Latest from The Herald Scotland
The Herald Scotland
23 minutes ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Government borrowing jumps despite boost from national insurance hike
It followed the move by Rachel Reeves in April to increase NICs for employers, which has seen wage costs soar for firms across the UK as they also faced a rise in the minimum wage in the same month. In spite of this, borrowing still surged to £17.7 billion last month, the second highest figure on record for May, surpassed only at the height of Covid. The ONS said May borrowing was £700 million higher than a year earlier, though it was slightly less than the £18 billion most economists had been expecting. Borrowing for the first two months of the financial year to date was £37.7 billion, £1.6 billion more than the same two-month period in 2024. Rob Doody, deputy director for public sector finances, said: 'Last month saw the public sector borrow £0.7 billion more than at the same time last year, with only 2020, affected as it was by Covid-19, seeing higher May borrowing in the time since monthly records began. 'While receipts were up, thanks partly to higher income tax revenue and national insurance contributions, spending was up more, affected by increased running costs and inflation-linked uplifts to many benefits.'
The Herald Scotland
23 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
Oasis reunite in new Adidas Originals advert ahead of tour
The pair are the faces behind the Original Forever film campaign, which is soundtracked by their hit song Live Forever, and includes an accompanying Adidas Originals x Oasis Live '25 apparel collection. Fans were eager to catch a new advert for the launch of the collaboration which aired on Channel 4 at 9pm last night (June 19) in the UK. Oasis Originals x Oasis advert adidas ORIGINALS x OASIS. The Brand. The Band. The Legacy Lives On. Original Forever. — adidas UK (@adidasUK) June 19, 2025 The Adidas Originals collection includes Firebird tracksuits, raglan sleeve jerseys, bucket hats and coach jackets – as featured on Liam in the advert itself. Oasis Adidas collab – fans react Taking to social media, emotional fans spoke of the nostalgic feel for the project and their joy at seeing Liam and Noel together again. One person wrote: 'Just watched the new Oasis/Adidas advert and my excitement levels just went through the roof.' Another added: 'Was absolutely buzzing watching that!' Speaking about the Adidas gear, others said: 'Oasis and Adidas - I want it all!' 'I'm definitely sold on the new #Oasis #Adidas collaboration. Spare tickets? @Twickets are the official ticket resale partner for Oasis Live '25 👉 Wanting to buy? Be aware of fraudulent sellers on social media… Tickets can ONLY be resold legally, at face value, through Twickets or Ticketmaster. — Oasis (@oasis) June 18, 2025 'Awesome classic Adidas, I love the old logo too, this is must have.' 'Amazing the legacy lives on,' another tweeted. Chris Walsh, Adidas brand vice president, said: 'Adidas and Oasis share a story defined by originality and cultural impact, with roots that run deep and have long been entwined in the fabric of music and style. 'This official partnership represents more than just two icons coming together – it reignites a timeless piece of cultural music history. Recommended reading: 'Original Forever continues to build on Adidas' lasting legacy in music and celebrates the powerful role music and style play in shaping culture across generations.' Oasis are due to kickstart their world tour next month with performances in Cardiff followed by Manchester, London, Edinburgh and Dublin. The group will continue on with concerts scheduled around the world including Canada, the US, Mexico, Australia and Japan.
