Average London salary 68% higher than Burnley equivalent, says thinktank

Regional inequality means annual pay in the capital almost £20,000 higher than in the lowest-paid places in UK

Lady Oppenheim-Barnes obituary

Conservative MP who dedicated her energies to the rights of the consumer

If Rachel Reeves wants growth, improved community cohesion could be essential

A new paper has found that social capital ‘is the cake, not the icing’ of a strong, well functioning economy

Market turmoil has calmed but Rachel Reeves faces more challenges ahead

Chancellor survives chaos in markets but faces more questions on growth, cuts, public sector pay and fraud

Rachel Reeves will go on Davos charm offensive as plan for cuts rattles nerves at home

The chancellor will seek investment in the UK as the Labour government prepares to reduce the benefits bill

Keir Starmer will have to stick by Rachel Reeves – they’re lashed to the same mast

When you’re presiding over a flatlining economy, every error is magnified and there is little credit for the things you’re doing right

First Brexit, now Trump and Musk: ignorance is back with a vengeance

The aggression from the Tesla billionaire is new; but Britain has years of experience in the consequences of falling for misleading promises

Rollercoaster week for the chancellor ends in relief … and a lesson learned that fortunes can change very fast

Treasury officials claim there was no panic in No 11 before the economic numbers finally turned in their favour

The Observer view: Rachel Reeves has an unenviable task, but she must stick to her plan for growth

While some criticisms of the chancellor are justified, there’s no escaping there are no quick fixes to the bad hand she was dealt

Labour pledges to make Sunday trains as reliable as weekday services

Government plans to renationalise railways will establish new public body to improve the network

Labour is right to forge more trade links with China – not doing so would be folly

From a ‘golden era’ to post-pandemic mistrust, the UK has had a turbulent relationship with the world’s second-largest economy, says Lau China Institute director Kerry Brown

Lisa Nandy vows to bulldoze barriers in arts and turbocharge growth

Culture secretary announces investment in arts at Gateshead summit and accuses Tories of stifling creative industries

Bank of England delays rules designed to avoid banking crash by a year

Donald Trump’s return to White House and Rachel Reeves’s call for regulators to help drive UK growth taken into account

Badenoch’s pensions triple lock remarks prompt alarm among Tory colleagues

Leader urged to clarify suggestion lock could be means-tested amid fears party will lose support among older voters

‘He’s one of the best’: the economist shaping Rachel Reeves’s growth plans

John Van Reenen believes he can help Labour solve the ‘peculiar British problem’ of chronically weak productivity