M&S reopens website to customers after April cyberattack
Marks & Spencer has reopened its website to customers after halting online orders due to a cyberattack in April.
The retailer is resuming standard delivery to England, Scotland, and Wales, with Northern Ireland and other services to follow in the coming weeks.
Customer personal data was compromised in the attack, which led to disruptions and empty shelves during the Easter weekend.
M&S managing director John Lyttle thanked customers for their support and announced the gradual addition of more products to the website.
The cyberattack, attributed to "human error" via a third party, is estimated to cost M&S around £300 million, impacting contactless payments and stock availability.
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BBC News
6 minutes ago
- BBC News
Queen's University creche fees rise may force some students out, says union
A decision to more than double childcare fees at a Queen's University Belfast's creche could lead to some students dropping out, a student's union president has students with children will have to pay £66 a day for full-time childcare from September, compared to £28 a day at Students' Union president Kieran Minto said some students had told them the rise was unaffordable.A spokesperson for Queen's said "the difficult decision to increase childcare fees highlights the significant financial pressures facing the higher education sector". What childcare does the university provide and what does it cost? The university has had a creche for students and staff with children for more than half a means that students with children can have them cared for while they are at classes and 2024-25, students had to pay £28 a day for full-time childcare and £31 a day for part-time in 2025-26, students will have to pay £66 a day for full-time childcare and £69 a day for part-time is an additional £2-a-day fee if a child is under fees for staff are £62 a day and they are going up by £4 from students are not in full-time work, they cannot claim existing childcare subsidies set up by Stormont. What has been the reaction to the rise in childcare fees? Mr Minto told BBC News NI the rise would particularly affect PhD students."It's a lot of folks, international PhD students that have decided to pick up with their family and move across the world to take part in cutting edge and really important research," he said."They're coming to us and saying 'I might have to drop out of my PhD, I'm two years in, I can't afford this anymore'."A lot of these students are working with very fine margins, they can't afford a small increase let alone a massive increase."One student who got in touch with BBC News NI said that they were facing an increase of more than £800 a month for childcare from September. The welfare officer at Queen's Students' Union, Jess Hindley, said she had probably received more queries on this issue that any other during her time in the role."They've just been coming to us and talking about how completely unsustainable this rise is for them," she said."Most of the students who've come to us have been international students who don't have access to any additional supports over here."Their cost of living is astronomical, and there's just nowhere for them to go." What has Queen's said? In a statement to BBC News NI, a Queen's spokesperson said they remained the only higher education provider in Northern Ireland to offer on-site childcare specifically for students."The university continues to provide a £300,000 annual subsidy to support this service, helping to keep fees broadly in line with other providers in south Belfast," they continued."To support those most impacted by the fee increase, all returning student users will receive a 25% discount on the new rate."The context for this decision is based on the university facing significant cost pressures, including a £4.6m annual increase in national insurance contributions, reduced public funding and ongoing budget uncertainty."These challenges made it impossible to maintain the service at its previous cost level." What is the situation with university funding? Leaders of Northern Ireland's five universities and university colleges had called for tuition fees to rise by more than £1,000 a said there had been a "real-terms loss caused by a legacy of sub-inflationary uplifts" in funding for higher Economy Minister Caoimhe Archibald subsequently decided not to increase university tuition fees above the usual level of Minto said he recognised Queen's was facing "a very, very difficult financial position"."They are facing an unsustainable financial model that simply doesn't work," he said."We're expecting our universities to provide more and more every day."However, the university also has choices to make on how it spends its budget and how it allocates its budget."Unfortunately in this case, the choice they've made is massively negatively impacting a small but really important core of our students."It's going to have a massive detrimental effect without really saving a lot on the budget."
