OBR says budget unlikely to lift economic growth over next five years

Forecaster says extra spending revealed by Rachel Reeves will give only a short-term lift to economy

Labour has embarked on a “large, sustained increase in spending, tax and borrowing”, according to the government’s economic forecaster, as it judged that Labour’s first budget for 15 years is unlikely to increase economic growth over the next five years.

Assessing Rachel Reeves’s policies, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said the economy would expand at the same rate as predicted in March by the end of the parliament, despite a £70bn-a-year rise in spending.

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Labour wants to reverse decline – but with a big budget comes a big risk

The government knows cynical voters will need to see tangible change in public services and to feel better off

At the final political cabinet before Rachel Reeves delivered her first budget this week, ministers were presented with internal party research on what the public was expecting.

In the months since the general election, they had been fed a regular diet of gloomy warnings about the state of the economic inheritance and, more recently, high levels of pre-budget news coverage, so it was firmly on their horizon.

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Chancellor announces £22.6bn cash injection for NHS in England

Rachel Reeves hails biggest increase ‘outside of Covid’ since 2010 but health experts say patients may not feel impact

The NHS in England is to receive a £22.6bn cash injection over two years, the chancellor has announced, in what she called the biggest spending increase outside Covid since 2010. But health experts said patients may not feel the impact as much of the increase would be absorbed by pay rises and higher care costs.

Announcing the “down payment” on the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS, due in spring 2025, Rachel Reeves said the NHS was the nation’s “most cherished public service” and that the extra funding would help the government cut waiting lists.

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Palestinian student stripped of UK visa after Gaza remarks wins human rights appeal

Home Office failed to show presence of Dana Abu Qamar ‘not conducive to public good’, according to tribunal ruling

A Palestinian student who was stripped of her student visa after remarks she made about the Israel-Gaza war has won a human rights appeal against the Home Office’s decision.

The Home Office failed to demonstrate that the presence of Dana Abu Qamar, 20, was “not conducive to public good” after the law student’s visa was revoked in December 2023, according to a tribunal ruling.

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Paramedic gave Sergei Skripal novichok antidote by chance, inquiry hears

Knocked-over bag led to unintended use of drug to counter nerve agents, which may have saved former Russian spy

A paramedic has described the extraordinary moment he knocked over a drugs bag as he treated the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and then by chance gave him a nerve agent antidote that may have saved his life.

Emergency services workers who went to help Skripal and his daughter, Yulia, after they were poisoned with the nerve agent novichok, initially suspected they may have been experiencing the effects of a recreational drugs overdose.

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Fleet of 30 luxury cars taken to Thailand returned to UK, police say

Detectives say cars including £220,000 Lamborghini were fraudulently bought on finance, shipped abroad and sold on

A fleet of 30 luxury cars worth £6.5m whisked out of the UK to Thailand after being fraudulently bought on finance have been recovered and returned, police have said.

The haul of vehicles included a £220,000 Lamborghini Huracán Spyder – a car described by the maker as “the pinnacle of Italian taste and hand craftsmanship” – along with Porsches, Mercedes and a Ford Mustang.

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Wednesday briefing: Five key messages that will define the budget

In today’s newsletter: Labour has told two stories about Rachel Reeves’ budget. Will it be an end to austerity – or an acceptance of “the harsh light of fiscal reality”?

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Good morning. There will be no triumphalism, no big giveaways and certainly no rabbits out of hats: this, Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have been at pains to tell us, is going to be a very grownup budget. And even though Reeves will promise today that “the prize on offer is immense”, we might also therefore expect it to be a painful one. Since the entire thing appears to have been briefed out in advance over the last few weeks, nobody can say they haven’t been warned.

In a way, it feels like two budgets: the optimism and ambition of a minimum wage rise, a major boost for the NHS, and significant new investment in infrastructure; and a bleaker story about misleading pledges, limited ambitions, and the biggest set of tax increases in budget history.

UK news | The suspect charged with the murder of three girls in Southport is to be separately prosecuted on suspicion of possessing terrorist material and producing ricin, a powerful poison, police have said. Axel Rudakubana is due to appear in court on Wednesday.

