Energy prices: SSE Airtricity to reduce gas tariff by 8% from April

“Even if ships now have safe passage, tankers are in the wrong place, oil production/refining facilities need to get up to full capacity, and questions over the cost and availability of insurance for ships traversing the Strait will remain,” he said.

Michael RaceBusiness reporter Getty Images A senior official at the UK’s economic forecaster has said he does not believe the chancellor was being misleading when she said the state of the public finances were “very challenging” in the run-up to the Budget. Prof David Miles from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) told MPs Rachel…

Trading Standards officers in Scotland say they need extra powers to help tackle what they describe as an “explosion” of illegal tobacco sales in high street shops. The products include counterfeit cigarettes or those smuggled into the country to avoid tax. Trading Standards link the UK-wide problem to organised crime. The Scottish government said illicit…

The prize, then, for the company that is first to build a reliable quantum computer at scale is potentially enormous. It will be “winner-takes-all”, as it was for classical computers and IBM, predicts Peronnin. And, he reckons, there is a fighting chance that his or another French company will be that winner.

A food bank that offers free school uniforms has said that full time and self-employed professionals are among those relying on its support. The Community Cupboard in Kent has begun offering pre-loved school uniforms to local families during the school holidays. The volunteer-run service provides food supplies and support to families struggling to make ends…