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The chancellor said he wanted to manage people’s expectations ahead of the spring budget In his interview with the BBC’s Nick Robinson, Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, criticised Richard Hughes, head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, for calling the Treasury’s long-term public spending forecasts worse than “a work of fiction”.Hughes told a Lords committee last month:Some people call [the projections] a work of fiction,...

Shadow chancellor says party aims to be champion of a thriving financial sector if it wins electionBusiness live – latest updatesLabour will not reinstate a cap on bankers’ bonuses if it wins the next election, the shadow chancellor has said.Rachel Reeves said she had “no intention” of bringing back the cap, saying she wanted to be the “champion of a thriving financial services industry”.The...

The DUP has endorsed a deal with the UK government to restore power sharing in NI, paving an end to two years of political deadlockGood morning. Rail strikes are still going on in England, but in one part of the UK a long-running “strike” by key public sector workers seems about to come to an end. DUP MLAs (members of the legislative assembly) have...

Former PM is fomenting revolt describing proposal as ‘absurd’ as government set to go ahead with plans to ban disposable vapesGood morning. Two weeks ago Rishi Sunak saw off the Tory rebels wanting him to toughen up the Rwanda bill, last week former cabinet minister Simon Clarke was shouted down by colleagues when he called for a new leader, but the turmoil in the...

Opposition would do better on issues including the economy, health, education, the environment, immigration and crime, public saysMore than twice as many voters believe a Labour government would be better for housing than the Tories, according to the latest Opinium poll for the Observer.The survey shows Labour is well ahead of the Conservatives on most issues including the economy, health, education, the environment, immigration...

Individuals deemed unfit for office still walked away with payments from taxpayers, says shadow Cabinet Office ministerLabour has pledged to reform the rules surrounding ministerial redundancy payments after it emerged that the high turnover of cabinet ministers under the past three prime ministers generated a severance bill worth more than £930,000 in the last financial year.Since 1991, sacked ministers under the age of 65...

Chris Philp says manufacturers found ploy to get around previous ban on previous ban on zombie knives Good morning. Labour and the Conservatives are in a bidding war over knife crime today, with Keir Starmer announcing or re-announcing various plans to deal with the problem on the day when the Home Office is laying legislation before parliament to ban zombie-style knives. Pippa Crerar has...

Leader proposes taking steps to reduce availability of ‘zombie’ knives and creating bespoke plans for all offendersKeir Starmer has promised to “get a grip” on soaring knife crime as he announced that a Labour government would bring in a bespoke plan for every offender, including tags and curfews.The Labour leader said there would be an urgent crackdown on the availability of machetes and zombie-style...

Lords to debate whether it should delay ratification of UK-Rwanda treatyThe Post Office Horizon IT scandal has placed into sharper focus the number of bodies that can bring prosecutions, and the TV Licensing authority is one of them. Possibly not for much longer, if the words of culture secretary Lucy Frazer this morning carry any weight.She said it is not appropriate for the BBC...

Shadow foreign secretary tries to continue as demonstrators shout and criticise Labour’s stance on Israel-Gaza warMiddle East crisis – live updatesA keynote speech by David Lammy at a Labour-linked thinktank’s conference has been disrupted by protesters who held Palestinian flags as they shouted “ceasefire now”.As security officials at London’s Guildhall rushed to take the first two individuals out of the building, another three protesters...

Exclusive: London mayoral elections in May will be ‘toughest fight yet’, Khan will tell Fabian’s Society conferenceSadiq Khan will urge voters not to “let the Tories do to London what they’ve done to our country”, as he hits out at the “hollow, desperate and divisive narrative” put forward by the party.Launching the Fabian’s Society conference on Saturday with a keynote speech, the London mayor...