NEWS

South Antrim MP Robin Swann South Antrim MP Robin Swann is calling for a major tax intervention that he says could help struggling hospitality businesses survive mounting financial pressures, safeguard jobs and breathe new life into town centres across Northern Ireland. The Ulster Unionist MP has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons urging the Treasury to introduce a pilot scheme that would reduce VAT on hospitality services in Northern Ireland from the cu

Children across the UK will be banned from using major social media platforms under landmark government plans designed to “give kids their childhood back”, in what ministers are describing as the most far-reaching package of online protections introduced anywhere in the world. The proposed measures would prevent under-16s from accessing platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X and YouTube, while also introducing sweeping restrictions on harmful online feat

Senior figures from the Ulster Unionist Party have met with the Secretary of State to press a series of urgent concerns arising from this week’s attack on Stephen Ogilvie in North Belfast and the disorder that has followed across Northern Ireland. The meeting took place on Thursday between Ulster Unionist Party Leader Jon Burrows MLA, North Antrim MP Robin Swann and South Antrim MLA Dr Steve Aiken OBE, and Secretary of State Hillary Benn. It comes amid heightened tensions fol

Immigration enforcement activity in Northern Ireland has increased significantly over the past two years, according to information provided by a Government source, which says arrests for immigration offences have risen by 30% and nearly 1,000 illegal migrants have been removed during the past year. The figures emerge as immigration, border security and the movement of people through the Common Travel Area have become central issues in political debate following recent unrest

Ryanair is being investigated by the Competition and Markets Authority over charges that parents must pay to sit beside their children on flights, including in cases involving disability-related obligations. The budget airline’s terms and conditions require at least one adult travelling with children aged two to 11 to reserve a seat, through what Ryanair calls a “mandatory family seat”. That reservation typically costs around £8 per flight, meaning the charge can apply on bot

The UK Home Office has confirmed that the man arrested over the brutal attempted murder in north Belfast is a Sudanese national who was granted refugee status in the UK after arriving in 2023 — with questions around the attacker’s status sparking a heated Commons clash today involving North Antrim MP Jim Allister and Secretary of State Hilary Benn. In a statement issued on Tuesday afternoon, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We can confirm the individual is a Sudanese nationa

A chinook helicopter like the one that crashed in 1994 on Mull of Kintyre, and (inset) Sir Liam Fox More than three decades after one of Britain’s deadliest military aviation disasters, fresh pressure is mounting on the UK Government to re-examine the circumstances surrounding the RAF Chinook crash at the Mull of Kintyre that killed 29 people — including many of Northern Ireland’s most senior security and intelligence personnel. Former UK Defence Secretary Sir Liam Fox has wr

Communities Minister, Gordon Lyons, Economy Minister, Caoimhe Archibald and Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt with Commission Chair, Alan Milburn (second from right). More than 315,000 working-age people in Northern Ireland are currently economically inactive — the highest rate anywhere in the UK — with disability and long-term ill health now driving more than a third of those cases. The stark figures come as Stormont ministers unveiled a new cross-government Commission on Work a

L-R Fionnuala Walsh, Head of Funding UK Portfolio, The National Lottery Community Fund, Jacinta Linden, Co-Director of Together for Families, Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, Paul Sweeney, Chair of the Northern Ireland Committee, The National Lottery Community Fund and Peter Toogood, Deputy Secretary, Social Care and Public Health Policy Group. Paper prescriptions are set to become a thing of the past in Northern Ireland under a major £42 million digital transformation programme

Northern Ireland Secretary of State Hilary Benn Northern Ireland’s struggling public services are set for a major shake-up after the UK Government released a further £102.6 million to fund wide-ranging reforms across healthcare, employment support, digital services and agriculture. The funding package includes a landmark £42 million project to replace Northern Ireland’s paper prescription system with a fully digital process — ending the manual handling of more than 45 million

Families across Northern Ireland are set to see the cost of summer outings, meals and travel eased after Chancellor Rachel Reeves unveiled a major package of cost-of-living measures amid growing fears over the economic fallout from the conflict in the Middle East. In a Commons statement on Thursday (21 May), the Chancellor warned that instability linked to the war in Iran posed “a significant challenge to the world economy”, with rising oil and gas prices threatening to put f

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds during a meeting with businesses to discuss the Government’s new UK-EU food and drink deal, which it says will remove the vast majority of GB-NI checks. Northern Ireland businesses moving food and drink products from Great Britain could soon see millions of pounds in extra costs wiped out under a new UK–EU agreement aimed at dramatically reducing post-Brexit trade barriers. Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds visited Northern Ireland this w

Passengers due to fly from UK airports this summer have been told there is currently “no need” to change travel plans despite growing international concern over jet fuel supplies linked to disruption in the Middle East. The UK Government said airlines operating across the UK are not currently experiencing a jet fuel shortage, while airports continue to maintain fuel reserves to help keep flights operating normally. The reassurance comes amid ongoing uncertainty following the

Thousands of students, apprentices and young people across the UK are set to regain access to study and work opportunities across Europe after the government formally agreed to rejoin the Erasmus+ programme from 2027. The legal text confirming the UK’s return was signed in Brussels on April 15, marking a major shift in post-Brexit relations and reopening one of Europe’s most established education and exchange schemes to UK participants. More than 100,000 people are expected t

A sweeping new law designed to phase out smoking among future generations has been enacted, marking what health leaders and charities describe as a decisive shift towards prevention and long-term public health protection in Northern Ireland. The Tobacco and Vapes Act, which received Royal Assent on 29 April 2026, will make it illegal to sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after 1 January 2009—creating what has been described as the UK’s first “smoke-free generation”. T

Families across the UK are being financially penalised when teenagers choose apprenticeships over staying in school, with some households losing more than £330 per week due to the way the benefits system operates, a new report has found. The findings, published by the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC), highlight a stark imbalance in post-16 education choices, where families can be left worse off if a young person enters work-based training instead of remaining in full

Northern Ireland’s defence sector is set for a major expansion following the launch of a £50 million Defence Growth Deal, aimed at boosting start-ups, strengthening supply chains and creating highly-skilled jobs across the region. The investment, announced by the UK Government, is designed to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and emerging defence technology companies break into the defence supply chain, while accelerating innovation and long-term economic growth.

North Antrim MP Jim Allister KC A call for urgent Government action on lobular breast cancer research has been made by Jim Allister KC MP , who warned that patients are continuing to receive treatments not designed for their specific disease due to decades of underinvestment. The North Antrim MP said that while recent engagement between Ministers, senior scientists and the Lobular Moon Shot Project is welcome, it has so far failed to deliver the decisive commitment needed to

William Irvine, UFU President, Richard King, The Andersons Centre, Ian Stevenson, NI Dairy Council, Colin Smith, LMC, Glenn Cuddy, UFU deputy president, and Michael Haverty, The Andersons Centre. Northern Ireland’s farming families are shouldering an estimated £96 million in indirect costs every year as a result of bovine Tuberculosis, according to a landmark new independent report launched today, laying bare the scale of a crisis that continues to hit farm profitability, fa

Monday in the House of Commons, North Antrim MP Jim Allister challenged the Prime Minister on announcing a cut to fuel duty to relieve pressure on drivers, farmers and businesses across the UK Motorists, farmers and businesses across Northern Ireland facing soaring fuel costs were given no immediate promise of tax relief on Monday after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the Government’s main focus remains reopening the Strait of Hormuz and easing global supply pressures. T