Create new pre-apprenticeship scheme to close youth unemployment gap, says Milburn

Exclusive: Former minister’s review warns that dramatic action is needed over huge drop in youth apprenticeship starts

Tory tax break for banks has cost UK public purse £6bn, says TUC

Exclusive: Chancellor urged to reverse Jeremy Hunt’s tax surcharge cuts to claw back billions in lost revenue

British households would be £5,000 richer if we were more innovative. Let’s unleash our talents

We have a deep reservoir of assets, but struggle to turn small companies into global success stories. Innovation needs to be at the heart of government policy, says former UK prime minister Gordon Brown

Badenoch’s inheritance tax gambit makes no economic sense

The Tory leader’s proposal to slash the tax would shovel £6bn of taxpayer money to the already-wealthy

Burnham, take note: water shareholders have their uses – they can be squeezed for cash

Owner of South West Water, Bristol Water and Bournemouth Water is tapping its investors for £550m after sewage spills

Labour could oversee worst parliament on record for living standards, study warns

Energy and housing costs threaten biggest decline in modern times unless bold action taken, says thinktank

IMF chief urges governments to tighten belts as global debt levels soar

Kristalina Georgieva says big economies will have to make ‘very touch choices’ as soaring bond yields hit budgets

Apparent exodus of super-rich suggests UK is no longer billionaires’ playground

If recent complaints are believed, London and the UK are no longer welcoming for ultra-high net worth individuals

Wednesday briefing: Is it time to end the Bank of England’s independence?

In today’s newsletter: As MPs launch a fresh inquiry into the Bank, leading economists make their case for rethinking one of Britain’s most powerful institutions

Tories unite behind Badenoch, but road to recovery remains long

Farage’s woes have given some a reason to hope, but insiders say focus on economy over culture wars is needed to win back centrist voters

The Guardian view on Tory economics: Britain’s future needs more than Thatcher’s past

Editorial: The Conservatives blame their failures on abandoning their 1976 principles. But the country needs investment and resilience rather than another round of spending cuts

Tory plan to cut energy efficiency rule for builders will cost new home owners £1,000 a year, says thinktank – as it happened

A researcher at a climate change think tank says the Conservative policy would be a ‘disaster for first time buyers’

Burnham’s plans for social care and its workers are admirable but changes must come quickly

Money is needed now for a system that has left families including mine struggling their way unsupported and forgotten

‘The violence is off the scale’: staff and passengers at risk as assaults on trains in Great Britain soar to record high

Cases of abuse, spitting, head-butting and sexual harassment, have spiked as transport police numbers have dwindled

Ministers explore how to stop regional leaders misusing planned new spending powers

Labour wants to make sure mayors and council chiefs in England can be held to account for extra revenues devolved to them