Latest UK news

Older workers to plug skills gap
Apprenticeships should be offered to older workers to help tackle the skills gap facing industry, the Engineering Employers’ Federation said today. It called on the government to invest in “mature apprenticeships” as part of a drive to boost productivity.

Floud joins NUS funding rally
Roderick Floud, vice-chancellor of London Guildhall University and president of Universities UK, joined an estimated 2,000 students at a National Union of Students rally in Traflagar Square on Saturday to campaign for better funding in higher education. He said it was not possible for students to get the best out of university if they were working long hours to support themselves.

Scottish Labour endorses McConnell
Scotland’s education minister, Jack McConnell, has been endorsed unopposed as Labour’s Scottish leader following the resignation of Henry McLeish. Mr McConnell is expected to be elected Scotland’s first minister on Thursday.

Drying out advice for Seahenge
English Heritage has recommended that Seahenge, the Bronze Age timber circle discovered on a Norfolk beach, should be conserved rather than returned to its original site. The 4,000-year-old structure was found off Holme two years ago and dug up in the summer of 1999 despite prolonged protests by locals and Druid groups.