the chief economist of the office for national statistics says the rise has been driven partly by airfaresmeat, bread and private school fees. are . exchequer secretary fees. are. exchequer secretary to the treasury james murray has commented on the inflation figures, saying it was higher under the previous government. >> well, today's figures underline the fact that we are in a different world than we were a few years ago under the previous government, where inflation was routinely double digits. but let's be clear, we know that families across the country are still finding it hard to make ends meet, which is why yesterday's data about real wages increasing their fastest rate in three years was so welcome. and why putting more money in people's pockets is at the heart of our plan for change. to kick start economic growth. >> now, retailers selling knives onune >> now, retailers selling knives online face stricter laws under the government's new crackdown, as a review finds it's easier for children to buy knives than it is to purchase paracetamol. tougher prison sentences will be introduce

the data was compiled by the office for national statistics and is subject to revision. the chancellor, rachel reeves, has pledged to go further and faster with her plan to put more money in people's pockets, but the conservatives accused the government of killing growth. well, let's take a listen to what the chancellor, rachel reeves, had to say about those figures earlier today. >> the growth numbers have come in higher than many expected, but i'm still not satisfied with the level of growth that our economy is achieving. and that's why i am determined to go further and faster in delivering the economic growth and the improvements in living standards that our country deserves. >> the nhs waiting list in england has dropped for the fourth month in a row, now at its lowest level since april 2023. figures show. just over 7.4 million treatments were waiting at the end of december, down slightly from november's total and well below last year's peak. long waits are also falling, patients waiting over a year for treatment are at their lowest since 2020, but more than 2000 peo

the office for national statistics says uk average regular earnings growth rose to 5.9% in the three nths to december. it marks the third month in a row of wage growth after falling for a year. in november, both basic pay excluding bonuses and average weekly earnings, rose at an annual rate of 5.6%. that unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4%. plans to restructure thames water have been approved by a high court judge, just weeks before the struggling utility was set to run out of money. thames water utilities holdings limited is an around £16 billion of debt, and it needed 3.3 billion over the next five years to keep running. well, the company's lawyers say they have now secured a loan of up to £3 billion for from a smaller group of secondary creditors who proposed a alternative plan b, thames water chairman sir adrian montague says the approval of that rescue loan marks a significant milestone , and all of the milestone, and all of the passengers and crew on a flight that crashed and overturned while landing at toronto pearson airport in canada have survived. there were 76 pass

the data was compiled by the office for national statistics and is subject to revision. the chancellor, rachel reeves, has pledged to go further and faster with her plan to put more money in people's pockets. however, the conservatives accuse the government of killing growth. here's what the chancellor, rachel reeves, had to say. >> the growth numbers have come in higher than many expected, but i'm still not satisfied with the level of growth that our economy is achieving. and that's why i am determined to go further and faster in delivering the economic growth and the improvements in living standards that our country deserves. >> in other news, now, the nhs waiting list in england has dropped for the fourth month in a row, now at its lowest level since april 2023. figures show 7.46 million treatments were waiting at the end of december, down slightly from november's total and well below last year's peak. long waits are also falling. patients waiting over a year for treatment are at their lowest since 2020, but more than 2000 people had been waiting over 18 months, a num

the chief economist of the office for national statistics says the rise has been driven partly by airfares, bread and private school fees. in other news, retailers selling knives online face stricter laws under the government's new crackdown, as a review finds it's easier for children to buy knives than it is to purchase paracetamol. tougher prison sentences will be introduced for selling knives to under—eighteens, and retailers will be obliged to report suspicious or bulk purchases that could then be sold on via social media. it's part of the government's aim to increase the protection of young people from knife crime , following knife crime, following tragedies. after unlicensed sales of the weapons. jonathan reynolds has been accused of fabricating his cv after it emerged he repeatedly described himself as a solicitor despite never qualifying. speaking to the commons in 2014, the business secretary claimed he worked as a solicitor in manchester city centre before becoming an mp. however, he never actually qualified, quitting his training contract to run for parliament in 2010 , to run f

the office for national statistics says uk average regular earnings growth rose to 5.9% in the threeonths to december and was 3.4% higher after taking consumer pfices higher after taking consumer prices index inflation into account. it marks the third month in a row of wage growth after falling for a year in november. both basic pay, excluding bonuses and average weekly earnings, rose at an annual rate of 5.6%. the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.4% and a new independent review into prisons has found sentences are getting longer thanks to political messaging around being tough on crime. it lays the blame on successive governments for the overcrowding in uk prisons, describing ministers handling as unstrategic and unsustainable. the report found england and wales have one of the highest prison population rates in western europe. recalling offenders on licence back to jail was said to be a key reason, with numbers rising from under 100 in 1993 to nearly 13,000 in december last year. the chairman of the independent sentencing review has said today it's only a matter of time bef

the data, compiled by the office for national statistics is, though still subject to revision.l, the chancellor this morning has pledged to go further and faster with her plan to put more money in people's pockets. but the conservatives accused the government of killing growth. well, let's take a quick listen then, to what rachel reeves had to say about those figures earlier today. >> the growth numbers have come in higher than many expected, but i'm still not satisfied with the level of growth that our economy is achieving. and that's why i am determined to go further and faster in delivering the economic growth and the improvements in living standards that our country deserves. >> the defence secretary says there will be no talks about ukraine without ukraine, as john healey insists , kyiv must be in healey insists, kyiv must be in the strongest position possible to negotiate. nato's new secretary—general also says any peace deal must prevent russia from trying to seize more land in the future. it follows donald trump claiming he and vladimir putin had agreed to start talks o

the office for national statistics have just published the latest uk inflation figures, that's the rate at which prices rise. it unexpectedly slowed in the year to december to 2.5%, but now the ons say it is 3% for the year to january. let's with me now to break down what this figure means, i am joined by our business presenter, tadhg enright. tell us your reaction. 3%, marginally _ tell us your reaction. 396, marginally higher- tell us your reaction. 396, marginally higher than i tell us your reaction. ”ivi�*fiz, marginally higher than many tell us your reaction. ”iv,% marginally higher than many had forecast, 2.8% was the figure we had been expecting. it's not completely out of the ordinary, though, we have been looking at the impact of the energy price cap filtering through to consumer prices, energy of course a massive factor in inflation. there had been that price cap put into place during the worst times of the russian invasion of ukraine when we saw the cost of energy, cost of gas and oil pushed up, the price cap is assumed to reduce pressure on consumers, now that has been relax

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that's according to the office for national statistics.ers really tell us? well, it means the rachel reeves increasingly losing room reeves is increasingly lasing ream " manoeuvre if reeves is increasingly lasing rcxcrm' " manoeuvre if she wants to stay fer manoeuvre if she wants'tcr stay her own fer maneeuvre if she wants'te' stay her own self—imposed rules on within her own self—imposed rules on tax and spending. so the government generally does run a surplus in january because a lot �*taxing january because a lot of taxing income comes in. £151; billion sent leigh sounds a lot of and in leigh sounds a lot of money and in a is back in october after the after is back. in qeteber after the after budget, js back. in qeteber after the after budget, the office for budget t reported t t 7 reportedthe t t 7 reported thejantjary responsibility reported the january would actually be £20.5 figure'weuld actually be £20.5 so already you can see that billion. so already you can see that the government's finances are £5 billion worse off effectively £