBC’s proposal…
The BBC said today:
“These proposals reflect changing viewing habits and aim to focus on delivering new, high-quality content while achieving greater value for money for licence fee payers. We remain committed to providing high-impact current affairs programming, as shown by our recent Panorama investigation into Charing Cross police station.”
Dominic Cummings this afternoon alleged that the Chinese state from 2020 accessed a data exchange widely used in Whitehall to transfer information, including top secret data with the “strap” designation. This was allegedly covered-up…
He said:
“What I’m saying is that some Strap stuff was compromised and vast amounts of data classified as extremely secret and extremely dangerous for any foreign entity to control was compromised. Material from intelligence services. Material from the National Security Secretariat in the Cabinet Office. Things the government has to keep secret. If they’re not secret, then there are very, very serious implications for it.”
Cummings added he would give more information if there was an MP-led inquiry. He said the situation is significantly worse than the publicly available reporting suggests: “The idea that it is somehow a difficult semantic question of whether to define them as a threat, or how much of a threat, is absolutely puerile nonsense. And everybody in the heart of Whitehall knows this.” The British state’s ming vase strategy on China is exploding…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”