Rachel Reeves warned that new taxes will hit living standards
Some of Britain's biggest companies, including Tesco, Sainsbury's, John Lewis and Boots, have warned the chancellor that food price inflation could hit 6 per cent this year because of the government's tax rises and policies such as the increase in the minimum wage.
In a highly political intervention, the retailers are writing to the chancellor to warn that further taxes on businesses in the autumn budget could lead to Sir Keir Starmer breaching his manifesto pledge to provide 'good jobs and higher living standards'. They suggest they will not be able to 'absorb' further tax rises and prices will have to rise.
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North Wales Chronicle
an hour ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Lucy Connolly to speak out for first time since being released from prison
The 42-year-old, wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning and it is understood she will be doing limited media interviews a day after walking free. She spent time with her husband, daughter and parents on the day of her release and was pictured walking her dogs in the evening, the Daily Mail reported. Ms Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. The former childminder, from Northampton, was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence. It is understood that Ms Connolly was a passenger in a white taxi which left HMP Peterborough via the vehicle airlock, a set of two gates exiting the prison, shortly after 10am on Thursday. Her case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive. Reacting to her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Connolly's sentence was 'harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting'. In a post on X, Ms Badenoch compared Ms Connolly's case with that of Ricky Jones, a suspended Labour councillor who was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. Writing on X, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn't have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms. 'Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it's time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Connolly's case as a 'symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain'. Welcome to freedom, Lucy Connolly. You are now a symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 21, 2025 A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as 'shocking and unfair'. The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had 'paid a very high price for making a mistake'. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. He was asked in May about Ms Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Ms Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
Lucy Connolly to speak out for first time since being released from prison
The 42-year-old, wife of Conservative councillor Raymond Connolly, left HMP Peterborough on Thursday morning and it is understood she will be doing limited media interviews a day after walking free. She spent time with her husband, daughter and parents on the day of her release and was pictured walking her dogs in the evening, the Daily Mail reported. Lucy Connolly was jailed for posting an online rant about migrants (Northamptonshire Police/PA) Ms Connolly was handed a 31-month sentence after she posted on X: 'Mass deportation now, set fire to all the f****** hotels full of the bastards for all I care … if that makes me racist so be it.' She pleaded guilty to inciting racial hatred by publishing and distributing 'threatening or abusive' written material on X and was jailed at Birmingham Crown Court in October last year. The former childminder, from Northampton, was ordered to serve 40% of her sentence in prison before being released on licence. It is understood that Ms Connolly was a passenger in a white taxi which left HMP Peterborough via the vehicle airlock, a set of two gates exiting the prison, shortly after 10am on Thursday. Her case has sparked debate, with some criticising her sentence as excessive. Reacting to her release, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said Connolly's sentence was 'harsher than the sentences handed down for bricks thrown at police or actual rioting'. In a post on X, Ms Badenoch compared Ms Connolly's case with that of Ricky Jones, a suspended Labour councillor who was found not guilty of encouraging violent disorder at an anti-racism rally in the wake of the Southport murders. Writing on X, Mrs Badenoch said: 'Juries are a cornerstone of justice, but we shouldn't have to rely on them to protect basic freedoms. 'Protecting people from words should not be given greater weight in law than public safety. If the law does this, then the law itself is broken – and it's time Parliament looked again at the Public Order Act.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage described Ms Connolly's case as a 'symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain'. Welcome to freedom, Lucy Connolly. You are now a symbol of Keir Starmer's authoritarian, broken, two-tier Britain. — Nigel Farage MP (@Nigel_Farage) August 21, 2025 A bid to challenge her sentence at the Court of Appeal was dismissed in May, which was described by Mr Connolly as 'shocking and unfair'. The Northampton town councillor, and former West Northamptonshire district councillor, said his wife had 'paid a very high price for making a mistake'. But Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer defended it earlier this year. He was asked in May about Ms Connolly's case after her Court of Appeal application against her jail term was dismissed. Asked during Prime Minister's Questions whether her imprisonment was an 'efficient or fair use' of prison, Sir Keir said: 'Sentencing is a matter for our courts and I celebrate the fact that we have independent courts in this country. 