Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter. Rising prices for UK wool are enough to warm the heart of any knitted seasonal jumper-clad heritage lover. Values still have a way to go before they might improve the lot of sheep farmers but … Read more
Sad female worker carrying her belongings while leaving the office after being fired Isbjorn | Istock | Getty Images Layoffs have been a defining feature of the job market in 2025, with several major companies announcing thousands of job cuts driven by artificial intelligence. In fact, AI was responsible for almost 55,000 layoffs in the … Read more
Stay informed with free updates Simply sign up to the Workplace pensions myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox. Royal Mail’s new pension scheme, the first of its kind in the UK, fell almost 5 per cent in its first six months, raising questions over the level of future payouts for its more than … Read more
A photo showing President Donald Trump’s face that was included in the release of the investigative files on notorious sex predator Jeffrey Epstein — and more than a dozen other files — appears to have been removed from the Department of Justice’s website. The photo, released on Friday along with a slew of other files, … Read more
The questions 1 Where does the Yule Cat devour people who don’t have new clothes?2 Who successfully answered the radio advert: “Astronauts wanted, no experience required”?3 Which story popularised the eating of turkey at Christmas?4 Who signed his letters to Queen Elizabeth I as “007”?5 What is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust?6 … Read more
Born in Hertfordshire, Sarah Hadland, 54, attended Laine Theatre Arts college in Surrey. From 2009 to 2015, she played Stevie in the Bafta-nominated sitcom Miranda, and her other television work includes Horrible Histories, Waterloo Road, W1A, The Job Lot and Daddy Issues. This Christmas, she appears on The Festive Pottery Throwdown and The Celebrity Apprentice, and … Read more
I’m treading dangerous ground critiquing classics such as Jacob’s cream crackers and Carr’s table water biscuits, some of Britain’s most nostalgic family foods. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of comfort eating, especially at Christmas, but both are also symbols of our industrial food culture: bland, beige and unadventurous. That said, maybe they’re just the … Read more
It was Christmas Eve, 1987. The cold war was beginning to emit its last frosty guffs, Thatcher had set her sights on gay children, and Michael Fish was keeping his head down. In England’s deep south, my sister and I conspired in our bedroom. We are twins: she got the brains; I, being the eldest … Read more
Christmas for me began as a summertime celebration in New Zealand, with long days and warm evenings. Twenty-plus years on, the wintry cosiness of a UK Christmas has taken hold. Now, my essentials include perfectly crisp roast potatoes with plenty of gravy, and sprouts (non-negotiable). Even my young niece and nephew love them, which is … Read more
My partner and I are professionals in our early 30s. We’ve been together for five years, and long-distance for the last three, but have just moved back in together. While we were long-distance, we both had difficulties in our work. She had important exams, and it’s taken a long time for me to get into … Read more