US election | Kamala Harris urged American voters to elect a “new generation of leadership” in a speech at the same place Donald Trump spoke on January 6 almost four years ago. Likening her opponent to a “petty tyrant”, Harris told the crowd: “Donald Trump would walk into that office with an enemies list … I will walk in with a to-do list.”

Middle East | Israel is not addressing the “catastrophic humanitarian crisis” in Gaza, the US envoy to the UN has said, ahead of a deadline for the Israelis to improve the situation or face potential restrictions on US military aid. The warning came as Gaza’s civil defence agency said 93 people had been killed in an airstrike on a crowded block of flats.

Conservatives | Britain’s former colonies should be thankful for the legacy of empire, Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick has said. Jenrick’s comments, which follow an agreement among Commonwealth leaders that “the time has come” to discuss reparations, were condemned as “an obnoxious distortion of history”.

Mexico | A team of researchers have stumbled on a lost Maya city of temple pyramids, enclosed plazas and a reservoir, all hidden for centuries by the Mexican jungle. The discovery was made possible by the use of laser mapping techniques in an area previously ignored by archaeologists.

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‘Waiting to die’: Layla Moran raises plight of NHS surgeon who fears for parents in Gaza

Exclusive: Surgeon who treated Lib Dem MP has worked for NHS for 20 years and grew up in the Jabaliya camp

In April, Layla Moran was admitted into hospital for sepsis. For a while, doctors thought antibiotics would clear the infection but it soon became clear she needed surgery. While recovering, a surgeon told her he had removed her appendix. “He told me his name and I was like, ‘Hold on, where are you from?’”

Like Moran, Mohammad is Palestinian. The NHS surgeon grew up in the Jabalia refugee camp in Gaza and has worked for the health service for 20 years. Moran, the Lib Dem MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, had to remain in hospital for an extra week. During that time, the pair got to know each other.

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Nuclear submarine shipyard fire at Barrow-in-Furness leaves two in hospital

Residents told to stay indoors with doors and windows closed as emergency services say there is no nuclear risk from ongoing fire at BAE Systems complex

Two people have been taken to hospital after a fire broke out at BAE Systems’ Barrow-in-Furness shipyard in Cumbria, police said.

Cumbria constabulary said the fire at the nuclear submarine shipyard broke out at about 12.45am and was ongoing.

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Experiencing intense emotions with others makes people feel more connected, study finds

Participants bonded more after watching films that sparked intense emotions

Whether it is laughing at a classic comedy or watching a horror film from behind a cushion, movies can generate myriad feelings. Now researchers say experiencing intense emotions alongside others makes people feel more connected – provided you can see them.

It has long been known that experiencing emotional events together can strengthen bonds between people, with a previous study finding that watching emotional films with another person makes people feel more connected.

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Reeves to promise ‘wealth and opportunity for all’ in major tax-raising budget

Having announced minimum wage boost, chancellor to say she can spare working people from tax rises

The UK’s national minimum wage is to rise by a higher than expected 6.7% next year, Rachel Reeves has announced before a multi-billion pound tax-raising budget designed to act as the springboard for a decade of national renewal.

Insisting that the increase to £12.21 in the pay floor marks a significant step in Labour’s plan to support the low paid, the chancellor will also say she can spare working people from the tax increases intended to plug the hole in the public finances and avoid a fresh wave of found of public spending cuts.

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FA apologises to female Muslim footballer over tracksuit bottoms ban

Iqra Ismail, who does not wear shorts for religious reasons, was prevented from entering field of play during game

The Football Association has apologised to a Muslim footballer after she was barred from playing in a match for refusing to wear shorts due to her religious beliefs.

Iqra Ismail was meant to come on as a half-time substitute for United Dragons in a Greater London Women’s Football League fixture against Tower Hamlets on Sunday, but she was prevented from entering the field of play by the referee.

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Santander to cut more than 1,400 jobs in UK amid increasing automation

News of redundancies comes as UK division delays publication of results after car finance court ruling

Santander is cutting more than 1,400 jobs across its UK business this year as part of its efforts to reduce costs.

