9 h. ago MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: So, Chancellor, why is it so wrong to stand by a solemn election pledge?

Are Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves actually secretly pleased to have been publicly humiliated by their own backbenchers? A cynic might conclude this was so.

Politics

10 h. ago Tories warned Labour about Rachel Reeves' tears 17 minutes BEFORE PMQs started

Tory MPs revealed they alerted Labour whips to the fact that the Chancellor was weeping in the Commons to ensure she got help.

Events

11 h. ago Even poorest OAPs face paying income tax in new stealth raid on state pension

Millions of Britain's poorest pensioners face being dragged into an 'old-age tax trap' as Chancellor Rachel Reeves desperately attempts to fill a growing black hole in the public finances.

Economics

16 h. ago Raise taxes or this government will fail, Rachel Reeves’s former top adviser warns

Exclusive: Ex-Treasury minister Jim O’Neill has warned Reeves will have to raise income tax, national insurance or VAT to fill the £5bn black hole left by the welfare climbdown

Events

16 h. ago What happened when I cried at work: From Nadine Dorries' public tears in the face of political defeat to Mariella Frostrup's weeping episode after being sacked, some of Britain's most high

Watching the tears run down Rachel Reeves' cheeks during PMQs on Wednesday, one thought came to mind, 'she's broken', and my heart broke for her too.

Politics

16 h. ago David Lammy deploys army of top diplomats to kickstart economic growth and combat impact of Trump tariffs

Exclusive: With a failure to deliver economic growth leaving an estimated £18bn in Rachel Reeves’ budget, the use of senior diplomats to bolster engagement with business is just the latest part of a strategy to turn things around

Politics

21 h. ago Rachel Reeves to announce review of workplace pensions contributions — here’s what it could mean

The chancellor will use her Mansion House speech to announce the overhaul

Economics

23 h. ago Rachel Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises to cover scrapped welfare bill

Original welfare proposals had been part of a package expected to save up to £5 billion a year

Economics

25 h. ago Is it embarrassing if a politician cries in public, or does it make them seem more human?

The Chancellor Rachel Reeves was seen crying in the Commons during PMQs this week

Politics

28 h. ago Readers’ letters: Labour rebels were elected with a welfare reform mandate

A reader says Rachel Reeves’ tears would be understandable if they were about Labour rebels wrecking her work to reform the benefits system

Politics

33 h. ago Reeves refuses to rule out tax rises after ‘damaging’ welfare bill U

Original welfare proposals had been part of a package expected to save up to £5 billion a year

Economics

34 h. ago Raising a big tax is Rachel Reeves' only way of balancing the books to fill fiscal black hole, experts warn

It came as a damning new poll by YouGov showed that three-quarters of Britons believe Ms Reeves will smash Labour's vow by putting up one of the UK's main taxes.

Events

36 h. ago Reeves says welfare fallout ‘damaging’ and declines to rule out tax hikes

The Chancellor warned there would be ‘costs to what happened’ as she faced questions about how she would cover the shortfall left by concessions.

Economics

38 h. ago Rachel Reeves says she cannot rule out autumn tax rises after ‘damaging’ week

Exclusive: Chancellor says she never considered resigning and warns ‘there are costs’ to welfare bill U-turnRachel Reeves has said it is impossible for her to rule out tax rises in the autumn budget and insisted she never thought about quitting despite a turbulent week for her and the government.In an interview with the Guardian, the chancellor said “there are costs” to the watering down of the welfare bill and acknowledged it had been a “damaging” week for Downing Street. Continue reading...

Politics

40 h. ago If there's anyone we don't need lecturing us to 'be kind' it is MPs supporting government moves to drive the disabled into poverty

Justified sympathy for Chancellor Rachel Reeves should not forget the government is pushing policy set to leave ordinary peoples' lives in pieces

Politics

43 h. ago Jeremy Corbyn says ‘discussions are ongoing’ after Zarah Sultana claimed she would ‘co

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Politics

44 h. ago Crying in the Commons: why are women’s workplace tears a source of shame?

Rachel Reeves’s distress may help destigmatise an emotional response to pressure or professional frustrationRachel Reeves’s tears this week triggered a fall in the pound and attracted widespread derision from political columnists, mostly male. “What is wrong with Rachel Reeves?” the Telegraph asked. In an article headlined “The meaning of the chancellor’s tears”, a New Statesman columnist told readers that Reeves’s authority was “beginning to melt away”. The Daily Mail spoke disdainfully of her “waterworks”.But in the longer term the chancellor’s display of distress may prove to have an unexpectedly positive legacy, helpfully normalising a still hugely stigmatised phenomenon: women’s tears in the workplace. Continue reading...

Politics

45 h. ago Home secretary rejects Zarah Sultana’s claim Labour failing to improve lives – UK politics live

Sultana announced on Thursday she was quitting Labour to join Jeremy Corbyn’s Independent AllianceMy colleague Lauren Almeida, who is running the Guardian’s business live blog, has shared the following:Rachel Reeves has not given herself enough fiscal headroom to manage public finances, Charlie Bean, the former deputy of the Bank of England has said, and has to “neurotically fine tune taxes”.About £10bn – that’s a very small number in the context of overall public spending. Government spending is about one and a quarter trillion so £10bn is a small number and it is a small number in the context of typical forecasting errors.You can’t forecast the future perfectly both because you can’t forecast the economy and you can’t forecast all the elements of public finances . The forecasts are imprecise and there is no way you can avoid that. That is a fact of life.In light of reports of atrocities committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and reports of the UK’s collaboration with Israeli ...

Society

48 h. ago Can Starmer and Reeves hold the Labour Party together? Ask John Rentoul anything

The Independent’s chief political commentator, John Rentoul, is here to answer your questions as Labour grapples with a welfare reform crisis, mounting pressure on Keir Starmer’s leadership, and growing doubts over Rachel Reeves’s position

Society

50 h. ago Keir Starmer says he understands what ‘anchors’ Donald Trump

The Prime Minister said it was ‘in the national interest’ for him to have a connection with the US president.

Politics