Marks & Spencer food chief calls for ‘concrete target’ on British produce

Marks & Spencer’s head of food has called on the government to set a legally binding “concrete target” to increase the proportion of food produced at home, as he warned that Britain was becoming “less and less self-sufficient”.Alex Freudmann, the managing director of the upmarket grocer’s food division, which works with 10,000 British farms, said: “If ministers are committed to domestic food supply, then they need to prove it, and that’s why we’re backing our farmers’ calls for a clear and concrete target to increase the proportion of food eaten in Britain that’s grown or reared in Britain.”At present, less than half of the food consumed in the UK is produced here and farmers say it should be much more to ensure security of supply amid global uncertainties including the wars in Ukraine and Gaza and the climate crisis.“If [a target] was set down in law, just like the net zero targets are, it could tilt the balance towards farmers and decisions around planning or access to water, which are incredibly painful to navigate today,” Freudmann said.Ministers needed to “fight quickly” as discussions on the UK government’s food strategy restarted this month and “we’re getting less and less self-sufficient”

Revisions and rising unemployment: what to know about the US jobs report

A closely watched report on US jobs released on Friday gave signs of a cooling labor market.The economy added just 22,000 new jobs in August, coming in below expectations, while the unemployment rate ticked slightly up to 4.3%, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. At the beginning of the year, more than 100,000 jobs were being added each month.Amid Donald Trump’s trade wars, tariffs have now been put on most foreign goods and prices have started going up

Head of UK’s beleaguered Alan Turing Institute resigns

The chief executive of the UK’s leading artificial intelligence institute is stepping down after a staff revolt and government calls for a strategic overhaul.Jean Innes has led the Alan Turing Institute since 2023, but her position has come under pressure amid widespread discontent within the organisation and a demand from its biggest funder, the UK government, for a change in direction.ATI said the search was already under way for a replacement for Innes, who held senior roles in the civil service and technology industry before her appointment.Government sources pointed to a letter sent by the technology secretary, Peter Kyle, to ATI’s chair in July that demanded strategic change and indicated a need for new leadership.In the letter, Kyle said the institute should switch its focus to defence and national security and urged “careful consideration” on having an appropriate executive team in place for such a move

Quantum computing firm reaches $10bn valuation as investor interest builds

A British quantum computing entrepreneur has doubled the value of his stake in the business he founded to $2bn (£1.5bn), after the company achieved a $10bn valuation in its latest fundraising.Ilyas Khan, 63, is the founder of Quantinuum, a UK-US firm that announced on Thursday it had raised $600m as investor interest builds in the cutting-edge technology.Khan set up Quantinuum’s predecessor company, Cambridge Quantum, in 2014 before it merged with the US-based Honeywell Quantum Solutions in 2021.Khan, a former owner of his home town’s football club Accrington Stanley, is now chief product officer at the business and to date has not sold any shares since founding it more than a decade ago

England outlast Australia to book Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Scotland

Tense. Gripping. A proper Test match. Australia put England under the most pressure they have faced in a long time with a superb first half performance but the Red Roses pulled away in the second half to seal top spot and a quarter-final against Scotland.The victory was also England’s 30th in a row, equalling their own world record set at the last World Cup

USA thrash Samoa in 10-try rout as World Cup quarter-final spot hangs in balance

There was only one thing on the agenda in York on Saturday afternoon: points. The reality was always going to be that the United States would pick up a first win of the tournament and inflict a third straight defeat on Samoa. That was never really up for debate.But it was always going to be about how many points the Eagles could rack up to pile the pressure on Australia later in the day. Nobody really knew what would be enough