France drops opposition to UK being included in ‘Made in Europe’ legislation

British government must however align with the European Union’s position over tariffs on Chinese EVs

The water torture goes on at Thames. Sector-wide reform isn’t moving much faster

If ‘public control’ bit is delaying overhaul, that needs to be nailed down sharpish or continued uncertainty could be costly

Exclusive: Chancellor to target sector in his first budget, to help offset Iran war’s damage to public finances

Restaurants and pubs such as Nando’s and Fuller’s will create placements for 18- to 24-year-olds under DWP-backed scheme

There are many reasons to reject this affordability ‘solution’, not least it being complex and fiddly. Just keep things simple

Money was withdrawn from gambling firm before founder warned chancellor against doubling machine games duty

Exclusive: Douglas Alexander, on trade delegation to India, talks up economic benefits of joint trading arrangements with Europe

Move aimed at firms such as Amazon and eBay could raise up to £1bn more for Treasury, says report

UK foreign secretary will call for World Bank and others to help governments trapped by hefty borrowing costs

Retailers call on John Healey to raise national insurance contributions threshold in his first budget

Fund upgrades UK’s GDP growth forecast for 2026 to 1.3%, but says it is likely to edge down next year

Editorial: Ed Davey’s critics want headlines, but their leader’s strategy wins seats. Undermining him could help the rightwing parties into power

Thinktank’s influential pre-budget report urges key decisions to be made now and not put off until next year

Just as Brown and Blair did in 2005, Andy Burnham aims to champion debt relief to help developing countries

Tories plan to scrap low-carbon housebuilding, Greens back new nuclear reactors, and Labour put oil-drilling decisions on hold