68 m. ago It’s under fire from left and right – but Labour’s workers' rights bill is a huge achievement | Polly Toynbee

It makes no sense for union leaders to cry betrayal when it will be their members who benefit from these sorely needed reformsThe wall of sound shouting “liar” at the chancellor is a bizarre Westminster frenzy. Stand back from the hysteria and ask this question: how can Rachel Reeves be accused of raising more money than necessary when there is still pitifully little to go round in every department at her cabinet table? It’s a weird Tory ramp that she lied about a black hole when we can see it everywhere in the real world. She could have raised more.As the prime minister, Keir Starmer, pleads the case for all that was Labour-flavoured in the budget, the week also brought a breakthrough for Labour’s flagship employment rights bill. Shamelessly stymied by the Lords’ Tory majority, the government watered down a clause on so-called day-one rights that would have given workers protection from unfair dismissal from the day they walked into a job. That legal right will now kick in at six m...

Economics

2 h. ago As Rachel Reeves battles to survive, Labour needs to stop the self

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has further damaged Labour’s credibility by making an avoidable mistake

Events

2 h. ago The most misleading thing about Rachel Reeves’s budget? Who it was really for | Aditya Chakrabortty

Labour backbenchers have been cheering it as a win for the most vulnerable in socety. In fact it was aimed at the bond marketsThe charge is a grave one: that Rachel Reeves has just lied to Britons, spooking them into paying billions in extra taxes that she can splash out on higher benefits. However hyperbolic, this isn’t the usual Westminster sparring; this time, someone might get hurt. A week ago, critics of Reeves and Keir Starmer were, rightly, calling their budget “chaotic”. Today, it’s denounced as lies, and Kemi Badenoch is demanding the chancellor quit. It’s an accusation that demands straightforward answers, so let me give mine. Did the chancellor tell lies? On the available evidence, no. There were no whoppers, no falsehoods, no porkies. But despite Starmer’s comments yesterday, that doesn’t mean there’s nothing to see here and we can all move along. Reeves did mislead the public about the factors shaping her decisions. Was it all to funnel cash to “benefits street”, as the...

Politics

7 h. ago Turmoil in markets blamed on Rachel Reeves putting out mixed messages over tax rises

Bond markets swung wildly in the weeks leading up to the Budget amid speculation over the state of the public finances and Chancellor Rachel Reeves' plans.

Economics

7 h. ago Reeves blamed as private sector shrinks at fastest pace since pandemic amid pre

Rachel Reeves has been blamed for leaving firms in 'limbo' amid intense pre-Budget speculation as private sector activity slumped at the fastest pace since the pandemic.

Events

12 h. ago Rachel Reeves accused of trying to 'manipulate' the bond markets after wild swings ahead of Budget

Rachel Reeves has been accused of trying to 'manipulate' the bond markets in the build up to the Budget.

Economics

12 h. ago OBR chair quits after inquiry into early release of budget document

Richard Hughes takes ‘full responsibility’ for watchdog error as Starmer attempts to secure chancellor’s positionThe chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility has resigned after a damning internal inquiry into the leak that threw Rachel Reeves’s budget into chaos described it as the “worst failure” in the institution’s history.The departure of Richard Hughes, who said he took “full responsibility” for the watchdog’s failure to handle sensitive information, dragged the rolling recriminations over the budget into a fifth day. Continue reading...

Economics

12 h. ago Starmer insists there was ‘no misleading’ amid claims Reeves lied in run

Sir Keir Starmer forced to defend Rachel Reeves during speech as Labour MPs voice discontent

Politics

13 h. ago OBR boss quits after Budget was leaked minutes before Rachel Reeves delivered it

Richard Hughes resigned as chairman of the Office for Budget Responsibility following the massive blunder minutes before the Chancellor's Budget speech last month

Economics

14 h. ago Now Keir Starmer is telling porkies in vain attempt to defend Rachel Reeves

This Budget was all about keeping Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves in power, argues Brian Monteith

Politics

14 h. ago Why income tax changes announced by Rachel Reeves are worse news for people in Wales than anywhere else

Analysis of the Chancellor's budget makes sour reading if you're in Wales

Politics

14 h. ago OBR chief Richard Hughes resigns amid growing chaos over Budget as PM defends Chancellor

Treasury minister James Murray told the Commons that the Government backs a ‘deeper forensic investigation’ into previous Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) disclosures

Events

14 h. ago RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: Rachel Reeves lied, but ultimately the buck stops with 'Surkeir' Starmer. This gruesome twosome can't postpone their day of reckoning for ever...

When Keir Starmer became Labour leader five years ago, I thought I'd better come up with a suitable nickname. The first I fastened upon was Max Headroom.

Politics

15 h. ago OBR boss Richard Hughes quits after chaotic leak of Budget documents

The Office for Budget Responsibility boss said he would take full responsibility for the blunder, which saw key details released an hour before Rachel Reeves stood up

Economics

15 h. ago OBR chair quits after inquiry into early release of Reeves’s budget

Richard Hughes departs after investigation into how official forecaster accidentally published budget 40 minutes earlyRichard Hughes, the chair of the Office for Budget Responsibility, has quit after the findings of an urgent inquiry by the watchdog into how it inadvertently published Rachel Reeves’s budget 40 minutes early.Hughes wrote to the chancellor and to Meg Hillier, the chair of the Treasury select committee, last week to apologise after the OBR uploaded its documents setting out the details of the budget before Reeves began to speak on Wednesday. Continue reading...

Economics

15 h. ago OBR must ‘change completely’ how sensitive reports published after Budget leak

A review of the watchdog’s processes for publishing has been recommended.

Politics

15 h. ago Reeves might not be the only one who made a fortune from the Budget! OBR leaks could have been happening for YEARS as one user 'was waiting for document to appear'

The possibility was raised by a probe into the extraordinary episode that saw Rachel Reeves' package published 45 minutes before she started speaking last week.

Politics

16 h. ago OBR chief on the brink as minister suggests buck for Budget leak stops with him

Treasury minister James Murray told the Commons that the government would be considering the 'serious' findings of a report into the episode.

Politics

16 h. ago Reeves warns against isolationist politics in Welsh summit speech

Rachel Reeves used her speech at the Wales Investment Summit to warn against the politics of ‘national retreat’.

Events

16 h. ago OBR could have been leaking Budget documents early for YEARS as tech blunder is blamed

The possibility was raised by a probe into the extraordinary episode that saw Rachel Reeves' package published 45 minutes before she started speaking last week.

Politics