Chancellor Rachel Reeves will set out her Budget in the House of Commons around 12:30 GMT, facing pressure to find extra revenue while promising investment to cut NHS waiting lists and tackle the cost of living.She has flagged that tough but fair decisions are needed to reduce national debt and drive growth, with an immediate response from opposition leader Kemi Badenoch expected after the...

The government has announced a rise in the national minimum pay that will take effect from April, with adults aged over 21 set to receive an extra 50p an hour, lifting the rate to £12.71.Chancellor Rachel Reeves said around 2.7 million workers will benefit from the increases.Younger workers will also see larger percentage gains. Pay for 18 to 20-year-olds will increase by 85p to £10.85 an...

Rachel Reeves arrives at today's Budget under intense scrutiny, aiming to steady a struggling government and buy a little breathing room for Labour.She will frame the package as a set of difficult but necessary trade-offs, focused on three headline goals: easing pressure on household budgets, shortening NHS waiting lists and beginning to bring public debt under control.Delivering on those aims...

Motability has removed high-end brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Alfa Romeo and Lexus from its vehicle list with immediate effect as it refocuses the scheme on British-built models.The move comes as the charity sets a target for UK-manufactured cars to make up 25% of its fleet by 2030 and half by 2035, up from around 7% today.Motability says the change will prioritise vehicles that are safe,...

The Royal Navy intercepted and shadowed two Russian ships as they sailed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel, the UK Ministry of Defence has said.HMS Severn moved to intercept the corvette Stoikiy and the tanker Yelnya in the past fortnight before handing monitoring duties to a NATO vessel off the coast of Brittany.Severn remained nearby, observing from a safe distance and...

As Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver the Budget, ordinary Britons are voicing clear and varied priorities.From housing taxes to care for disabled people, voters across incomes have specific asks they want reflected in government plans.Wesley Thorne, 52, and his wife Toni run a sweets business near Bristol and say moving into a larger home is out of reach because stamp duty could tack...

Senior US officials are pressing the European Union to rethink its rules for major tech firms as part of talks over steel and aluminium tariffs in Brussels.Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Europe should make its digital regulations more welcoming to American tech companies if it wants lower US duties on metals.The comments come during negotiations to follow up on a trade framework agreed in...

A freshly revised peace framework unveiled after intense talks in Geneva may be acceptable to Kyiv — but key issues still stand in the way of a deal.Washington had pushed for a rapid agreement ahead of Thanksgiving, but Kyiv balked when the initial proposal appeared heavily tilted toward Moscow’s demands.That prompted high-level delegations from Ukraine, the US, Germany, France and the UK to...

The Royal Navy says it intercepted two Russian naval vessels as they passed west through the Dover Strait into the English Channel. HMS Severn shadowed the RFN Stoikiy, a corvette, and the tanker Yelnya during the encounter in the past fortnight, the UK Ministry of Defence reported. After initially tracking the pair, Severn handed monitoring duties to a NATO partner off the coast of Brittany but...

When 23-year-old Aishat Baimuradova left Chechnya earlier this year she hoped to build a life away from strict family controls and public scrutiny. Friends say she adopted a more modern appearance — shortening her hair, abandoning the headscarf and even altering an eyebrow — and began sharing candid photos online, telling people she finally felt able to breathe. In October, Armenian police...