In this issue

March 17, 2023

Aspects Of Hunt's Budget Plan Need A Second Look

There is an old Westminster adage that a Budget that looks good on the day will look terrible in the morning, and Jeremy Hunt's first (formal) effort as chancellor looks to be conforming to the saying, at least to some extent.

4 mins

Deadlock broken on NHS pay after months of strikes

Union bosses to back 5.2 per cent wage rise and bonuses

5 mins

Junior doctors' strikes could cost NHS more than £90m

The three-day junior doctors' strikes could cost the NHS more than £90m, leaked figures show. Internal estimates from the NHS and Department of Health and Social Care suggest the cost of covering junior doctors' shifts with consultants this week is between £66m to £92m, The Independent understands.

3 mins

Pensions reform could cost Treasury £100,000 a job

Jeremy Hunt's multibillion-pound pensions giveaway in the Budget may not increase the number of people in work and could open an inheritance tax loophole for the wealthy, experts have warned.

2 mins

A Lost Decade For Living Standards, You Say... Haven't We Just Had One Of Those?

The success of a Budget is measured in how long it takes to collapse. Some arrive pre-collapsed, others collapse in real time.

4 mins

How Hunt's £4bn childcare support reforms will work

The chancellor announced 30 hours of free childcare for all under-fives from the moment maternity care ends in his \"back to work\" Budget on Wednesday.

3 mins

Factors driving immigration

There has been a sudden spike of migrants arriving into the UK because of several reasons, as Matt Mathers outlines

4 mins

Braverman to visit Rwanda depsite asylum legal tangle

Suella Braverman is to visit Rwanda as Britain's £140m deal to send asylum seekers to the country remains mired in legal challenges.

3 mins

Banking Failures Spark Fears.of A 'Contagion' In Markets

Credit Suisse and First Republic bailouts likened to 2008

3 mins

Whitehall bans TikTok amid mounting security concerns

Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has been banned from British government phones and tablets in a \"precautionary\" security move.

1 min

What does the TikTok ban mean for China-UK ties?

Chinese-owned social media app TikTok has been banned from British government phones and tablets in a \"precautionary\" security move.

4 mins

Patrick French, biographer of VS Naipaul, dies aged 57

‘Unfailingly generous’ human being was widely admired

3 mins

Rebel Tories could wreck promised trophy hunt ban

The UK's long-promised ban on imports of hunting trophies backed by celebrities including Ed Sheeran and Dame Judi Dench could be derailed by rebel Tories, it's feared.

3 mins

Home news in brief

Fire engulfs 400-year-old hotel housing Ukrainian refugees

4 mins

China's Grand Plan To Flex Its Muscles Across The World

In brokering a detente between Iran and Saudi Arabia - and offering a peace strategy for Ukraine - we have been given a glimpse of Beijing's greater vision, writes Borzou Daragahi

5 mins

Declassified footage shows Russian fighter jet downing US drone over Black Sea

The United States released a declassified video showing Russia's interception of a US military drone over the Black Sea two days ago, saying it shows Moscow was lying about what happened.

1 min

South Korea and Japan to end trade dispute after talks

South Korea and Japan have agreed to drop a trade dispute over high-tech materials as the leaders of the two countries met in Tokyo yesterday for landmark talks.

1 min

Cyclone Freddy death toll passes 300 after days of rain

Tens of thousands left homeless in Malawi and Mozambique

1 min

The Ukraine war has handed China lots of opportunities

So taken up was the Western world with reiterating its support for Ukraine a year after the Russian invasion, that it barely registered how a very large power on the other side of the world had marked the anniversary in a rather different way.

5 mins

How the war has ravaged the breadbasket of Europe

Environmental experts warn of long-term consequences from Russia's invasion on Ukraine's forests, farmland, soil and marine life,

8 mins

Virgin Orbit 'pauses' operations after failure

California-based company reportedly furloughs staff

2 mins

Credit Suisse Stabilised By Big Loan But Crisis Isn't Over

Banking system is being sorely tested,

2 mins

Arsenal knocked out of the Europa League on penalties

Draining loss might be blessing in disguise for title chasers

4 mins

‘It truly is a violent ballet’

Alex Pattle talks to Creed 3’ choreographer Clayton Barber about how he brings those brutal fight sequences together

4 mins

Read all stories from The Independent

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