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Exclusive: Action by organisation supporting migrants argues new rules are discriminatoryAn organisation that supports migrant workers has launched a legal challenge against the government’s new policy to bar care workers from bringing children and partners to the UK, warning that it is “tearing families apart”.According to Migrants at Work, care workers have to choose between family life with their children and partners or getting...

Government borrowed £120.7bn in the last financial year, with just under £12bn in MarchBusiness live – latest updatesJeremy Hunt’s scope for a substantial pre-election tax giveaway has been hit after the latest set of official figures showed the UK’s public finances in worse shape than thought at last month’s budget.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the government borrowed £120.7bn in the...

Latest estimate from ONS says GDP declined by 0.3% in final quarter of 2023Business live – latest updatesOfficial figures have confirmed that the UK economy went into recession at the end of last year, after the latest estimate found it contracted in the last two quarters of 2023.In a blow to the government’s economic standing, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the economy,...

Shadow chancellor will tell high-profile financial audience that ‘mission-led’ governments must take a lead in turbulent timesThe shadow chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will pledge to embark on a “decade of renewal” if Labour is returned to power at the next election.Speaking at the annual Mais lecture in London on Tuesday, Reeves will tell an audience of bankers and financial executives that she will create a...

BMA committee votes in emergency motion after Tory donor’s comments about MP condemned as racist and misogynistGPs are calling on the Tory donor Frank Hester to resign from his health tech company after his remarks about Diane Abbott which have been widely condemned as racist and misogynist.Hester’s company TPP runs the electronic patient records of almost half the medical practices in the UK, making...

Exclusive: party calls for firm to be wound up as it seeks shareholder bailout, higher bills and lower fines Thames Water should be put into special administration by the government and reformed as a public benefit company, the Liberal Democrats have said.Sarah Olney, the Lib Dems’ Treasury spokesperson, will call in a parliamentary debate for the biggest privatised English water company to be wound...

The PM’s admiration for Washington’s economic model may backfire amid looming US banking and stock market disastersOne of the consistent themes of the Conservative economic narrative is an admiration for the US and its ability to grow quickly. The way it has bounced back from the pandemic and how it has ridden out the impact of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine should serve as a...

Analysts say figures give chancellor slightly more leeway for tax cuts before general electionBusiness live – latest updatesJeremy Hunt has been provided with a boost after the latest set of figures for government borrowing showed the UK running its largest monthly budget surplus since modern records began more than 30 years ago.Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that, despite the weakness...

Exclusive: Data shows costs have contributed to value of meat exports falling by 17% since 2019Food businesses sending products to the EU have had to fork out an extra £170m in export costs because of Brexit red tape, with the changes described as being “catastrophic” for some exporters.Data shared with the Guardian shows that in the three years since leaving the single market, exporters...

Henry Staunton claims request was made so government could ‘limp into’ the next general electionA former Post Office chair said he was told by a senior civil servant to stall compensation payouts to post office operators so the government could “limp into” the general election.Henry Staunton, who was sacked by the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, last month amid anger over the Horizon scandal, said...

The absence of so many potential workers is taking a toll. In a literal sense, this is a sick economyBusiness live – latest updatesOn the face of it, Britain’s labour market is in rude health. Employment rose in the final three months of 2023 and unemployment fell to 3.8%. Earnings, adjusted for inflation, rose for a sixth successive month. All are traditionally signs of...

MPs find Treasury-affiliated bodies have engaged Horizon firm since damning 2019 high court judgmentThe Japanese technology company Fujitsu, whose flawed technology for the Post Office led to the wrongful prosecution of hundreds of subpostmasters, is confirmed to have held contracts worth more than £3.4bn linked to the Treasury since 2019.Figures published by the Commons’ treasury committee show £1.4bn of contracts were awarded to Treasury-affiliated...

A business department report trumpeting the four-year benefits of leaving the EU does not match the reality faced by companiesOn the four-year anniversary of Brexit last Wednesday, business and trade secretary Kemi Badenoch trumpeted its successes. “The British people’s conviction that the UK would excel as masters of our own fate has paid dividends,” she said, launching a report detailing the benefits.Among the top...

Requirement for importers to give 24 hours’ notice of deliveries described as ‘unfeasible’ by suppliersNew Brexit border rules could cut the shelf life of fresh food from mainland Europe by a fifth and leave some deliveries from the EU unsaleable, major food bodies have warned.The SPS Certification Working group, which represents 30 trade bodies covering £100bn of the UK’s food supply, has said new...

December deficit is less than expected at £14bn – the lowest for the month since 2019Business live – latest updatesA halving of UK government borrowing over the past year has created scope for Jeremy Hunt to make tax cuts worth about £20bn in his March budget.Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that higher VAT and income tax receipts coupled with lower spending...

Surprise uptick to 4.0% complicates forecasts that Bank of England will cut interest ratesAnalysis: inflation rise complicates outlook on interest ratesWhich UK goods and services have changed most in price?UK inflation rose unexpectedly to 4.0% in December in the first increase for 10 months, complicating the timing of interest rate cuts from the Bank of England this year.The Office for National Statistics said annual...

Companies could be stopped from taking such action, and firms involved in Horizon case may have to pay compensationRules to prevent companies taking private prosecutions in the way the Post Office went after innocent post office operators are being considered by the government.The move is part of a response to the Horizon IT scandal that could also lead to companies involved, including the tech...