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Liz Truss sought to reassure financial markets on Wednesday by stating her commitment to fiscal discipline while claiming there was an “anti-growth coalition” opposed to her economic agenda. The UK prime minister, who has been in power for just a month, rallied Conservative MPs and members behind her faltering leadership by blaming the market turbulence

Liz Truss is braced for a fresh rebellion over her economic plans with senior Conservative MPs threatening to vote against the UK prime minister if she decides to cut benefits in real terms next spring. Truss is looking at raising benefits in line with average earnings growth rather than inflation, a controversial move that has

Liz Truss has executed a major U-turn by scrapping plans to axe the 45p top rate of tax after facing a growing revolt from Tory MPs led by former cabinet ministers Michael Gove and Grant Shapps. Investors bought sterling and UK government bonds in response to the policy reversal. By Monday afternoon the pound had

Liz Truss, prime minister, has admitted that mistakes were made in the controversial “mini” Budget that sparked market turmoil last week, as she braced herself for a fraught Conservative conference in Birmingham. Truss said she would not retreat on her plan to deliver £45bn of unfunded tax cuts, insisting it would help deliver growth, but

The UK watchdogs responsible for the £1.5tn corner of the pensions sector that came close to imploding this week are holding daily talks with asset managers to stave off a fresh crisis when the Bank of England’s emergency bond buying ends. The £65bn plan, which ends on October 14, was launched on Wednesday to safeguard

UK prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng on Friday sought to reassure markets they are serious about bringing down Britain’s debt, by meeting the Office for Budget Responsibility, the official forecaster. Kwarteng’s sidelining of the OBR, an independent institution, in last week’s tax-cutting fiscal statement was seen as having contributed to the chaotic

Vladimir Putin will annex four regions in south-eastern Ukraine — none of which Russia fully controls — on Friday, in a substantial escalation of the conflict with Kyiv. Dmitry Peskov, the Russian president’s spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Putin would sign “treaties” with Russia-appointed occupation officials and make a “substantial speech” during the ceremony

The Bank of England took emergency action on Wednesday to stem a crisis in government debt markets, suspending its programme to sell gilts and instead pledging to buy long-dated bonds. The central bank warned of a “material risk to UK financial stability” from the turmoil in the UK government bond market that has followed chancellor

Hedge fund managers including Crispin Odey are among those profiting from steep falls in sterling and UK government bonds as investors take flight on fears over the sustainability of the country’s public finances. The founder of Odey Asset Management is one of several leading hedge fund managers who believe the pound could now fall to

The pound tumbled to a record low on Monday while government bonds extended heavy losses, stirring expectations of a Bank of England statement or an emergency rise in UK interest rates after chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s package of tax cuts last week. The currency lost as much as 4.7 per cent to trade as low as

Liz Truss is to launch a big review of Britain’s visa system to tackle acute labour shortages in key industries in a move that was welcomed by business leaders. The prime minister is set to defy some of her anti-immigration cabinet colleagues by making changes to the “shortage occupation list”, allowing certain industries to bring

UK chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng declared a “new era” of growth with the announcement of his fiscal package on Friday. The set of tax cuts, worth £45bn, were the biggest since 1972. However, the plan will also push up public borrowing at a time when interest rates are rising and the economic outlook is deteriorating. After

Kwasi Kwarteng, UK chancellor, has taken a huge political gamble with a mini-Budget intended to jolt the British economy back to life, announcing £45bn of tax cuts, including axing the 45p additional tax rate for the highest earners. The package will delight many in the City of London and the wealthy. It removes the 45p

The Bank of England raised interest rates by 0.5 percentage points to 2.25 per cent on Thursday, arguing that “further, forceful” monetary tightening was needed to bring inflation under control. The move takes the BoE’s benchmark rate to its highest level since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008. However, the nine-member Monetary

Vladimir Putin said Russia’s armed forces would call up its reserves immediately to support its invasion of Ukraine and indicated Moscow would probably annex large swaths of the country’s territory. In an address to his nation that significantly raised the stakes in the war, the Russian president announced “partial mobilisation” ahead of heavily stage-managed votes

Liz Truss has admitted that a UK-US trade deal, long seen as one of the biggest prizes of Brexit, is not on the horizon, as she arrived in New York on her first overseas trip as prime minister. Brexit supporters insisted that the 2016 Leave vote would open the way for a free trade agreement

Mourners have come to London from all over the UK and around the world in the hope of seeing Queen Elizabeth’s funeral procession and soak up the atmosphere in the capital’s streets. Sarah and Harry, from Kingston-upon-Thames, drove to London on Monday to take their place behind the barriers lining Cromwell Road, where the mood

The US central bank will lift its benchmark policy rate above 4 per cent and hold it there beyond 2023 in its bid to stamp out high inflation, according to the majority of leading academic economists polled by the Financial Times. The latest survey, conducted in partnership with the Initiative on Global Markets at the

Wall Street stocks recorded the biggest weekly drop in months after a profit warning from economic bellwether FedEx jolted investors who are already on edge over a looming interest rate rise by the US Federal Reserve at its upcoming meeting. The blue-chip S&P 500 index fell 0.7 per cent on Friday, bringing weekly losses to

The German government has taken control of three refineries owned by Russian oil company Rosneft, in a major escalation of the energy war between Moscow and the west triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move is part of efforts by the government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz to protect the German economy from the effects