The Herald Scotland
38 minutes ago
- Sport
- The Herald Scotland
Cooke on St Mirren memories, Urminsky carschool & Heaton
When Cody Cooke arrived in Paisley, it was the beginning of a new, albeit short-lived, era for the club. A return to the Scottish Premiership had been earned under the guidance of Jack Ross before he departed for Sunderland. Alan Stubbs rolled into town, greeted with cautious optimism, but was then quickly dismissed after just four league matches. He hasn't had a role in the dugout since. Despite the revolving door at the manager's office, with Oran Kearney recruited, having previously narrowly missed out on the post, and then being replaced by Jim Goodwin the following summer, and an injury-plagued time at St Mirren, Cooke still holds fond memories of his time in Scotland. "My overriding feeling towards it is joy and happiness, and ultimately I love my time up there," said the striker, now at Torquay. "Considering I didn't play loads and loads of games, the appreciation I got back from the fans was unbelievable. "I was in and out with injuries and changing managers. I suppose my only regret a little bit is I just wish I could have played a few more games and to show a bit more what I could have done. "I think the fans appreciated I wasn't one to just cause upheaval and leave. I wanted to see out my contract and genuinely thought I could be an asset to the club." Cooke played the entirety of the two-legged Scottish Premiership play-off final against Dundee United, with St Mirren retaining their top-flight status after a penalty shoot-out. He also bagged his first professional hat-trick in a memorable win against Dundee at Dens Park. The Torquay top goalscorer - with 19 league goals last term - had the opportunity to stay in Scotland beyond the summer of 2020 but opted against Premiership and Championship interest to return to England. "It was a weird time with Covid around," he said. "It might have ended up differently even at St Mirren. I think at the time, there were constraints on budget, and there were short-term deals everywhere. "It was a bit of both in terms of nothing sort of concrete, but I had interest from both the Premiership and Championship, and it was just a case of what do I want to do. "At that point, I just wanted the security of knowing where I was going to be for the next couple of years. I didn't really want to have six months somewhere and then maybe it not work out." Cooke played just 27 matches in his two years at the SMiSA Stadium but received far greater recognition for his efforts than some of those who arrived at the club in a similar time frame. Stubbs has become a villain to St Mirren supporters for his three-month reign. Cooke was one of his signings, having impressed the manager at the V9 Academy alongside fellow summer signing Josh Heaton, who left the club under a cloud after being signed for a fee in the region of £75,000. "I met Josh through the V9 and we actually moved into a flat together in Glasgow," revealed Cooke. "At the time, he would have been maybe four or five years younger than me. "He was just sort of happy-go-lucky guy. For whatever reason, it just didn't work out. "In was the opposite in the sense that I was desperate to stay and make it worth my while, whereas Josh had a lot more interest in the summer and a lot of clubs were interested, and he was maybe upset that he chose St Mirren and it maybe didn't work out. "He was just fort of looking to leave. I'm sure he had a long-term deal. It just never worked out and he was happy to leave. "I think he ended up moving to Australia. I don't think he actually went on to play, which is a shame because ability and attributes, he genuinely had everything for a centre-half but it's not just what the body tells you, but everything between the ears as well. "It just didn't work out." Read more: Just one player remains at St Mirren from Cooke's time at the club: Peter Urminsky. The goalkeeper has had limited opportunities in his time in Paisley but appears primed for a role in the first-team with St Mirren currently without a No1 goalkeeper after Zach Hemming's loan concluded. Stephen Robinson tipped Urminsky for big things in the future, and Cooke is hopeful to see the Slovak stopper given a chance after carschooling with him years ago. "It looks like it might be a chance. He's probably grown into his body a bit more in terms of character, I imagine, now, because he was really shy and young when he first joined. "And actually, his agent had sorted him out accommodation somewhere near Hamilton, where we were staying, because I used to drive him in with Gary MacKenzie. And so, Pete didn't have a car or anything. So we used to pick him up and take him into training. And he used to just fold into the back of the car because you know how big he is. "He was quiet, to be honest, he didn't really say a lot, but he kept himself to himself and trained really well. "I think the club were always happy to keep him around because he was someone that they could see potential in, but also a really good trainer and good around the place. And it does go a long way, that. "Hopefully, he gets his chance now this season; he's obviously