The UK chancellor has said that the case for intervening to save the Ineos chemical plant in Grangemouth was “compelling”.The government is investing £120m to save the UK’s last ethylene plant at Grangemouth, in a deal expected to protect more than 500 jobs.Rachel Reeves talked of a “genuine partnership” and said the government had been in discussions “over the last few weeks and months”.She vowed to protect British industry, and said this was vital for Britain’s national security.Visiting Grangemouth in Scotland with Peter Kyle, the business secretary, Reeves said:There are loads of things that government can’t do, but there are also some things that business can’t do, and that is why you need a partnership, and indeed, with the workers and the trade unions to be able to have a sort of sustainable model for the future.

And the world is incredibly uncertain at the moment, but we’ve got to protect British industry, British manufacturing.And here, with what you.do with ethylene, it is absolutely critical for our national security in so many ways as well.And so the case for intervening was compelling, and we will always take action to support British industry and manufacturing.You saw it with steel.

You see it here today in Grangemouth.Wall Street stocks rose modestly at the open, with a mood of caution following reports of funding hurdles for Oracle’s data centre plans.The Dow Jones, S&P 500 and Nasda were flat to 0.3% higher.Over here, the FTSE 100 index has jumped 1.

6%, or 15 points, to 9,839, after a bigger-than-expected drop in UK inflation to 3.2% in November, which cemented expectations of an interest rate cut from the Bank of England tomorrow.The FTSE is on track for its best day in eight months.The pound fell by 0.45% to $1.

3366, while yields, or interest rates, on UK government bonds dropped,Jim Ratcliffe’s chemicals company Ineos has been granted £120m of government funding to help save the UK’s last ethylene plant at Grangemouth, in a deal expected to protect more than 500 jobs,The investment in the Scottish plant was necessary to preserve a vital part of the country’s chemicals infrastructure, the UK government said,The ethylene produced there was essential for medical-grade plastics production, water treatment and in aerospace and car-building, it added,Keir Starmer said the investment, with an additional £30m from Ineos, was proof his government would “invest in Britain’s future”.

Rachel Reeves, the chancellor who travelled to Grangemouth today with the business secretary Peter Kyle, said the case for intervening was “compelling” and key for Britain’s national security.Our main stories today:Rachel Reeves would probably rather not rake over the chaotic run-up to last month’s budget, but it will be high on the agenda on 13 January when Richard Hughes, the recently departed chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) appears before the House of Lords economic affairs committee, reports our economics editor Heather Stewart.Hughes resigned last month, five days after the OBR inadvertently released its budget documents - including details of the chancellor’s tax plans - 40 minutes or so before she stood up to speak in the House of Commons.He had also courted controversy by publishing a letter setting out the evolution of the OBR’s forecasts, which the Tories seized on to suggest Reeves had misrepresented the health of the public finances.Prof David Miles from the OBR, who appeared before the same committee on Tuesday, underlined how frustrated the forecaster had been by the flurry of leaks ahead of the budget.

I think that there’s actually an agreement between the Treasury, the OBR, the chancellor, that this wasn’t a very helpful process in many ways - that there was lots of speculation about measures, there were leaks, there was briefing,I don’t think it did anybody any good,The UK drinks giant Diageo, which makes Tusker beer, has struck a $2,3bn (£1,7bn) deal to sell its majority stake in an East African beer business to Japanese drinks giant Asahi.

The deal is the latest move by the Guinness and Johnnie Walker owner to sell off “non-core” parts of the business to improve its performance.Shares in Diageo rose by 1.6% in early trading.The FTSE 100 firm will sell its 65% shareholding in East African Breweries (EABL) to Asahi Group, in a move which also includes its stake in Kenyan spirits business UDVK.Diageo committed to a long-term licensing agreement for the business as part of the deal, continuing the production and distribution of Guinness in the region.

The sale is expected to complete in the second half of 2026.It is part of a series of divestments, including sale of Diageo’s stake in Guinness Ghana Breweries earlier this year.Former Tesco boss Dave Lewis, known as “Drastic Dave” for aggressive cost-cutting at Unilever and Tesco, will take over as Diageo chief executive early next year.Nik Jhangiani, Diageo’s interim chief executive, said:EABL and Diageo have built the largest beer business in East Africa, a testament to driven people with a passion for the consumers and communities they serve.We are excited to partner with Asahi through the licensing of Diageo brands in the region going forward.

Atsushi Katsuki, Asahi’s president and chief executive, said:This business is a high-quality, leading company in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania, with an unrivalled brand portfolio and marketing capabilities, state-of-the-art production facilities and strong market shares.The UK has given its final warning to Roman Abramovich to release £2.5bn from the oligarch’s sale of Chelsea FC to give to Ukraine, telling the billionaire to release the funds in 90 days or face court action.Keir Starmer told the House of Commons the funds from Abramovich, who is subject to UK sanctions, would be converted into a new foundation for humanitarian causes in Ukraine and that the issuing of a licence for the transfer was the last chance Abramovich would have to comply.The move comes on the eve of a crucial EU summit, where leaders are urged to agree using Russia’s frozen assets to provide Ukraine with a €90bn loan.

