'Hundreds' of West Lothian people relying on food banks each day

More than 20 million people across the UK are claiming at least one benefit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). That number includes nearly 12.7 million older people in receipt of State Pension payments, a contributory benefit only available to those of retirement age with at least 10 years’ worth of National Insurance Contributions.

New figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) indicate that the number of people of State Pension age or over paying income tax has soared in recent years due to frozen tax thresholds and successive significant increases to the State Pension. The data shows that some 6.7 million people of State Pension age or over were paying income tax as of 2021/22, but that is projected to have risen to 7.1m in 2022/23, 7.9m in 2023/24 and 8.5m in 2024/25 as more pensioners fall into the income tax bracket.

Christmas has come early for genre fans this year with the release of MaXXXine, the third and perhaps not-so-final part of a horror trilogy that began in 2022 with X, a splatterfest set in the ’70s porn industry. Mia Goth was director Ti West’s leading lady, playing both Maxine Mink, the leading lady of the skinflick being made (The Farmer’s Daughters), and her crazy old nemesis, Pearl, who most violently objects to the goings on at her and her husband’s respectable Texas farmstead. For the second film, Pearl — a near-instant prequel — Goth resumed the title role, but in the latest, and for now the last, she reverts to Maxine Mink.

Chaos is expected for holidaymakers after a major airline cancelled hundreds of flights to and from the UK.

A country pub once dubbed a "lost cause" has been crowned the best pub in the north west at a national awards. The Cholmondeley Arms has been racking up the awards in recent years after its transformation under its current owners, Cheshire Cat Pubs.

A leading travel firm has declared that all reservations up to and including July 26 are to be axed after going bust.

Ellie Leach has told how she's 'so proud' of her Coronation Street co-star as she continues to carve out her own post-soap career. The actress shot to fame playing Faye Windass in the ITV soap, a role she held for more than a decade until her exit in early 2023.

Zack Sharf Digital News Director British politician and broadcaster George Galloway appeared for an interview on “Piers Morgan Uncensored” and claimed that Fiona Harvey, the woman who claims she is the real-life inspiration for the stalker character Martha in Netflix’s “Baby Reindeer,” stalked him during the 1980s. Harvey is currently suing Netflix and demanding $170 million in damages due to the show’s depiction of Martha. She also went on Morgan’s talk show herself to deny the stalking and allegations that were depicted in the Netflix series.

EXCLUSIVE: The West Wing actor Joshua Malina will make his London stage bow in the fall playing a “secular, sarcastic, anti-religious Jew” who says “the unsayable” about Israel in what’s being billed as the European premiere of Nathan Englander’s adaptation of his 2012 short story What We Talk About When We Talk About Anne Frank.

A facial reconstruction of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart has sparked a wave of funny on X (formerly Twitter) posts, with users drawing comparisons between the classical composer and a Coronation Street legend.

Scotland’s voice “simply doesn’t matter to Westminster”, First Minister John Swinney will claim today.

Ian McKellen will not feature in the final three performances of Player Kings in London’s West End after his fall.

Ellie Leach has said she's 'already dreaming' of when she can next ditch the UK after enjoying a well-earned break alongside her mum. It's fair to say that the actress has been non stop since taking part in and winning Strictly Come Dancing 2023.

Vito Coppola and Ellie Leach have been left speechless as they were given some joint news months on from winning Strictly Come Dancing. As fans of the pair know, the professional dancer and the actress lifted the coveted Glitterball trophy back in December.

Bathgate golfing star Stephen Gallacher joins three other deserving locals who received medals in the King’s Birthday Honours.

The latest figures from the Scottish Government indicate there are around 850,000 people living in Scotland with some form of hearing loss and of those, 70 per cent are over 70 - some 595,000. Across Great Britain, there are believed to be 12 million adults living with a hearing condition or deafness, however, just 35,633 of them are receiving extra financial support through Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Adult Disability Payment (ADP) or Attendance Allowance.

Vito Coppola was flooded with messages of love and support as he celebrated himself and his fellow Italians who were celebrating a special holiday. The Strictly Come Dancing star has remained in the UK after finishing his second tour of the year with his fellow dancers.

More people up and down the country have won more cash prizes over the past week in the People's Postcode Lottery. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been handed out to lucky winners over the past seven days.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) pays State Pension and welfare benefits to around 22.7 million people across Great Britain. New figures published in the 2024 Fraud and Error in the Benefit System report, show that the total number of benefit overpayments over the last year was £9.7 billion (3.7%), an increase on the £8.3bn figure for 2023.

Earlier this week the Conservative Party confirmed in its manifesto that if elected as the next UK Government, it will press ahead with welfare reforms which include a new Fraud Bill. This will be in addition to the Data Protection and Digital Information Bill which was announced last year and due to the General Election has not progressed beyond the second reading in the House of Lords to the Committee Stage.