Early indications that chancellor will slash disability benefits and delay increases to the defence budget to the 2030s to avoid breaking borrowing rules

Rachel Reeves's trip to China – the first by a British chancellor since 2019 - was always going to be controversial. In recent years Conservative governments have been keeping Beijing at arm's length - amid concern about espionage, the situation in Hong Kong, and the treatment of the Uyghurs.

The value of the pound fell to its lowest level in over a year while UK borrowing costs jumped to their highest since the financial crisis