55 minutes ago Married at First Sight UK star raises more than £15,000 for Newcastle explosion victims after boy, seven, was killed and four others taken to hospital

Kieran Chapman, who is currently appearing on Married at First Sight UK and based in Newcastle, set up the fundraiser to 'raise as much money as possible for the families involved.

Events

1 hour ago Cabinet ministers angry at Budget cuts being demanded by Rachel Reeves told: We all face tough choices

But Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted there would be no return to austerity

Politics

2 hours ago Keir Starmer facing cabinet revolt over Budget spending cuts of up to 20%

Senior ministers are pushing back against cuts as Rachel Reeves finalises her first Budget as chancellor

Economics

2 hours ago Cabinet ministers angry at cuts being demanded by Rachel Reeves told: We all face tough choices

But Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson insisted there would be no return to austerity

Politics

4 hours ago Labour's poll tax: Business fury at Reeves's plan to hike national insurance

Hiking national insurance will become Labour's 'poll tax', Rachel Reeves has been warned. In the most vehement criticism yet, business leaders reacted with fury as the Treasury refused to rule it out.

Economics

4 hours ago Does Starmer believe in anything, people ask, and now I can answer: his credo is the rule of law | Martin Kettle

Rwanda, the Chagos Islands, arms to Israel – all fit a pattern. Look to the speech his attorney general made this week; all the clues are therePolitical speeches seem to fall like autumn leaves at this time of year. Speeches at party conferences. Speeches at leadership hustings and to the UN general assembly. And the budget speech itself is still to come. Yet even the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, may struggle to say anything more illuminating than a speech this week by a far less high-profile government member than she.In July, Richard Hermer KC was plucked from a successful bar career by his fellow barrister Keir Starmer, given a peerage and made attorney general. It was a hand-picked appointment by Starmer, who snubbed the shadow attorney general, Emily Thornberry, to make it. As Lord H...

Politics

5 hours ago Here’s a rabbit for the chancellor’s hat: scrap stamp duty on shares | Nils Pratley

Getting rid of SDRT would pay for itself over time because other receipts would rise, abolitionists sayRachel Reeves is looking for taxes to raise, rather than ones to abolish. Never mind: here is a tax that ought to be scrapped by a government that calls itself pro-growth, pro-business and pro-investment, which was the pitch at this week’s big summit. What’s more, the enticing claim from abolitionists is that getting rid of the tax could – with a few qualifications – pay for itself over time because other Treasury receipts would rise.The tax is stamp duty on shares – or, in full, stamp duty reserve tax, or SDRT. It is the 0.5% levy on purchases of shares in UK companies that brought £3.8bn into the Treasury in the 2022-23 tax year. Ireland has a higher rate, 1%, but nobody else does. T...

Politics

8 hours ago Hiking national insurance could prove Labour's 'poll tax', business leaders warn Rachel Reeves

Hiking national insurance will become Labour's 'poll tax', Rachel Reeves has been warned. In the most vehement criticism yet, business leaders reacted with fury as the Treasury refused to rule it out.

Events

10 hours ago Landlords call for Budget tax breaks to boost supply and control rents

Organisations representing the private rental sector said landlords are facing uncertainty ‘on a number of fronts’ as demand grows.

Economics