Chancellor defends budget but tells MPs there were ‘too many leaks’ and that and much of them were inaccurate

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Rachel Reeves has condemned leaks before her make-or-break budget as “unacceptable” as she revealed her income tax U-turn was agreed in partnership with Keir Starmer.

Defending her tax and spending plans before MPs on the Commons Treasury committee, the chancellor said she had been frustrated by “leaks that were clearly not authorised” before her November speech.

Value of heavily indebted company has plummeted more than 90% since it bought chain of 1,400 bookmakers

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Evoke, the London-listed gambling company that owns William Hill and the 888 online casino brand, has said it is considering a sale or breakup of the group, after warning of a £135m hit from tax increases announced in last month’s budget.

In a statement to the stock market, the heavily indebted company said it had appointed bankers at Morgan Stanley and Rothschild to explore potential options to secure its future.

In a boost for Rachel Reeves, deputy governor says analysis shows chancellor’s policies will lower annual rate next year

The Bank of England expects Rachel Reeves’s budget will reduce the UK’s headline inflation rate by as much as half a percentage point next year.

In a boost for the chancellor after last month’s high-stakes tax and spending statement, Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the central bank, said its early analysis showed the policies would lower the annual inflation rate by 0.4 to 0.5 percentage points for a year from mid-2026.