Starmer hints at tax rises as he warns of ‘painful’ budget

Prime minister says it will take years to clean up from Tories after finding a £22bn black hole in public finances

Renewed calls for UK industrial strategy to bring in investment and fix Brexit damage

Billions risk being lost without joined-up policy on tech, robotics, renewables and training, says manufacturing body

Labour donor quits Treasury role amid ‘cronyism’ claims

Ian Corfield resigns as official to Rachel Reeves as ministers deny giving preferential treatment to funders

Unite calls for 1% wealth tax on super-rich to fund UK public sector pay rises

The demand from Britain’s second biggest union will test truce with Labour at next month’s TUC conference

It’s August 2024 – and our world is at a turning point. Here’s what we should do now

I see looming political and environmental threats – and too few willing to address them. Where is the urgency, asks former UK prime minister Gordon Brown

‘No blank cheques’: Rachel Reeves defends pay deals with unions

Chancellor rebuts Tory accusation she will be a soft touch and hints at tweak to debt rule to allow more borrowing

Reeves can point to ONS public finances report as cover for a harsh budget

October review is expected to be eye-wateringly severe, but chancellor will draw on official data to make her case

UK government borrowing hits higher than expected £3.1bn in July

Figures come amid row between Labour and Conservatives over true state of public finances

Rachel Reeves planning to raise taxes and cut spending in October budget

Chancellor insists she still has large black hole to fill despite stronger than expected growth in first half of 2024

Labour’s autumn budget must reverse ‘decade of decline’ in UK infrastructure

Economy held back by ailing transport network, with poor roads adding to logistics costs, say manufacturers

GDP growth is strong but it masks UK plc’s deep-seated structural problems

Rachel Reeves must show how the Tories failed to tackle longstanding productivity, investment and trade deficits and stress how Labour can

Labour is fast discovering that Britain needs more than a Band-Aid to restore it to health

The country faces grave and deep-seated problems that only bold – and expensive – policies can address

The Observer view on growth: Labour must be prepared to spend

Public sector pay rises are vital, but raising the revenue to pay for them will be difficult unless fiscally conservative policies are lifted

‘A big ask’: can Labour fix Britain using modern supply-side economics?

Turning to a theory championed by the US Treasury secretary, Reeves aims to upskill the workforce while boosting productivity

RBA downplays role of government spending in stoking inflation

Governor Michele Bullock cites consumer spending and China’s slowdown as bigger influences on Australia’s economic trajectory