Here are the stories making the business headlines across the UK this morning.
SNP 'squandering' £16bn of ScotWind investment amid wind turbine manufacturing fears
Up to £16bn of renewables manufacturing pledged to take place in Scotland could be lost due to a lack of infrastructure and facilities.
SNP ministers have been accused of “squandering the opportunities of the green revolution” amid fears up to £16bn of wind farm manufacturing promised to Scotland may be forced to take place overseas.
The Scottish Government has been warned it risks repeating the mistakes of the past, which has seen Scotland scale up offshore wind, but fail to reap the economic benefits despite then first minister Alex Salmond declaring back in 2011 the country was to become the “Saudi Arabia of renewables”.
Union bosses have warned jobs and skills associated with the renewables boom will continue to be shifted overseas, despite a flagship round of seabed leases meant to ensure that a certain proportion of manufacturing takes place in Scotland and the UK.
Read the full story in The Scotsman.
Tourism counts cost of missing visitors
The UK is facing a £2.8bn shortfall in tourist spending, with the country attracting almost three million fewer overseas visitors a year than it was before the pandemic, according to an analysis of official data.
While other industries have regained pre-Covid levels of activity, the tourism sector is lagging, research by the Centre for Economics and Business Research think tank suggests.
Inbound visitor numbers rose in 2022 and 2023, but were still down on 2019. Numbers reached 38 million last year, well down on the 40.9 million recorded in 2019. Even for this year, the numbers will be down, with VisitBritain projecting inbound tourist numbers of 38.7 million for 2024.
Spending is also sharply down in real terms. After adjusting for inflation, spending by overseas tourists is said to have fallen by 8 per cent, or £2.8 billion, compared with 2019.
Scottish government spending constraints unavoidable - Robison
Finance Secretary Shona Robison has defended spending constraints as the only option available to her in the current climate.
Last week the Scottish government confirmed it would follow the UK government in no longer providing winter fuel payments to all pensioners.
Ms Robison told BBC Radio Scotland's The Sunday Show that the devolved nations need more "fiscal flexibility".
Chancellor Rachel Reeves previously said the new Labour government had to make “difficult decisions” due to a £22bn hole in public finances as a result of overspend from the previous Conservative administration.
Clapping for NHS in pandemic may have been 'dangerous', health ombudsman says
Clapping for the NHS in the COVID pandemic may have been "dangerous" because "no organisation can be a national religion", the health service ombudsman has said.
Rebecca Hilsenrath also warned that "no organisation should be beyond constructive criticism".
Ms Hilsenrath is the parliamentary and health service ombudsman, whose office investigates complaints against government departments, public organisations and the NHS in England.
She has submitted evidence to a review of the NHS launched by the new government, with the probe being headed by Professor Lord Ara Darzi.