Four ways Labour could raise money in the Budget without hiking income tax

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 06:00:15 GMT
Chancellor John Healey may need to raise money to boost his fiscal headroom - BBC Verify examines what options could be on the table.

Budget to include £1bn for social and affordable housing

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 02:57:30 GMT
The move will take funding for the 10-year programme to more than £40bn.

Rosebank: Life on the oil field at the centre of a political storm

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:15:38 GMT
Scotland editor James Cook finds out what life is like on board a ship in an untapped oil field awaiting its fate.

Are California voters about to impose 'world's first' tax on billionaires?

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 23:11:31 GMT
Voters are about to decide if the mega-rich among them should hand over billions of dollars to pay for improvements to healthcare.

How does the UK state pension compare with other countries?

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:09:12 GMT
Do British pensioners have it better or worse than those in other countries?

The Indian workers filming their work to train AI

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 08:04:17 GMT
Indian workers are being paid to film themselves at work and the footage is used to train AI.

UK to invest £100m in 'world first' AI Biosecurity Lab

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:05:45 GMT
The chancellor will unveil AI spending aimed at shoring up the UK's defences in Wednesday's Budget.

White House lifts tariffs on some Canadian goods as midterm elections loom

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:36:47 GMT
From 30 October, tariffs will be eased on some products, including certain machinery, and placed on others, such as carpets.

Earnings limit of up to £140K for first-time buyers loan scheme

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 11:48:04 GMT
The Your First Home scheme will offer government-backed loans for those buying new-builds in England.

Civil servant who juggled five jobs says he was 'surprised' to be charged with fraud

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:15:13 GMT
Kashim Chowdhury denied being dishonest when not telling employers he had other jobs.

Lights will stay on this winter, grid operator says after concerns

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 06:47:10 GMT
The assurance from the National Energy System Operator comes amid concern from its engineers about their ability to ensure adequate supply.

'I'm 96 and have 15 million followers': The grannies taking over TikTok

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 23:20:38 GMT
Grandma Droniak, Nonna Gracie, Viv Truran and Barbara Costello have all found fame on social media in their later years.

Zuckerberg wins Meta deal to help him foot bill for possible California billionaire tax

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 18:26:56 GMT
The Meta boss had said he would exit the state over a wealth tax that has not yet come into force.

L'Oreal says weight loss drugs are impacting beauty and skincare sales

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 22:27:53 GMT
The beauty giant's CEO says the use of GLP-1s is "a very important phenomenon for us".

'I wasn't thinking straight' says five jobs civil servant

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 15:05:47 GMT
Kashim Chowdhury is accused of fraudulently juggling multiple public sector jobs.

Barclays cutting 5,000 jobs as it increases reliance on AI

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 14:28:59 GMT
The bank says it is using more AI leading to a 5% reduction in its workforce.

The 'trillion pound' oil fund the government believes Britain could have built

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 23:27:05 GMT
For the first time, the Treasury calculates how much the UK could have raised by investing North Sea proceeds.

Tank barrel production returns to UK after 20 years

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:45:19 GMT
The defence secretary says the UK is "back in the business of making weapons" for its armed forces.

What is PHP and why did it spark a global cyber-security scramble?

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 12:24:17 GMT
AI uncovered long-hidden programming flaws, triggering a rare global cyber-security response.

No order, no seat: Starbucks China rolls out new store policy

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 04:02:29 GMT
Starbucks says it is improving customers' in-store experience as it competes with homegrown rivals.

Websites taken down worldwide as critical cyber-security update issued

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 19:54:57 GMT
The vulnerabilities with PHP, a programming language widely used across the internet, have been described as the most significant ever found by AI.

Is an 'AI war' complicating your job search?

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 05:01:31 GMT
How fair are AI recruitment tools that help decide our future, and what happens when we click "apply"?

Meta fined $25bn for 'lies' over user data privacy

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 21:49:07 GMT
The fine is the largest to date against Facebook's owner, larger than an $18bn deal with California.

Airbnb hosts can no longer make guests strip beds and wash dishes under new rules

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 22:54:58 GMT
The updated policy will apply to all reservations booked on the accommodation site on or after 20 November.

Why is Elon Musk plotting a mega-merger of SpaceX and Tesla?

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 23:04:03 GMT
Musk says there's "a lot to be gained" by combining the firms in what would be the biggest merger in history.

Faisal Islam: Inflation and borrowing figures illustrate chancellor's Budget challenge

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:20:15 GMT
The economic figures released on Wednesday show the constraints for John Healey as he puts the finishing touches to his Budget.

Inflation and government borrowing highest for a year ahead of next week's Budget

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 10:16:17 GMT
Inflation accelerated to 3.5% from 3.1% in the year to September, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The grads ditching the UK for a fresh start abroad

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 23:12:06 GMT
With graduate jobs hard to come by, more young adults are reported to be considering emigrating.