been staying around for a reason, and he's been signing new contracts for a reason. So, they're not just happy for him to be around. I imagine they want him to play some games. "So, yeah, good luck to him because he's a nice kid, to be fair." What now for Cooke? Well, he's tied down for another season at Torquay, with an option of another, and gunning for promotion to the Vanarama Conference after finishing second in the Vanarama South last season. The qualified PT, and qualified teacher who works as a mortgage advisor alongside playing football, said: "It was a good end to the season. We're back already next week. We can hope for a promotion next year but let's see how it goes. "It's been going well and hopefully it'll be another good year on and off the pitch." AND ANOTHER THING Martin Foyle's exit comes as a huge blow for St Mirren. The recruitment guru has played a significant, if at times unnoticed, role in the club achieving three straight top-six finishes. Stephen Robinson has often remarked on the incredible power of work Foyle contributed to the club and emphasised the point that some signings were only possible through Foyle's network and connections. The narrative around Foyle's departure has been contradictory in some ways, though. "No, not really" Foyle told Carlisle United media when asked about it potentially being a difficult decision to leave St Mirren and Robinson. "There are things going on in the background that people don't see. "My connection with Stephen is absolutely fantastic, he is a top-drawer manager but sometimes you need to move on." Robinson said: "Martin has been an integral part of what we've done over the past three and a half years and he's been an integral part of what I've done as a manager over 10 years now. He's a close friend of mine now and it's a sad loss for the club. "Another opportunity arose that was exciting for him and it's with regret that Martin is leaving. I'd like to put on record my thanks to him for his recruitment and for all he's done at the football club. "The club have appointed John and it's important that we get working together quickly, build a relationship, and I look forward to that." St Mirren have appointed experienced scout John Park to the post of head of recruitment and emerging talent. Park counts Celtic, Rangers and Vancouver Whitecaps in his former clubs. He most recently worked at Blackburn Rovers before leaving by mutual consent. "I'm delighted to be joining St Mirren," said Park. "I'm excited to meet the manager, build a relationship with him and add to the good work that has been done over the past few years. "The club has a clear strategy in terms of its football operations and I believe my experience will help build upon that." AND FINALLY Jayden Richardson checked in at St Mirren, signing a two-year deal from Boreham Wood. The wing-back follows Killian Phillips, Roland Idowu and Richard King in joining the club this summer. Richardson had emerged as the preferred target after Ryan Alebiosu became unrealistic for a permanent deal following significant interest. On paper, it seems a solid addition to the squad with the starting right-wing-back role the plan for Richardson. Callum Penman will be in and around the first-team in the upcoming season as the alternative option, at least for pre-season. Marcus Fraser has been deployed at wing-back but increasingly sparingly under Stephen Robinson with a spot in the back-three a far more comfortable role. It wouldn't be a surprise for Robinson - and new recruitment chief John Park - to be on the lookout for another right-sided option.
The Herald Scotland
38 minutes ago
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
UK retail sales slump in May after ‘dismal' month for supermarkets
This compared with a 1.3% rise in April, which was revised up from a previous estimate of 1.2% for the month. Retail sales fell across all sectors in May 2025. This was the largest monthly fall since December 2023. Retail sales volumes have fallen 2.7% in May 2025, following a rise of 1.3% in April 2025 (revised up from 1.2%). Read more ➡️ — Office for National Statistics (ONS) (@ONS) June 20, 2025 May's overall retail sales came in considerably below the 0.7% decline that most economists had been expecting for the month. It was also the biggest monthly fall since December 2023. The ONS said it was a 'dismal' month for supermarkets with food sales falling sharply following a jump in April. ONS senior statistician Hannah Finselbach said: 'Retail sales fell sharply in May with their largest monthly fall since the end of 2023. 'This was mainly due to a dismal month for food retailers, especially supermarkets, following strong sales in April. 'Feedback suggested reduced purchases for alcohol and tobacco with customers choosing to make cutbacks.' She added that clothing and homeware stores were reporting reduced footfall in May – meaning fewer people coming into shops. A drop in demand for DIY items last month followed the sunny weather in April that had boosted home improvement projects. Despite May's decline, retail sales volumes rose by 0.8% across the three months to May, compared with the three months to February.
