• December 23 2022
  Data PointsJohn Burn-Murdoch

  Britain’s winter of discontent is the inevitable result of austerity

  A decade of Tory spending cuts left the country vulnerable to the external shocks of the past two years

  
• December 17 2022
  Rail

  UK rail operators face steep budget cuts next year

  Government demands efficiencies as ticket sales struggle to return to pre-pandemic levels

  
• December 13 2022
  UK public services

  Can the UK government afford to increase public sector pay?

  Prime minister claims offers are ‘fair’ but experts say £28bn estimate on cost of big rises is misleading

  
• November 25 2022
  Michelle Mone

  HSBC froze accounts linked to Tory peer Michelle Mone during corruption probe

  Bank flagged ‘discrepancies’ in explanations provided by Mone and husband Douglas Barrowman

  
• November 24 2022
  Michelle Mone

  UK ministers urged to release documents related to PPE contracts

  Reports about Tory peer lead to demands for transparency over how PPE Medpro won government contract

  
• November 22 2022
  UK public finances

  UK public borrowing rises as energy cap takes effect

  October’s figure of £13.5bn was £4.4bn more than in the same month last year

  
• November 18 2022
  Autumn Statement

  ‘New era’ of higher taxes beckons for UK, warn think-tanks

  Resolution Foundation points to wage stagnation, while IFS says fiscal rules only just met by £55bn squeeze

  
• November 18 2022
  Camilla Cavendish

  Economic competence trumps Tory ideology — for now

  Jeremy Hunt aims to restore grown-up government, but will a divided party unite behind him?

  
• November 17 2022
  News in-depthAutumn Statement

  Hunt returns to ‘fiscal orthodoxy’ in face of grim public finances

  Unlike Kwasi Kwarteng, the chancellor accepted the OBR’s dire predictions for the economy

  
• November 17 2022
  Autumn Statement

  Government departments face brutal spending squeeze

  UK chancellor Jeremy Hunt says budgets to be protected in cash terms, but surging inflation means ‘efficiencies’ are likely

  
• November 17 2022
  Autumn Statement

  UK spends heavily to raise benefits in line with inflation

  Welfare and pension payments to rise by 10.1% from next April, the biggest uprating since 1991

  
• November 17 2022
  News in-depthAutumn Statement

  Sunak and Hunt double act takes centre stage

  PM and chancellor seek to reassure financial markets with focus on tax rises and spending cuts

  
• November 17 2022
  National Health Service

  UK health spending over past decade lags behind Europe by £40bn a year

  Health Foundation points to scale of NHS cuts, while NAO shows service struggling with inflation and staff shortages

  
• November 16 2022
  UK public finances

  Investors warn UK government on dangers of new austerity wave

  Cuts to public spending must be balanced with recession risks, say fund managers

  
• November 14 2022
  UK defence spending

  Sunak quiet on defence budget as he signs off on £4.2bn frigate contract

  PM refuses to be drawn on matching Truss’s promise of big boost to military spending

  
• November 14 2022
  ExplainerAutumn Statement

  Why is Jeremy Hunt planning big tax rises and spending cuts?

  The UK chancellor is preparing measures to reduce public borrowing because of dire predictions for the public finances

  
• November 14 2022
  ExplainerAutumn Statement

  Five things to look out for in Jeremy Hunt’s Autumn Statement

  UK chancellor wants to convince financial markets he has control of public finances

  
• November 13 2022
  Autumn Statement

  Hunt given warning of £70bn rise in UK government borrowing

  Chancellor plans tax increases and spending cuts after fiscal watchdog downgrades outlook for public finances

  
• November 13 2022
  News in-depthUK politics & policy

  Is the UK’s plan to revive ‘left behind’ areas running into trouble?

  Efforts to ‘level up’ and to narrow regional inequalities have been hit by inflation and Whitehall turmoil

  
• November 10 2022
  Hunt plans post-election squeeze on spending with ‘Austerity 2.0’

  Day-to-day spending on public services to be frozen in real terms for three years from 2025

  
• November 2 2022
  Scottish economy

  Scotland to cut £615mn in emergency budget

  Majority of savings will be found through ‘reprioritisation’ in the health service

  
• November 2 2022
  UK infrastructure

  Sunak reverses Truss’s promise to build northern rail scheme in full

  East-west high-speed line pared again but HS2 chief confident north-south project will not be cut back

  
• November 2 2022
  ExplainerUK Budget

  Jeremy Hunt’s options for saving £50bn

  Britain’s chancellor has no easy options for filling the country’s fiscal hole

  
• October 30 2022
  UK politics & policy

  Capital spending and investment zones face cuts in UK fiscal plan

  Projects could be delayed or axed and Truss’s local tax-break proposals are under review

  
• October 28 2022
  Paul Johnson

  Desperately hard choices lie ahead for Sunak and Hunt

  The cost of living crisis combined with the fiscal challenge pits support for households against even higher borrowing