'I am strongly in favour of free speech, we've had free speech in this country for a very long time and we protect it fiercely. 'But I am equally against incitement to violence against other people. I will always support the action taken by our police and courts to keep our streets and people safe.' Ms Connolly was arrested on August 6, by which point she had deleted her social media account, but other messages which included further racist remarks were uncovered by officers who seized her phone. The post was viewed 310,000 times in three and a half hours before she deleted it.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Computer science graduates struggle to secure their first jobs
Eddie Hart studied computer science and cybersecurity at Newcastle University, graduating in says he knew getting into the tech workforce would be a challenge, but "I thought it would be a little easier".Even when "junior" roles were advertised, they often demanded two or more years professional experience, Mr Hart says."It's not realistic, and it's just discouraging the good candidates from even trying."To him it seems clear that potential employers are using AI tools to automate the simpler parts of coder's work, tasks which would traditionally allow newcomers to build up experience. While companies undoubtedly benefit from using AI in some parts of their operations, says Mr Hart, "I don't think replacing developers entirely with AI is sustainable." ChatGPT, and other coding tools, are being blamed for a collapse in tech job openings, particularly for younger software developers and engineers.A report by the UK's National Foundation for Education Research showed a 50% decline in tech job adverts between 2019/20 and 2024/25, with entry level roles particularly report cited the "anticipated impact of artificial intelligence" as one of the factors behind the same time, software developers have widely adopted AI code tools, while simultaneously expressing distrust in their by Stack Overflow, a software knowledge platform, shows almost half use AI tools daily, despite just one third actually trusting the output of such Chandrasekar, CEO of Stack Overflow, says it's "a tricky time to graduate".More broadly, he says, its research shows developers are choosing to stay put, despite many expressing dissatisfaction with their work. "People are probably running for safety a little bit."All of this means young technologists are finding it harder to get that critical first job. The stress of finding a job is also being raised by the use of AI in the job application Hart came across one highly automated application process which had eight stages, the first of which was to answer 20 exam-style questions about exercises can take up hours of had been asked to record and upload answers to interview style questions."And then that's just reviewed by AI and a computer makes the decision. It just feels like you don't get that respect of at least being rejected by a human," he says. Colin, who didn't want his full name to be used, studied computer science at university, graduating in spent almost a year working through the recruitment process for one large company – only to be ultimately smaller firms often use AI to screen applications, he says, meaning CVs have to structured to be "AI friendly".Colin would then find he was being interviewed by people "who have clearly not read my CV".Both Mr Hart and Colin said they knew the senior roles were still out there. But, they wondered, who will fill them if younger developers like them were unable to secure jobs. Paul Dix, CTO and co-founder at California-based database firm, InfluxData says in any economic downturn or disruption, junior software developers were the ones who got hit he says, "If nobody's hiring younger developers, then you're going to arrive at this point where you don't have senior developers either, because you've completely killed your pipeline."More positively says Rajiv Ramaswami, CEO of US enterprise cloud firm Nutanix, "Some of these younger folks coming out of college actually have more experience using AI tooling compared to traditional ways of programming."Ramaswami adds: "I find the market for talent to be the best we've seen in several years."Mr Chandrasekar says the industry had always had an "apprenticeship" type model, with a pipeline of young people coming in and working with senior he suggests, executives and companies that had invested heavily in AI tech are under pressure to show some return on that investment. Even if that was by simply cutting back on hiring. Stack Overflow's research also found that while 64% of developers perceived AI as a threat to their jobs, this was four percentage points down on the previous year."They've now seen some of the limitations, where you need humans in the loop," Mr Chandrasekar tech disruptions had sparked fears that both senior or junior jobs would disappear, says Mr Chandrasekar. But invariably they result in more jobs as people uncover new problems and challenges."There's going to be an insatiable appetite for technologists and developers to go and build those things to help solve those problems."But that spike in demand might not come in time for some of today's Hart has secured a role as a security engineer at UK-based cybersecurity firm Threatspike, which he gained through a very human centred job Colin has turned his back on tech altogether and is considering a career in the police.
