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Jeremy Hunt has promised a package of measures to boost growth and cut taxes in a highly political autumn statement. The Chancellor’s speech on Wednesday, delivered with an eye on a general election expected next year, said his plan will “raise business investment, get more people into work, reduce inflation” and increase the size of the economy. The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has upgraded its growth forecast for gross

The economy is “back on track”, Jeremy Hunt will declare as he starts cutting taxes and pushes for business growth ahead of next year’s election. The Chancellor will reportedly use his autumn statement to reduce headline rates of national insurance and make permanent a £10 billion-a-year tax break for companies that invest in new machinery and equipment. His deputy Laura Trott had already indicated that individuals would benefit from a

A third of British employees have admitted to working in their pyjamas, a survey has found. Employment firm Indeed surveyed over 1,000 employees and 500 employers in the UK, discovering 33% of workers wear pyjamas during shift hours. Employees don nightwear 46 working days a year on average, with one in 12 wearing pyjamas every day. Nearly half of the bosses surveyed said staff have become too casual since the

The Beatles’ Abbey Road album cover has had a seasonal makeover, transforming the Fab Four into an official Christmas Jumper. The festive knitwear comes after the success of the group’s final song titled Now And Then – which recently topped the official UK singles chart for the first time in 54 years. The limited edition jumper features John Lennon, Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Ringo Starr and George Harrison each wearing

A community in Shropshire is grieving as an investigation continues into a car crash that left four teenagers dead. The bodies of Jevon Hirst, Harvey Owen, Wilf Henderson and Hugo Morris were recovered from a silver Ford Fiesta in Snowdonia, North Wales, on Tuesday. A search was launched for the teenagers after they failed to return home from an overnight camping trip to the Snowdonia area. North Wales Police said the bodies were

Wales are heading to the Euro 2024 play-offs after drawing 1-1 with Turkey on a dramatic night in Cardiff. Neco Williams’ seventh-minute goal – his third for Wales – offered hope they could bridge the two-point gap between them and Croatia for the second automatic qualifying spot. But Yusuf Yazici’s controversial penalty 20 minutes from time – awarded after Wales had three stronger spot-kick appeals rejected – handed Turkey a share of the spoils and

Israel’s Cabinet approved a ceasefire deal with the Hamas militant group that would bring a temporary halt to a devastating war that has stretched on for over six weeks. Hamas will release dozens of hostages being held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for Palestinians in Israeli prisons. Under the deal, Hamas is to free 50 of the roughly 240 hostages it is holding in the Gaza Strip over a

Action should have been taken earlier against the spread of Covid-19, Sir Chris Whitty has said, though he denied warning ministers against lockdowns. In sometimes tense exchanges with Hugo Keith KC, lead counsel to the UK Covid-19 Inquiry, England’s chief medical officer described how he had set out the downsides of locking down but argued that was not the same as saying it should not happen. Sir Chris was put

Half of adults who have conversations with strangers online do not check how old they are, research suggests. A survey of 2,558 people over the age of 16 for child protection charity the Lucy Faithfull Foundation found that a quarter of adults in the UK chat to people they do not know, with 55% not checking their age. The poll also suggested that one in 10 men (11%) over the