Departments will be asked next week to reduce spending by 10% by 2028-29, says Cabinet Office sourceThe civil service will be told to slash more than £2bn a year from its budget by the end of the decade as part of the government’s spending review, with unions warning of significant job losses, the Guardian understands.The Cabinet Office will tell departments to cut their administrative budgets by 15%, which is expected to save £2.2bn a year by 2029-30. Continue reading...

Met Office warns of flooding, as parts of country sees torrential rain after warmest spring equinox in more than 50 yearsHeavy showers, hail and thunder are forecast to hit the UK days after the warmest spring equinox in more than 50 years. There was torrential rain in some parts on Saturday afternoon and National Highways said parts of the M18 in Yorkshire were closed while specialists worked to clear flood water. It is expected to be a cloudy start to Sunday with rain in the north and east […]

Keir Starmer has been dealt a fresh blow to his living standards pledge in advance of the spring statementLiving standards for all UK families are set to fall by 2030, with those on the lowest incomes declining twice as fast as middle and high earners, according to new data that raises serious questions about Keir Starmer’s pledge to make working people better off.The grim economic analysis, produced by the respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), comes before the chancellor, Rachel […]

As the town prepares for a byelection after Labour’s Mike Amesbury quits, locals say it is time for a changeSpring has finally arrived, and as customers enjoy a drink or two in the sunshine outside Runcorn’s branch of Wetherspoon’s on a Thursday afternoon, some are sympathetic to the local man in the news who has so dramatically fallen from grace.“If somebody was mouthing off to me so much, I would have knocked him out myself,” says Jason Baldwin. “I don’t believe he should have […]