Starmer said:The clock is ticking on Roman Abramovich to honour the commitment he made when Chelsea FC was sold and transfer the £2.5bn to a humanitarian cause for Ukraine.This government is prepared to enforce it through the courts so that every penny reaches those whose lives have been torn apart by Putin’s illegal war.Rachel Reeves has dismissed claims from North Sea industry leaders that the UK government’s windfall tax on oil and gas profits is causing up to 1,000 job losses a month, particularly in north east Scotland, Severin Carroll is reporting from Scotland.Speaking to reporters in Grangemouth near Edinburgh after unveiling a £155m deal to upgrade an Ineos petro-chemicals plant, the chancellor was pressed on consistent claims the energy profits levy was deeply damaging for North Sea employers, adding to their mounting operating costs and causing engineering companies to cut jobs.

Asked whether she thought that job losses figure was true or not, she said:No.No, I don’t.Well, there have been job losses for a number of years, including before the previous Conservative government introduced the energy profits levy,Reeves said, referring to arguments the North Sea is an ageing and declining basin with high operating costs.Aberdeen Chamber of Commerce said the chancellor’s decision not to quickly phase out or remove the levy in her recent budget could lead to the North Sea sector being dead within five years.This dispute has become central to attacks by the Scottish National party, the Conservatives and Reform UK on Labour in the run-up to next May’s Scottish parliament elections.

Reeves said the UK government strategy was to invest in new energy industries like offshore and onshore renewables, working alongside major investors such as Scottish Power and Scottish and Southern Energy, and also building modular nuclear reactors – a technology the Scottish National party government in Edinburgh is resisting.She said there were “massive opportunities” for new energy jobs to be created.She told the Guardian:In England and in Wales, we’re investing in new nuclear, creating thousands of jobs, whether that’s the commitment to the new power station at Sizewell or small modular reactors, in Anglesey.We could make those sorts of investments in Scotland if the Scottish government supported it.Douglas Alexander, the Scottish secretary, who added that Torness nuclear power station, Scotland’s last nuclear generator, was in his East Lothian constituency, said:[UK energy secretary] Ed Miliband has said categorically he will bring the world’s nuclear industry to Scotland the day after there is a change of approach by the Scottish government.

There is an unscientific, anti-, I would argue, dogmatic approach taken by the Scottish government opposing new build nuclear.At the moment that has the potential to deliver not just baseload capacity as it does in Torness at the moment, but could deliver thousands of well-paid, unionised jobs for decades to come.So if we’re looking for where the sources of jobs, look at the work that we’re doing in defence, look at the work that we want to do on new build nuclear and we have to ask some searching questions of our political opponents in the Scottish National party.The UK firm CMR Surgical has had its next-generation surgical robot approved in the US, and will start rolling it out in hospitals stateside next year.The Cambridge-based company has received the green light from the US regulator FDA for its Versius Plus robot for cholecystectomy procedures (gallbladder removal).

It plans to apply for regulatory approval for other indications in the future.It will be going head to head with Californian rival Intuitive Surgical’s Da Vinci robot.CMR argues that its compact, modular robot is more cost effective than Da Vinci, especially due it its portability and ability be used across multiple operating rooms and specialties.Versius Plus is already approved in the UK and the EU, and is used by the NHS and private hospitals.Outside of the United States, CMR’s two robotic systems, the first-generation model Versius and Versius Plus, have already completed more than 40,000 surgical procedures (gastro-intestinal, gynaecology, urology and general surgery).

Massimiliano Colella, CMR’s chief executive, said:This [FDA] clearance represents an exciting new chapter for CMR Surgical as we introduce Versius Plus to the US market,Built on years of global clinical use data, Versius Plus delivers the flexibility and intelligence today’s healthcare institutions need to advance robotic-assisted surgery,It’s inspiring to see our new technology transforming the landscape of surgical care,Peter Kyle, the business secretary, insisted that the £150m deal to save the Ineos chemical plant in Grangemouth is “good value for money, for the public purse,” and for workers,I have been convinced there is a pathway to sustainability, but they needed to get through this period in time to transition to profitability.

My officials and myself came to that conclusion.I think this is good value for money, for the public purse and is very good value, particularly for people who work here.The sustainability that is going to be produced from here will have a huge impact on the workers here, on the broader community, but also the thousands who work in the supply chain locally.That supply chain would have collapsed had the government not stepped in and worked with Ineos to get the situation we have today.More details have emerged about today’s £150m deal between the UK government and Ineos to modernise an ethylene plant at Grangemouth west of Edinburgh, securing more than 500 jobs.