The Guardian
9 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Wednesday briefing: What to expect from the Treasury's spending review announcements
Morning. It's spending review day. After weeks of tense negotiations between ministers and the Treasury, Rachel Reeves is set to unveil exactly how the government will allocate the spending it announced in last year's budget. If you're wondering what this actually means, my colleague Archie Bland helpfully explained when the process began six months ago. In short: departments outline how they want to spend money over the next few years, then negotiate with the Treasury over how much they will actually get. We already have a good idea of what will be in this spending review. The government has given the go-ahead to the Sizewell C nuclear plant; announced £15bn in transport spending across the north of England; expanded free school meals for all children whose parents receive universal credit; and unveiled a £4.7bn plan to build three new prisons. We also know which ministers settled quickly and which were deeply unhappy. Angela Rayner, deputy prime minister and housing secretary, won out after a fraught and drawn-out process to secure more funding for social housing, while the home secretary, Yvette Cooper, warned that the government would not meet its manifesto promises on crime. The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, was able to keep cash for a major programme of insulation, but it is unclear whether other schemes will be scaled back as a result. After a troubled start in government, will this spending review give Labour the reset so desperately needed? I spoke to Jessica Elgot, the Guardian's deputy political editor. But first, the headlines. Israel-Gaza | The UK placed sanctions on two extreme-right Israeli ministers over their 'monstrous' comments on Gaza. Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich will face travel bans and freezing of assets. Austria | Ten people died and 12 were injured in a school shooting in Graz, Austria. The interior minister, Gerhard Karner, confirmed the 21-year-old suspect, who killed himself, was a former student at the school. US | The city of Los Angeles is instituting a curfew in downtown on Tuesday night as tensions between the Trump administration and California escalate over immigration raids, as governor Gavin Newsom warns democracy 'under assault'. UK politics | The Lib Dems have described the new Reform UK chair, David Bull, as a 'Trump sycophant'. Nigel Farage, however, says Bull's qualified doctor status will help counter Labour's 'lie machine' about the NHS. Transport | Driverless taxis are set to appear on London streets next spring, as confirmed by Uber and Wayve. The Department for Transport said the technology would make roads safer and could create 38,000 jobs. The UK has not had a full three-year spending review since 2015 because of the political turmoils of Brexit and the pandemic. There is a hugely important number that the Treasury wants front and centre this time: £113bn of capital spending. This is money for infrastructure, building schools and hospitals, that was unlocked by the change in fiscal rules before the October budget, which allowed more borrowing for long-term investment. 'For most ordinary voters, all they see the government committing to is political pain: whether that's winter fuel allowance or welfare cuts, the tough line that was taken at the budget and the spring statement,' Jessica explains. 'On lots of different issues, people have heard that there's a return to fiscal discipline, which is a phrase they associate with austerity. And every bit of polling tells you that people have just had enough of that.' This spending review, therefore, is 'some kind of recognition that while they can still be seen to be fiscally responsible to avoid a Liz Truss-style crisis, they do have to present a more positive vision. They have to try and get some political benefit.' The way they will attempt to do this, she says, is by pointing out investing in infrastructure generates economic growth and a return on that money spent, unlike day-to-day departmental spending. So expect to hear a lot of ministers talk about 'choosing investments over decline'. Jessica goes further: 'The Treasury has felt particularly aggrieved that they haven't got credit for making this change in the fiscal rules and framing up this cash. You still get people saying they need to raise taxes and the grumpy retorts to that is 'we raised £40bn worth of tax for the last budget and we changed the fiscal rules to pay for £100bn pounds of capital spending'. So this is them belatedly trying to claim credit for that in order to cover up what we expect to be a very tight spending review for departments on day-to-day spending.' Starting from scratch The process for the spending review is brutal. Departments must justify their entire budgets from scratch, known as a zero‑based review approach, then negotiate with the Treasury. Jessica adds that there is the idea during this process that departments deploy what is known as a 'bleeding stump' strategy – where, for example, they tell the Treasury that they will have to stop providing an essential service, such as cancer treatments or free school meals, if there is no change to the budget. In 2011, then Conservative minister Eric Pickles had accused Labour councils of doing this in the midst of austerity. Some ministers settled early with the Treasury, including the justice secretary, Shabana Mahmood, so she could announce her prison building programme. Wes Streeting's department is also set to be one of the big winners of the spending review: it will lay the groundwork for the NHS's 10-year plan. So is Angela Raynor, with the chancellor announcing nearly £40bn worth of grants to be spent over 10 years for local authorities, private developers and housing associations. Other holdouts, including the Department of Education, and Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, settled recently with some decent wins. 'Some of the big beneficiaries are the defence industry. You will see capital spent on some schools and hospitals, actually slower than the ones the Tories promised, but Labour will say that that's because the Tories didn't have any money to fund things they committed to,' Jessica says. But, most importantly, 'all of these things take time to filter through'. Will voters feel better off? The multibillion-pound investment at Sizewell C on the Suffolk coast has been billed by the government as the biggest nuclear programme in a generation, and one that will 'get Britain off the fossil fuel rollercoaster'. Labour has also committed to big infrastructure projects in the north of England that should benefit populations there, but it will be a long while before those benefits are felt, Jessica says. 'That's a problem in terms of political cycles about who gets credit for what. None of this stuff is going to be built before the next election. I think that Sizewell C isn't going to be built until the end of the 2030s.' The government would argue it is building infrastructure that demonstrates the UK is a good solid place to invest. People should therefore start feeling the benefits of a growing economy. 