The Latest Breaking News from OBR

Chancellor says government must not alter course as interest rate rises add to cost of debt

Data from the High Pay Centre thinktank showed FTSE 100 bosses collected an average £500,000 pay rise last year, taking their median pay to £3.9m

PM says he is comfortable with full uplift on state pensions, which cost the taxpayer £124bn this year

Jim O’Neill says OBR should be given new powers to emphasise economic benefits of public investment

Chancellor’s refusal to publish forecast contributed to stock market jitters and run on pound

More than 100 companies are set to send a letter to the PM voicing fears about the disastrous effects of Britain’s overreliance on gas

City comment: The OBR forecasts are meant to help us avoid apocalypse, rather than to seriously predict it

Government’s debt level ‘unsustainable’ without tax rises or cuts, suggests watchdog

So, the government has gone with option 1, sub-section c: accept the recommendations of the pay review bodies – with mostly no new money. This neatly avoids higher borrowing, inflation or taxation (more on that later), but means cash must be found from existing department budgets not exactly flush with…

Gloomy report says national debt could exceed 300% of GDP within next 50 years

UK GDP report for May shows that factory output and construction shrank during the month, with some blaming extra bank holiday