Retailers call on John Healey to raise national insurance contributions threshold in his first budget

Some of the UK’s biggest retailers and hospitality businesses, including Tesco, Costa Coffee and the Co-op, have met John Healey to urge him to cut the cost of employing young people in his first budget.

At the No 11 event on Tuesday morning, the chancellor heard from sector leaders – including the boss of Marks & Spencer, Stuart Machin, and Sainsbury’s chief executive, Simon Roberts – about the impact of the rise in employers’ national insurance contributions (Nics).

Amid worries about children’s relationship to tech, the solution is often spending more time talking openly with each other

We have become obsessed with the idea that screens are destroying human connection.

The evidence seems to be everywhere. Each week headlines warn of teenagers addicted to phones, a loneliness epidemic and the dangers of AI. The release of The Social Reckoning leads us to ask, “How bad were those guys at Meta?” and then ultimately wonder, “How bad am I if I still use Instagram?” In our day-to-day, we observe workers eating lunch alone while scrolling and friends choosing online games over offline gatherings.