Rachel Reeves pursues political prize over £22bn financial hole

Carefully honed message of Commons speech is having to make tricky decisions because Tories left us a mess

The Guardian view on Rachel Reeves’ statement: beyond the Tory black hole

Editorial: The chancellor was right to call out her predecessors’ culpability for a disastrous inheritance. But Labour must be bolder

UK politics: Winter fuel payments to be restricted as Reeves says there is £22bn spending shortfall – as it happened

Chancellor suggests budget, on 30 October, will involve tax rises and cuts to spending and benefits

Rachel Reeves is pulling off a transparent political manoeuvre. But she’s not entirely wrong

The Tories really did leave Britain in a fiscal hole. But austerity cannot be the remedy, writes economics and public policy professor Jonathan Portes

Rachel Reeves goes back to the future with her public finances statement

The chancellor’s message was: this is going to hurt, but it’s not my fault. Haven’t we heard that somewhere before?

Reeves scraps social care cap and some winter fuel payments to plug ‘£22bn hole’

Hospital and road projects also targeted as chancellor accuses Tories of covering up scale of fiscal shortfall

McDonald’s sales fall for first time since 2020, as higher prices deter consumers – as it happened

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as McDonald’s faces pressure to cut prices and lure back customers

‘Smarter money’ is the key that will unlock the promise of Africa and the Caribbean

Regions’ vast potential is being blocked by the need for better investments, key partnerships and reforms to global finance

Rachel Reeves paves way for cuts and tax rises to fill shortfall left by Tories

Chancellor will announce pause in work on a number of infrastructure projects, saying Conservatives ‘covered up’ true state of finances

Fear of a Truss repeat should not deter Reeves from rewriting spending rules

Labour has enough goodwill with City to increase debt if the money is used for key infrastructure

The Observer view: sticking to fiscal rule will imperil Labour’s future

Cutting public spending to satisfy an arbitrary financial rule conceived in opposition will confine the UK to sluggish growth

How bad are Britain’s finances? Key questions and answers on the state of the economy

Several factors restrict the Labour government’s room for manoeuvre in its agenda for growth, writes Phillip Inman

Rachel Reeves to delay some of Tories’ ‘unfunded’ road and hospital projects

Chancellor attempts to plug £20bn hole in spending but will commit to above-inflation public sector pay rise

NatWest takes £24m hit from abandoned ‘Tell Sid’-style campaign

Bank left with costs from Sir Trevor McDonald-fronted campaign after early election halted rollout

US economic growth ramps up, growing 2.8% in latest quarter

Even as Joe Biden touts ‘strongest economy in the world’, nearly three in five Americans wrongly believe US is in recession