6 h. ago Fresh austerity cuts to DWP benefits eyed by Reeves ahead of Spring Statement

The Chancellor's room for manoeuvre is believed to have been wiped out by global turmoil and sluggish economic growth

Politics

8 h. ago Whitehall departments ‘asked to reveal lowest priority spending’ ahead of Reeves’ planned cuts

Whitehall departments and the welfare budget are areas being targeted for spending cuts ahead of the Spring Statement

Events

10 h. ago Is Rachel Reeves about to fix Britain’s public finances on the backs of the poorest members of society?

Editorial: As the chancellor prepares to present her plans for social security reforms she must assess whether her cost-cutting measures are unnecessarily punitive, or indeed realistic

Politics

15 h. ago Rachel Reeves plans huge cuts to benefits and public spending in Spring Statement

Rachel Reeves faces calls to step back from becoming 'Labour's austerity Chancellor' as she prepares to slash billions of pounds from welfare and other Government budgets

Politics

16 h. ago Starmer highlights UK’s war record in implicit rebuke to Vance as Lib Dems mock Badenoch for defending him – UK politics live

Interventions follow US vice president’s comments about ‘20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 40 years’In response to a question about intelligence cooperation with the US, Sir David Manning, a former ambassador to Washington, said he thought this would become “more difficult” because there was a problem of trust. He explained:If you have some of Trump’s appointees in these key jobs who have very strange track records, and have said very strange things about Nato allies, the Nato alliance and so on, and you have people in the administration who seem to be, let’s say, looking for ways of appeasing Russia, then you have a problem on the intelligence front, because these are not the values that we have. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Welfare cuts expected in Spring Statement spark fears for Scottish services

The Spring Statement will come later this month

Politics

18 h. ago Starmer highlights UK’s war record in implicit rebuke to Vance as Badenoch says she does not approve of ‘Twitter pile

Interventions follow US vice president’s comments about ‘20,000 troops from some random country that has not fought a war in 40 years’In response to a question about intelligence cooperation with the US, Sir David Manning, a former ambassador to Washington, said he thought this would become “more difficult” because there was a problem of trust. He explained:If you have some of Trump’s appointees in these key jobs who have very strange track records, and have said very strange things about Nato allies, the Nato alliance and so on, and you have people in the administration who seem to be, let’s say, looking for ways of appeasing Russia, then you have a problem on the intelligence front, because these are not the values that we have. Continue reading...

Events

21 h. ago Rachel Reeves 'plans to slash £5bn' from welfare as she scrambles to find more room for defence spending

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to present the Treasury watchdog with draft proposals for trimming the government's outlay - said to include up to £5billion from welfare.

Economics

22 h. ago Hundreds of thousands face benefits cuts as DWP budget slashed

The Department for Work and Pensions is set to see its budget cut ahead of the spring statement as the Chancellor orders departments to cut billions from their spending

Politics

22 h. ago Labour Government expected to slash benefits in huge spring statement spending cuts

Chancellor Rachel Reeves will make the spring statement on March 26.

Politics

23 h. ago ‘Moral case’ to cut welfare bill, says minister as Reeves bids to balance books

The Chancellor looks set to curb welfare spending and the cost of the Civil Service in her spring statement.

Politics

24 h. ago Rachel Reeves scrambles to find more room for defence spending with plan to slash '£5bn' from welfare in Spring Statement

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to present the Treasury watchdog with draft proposals for trimming the government's outlay - said to include up to £5billion from welfare.

Economics

46 h. ago Rachel Reeves scrambles to speed up Britain's buying of military kit in face of Russian threat as Chancellor vows to 'fire up' UK's defence industry

Speaking at a manufacturing industry conference in London, the Chancellor will demand an overhaul of defence procurement rules in the face of Russia's threat.

Events

5 d. ago Nobody's Child 'trending' floral midi dress drops from £69 to just £35 in sale

Fashion fans can save almost half price on this statement floral dress for their spring wardrobe

Economics

6 d. ago Starmer says no ‘big decisions’ in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring statement

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce the spring budget on March 26

Politics

6 d. ago Sir Kier Starmer says no ‘big decisions’ in Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring statement

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is set to announce the spring budget on March 26

Politics

7 d. ago Keir Starmer quietly dismantles Kemi Badenoch's 'desperate search for relevance' with savage putdown

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch tried to claim credit for the PM's plan to boost defence spending - claiming she'd made the suggestion over the weekend and saying it was the quickest response she'd ever had from No10

Politics

8 d. ago What is Keir Starmer’s plan to increase UK defence spending and is it affordable?

Keir Starmer has outlined plans to slash foreign aid in order to hike Britain’s defence spending, The Independent looks at what has been said about the move

Politics

8 d. ago New DWP update on health and disability benefit reform consultation due to launch next month

A new Green Paper on proposed reforms for health and disability benefits will be published before the Spring Statement.

Politics

9 d. ago DWP dodges PIP questions on whether vouchers will replace cash payments under new reforms

The DWP will announce proposed health and disability benefit reforms ahead of the Spring Statement in March.

Economics