'Your daily life should start getting less expensive, your wages should be rising, interest rates should be coming down, inflation should be coming down. That's the theory,' Jessica says. 'But you can see through the rise of Reform in the polls that people are frustrated they're not feeling that effect quickly enough.' 'Big, visible benefits' The partial U-turn on winter fuel allowance for pensioners and sluggish growth means Rachel Reeves has very little fiscal headroom for her day-to-day spending, Jessica explains. But though departments have had very tight settlements, the published accounts are not as bad as previously feared. Are there any other surprises on welfare coming, particularly on disability benefits and child poverty? 'I wouldn't expect any announcements on that front,' Jessica says. 'A lot of decisions have been deferred. On disability benefits, we're expecting very difficult welfare cuts to come at the end of June.' Labour MPs are being told that the major investments they are seeing in their constituencies are only possible because of these tough decisions, Jessica adds, with the Treasury framing it as 'making hard choices so we can afford big, visible projects that benefit everyone'. It is unclear if it will work. 'Maybe they'll be won over by that, but at the moment, not many of them are. That will be a very difficult moment.' On child poverty, the imminent taskforce report is likely to strongly recommend lifting the two-child benefit cap. There are suggestions that the prime minister is open to it. But again, it belongs in a different category of policy decisions, separate from the spending review. 'There's lots of suggestions out there that the PM himself is minded to act on that. But again, that's not a decision for tomorrow.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion Nadeine Asbali responds to the calls from Tory and Reform MPs to ban the burqa. She argues that the real issue isn't what Muslim women wear, but how deeper societal issues are being ignored. Sundus Abdi, newsletters team Gaby Hinsliff's sharp critique of Sarah Vine's memoir about life as a Westminster Wag may end up outshining the book itself. Aamna Going away but worried your plants won't survive the week without you? This week's houseplant clinic covers hacks like using self-watering devices to avoid returning to a plant graveyard. Sundus Okinawa, Japan's subtropical island, witnessed the Pacific War's bloodiest battle. This stunning piece of visual journalism follows one man's relentless quest to recover the fragments of a forgotten history. Aamna Bad Bunny, PinkPantheress and Bon Iver's recent releases have all made the Guardian's list of best albums of 2025 so far. Critics have also named Erika de Casier, Japanese Breakfast and many more. Sundus Football | Nottingham Forest has written to Uefa on Crystal Palace's participation in the Europa League next season, alleging that Palace is in breach of multi-club ownership rules. Cricket | Ben Duckett hit 84 off 46 balls in England's 120-run opening stand as the hosts beat West Indies to wrap up their T20 series 3-0. Football | Arsenal Women's FC will play all of their Super League matches at the Emirates Stadium next season to 'allow more people than ever to experience a matchday'. 'UK imposes sanctions on Israeli ministers for 'inciting violence'' says the Guardian, and that's on the front of the Times too, though the splash is 'NHS 'won't hit targets' even with extra £30bn'. Top story in the Mirror is 'Social housing boost – £39bn new build' and we get more of an idea from the Financial Times: 'Reeves puts £39bn affordable homes drive at heart of bid to 'renew Britain''. 'Come on Rachel, now for family farm tax U-turn!' pleads the Express while the Mail says 'Reeves rocked by jobs slump'. The Telegraph's top story is 'Rayner drops law on rough sleepers'. The grim news from Austria – 'Revenge massacre at school' – covers the front page of the Metro. 250 days on hunger strike: Can Laila Soueif secure her son's freedom? Who is Alaa Abd el-Fattah and why are British diplomats trying to obtain his release? Patrick Wintour reports A bit of good news to remind you that the world's not all bad Just over two hours from Glasgow, a six-day hike on the Isle of Arran doubles as a journey through 500 million years of Earth's history. Newly recognised as a Unesco Geopark, the island holds traces of rocks formed by ancient magma and cliffs shaped by tectonic plate shifts. If you're lucky, you might find yourself placing your hand in a 240-million-year-old footprint left by a reptile older than dinosaurs, like Stuart Kenny did. Kenny hikes the 65-mile Arran Coastal Way, and in his words: 'I abandon the geological hunt altogether and stop to watch otters fishing.' Sign up here for a weekly roundup of The Upside, sent to you every Sunday And finally, the Guardian's puzzles are here to keep you entertained throughout the day. Until tomorrow. Quick crossword Cryptic crossword Wordiply
BBC News
15 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Bedford "gateway' road fully reopens a year after work began
Two lanes of a "gateway" into a town are reopening nearly a year after work began to transform and regenerate the August, one lane on Midland Road, Bedford, has been shut to allow for work to repave, widen and improve the Luthra, from Bubbly's Travel, welcomed the reopening but said construction had had an impact on every business in the area and most customers had "stayed away". Andrea Spice, a Conservative at Bedford Borough Council, said the authority had worked really hard to "accommodate businesses". Midland Road will reopen to traffic both ways on Wednesday, the council said. The improvement work was part of the "Midland Road public realm improvements", which has been paid for through the Bedford Town Deal, a £22.6m government investment aimed at revitalising the town centre. Mr Luthra added: "Most of the customers stayed away, they don't come on this side, you talk to someone [they say] 'oh Midland Road nah, we're not going there because of the road closure'."It has affected every business a little bit here, the restaurant next door has suffered a lot." Ms Spice, portfolio holder for economic growth, planning and prosperity, said: "There were parts of the town you could park and walk to, you might not have been able to park right outside, I appreciate that."I hope shopkeepers know we've tried really hard to accommodate them and their businesses."We have improved the pavement, we've re-laid it, we have improved the pavement, it looks clean, it looks fresh, it's wider in parts."We've tried really hard to lift this part of town, which is a massive gateway for us because if you come off the train and you want to get into the town centre this is the road you walk down and this is your first impression of Bedford." Samantha Laycock, chair of the Bedford Town Deal Board, said: "This is just the beginning of Midland Road's transformation." Follow Beds, Herts and Bucks news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