The Spanish bank’s chief executive officer, Hector Grisi, confirmed the cuts as its UK division delayed publication of its latest financial results to consider the impact of an influential court ruling linked to commission on car finance.

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British girl with peanut allergy dies on holiday in Rome

Manslaughter inquiry launched after 14-year-old went into anaphylactic shock after dining with her family at pizzeria

Prosecutors in Rome have opened a manslaughter investigation after a British girl with a peanut allergy died during a holiday with her family.

The 14-year-old had dined at a pizzeria in the Gianicolense district and went into anaphylactic shock about 15 minutes later after the family returned to their hotel.

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NHS will not be turned around in one budget, says Wes Streeting – UK politics live

Health secretary says measures to be announced on Wednesday would ‘arrest the decline’ amid significant NHS reform

Kemi Badenoch, who is the bookies’ favourite to be the next Conservative leader, has told Times Radio that the contest is poised “neck and neck”.

Interviewed by Kate McCann, Badenoch told listeners:

People are tired of the party looking like it is not out working for the people out there. That is what I want to bring: integrity, and a focus on conviction and conservative values.

There is something very significant that is going on, we are picking a leader of the opposition. People have a choice.

This is a sacrifice, because I worry about the direction of the country.

I worry about a lot of decisions we make, and us not being honest with the public about the serious trade-offs that are going to be required, and not saying enough about how the world is becoming a more dangerous place.

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Former British colonies owe ‘debt of gratitude’, says Robert Jenrick

Tory leadership candidate wades into reparations debate, arguing empire brought democratic institutions

Britain’s former colonies should be thankful for the legacy of empire, not demanding reparations, according to the Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick.

In comments that were described by a Labour MP as “deeply offensive”, the former minister said countries that were part of the empire “owe us a debt of gratitude for the inheritance we left them” in the form of legal and democratic institutions.

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Ex-Tory MP reprimanded for ‘brazen’ sexual misconduct

Parliamentary watchdog rules Aaron Bell ‘abused his position of power’ by touching woman in Commons bar

A former Conservative MP has been reprimanded for “brazen and drunken” sexual misconduct in one of parliament’s bars.

Aaron Bell, who was the Tory MP for Newcastle-under-Lyme until July, was found by a parliamentary watchdog to have “abused his position of power” by touching a woman “on her left thigh, waist and bottom inappropriately and without her consent”.

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Hard-hit Defra to have budget slashed further despite warnings

Department’s finances were slashed during austerity and campaigners say more cuts will stall progress to meet nature and climate targets

Rachel Reeves has been urged not to cut the government’s environment funding in the budget as analysis shows the department’s finances were slashed at twice the rate of other departments in the austerity years.

Between 2009/10 and 2018/19, the environment department budget declined by 35% in monetary terms and 45% in real terms, according to Guardian analysis of annual reports from the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Environment Agency and Natural England. By comparison, the average cut across government departments during the Conservative austerity programme was about 20%. During the first five years of austerity, it was the most cut department.

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Petrol and food prices will fall thanks to oil glut, says World Bank

Downward trend in oil price from higher production, falling demand in China and clean energy to continue

Petrol and food prices will fall over the next two years thanks to a glut in oil production, the World Bank has said, offering hope to consumers that the cost pressures of the past three years could start to ease.

Its analysis found that this year’s downward trend in the oil price resulting from increased production, falling demand in China and the transition to clean energy is set to continue even if the conflict in the Middle East worsens.

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HSBC denies breakup plan as it launches $3bn share buyback

London-headquartered bank says profits beat forecasts as it prepares to split eastern and western operations

The boss of HSBC has said moves to separate its eastern and western operations are not part of a plan to break up the banking group, as he announced a $3bn share buyback amid better-than-expected profits.

Georges Elhedery pushed back against rumours that a huge restructuring plan announced last week was a sign he was considering hiving off parts of the banking group, which had been under pressure to do so by its largest shareholder, the Chinese insurer Ping An. Investors last year rejected Ping An’s proposals.

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