The watering down of Britain’s rules for benchmark providers — such as stock and bond indices that influence the destination of vast flows of capital — will mean 90 per cent of companies in the sector are excluded from the regime, according to proposals seen by the Financial Times.

The UK government is facing a revolt from its own backbenchers over plans to curb trial by jury, in a further blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership.

A fall in base rate is usually mirrored in mortgage rates, as base rate is the rate charged by the Bank of England (BoE) to smaller banks and building societies to borrow money. It is also the rate of interest the BoE pays to commercial banks, building societies and financial institutions that hold money with it.

When the partnership was unveiled in September the UK government said it would "shape the futures of millions of people".

Christian Turner will become Britain’s next ambassador to the US, putting an end to the three-month wait for a permanent successor to Peter Mandelson.

British consumer price inflation fell unexpectedly sharply to 3.2% in November, its lowest since March, from 3.6% in October, official figures showed on Wednesday, a day before the Bank of England is widely expected to cut interest rates.

A new offence looks to build on existing rules outlawing sexually explicit deepfakes and intimate image abuse.

Rules introduced last year by the previous Conservative government require employers to pay overseas workers an hourly rate set at the UK median for their specific occupation — as well as clearing a general salary threshold of £41,700 that applies in all occupations.

British consumer confidence and spending is muted heading into Christmas and the government's budget last month did little to help, the boss of electricals retailer Currys said on Thursday.

Reform UK threw a Christmas party last weekend, and they had more to celebrate than just the festive season. A few days earlier the party pulled off a surprise victory in a council by-election in the ward of Whitburn and Blackburn in West Lothian. This was their first ever win in Scotland.