The Latest Breaking News from Rachel Reeves

A union has highlighted a significant increase in fires across the UK in recent years

The Science and Technology Committee said Britain should be ‘rolling out the red carpet rather than red tape’ for highly skilled professionals.

Editorial: The chancellor’s bid to appear fiscally credible hides a deeper weakness: a growth model built on private debt and political theatre, not real economic renewal

THE INDEPENDENT VIEW: Editorial: Rachel Reeves has asked each of us to ‘do our bit’ as she prepares to break her party’s manifesto pledge and raise income tax – but it is now clear that she has made the bad situation she inherited worse

The chancellor appears to believe voters will forgive a broken promise in return for meaningful investment

In the upcoming budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise the minimum wage to £12.70 an hour: £26,416 annually for a full-time job. This means that the gap between salaries for minimum wage jobs and those for professional jobs that require a degree is shrinking fast.

Brief letters: Not tough choices | Explaining a U-turn | Flagging distress | Trump’s reputation | Witty Wordwheels | Crack of dawn

The FTSE 100 Index closed up 13.59 points at 9,714.96.

Rachel Reeves put Britain on notice for higher taxes saying ‘we will all have to contribute’ to the country’s economic future in a speech on Tuesday