Starmer only read China spy witness statements this morning, No 10 says, as Cleverly accuses PM of misquoting him – as it happened

PM says he intends to publish statements in full and blames previous government for failure of the case

Global government debt on course to hit 100% of GDP by 2029, IMF warns

Ratio would be highest since aftermath of second world war, with UK among G20 countries forecast to peak above

Rachel Reeves says tax rises and spending cuts on budget agenda, citing Brexit impact

Chancellor also blames austerity and ‘ongoing impact of Liz Truss mini-budget’ for growing shortfall in public finances

Soaring bills are the gift that keeps on giving for Reform. Shame Labour doesn’t have the guts to do anything about them

A cost of living crisis is not inevitable if there is the will to stop companies extracting profits from Britain’s essential services, says Mathew Lawrence of the Common Wealth thinktank

UK labour market shows signs of stabilising after job losses

Unemployment rate rises slightly to 4.8% but ONS says falls in payroll numbers and vacancies are levelling off

The populist playbook: Democratic US Senate candidate seeks to replicate Mamdani’s success

Abdul El-Sayed’s bid for Michigan senator centers on bold leftwing populism similar to the NYC mayoral candidate

Climate investment is only growth opportunity of 21st century, says leading economist

Lord Stern says fossil-fuelled growth is futile as the damage it causes ends in economic self-destruction

Rachel Reeves v the OBR: chancellor aims to loosen the watchdog’s grip

Labour embraced the forecaster’s powerful role, but now finds itself scrambling in the face of gloomy projections

Rachel Reeves looks for extra headroom in budget to insulate UK economy against bond market

Chancellor hopes to raise enough funds to stop damaging speculation about breaching fiscal rules

Starmer enters parallel universe as red carpet rolled out in India amid trade deal

UK PM greeted by thousands of posters of his face in Mumbai after clinching deal, despite torrid month back home

UK Treasury tells ministers not to expect bailouts from its reserve fund

Departments told to manage their own cost pressures as finance ministry seeks to curb overuse of contingency fund

Tory plan to abolish stamp duty ‘will benefit London and the wealthiest the most’ – as it happened

The Social Market Foundation thinktank says council tax reform and a property-based tax would be more sustainable and fairer

Badenoch unveils ‘golden rule’ to use half of spending cuts to reduce deficit

Conservative leader aims to rebuild party’s economic credibility after it was torched by her predecessors

Nearly two thirds of Tory members want pact with Reform, poll suggests, with close to half supporting full merger – as it happened

Half of Tory members also want Kemi Badenoch to be replaced as Conservative leader

France is in crisis but bond markets leave other governments at risk of meltdown too

Investors rattled by resignation of French PM but country is not alone in trying to grapple with political maths