‘Devastating to think of lives that could have been saved under different PM’, say Covid bereaved – as it happened

Findings of inquiry into handling of pandemic by Boris Johnson’s government paint picture of delay and inaction

Reeves urged to ‘grasp the nettle’ with wholesale reset of council tax

Experts say chancellor should go further than rumoured plan to update value of homes in top three bands

What does the left want? A wealth tax. What will that accomplish? Very little

Imposing a 1% levy on the super-rich isn’t a policy, it’s pantomime. Tackling inequality in Britain will require much more far-reaching changes, says Guardian columnist Aditya Chakrabortty

Microsoft has ‘ripped off the NHS’, says MP amid call for contracts with British firms

Samantha Niblett highlighted government’s multi-billion-pound deals with Microsoft and ‘getting locked in’

Fall in UK inflation looks like turning point that heralds interest rate cut

Rachel Reeves hints there will be budget measures to push down prices and Bank of England is likely to act

Launch of East West Rail services to be delayed in row over guards on trains

Trains between Oxford and Milton Keynes put back to 2026 partly due to dispute, Chiltern Railways says

‘Out of touch’ hereditary peers criticised for voting against workers’ rights

Lords look ‘undemocratic and firmly against interest of working people’, say senior trade union and Labour figures

Tories and Reform spout imaginary numbers as they fight for attention

Back-of-an envelope calculations by Kemi Badenoch, Mel Stride and Nigel Farage are nothing but political fever dreams

Bond markets could force Rachel Reeves ‘to do a secondary budget’, City investor warns

David Zahn of Franklin Templeton said bond yields could rise in response to chancellor’s fiscal plans and government would have to react

UK consumers warned over AI chatbots giving inaccurate financial advice

Which? study of ChatGPT, Copilot and others uncovers incorrect and misleading tips on investments, tax and insurance

UK officials ‘working day and night’ to resolve NHS drug pricing row’

Patrick Vallance says government trying to rebuild relations with pharma industry as he outlines life sciences ambition

AI, Covid and taxes: what is behind steep rise in youth unemployment?

Last year’s employer NICs increase and a weak economy are adding to tricky conditions for young people

Have Reeves and Starmer missed the chance to ditch stealth taxes?

Retreat from plans to increase income tax means Labour is unlikely to make system fairer and more coherent

Nigel Farage is today’s Enoch Powell and his appeal down to slow economy, says minister

Business secretary Peter Kyle says appeal of far-right parties like Reform due to ‘their dogma of disruption, division and despair’

What pension changes is Rachel Reeves considering in the budget?

One possible alteration was thought to be tax-free cash drawdowns, but the chancellor may have turned to salary sacrifice schemes