Public finance

Home Office wasted nearly £100m on plans to house asylum seekers, watchdog finds
Public Accounts Committee examined series of site purchases and found ‘troubling culture that repeatedly wastes public money’
Rajeev Syal Home affairs editor
05, Feb, 2025 @12:01 AM

UK chief auditor ‘open to learning’ from Musk
NAO’s Gareth Davies says healthcare and special educational needs systems are becoming unsustainable
Rowena Mason Whitehall editor
04, Feb, 2025 @6:43 PM

Trump’s tariffs could have grim knock-on effects for UK’s economy
British policymakers watch nervously, fearing a weaker pound and inflation even if US tariffs are not applied directly
Heather Stewart
02, Feb, 2025 @5:21 PM

Ministers could allow council tax to rise by up to 25% to prevent bankruptcies
Experts say it is inevitable government will let English local authorities exceed 5% cap if they are likely to go bust
Phillip Inman and Patrick Butler
01, Feb, 2025 @10:00 AM

Rachel Reeves backs Heathrow third runway in bid to drive UK growth
In economic growth speech, chancellor says move would make UK ‘world’s best-connected place to do business’
Heather Stewart Economics editor
29, Jan, 2025 @1:32 PM

Challenge the orthodoxy and get Boris Johnson’s 40 new hospitals built | Letters
Letters: Infrastructure spending means investment in people, writes Netti Pearson, while Ann Eastman suggests corporate opportunities for the NHS and Brandi Leach calls on UK billionaires to be philanthropists
23, Jan, 2025 @5:52 PM

Don’t forget the Tories’ £50bn-a-year benefit cuts | Letter
Letters: In the debate about social security cuts, there is little mention of the massive cuts already made over the past decade or so, says Ruth Lister
23, Jan, 2025 @5:52 PM

Rachel Reeves’s duty is to the people, not the markets | Letters
Letters: Treasury orthodoxy is such that the chancellor doesn’t seem to think she has a choice, writes Anthony Lawton, while Ros Wain says the government needs to get over the household view of the public finances. Plus a letter from Phil Tate
20, Jan, 2025 @6:02 PM

Half of new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson will not be built for years
Exclusive: Labour to announce delay to many of 40 planned projects as costs spiral to estimated £30bn
Denis Campbell and Rowena Mason
17, Jan, 2025 @9:28 PM

Keir Starmer says Treasury will be ruthless on public spending cuts
Chancellor’s tough approach to public spending ‘absolutely right’, says PM after cost of government borrowing rose
Pippa Crerar Political editor
13, Jan, 2025 @1:36 PM

Reeves back from China with one eye on bonds and the other on economic data
The chancellor will be monitoring the price of gilts after last week’s selloff and data to come on inflation and growth
Heather Stewart Economics editor
13, Jan, 2025 @5:00 AM

Rachel Reeves faces another anxious week of second-guessing the City
Markets appear to be fretting over sustainability of tax and spending plans and whether UK is heading for ‘stagflation’
Heather Stewart Economics editor
10, Jan, 2025 @5:00 PM
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