UK budget watchdog in danger of strangling economic growth, says TUC boss

Britain’s budget watchdog is in danger of strangling growth and should be modernised to ditch its “hardwired” support for austerity economics, the Trades Union Congress has warned.Less than two weeks before Rachel Reeves’s autumn budget, the trade union umbrella group said the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) was at risk of being a “straitjacket” on growth in living standards.It called for an urgent review into the OBR’s role at the heart of the chancellor’s budget-setting process from the earliest opportunity after her 26 November tax and spending statement.Paul Nowak, the TUC general secretary, told the Guardian: “I don’t think the chancellor, whatever happens at the budget, wants to go down the road of austerity 2.0

Business secretary backs shift to electric arc furnaces at British Steel plant

The business secretary, Peter Kyle, has backed a shift to cleaner electric arc technology at the state-controlled British Steel plant, raising questions about the future of the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces.Kyle said the government was “keen to see that transition happen”, as he works on a new steel strategy, which is expected to be published in December.A shift to electric arc furnaces at Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, would secure the future of steel production at the plant – under emergency state control since April – as the UK tries to meet its target of net zero carbon emissions.However, it would also raise doubts about the fate of blast furnaces that employ thousands of people, and the UK government’s previous pledges to preserve Britain’s primary steelmaking ability, producing steel from iron ore.When the government recalled parliament in April to take control of British Steel, it feared the site’s Chinese owner, Jingye Steel, was planning to close it permanently, with the loss of as many as 2,700 jobs

Father of teen whose death was linked to social media has ‘lost faith’ in Ofcom

The father of Molly Russell, a British teenager who killed herself after viewing harmful online content, has called for a change in leadership at the UK’s communications watchdog after losing faith in its ability to make the internet safer for children.Ian Russell, whose 14 year-old daughter took her own life in 2017, said Ofcom had “repeatedly” demonstrated that it does not grasp the urgency of keeping under-18s safe online and was failing to implement new digital laws forcefully.“I’ve lost confidence in the current leadership at Ofcom,” he told the Guardian. “They have repeatedly demonstrated that they don’t grasp the urgency of this task and they have shown that they don’t seem to be willing to use their powers to the extent that is required.”Russell’s comments came in the same week the technology secretary, Liz Kendall, wrote to Ofcom saying she was “deeply concerned” about delays in rolling out parts of the Online Safety Act (OSA), a landmark piece of legislation laying down safety rules for social media, search and video platforms

Personal details of Tate galleries job applicants leaked online

Personal details submitted by applicants for a job at Tate art galleries have been leaked online, exposing their addresses, salaries and the phone numbers of their referees, the Guardian has learned.The records, running to hundreds of pages, appeared on a website unrelated to the government-sponsored organisation, which operates the Tate Modern and Tate Britain galleries in London, Tate St Ives in Cornwall and Tate Liverpool.The data includes details of applicants’ current employers and education, and relates to the Tate’s hunt for a website developer in October 2023. Information about 111 individuals is included. They are not named but their referees are, sometimes with mobile numbers and personal email addresses

Ollie Pope believes pressure on England place will push him to deliver in Ashes

Ollie Pope believes the pressure of defending his spot in the England team amid constant speculation about his future and the rising challenge presented by Jacob Bethell has given him greater clarity and quality, leaving him well placed to improve a poor record against Australia when the Ashes start on Friday.In 10 Test innings against the Australians Pope has never scored more than 42, averaging 11.16 in the three games he played last time England toured here in 2021-22, and 22.50 in two matches when the Ashes were last contested in 2023. The 27-year-old looked in fine form when scoring 100 and 90 in the warmup fixture against the Lions at Lilac Hill and will head to the Optus Stadium for the first Test with confidence high

England have become something ugly, brutish and formidable to play against | Andy Bull

Steve Borthwick has engineered his team to get stronger in the last quarter and the All Blacks could not cope with this monstrous lotThere’s the England they sell you in the glossy magazines and then there’s the England you find on days like this one at Twickenham. Cold, grey, hostile, the days when anyone lucky enough to have the choice takes one look out the window and realises time is going to be best spent indoors.The All Blacks did not have that luxury. Their head coach, Scott Robertson, spoke in the week about the work he had done to prepare his players. “We’re looking forward to it,” he said