The tech helping crack decades-old cold cases

Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:13:24 GMT
Investigative genetic genealogy can help hunt down criminals but raises worries over privacy.

Living with a stink? Technology might help

Thu, 15 Oct 2026 23:18:21 GMT
Smells from rubbish dumps and industrial facilities are being more carefully monitored.

As Christmas rush looms, how do China-made toys find their way to the US?

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 23:01:28 GMT
With the festive season on the horizon, we trace toys from factories in China to US shelves.

How long will humans be needed for translation?

Tue, 13 Oct 2026 23:05:29 GMT
AI dominates the translation business, but for high-stakes work, humans are still needed.

Why are more roofs not made of solar tiles?

Thu, 08 Oct 2026 23:09:56 GMT
Solar tiles were touted as an attractive alternative to solar panels - why have they not taken off?

How oil-rich Alberta's economy might fare if it broke away from Canada

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 23:10:13 GMT
Albertans vote this month on staying in Canada or moving ahead to a binding independence referendum.

Rainmakers: The drones used to seed clouds

Wed, 07 Oct 2026 07:09:32 GMT
Cloud seeding is gaining attention as countries look to boost rainfall - will drones help?

The AI telling farmers when to harvest

Wed, 30 Sep 2026 23:02:21 GMT
Will farmers want AI tools to help judge when to pick fruit, or is their own intuition enough?

The start-ups hoping to return battery making to the US

Tue, 29 Sep 2026 23:06:50 GMT
Batteries based on sodium-ion technology could be made in the US with locally sourced materials.

X-planes: Are they needed in the new era of drones?

Thu, 24 Sep 2026 23:03:53 GMT
Where do America's X-plane projects fit in an era of cheap drones?

How the oil capital of the US welcomed a solar power boom

Wed, 23 Sep 2026 23:12:22 GMT
Texas is now the country's biggest producer of solar-farmed electricity.

Spain battles climate change on several fronts

Tue, 22 Sep 2026 09:11:48 GMT
A summer of wildfires and heatwaves underlines the threats to the country's economy.

The virtual worlds where robots are trained

Thu, 17 Sep 2026 23:00:47 GMT
Training systems that allow robots to negotiate the real world are getting more sophisticated.

Heating oil costs 'more than double' ahead of winter

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:12:21 GMT
Middleton in Teesdale has no mains gas supply so many residents use expensive heating oil.

How families are cutting the cost of Halloween as spending grows

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:09:56 GMT
Families are turning to homemade costumes, swaps and second-hand outfits to keep it affordable.

Firms 'holding back' on new jobs ahead of Budget

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 07:06:12 GMT
Some businesses say they want to see employment costs come down in the October Budget.

Budget 2026: No more fat to trim for 'squeezed middle'

Sun, 25 Oct 2026 06:21:23 GMT
As the chancellor finalises his first Budget, how are the "squeezed middle" feeling about costs?

Rising demand from families needing Christmas help

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 11:55:35 GMT
Charlotte Riley says more families are reaching out for help for a variety of reasons.

My hometown shows that high streets have to change or die

Sun, 27 Sep 2026 23:05:53 GMT
Aberdeen is launching an ambitious bid to revive its struggling centre. Could it offer lessons for other high streets?

Europe's car makers are in crisis. Will the threat of war rescue them?

Fri, 25 Sep 2026 08:31:56 GMT
Auto executives across Europe hope rearmament can help them flex their industrial muscles once more.

Aviation faces hotter, stormier skies – and passengers might have to accept more disruption

Sat, 05 Sep 2026 23:20:00 GMT
Are people going to have to increasingly accept more delays and diversions as the effects of climate change intensify?

Why the UK is dithering over what to do about e-scooters

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 23:51:24 GMT
Why is it taking so long for the government to regulate them, and what are the consequences of delay?

Why Gen Z are planning for life without a state pension

Tue, 30 Jun 2026 23:05:19 GMT
Many younger people do not believe the state pension will exist when they are older

The little-known investment Martin Lewis wants you to understand...

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 15:41:28 GMT
The little-known investment Martin Lewis wants you to understand

Renting in London - 'I pay £2,000 for one bedroom'

Fri, 23 Oct 2026 05:45:54 GMT
We ask people in the capital how much they pay for their homes.

The Briefing Room

Thu, 22 Oct 2026 13:19:00 GMT
After mass protests and violence, what will persuade the French to accept economic reform?

A warning to anyone with credit card debt...

Wed, 21 Oct 2026 17:06:28 GMT
Martin’s leading this week’s podcast with an urgent warning for anyone carrying credit card: now is the time to act.