In this issue

March 16, 2023

'Back to work' Budget leads on pensions and childcare

Labour says Britain is still 'sick man of Europe' under Tories

4 mins

Pensions boost for wealthy as Hunt scraps lifetime cap

Jeremy Hunt has scrapped the lifetime allowance cap on taxfree pensions savings – which stood at £1m – in a major boost for well-off Britons.

3 mins

The Thunderbird is go...

The chancellor's style is that of a puppet controlled by a puppeteer desperately trying not to fall asleep on the job

6 mins

Surprise tax break for rich could be gift to opposition

Most of the Budget had been advertised in advance, either on purpose or by leaks.

3 mins

Can Hunt's strategy really get Britain back to work?

For a short time, the \"experienced\" Jeremy Hunt is the most famous 56-year-old around.

5 mins

Good times are here again!

What was really going through the chancellor's mind as he delivered his Budget statement, imagined by John Rentoul

4 mins

Small firms passed over in Hunt's tax-break bonanza

Jeremy Hunt's measures to address worker shortages and boost investment might reassure businesses that Britain's economy is finally heading in the right direction.

2 mins

Cash injection not enough to meet needs of the army

The £11bn the chancellor announced would be added to the defence budget over five years confirmed the pledge made by Rishi Sunak when presenting the refresh of the Integrated Review earlier this week.

2 mins

Migration to hit 245,000 despite vow to cut numbers

Net migration to Britain is predicted to rise to 245,000 people a year over the next few years, eclipsing earlier projections, in a blow to the government's pledge to keep the number of arrivals down.

2 mins

Russia says US relations are 'lamentable' after downing drone flying over Black Sea

Russia’s relationship with the United States is in a “lamentable state”, the Kremlin has said, following the downing of a US drone by one of its jets over the Black Sea.

2 mins

Honduras seeks to establish diplomatic ties with China

The move will leave Taiwan recognised by only 13 countries

2 mins

Arrest attempts are illegal, warns former Pakistan PM

Pakistan's former prime minister Imran Khan has accused security forces of acting illegally after they led an overnight siege outside his house in Lahore in an attempt to arrest him.

2 mins

Protests erupt across Iran during 'Red Wednesday'

A wave of anti-government protests erupted in Iran on a popular holiday celebrated with fireworks. Iranians across the country marked the Zoroastrian holiday of “Red Wednesday” by tossing fireworks at security forces, throwing hijabs into bonfires, singing anti-government songs and chanting slogans against supreme leader Ali Khamenei.

2 mins

Tories add spending sparkle but Labour remains in pole

Although Rishi Sunak’s ministers have made a virtue out of being “boring” after the turbulence of the Johnson and Truss periods, yesterday’s Budget was more exciting than expected. Jeremy Hunt had done a good job of lowering expectations, enabling a fairly run-of-the mill Budget to look more sparkly on the day than it should have done.

4 mins

REALITY CHECK

Steve Hogarty on the VR headsets to level up your gaming

6 mins

'You can't sort out the NHS without sorting elderly care'

Richard Eyre talks to Louis Chilton about his adaptation of Alan Bennett play Allelujah’ and the moral crisis at its heart

6 mins

Delightful, dizzying plunge into New York's underbelly

Nicholas Hytner’s immersive production of Guys and Dolls’ is a wildly entertaining night out, writes Isobel Lewis

2 mins

Stock markets plunge over fears of Credit Suisse failure

Fears the global economy might be hit by a fresh banking crisis wiped billions of pounds off the value of top firms yesterday during growing uncertainty over the future of troubled Credit Suisse.

2 mins

We need more targeted support with energy bills.

Critics of the government's energy bill support measures have long focused on the lack of targeting, with the barbs coming from both the left and the right. The Institute of Economic Affairs, for example, has described the energy price guarantee as \"middle-class welfare\".

2 mins

Real's midfield maestros leave Liverpool stranded

Real Madrid win 6-2 on aggregate

3 mins

Divine De Bruyne exposes inconvenient truth for Pep

So much for focusing on the simple things. Pep Guardiola's suggestion that Kevin De Bruyne should stick to the basics was delivered on Monday and, it seemed, ignored in the Champions League on Tuesday. De Bruyne's evening began with a 30-yard, outside-of-the-boot pass with which he almost took the entire RB Leipzig defence out of the game. It ended with him, with a blend of power and curl, dispatching a shot from 20 yards into the top corner of their goal.

3 mins

Sexton bids for slam glory in Six Nations swansong

Johnny Sexton insists there is plenty left to come in his distinguished career as he seeks to cap a Six Nations swansong by guiding Ireland to Grand Slam glory in a \"cup final\" against England.

2 mins

Read all stories from The Independent

The Independent Newspaper Description:

The Independent has been at the frontline of journalism since 1986, with its mission to challenge and debate always ahead of its time. The Independent is free-thinking and free of bias in an increasingly fragmented world where communities locally, regionally and across continents are disenfranchised with traditional establishments. They want real facts and frank opinions delivered first-hand from a news source that is ready to stand for something, not everything.