The review presents Alex Salmond, the Scottish first minister, with a formidable political problem. Photograph: Murdo Macleod Up to 50,000 public sector jobs could be lost and universal benefits such as free care for the elderly could be either cut or scrapped because of dramatic reductions in public spending in Scotland, an official review has [...]

John Makinson: the consumer must be given what the consumer wants. Photograph: David Levene/for the Guardian Penguin this week celebrates its 75th year and is marking the anniversary by repackaging a series of seminal books from the 1960s to the 1980s. Although the company might afford itself a brief look backwards, it feels as though [...]

Neil Berkett: said Ofcom’s report on broadband speeds ‘only went halfway’ The Virgin Media chief executive, Neil Berkett, has attacked rivals as “grossly misleading” in the way they market internet speeds to consumers. He called on the government to crack down on advertising if it expects the cable company to invest hundreds of millions of [...]

Ofcom chief Ed Richards said that there is a very big difference between the advertised speeds and the actual speeds delivered by ISPs. Photograph: Gamma Ray Studio Inc/Getty Images Millions of broadband users are being sold short by providers that are delivering speeds far below those advertised, according to research published today. Data released by [...]