Former Bank of England deputy warns Rachel Reeves against kneejerk cuts

Charlie Bean says OBR forecasts are ‘flaky’ and cautions against trying to hit targets five years away

Trump trade wars are slowing global growth and fuelling inflation, says OECD

Economic organisation downgrades forecasts for growth in UK as well as US, Canada and Mexico due to tariffs

Reeves to outline plan to cut regulation costs and boost growth

Chancellor will meet regulators after calling for action to restrict their scope in bid to save businesses billions

Nine in 10 councils in England to levy maximum council tax increase

Highest possible rise for third year running comes as cash-strapped authorities try to repair finances and, for some, avoid bankruptcy

Buy-to-let firms become biggest single type of business in UK, data shows

Four times more buy-to-let firms than fast-food shops now registered at Companies House as landlords switch set-up to cut tax payments

Labour’s plan to overhaul long-term benefits is laudable, putting a moral slant on it is not

Painting a veneer of morality over welfare cuts risks people fighting a tougher battle for support they need

If even Germany is embracing higher spending, why on earth can’t Labour?

Russia has pushed Europe into a quasi-Keynesian approach to the defence budget. Only Britain insists on cutting help to the sick to pay for security

Benefits cuts now? What’s the point of a Labour MP who votes for something so cruel, tin-eared and short-sighted?

Treating disabled and sick people callously flies in the face of all the party stands for – the government must rethink its plans, writes the MP John McDonnell

Economists urge Rachel Reeves to bend fiscal rules instead of cutting welfare

Calls for chancellor to exclude defence from rules or raise taxes in response to spending pressure at spring statement

UK steel industry calls for capped energy prices amid Trump trade war

British steelmakers lobby for government to set limit to compete with France and Germany

UK economy shrinks unexpectedly in blow to Rachel Reeves

ONS data showing 0.1% fall in GDP in January comes less than two weeks before chancellor’s spring statement

Shrinking economy offers unhelpful backdrop for Rachel Reeves’s growth push

GDP goes in wrong direction as chancellor puts final touches to fiscal plans

Ed Davey calls on Keir Starmer to back Canada against Trump attacks

Lib Dem leader says PM should make public show of support for ally against ‘shocking attacks’ on its sovereignty

UK food and drink exports to the EU down 34% since Brexit

Food and Drink Federation say businesses are struggling to deal with added ‘complexity and bureaucracy’

Why is Keir Starmer’s government seeking to cut the benefits bill?

Labour targeting sickness and disability benefits that have ballooned amid increasingly ageing and unwell population