Healey to shield low-income pensioners from income tax in the Budget

After 22 years running a salon, Marcus Perkins says he is increasingly worried about the future of the hair and beauty industry. Rising costs are making it harder for businesses to employ staff and invest in apprenticeships, he says, while more salons are turning to self-employed models to survive. "Seeing salons close on the high street is very scary," he said. "I'm very scared myself. Luckily it hasn't happened yet but who knows what the future holds?"

Chancellor John Healey will set out Labour's tax and spending plans when he delivers his first Budget on 28 October. He has refused to rule out tax increases after acknowledging government borrowing costs are at "historic highs". Before the 2024 general election, Labour promised not to increase three big revenue earners for the government: income tax, National Insurance and VAT.

Until a few years ago many of us may have been blissfully unaware of what a data centre was. These giant, warehouse-like buildings power virtually all our internet activity, from our web searches and emails to movie downloads and online banking. They are at the heart of the AI boom, housing the advanced computer chips and servers needed to run services like ChatGPT and Claude.

VW investment, creating 4,500 jobs in Georgia, comes amid Trump’s damaging tariffs, intense Chinese competition and costly shift towards EVs Audi has said it will spend $4bn (£3bn) to build its first factory in the US, as its parent company, Volkswagen, struggles with the impact of steep tariffs imposed by Donald Trump. The German brand’s chief executive, Gernot Döllner, joined Trump on stage at a campaign rally on Saturday night to announce the factory in Macon, Georgia, in an unusual move by a big European brand just days before the US midterm…