CBI boss calls for Reeves to tear up Labour’s pledge not to raise tax

The boss of the Confederation of British Industry has suggested the chancellor should tear up Labour’s manifesto pledge not to raise taxes on working people, in a significant intervention before the budget.Rachel Reeves is widely expected to present a package of tax rises in her 26 November statement to offset deteriorating economic forecasts. However, the chancellor has been hamstrung by Labour’s promise not to increase the three main revenue-raisers for the Treasury: income tax, national insurance and VAT.In a surprise move in the debate about how to raise extra revenue, the CBI’s chief executive, Rain Newton-Smith, says the “time for tinkering is over”.Writing in the Guardian, the head of the longstanding lobby group representing many of the UK’s largest companies warns the chancellor against “slavish adherence” to tax promises made in the run-up to last year’s general election

Drilling down into the case for North Sea oil | Letters

Nils Pratley (Oil and gas imports are a problem. Labour should rethink its North Sea stance, 2 September) cites Offshore Energies’ estimate that offshore jobs are being lost at a rate of about 1,000 a month. What this and a similar estimate by the shadow energy minister, Andrew Bowie, of 400 job losses every fortnight up to 2030, misses is that this is less than half the rate of job losses under the Tories between 2013 and 2023. During this time, they continued to invest in new oil and gas fields and 227,000 workers lost their jobs all the same. That’s a rate of 436 a week

The women in love with AI companions: ‘I vowed to my chatbot that I wouldn’t leave him’

Experts are concerned about people emotionally depending on AI, but these women say their digital companions are misunderstoodThe Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more.A young tattoo artist on a hiking trip in the Rocky Mountains cozies up by the campfire, as her boyfriend Solin describes the constellations twinkling above them: the spidery limbs of Hercules, the blue-white sheen of Vega.The Guardian’s journalism is independent

Meta hid harms to children from VR products, whistleblowers allege

A group of six whistleblowers have come forward with allegations of a cover-up of harm to children on Meta’s virtual reality devices and apps. They say the social media company, which owns Facebook and Instagram, and offers a line of VR headsets and games, deleted or doctored internal safety research that showed children being exposed to grooming, sexual harassment and violence in its 3D realms.“Meta knew that underage children were using its products, but figured, ‘Hey, kids drive engagement,’ and it was making them cash,” Jason Sattizahn, one of the whistleblowers who worked on the company’s VR research, said in a statement. “Meta has compromised their internal teams to manipulate research and straight-up erase data that they don’t like.”Sattizahn and the other whistleblowers, all current or former Meta employees, have disclosed these findings and a trove of documents to Congress, according to the Washington Post, which first reported the allegations

Ashes not on Adil Rashid’s mind as England plot path to T20 World Cup

The way the ball is coming out of Adil Rashid’s hand this summer – those gyroscopic leg‑breaks and googlies still so utterly seductive – there is a case for Ben Stokes to flick him a WhatsApp message that reads simply: “Ashes?”It was enough to persuade Rashid’s best friend, Moeen Ali, to return to the fray in 2023, an SOS answered initially with an LOL. Looking ahead to the Ashes tour this winter Rashid, even aged 37 and having not fizzed down a red ball for six years (no barrier these days), would surely enhance the squad.For a start, Rashid is unquestionably the finest leg‑spinner England have produced in the past 50 years: a stellar career spanning nearly two decades that has returned 512 first‑class wickets, 427 in international cricket, and delivered two World Cup wins along the way. Oh, and an MBE.To watch Rashid bowl to South Africa during the recent one‑day international series was to take in a master at work – utter control of a skill that takes years to perfect

AFL finals: where the Brisbane v Gold Coast semi-final will be won and lost

Brisbane have been here before. The reigning premiers are in their seventh consecutive AFL finals series and twice in that stretch have faced a straight-sets exit. The concern will be that on both of those occasions, in 2019 and 2021, the Lions were unable to lift themselves from a qualifying final defeat and were bundled out at the semi-final stage.The Lions have grown up since then to become an AFL heavyweight and after four straight finals victories last year were finally rewarded with a premiership. Brisbane must now stare down a new challenger to their crown as Gold Coast take their club-first finals campaign into a second week after a rousing elimination final win