Our Scotland editor Severin Carrell reports: The money includes a £50m grant from the government, a repayable £75m commercial loan brokered by NatWest underwritten by a loan guarantee from the government, and £30m investment from Ineos itself,That money is expected to be spent by Ineos over the next five years,The site makes polymers and chemicals for plastics, medicines and chemicals industries,The deal was agreed after Ineos boss Sir Jim Ratcliffe approached the government in October, asking for investment to help fund future investment,Speaking alongside Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, as she unveiled the deal at Grangemouth, Andrew Gardner, chairman of O&P (Olefins & Polymers) for Ineos, said the firm had already spent £400m on upgrading and modernising the plant over the last four years; that investment cycle was due to end in April next year.

Douglas Alexander, the Scottish secretary, said the government investment was based on evidence from Ineos the money would ensure the plant was profitable and sustainable in the long term and was supplying its products for British manufacturing.It’s clear that there is a route to profitability for Grangemouth on the basis of the commitments they have made today.We have been encouraged and impressed by what we’ve heard from Ineos management.”Colin Pritchard, Ineos’s head of sustainability and external affairs for its O&P division, said the money would be devoted to improving energy efficiency, cutting its carbon emissions and improving performance.He said the site, which runs an ethylene cracker that takes North Sea gas and liquified petroleum gas (LPG from the US to make its petro-chemicals, had been under “extreme pressure” from surging energy costs linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the UK’s carbon taxes.

The co-chairs of Scotland’s Just Transition Commission, an influential Scottish government-funded independent body, Satwat Rehman and Prof.Dave Reay, hope that the UK government’s £120m investment in Ineos’ chemical plant at Grangemouth will “help achieve a more managed and orderly transition to low carbon manufacturing at Grangemouth”.More detail on the revised timeline for the plant’s operations in light of this public support would be welcome, as this should give greater reassurance to workers, communities and businesses linked to the site.It will also be critical for us to better understand the nature of conditions attached to these public funds so as to safeguard the social, economic and environmental interests of taxpayers.The potential for governments to use conditionalities to support a just transition is a key focus of our work as a Commission and we welcome any opportunity to support policymakers in developing practical proposals to this end.

We once again call on all levels of government to work together with employers, workers and communities to urgently develop anticipatory plans for the highest emitting industrial sites in Scotland so that the social and economic aspects of greening and/or closure can be managed and workers supported meaningfully through the transition.We need to avoid any repeat of the reactive responses to unplanned changes we have seen with the Grangemouth refinery and Mossmorran ethylene plant.UK business organisations and trade unions have welcomed the news that the UK will rejoin the EU’s Erasmus+ exchange scheme, as first reported by the Guardian.Emma Rowland, trade policy advisor at the Institute of Directors, said this is one of the first tangible achievements to have been secured post-reset summit in May.She said the IoD’s own data shows strong support for student exchange, with 86% listing it as the second most beneficial aspect of a Youth Mobility Scheme.

Closer engagement with the UK’s international partners is a way for students and workers at the start of their career to gain valuable cultural and language experience.Greater transfer of ideas through research, study and exchange of workers can also help support innovation and productivity, while deepening ties with the EU.We are also calling for the negotiation of a broader Youth Experience Scheme, including elements such as mobility for work, volunteering and traineeships with the EU, which would be particularly beneficial for sectors like hospitality and retail, which typically employ large numbers of young people and have struggled to find workers following the loss of movement of potential recruits between the EU.Unions also welcomed the move.TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said:This is another step forward to repairing the damage of the Tories’ botched Brexit deal, which set back workers on both sides of the Channel.

The TUC and European unions have long been calling for easier, fairer pathways for people to live, work, and study in each other’s territories – with rights and standards safeguarded.This agreement helps realise that call.The UK rejoining Erasmus+ will provide UK workers of all ages, apprentices, school pupils and adult learners with valuable opportunities including educational school trips, vocational training and traineeships in other countries – opportunities which have been badly missed over the past few years.Paddy Power and Betfair have reached a £2m settlement with the gambling industry regulator over social responsibility failings, including allowing one customer to bet for nearly eight hours solid.The Gambling Commission said the online betting and gaming brands, which are owned by Flutter Entertainment, had fallen “far short” of what was expected during a routine compliance assessment performed in 2024.

Systems that were supposed to detect early indicators that gamblers may be experiencing harm and trigger checks on their wellbeing were found to have been insufficiently sensitive, resulting in late intervention.Failings identified by the Gambling Commission included one customer being allowed to stake £86,000 over a 16-day period, during which time they lost £6,000.Warner Bros Discovery has urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover offer from Paramount Skydance, branding it “inadequate” amid an extraordinary corporate battle to control the legacy media conglomerate.WBD agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82