The Herald Scotland
39 minutes ago
- Entertainment
- The Herald Scotland
In honour of Joe Shaughnessy – a bonafide 'cinchman'
You can even do it by yourself. Sure, randomly saying the names of former-glory footballers out loud to yourself and laughing along may be a little extreme, and probably get you escorted out of your local Co-op, but we've all also carried out a version of this by getting lost in some online rabbit hole. It's often with the help of Wikipedia. You look up a player from years past, see his current club, recognise another player name there, and off you go! You can also do it with strangers online. In September of this past season, there was one such trend which took off on social media that was all about sitting around, trying to think of beloved (but not obviously so) players from days gone by and getting a kick out of what others managed to rescue from their subconscious. It was entitled 'Barclaysman' (or 'Barclaysmen'). This was in reference to the time when Barclays sponsored the English Premier League (née Premiership) between 2001 and 2016. To be labelled as Barclaysman, the player had to be good enough to be remembered fondly by a larger group of people than just supporters of one club, but they couldn't be so good as to being completely obvious and thereby miss the whole point in the exercise. Cristiano Ronaldo? Absolutely not a Barclaysman. Far too good, far too famous, far too successful. But Jay Jay Okocha on the other hand? Now you're talking. More than the players, it also appeals to the widely-shared belief that football was better before (it didn't have VAR, so it was). This was a celebrated era in which the Premier League really started to expand out to a global force, but before over-saturation got out of control and it was preordained that there be at least one English team in a European final every season. Following the success of #Barclaysman, there were some attempted spin-offs north of the border. We even had one on The Terrace Podcast talking about the ultimate lower-league heroes from recent years – or 'Irn-Bru Men' as we dubbed it. But it's much trickier for that kind of trend to take off amongst Scottish football supporters, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, while 'cinchman' was the most popular Scottish adaptation, it doesn't quite work to the same degree. After all, while some people still call it 'the cinch' despite William Hill having taken over as SPFL sponsors last summer, their run as the prefix to the Scottish league names only lasted two years (ah, but what a run it was!). You could go with 'Ladbrokesman' but that was only five years. And 'sponsorlessman' wouldn't do it either – everyone would just get annoyed about the governance of our game over recent decades and concentrate on that instead. Secondly, there just isn't the same level of interest from the average fan about players who don't play for their own club. You really have to be a Scottish football nerd (he says from experience) to get any sort of mild thrill out of someone going 'here, mind Kallum Higginbotham?' Most fans are likely to go 'who?'. Or, at best, 'aye, I remember the name' before incorrectly naming one of his former clubs. While we may not be strong in number, there are those of us who think watching Ross County v Dundee United on a rare Sky Sports broadcast is a treat and not a chore or something to be ignored, and we cherish these good men who may not have shone brightly but added to our enjoyment of Scottish football. Sadly, it now seems certain one such example of this is going to leave Scottish football for pastures new this summer. Joe Shaughnessy is just the epitome of a cinchman. He started at Aberdeen but he didn't really make his name there, despite making over 50 appearances following his move over from Ireland as a 16-year-old. That's because he was largely played at right-back and was, largely, not very good at it. He really grew into his own when he moved to St Johnstone in 2015 and was made a permanent fixture at the heart of their defence. He later impressed in a three-year spell at St Mirren before falling out with Stephen Robinson. And he was the only adult in the room over the last two seasons for a Dundee defence that was still shambolic with him in the team, but a total car-crash without his presence. He wasn't the most skilled of footballers, even for a centre-back, but he had enough poise in possession that meant you felt comfortable if you were a Saints or Dundee supporter and stopped him being a figure of ridicule if you weren't. What made him stand out was his aggression in the air. The man never saw a ball off the ground that he didn't like to attack, which contributed to his ability to make a difference at set-pieces in the opposing penalty area, scoring 27 times over the years. He was the perfect plug-and-play serviceable Scottish top-flight defender; exactly what a team needed if they aspirations were simply 'let's not make a fool of ourselves this season' – which is a mindset our clubs should really think about adopting more often. It feels inexplicable that he never featured for Motherwell or Kilmarnock and now he likely never will. With his 33rd birthday coming up, he has decided against remaining at Dundee for the Steven Pressley era and is now set to make the move down under to the Newcastle Jets. Unless he suffers immediate homesickness, we probably won't see Joe rock up again at another Premiership side. That is a shame, but he goes with the best wishes from those who will ultimately remember him as a proper cinchman.
