Faisal Islam: Chancellor's attempts to boost vibes may limit tax rises The chancellor may have thought about shifting the venue of his first major speech this morning. It was an absolute and total coincidence that he chose to make it in the Coventry Manufacturing and Technology Centre (MTC), just a few minute's drive from the city's totemic HQ of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR). In the event, no one was pulling punches. The 4,000 office-based job losses at JLR were confirmed as John Healey answered questions a few miles away. Healey chose to lean into it as an example of the global turbulence against which the UK needs more resilience. The difference between this chancellor and his predecessor was he also feels that stressing fiscal discipline should instil confidence in consumers, businesses and investors, and not sap it away amid rolling fears of tax hikes.

The UK government borrows to fund day-to-day spending as well as long-term infrastructure projects.

Andy Burnham has accused former Labour Prime Minister Sir Tony Blair of failing to understand what's going on in people's lives and underestimating the impact of inequality. Sir Tony used a 5,600 word essay to argue the Labour government had no coherent plan for the country and had introduced policies that had held back business. He urged Labour not to move to the left and to embrace the radical centre instead. But Burnham, who is widely expected to challenge Sir Keir Starmer for the Labour leadership if he wins a by-election next month, told the Observer Sir Tony doesn't mention inequality once in his critique of where the Labour government has gone wrong. If you don't get how that's driving politics now, if you are not rooting your analysis in the fact that people are unable to live and that things that were taken for granted are no longer affordable, then you are not understanding what's going on, said the mayor of Greater Manchester.

What are Russia's gains from the Iran war? 'We are not losers; we are winners' Who is Gerhard Schroeder, Putin's pick for Ukraine peace talks mediation? Russian President Vladimir Putin has suggested that former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder could coordinate talks with the European Union to secure a peace deal in Ukraine - a proposal met with scepticism by EU officials. European Council President Antonio Costa said recently he believed there was "potential" for the EU to negotiate with Russia and to discuss the future of Europe's security architecture. A day later, the Russian leader said the four-year-old war may be "coming to an end", adding that he was ready to hold direct talks with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in Moscow or a neutral country. Speaking after Saturday's celebrations for Victory Day, which marks Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 at the end of World War II, Putin added he would be willing to meet Zelenskyy only once the terms of a peace agreement had already been settled.

The shock resignation came for a very specific reason, but the OBR saga will continue with a series of decisions the chancellor will have to make over Richard Hughes' replacement. Firstly the Chancellor will have to find a respected and credible economist to run the OBR. There are several candidates, who might fit the mould of fiercely independent bean counters. The list will be carefully watched by the markets for any departure from the normal model. The problem is that there is some political pressure to do just that.

Budget 2025: What's the best and worst that could happen for Labour? Any big red box moment is risky. Now the chancellor's big choices are out there, what's the best-case scenario for Reeves and Starmer, and what's the worst that could happen next? On the positive side of the ledger, Labour MPs have gone off to their constituencies in a better mood this week. That is in large part down to the chancellor's decision to scrap the limit on bigger families getting some extra benefits.

Starmer could have scrapped child benefit cap last year - why did he wait? I can't remember when I last heard Sir Keir Starmer sounding so passionate. The prime minister's critics regularly lambast him for what they see as robotic or emotion-free communication, but you could not accuse him of that as we spoke on a post-Budget visit to a community centre in Rugby, Warwickshire. I could see it in his eyes and hear it in his tone. I have repeatedly said that I want my government to drive down child poverty.

For months Rachel Reeves has been schmoozing the biggest players in the UK government debt market to ensure the smooth passage of her plans. For months Rachel Reeves has been schmoozing the biggest players in the UK government debt market to ensure the smooth passage of her plans. Bond market power: why Rachel Reeves is keen to keep the £2.7tn'beast' onside Hugely influential traders will be hanging on the chancellor's every word when she announces her budget At just after 12.30pm on Wednesday, the machine will be listening, the trading algorithms ready, and billions of pounds of buy-and-sell orders stacked up awaiting Rachel Reeves's budget. For the first time on the London trading floor of Deutsche Bank, a custom-built artificial intelligence tool will tune in to the chancellor's speech. It will transcribe her words, spot shifts in tone and spit out alerts when the numbers deviate from expectations.

The Business Secretary has insisted the government is making it easier for businesses by reducing red tape. Peter Kyle defended Labour's approach to business, telling the BBC it will implement changes in a way that is pro-worker and pro-business. Ahead of next month's Budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves is launching a crackdown on needless form-filling for businesses at the first-ever Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham. The government has been criticised by firms who say increased employers' National Insurance contributions and the Employment Rights Bill add to the burdens facing businesses. The Chancellor will say at the Birmingham summit on Tuesday that the changes will save firms almost £6bn a year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held talks with Germany's Friedrich Merz in Berlin, days after the newly installed chancellor said Kyiv's Western allies had lifted range restrictions on their missiles and would allow Ukraine to use them to strike deep inside Russian territory. Merz made the announcement on Monday as Russia carried out heavy aerial bombardments on Ukraine and both sides launched tit-for-tat drone attacks. That comment sparked hope in Kyiv and put renewed attention on the possibility of Germany supplying Ukraine with Taurus missiles, which the war-wracked country has long requested. However, Merz, in a joint appearance with Zelenskyy on Wednesday, promised the Ukrainian leader that Germany would help his country develop long-range missiles on its territory. He did not make any commitments regarding the Taurus.