UK budget deficit hits record highBritain’s budget deficit hit its highest level on record for a month of June as tax receipts crumbled in the wake of the country’s worst downturn in decades.
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UK unemployment rate soarsUnemployment across the UK hit its highest rate since January 1997 in the three months to May, although the number of people claiming jobless benefit rose by much less than feared last month.
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Google moves in with direct challenge to MicrosoftIN a dramatic move that could transform the world home computer market, internet giant Google is launching an assault on the dominant Windows operating system run by Microsoft.
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War of words over move to take East Coast rail line back in public ownershipA WAR of words has broken out over the future of the East coast rail franchise that runs between Edinburgh and London after transport minister Lord Adonis announced this morning that the loss making franchise is being transferred from National Express and taken over by the government.
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Nationwide plunges 69 per centNATIONWIDE, the building society giant which took over the stricken Dunfermline Building Society back in March, has suffered a massive fall in profits.
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Bad pub chain bet brings down chiefTim Clarke, chief executive of All Bar One and Harvesters pubs group Mitchells & Butlers, quit the business this morning after it lost £69 million in a disastrous bet on interest rates.
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Boost for Scotland as oil climbs to six month highNorth Sea activity got a further morale boost today with news that oil prices firmed above $60 a barrel to touch a new six-month high.
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Now HSBC announces hefty job cutsGlobal banking giant HSBC became the latest of the financial sector walking wounded to report job cuts and a scaling down of its business. Read article
Jobless total set for 3.3m as IMF warns of long recessionPressure for another big fiscal stimulus in the budget next month is set to grow after figures today showing that unemployment across the UK has climbed to more than two million for the first time since 1997.
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Two big boosts for Scottish housing as market continues to tumbleBRAVE though it may seem to proclaim, the worst of Scotland's housing slump may soon be over.
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Lloyds heading for state controlA ferocious rearguard action is being fought by the Lloyds Banking Group against majority nationalisation as talks continue over the transfer of up to £260 billion in troubled loans to the government's Asset Protection Scheme.
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ITV slump may force huge shake-up in broadcastingNEWS from ITV this morning of 600 job cuts and closure of its studios in Leeds may open the doors to more drastic changes in UK broadcasting as the recession tears into TV revenues and with no early end in sight.
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Barratt highlights dire state of house buildingFORMER house building giant Barratt brought the spotlight to bear on the stricken housing sector today with news of losses in the six months to end December soaring to £592 million against a profit previously of £195 million. The figure includes a writedown of £494 million on the value of its land bank.
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RBS losses to 'hit £30 billion'Losses at stricken Royal Bank of Scotland could be even worse than indicated a few weeks ago.Read article
Whistleblower letter brings down ex HBOS chief CrosbySir James Crosby, deputy chairman of the City watchdog the Financial Services Authority and former chief executive of HBOS, quit today.
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Standard Life sales plunge but shares rallyToday it was the turn of Standard Life to relay results from the eye of the global financial storm. Sales on its life and pension business have slumped and mortgage sales have collapsed.
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Fresh bank plunge puts us in the last chance saloonAnother day, another bank share crash as unemployment soars. Read article
Next step - full nationalisation of the banks?Another day, another emergency package for Britain's banks. Today brings news of a government bank support package of up to £20 billion to help lending to small and medium sized businesses - and the appointment of a new Minister for Banking - Standard Chartered chairman Mervyn Davies.
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Dire M&S makes rate cut a certaintyIf the Bank of England wanted a clearer signal for a cut in interest rates tomorrow, today's dismal statement from Marks & Spencer has just provided it.Read article
Batten down the hatches for the mother of all recessionsLet's just call it Black Wednesday - another one. From all sides, we are now being warned of a recession deeper and longer than we feared even a few weeks ago. Read article
Stagecoach plunge sends red light across economyIf you thought this recession would spare "safe", defensive companies, think again.
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Markets: What the future holdsStock markets have bounced sharply across the world in the past 24 hours. New York has soared, Tokyo has rallied and here in the UK the FTSE100 is up five per cent.
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HBOS: Enter the prince of darknessIn case you thought Lord Mandelson was not getting his name in the papers enough already, the new Business Minister has entered the controversy over the Lloyds TSB proposed takeover of HBOS.
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Brown: Hero or villain? Doubts now mountJust a day ago he was the Hero of world markets: Gordon the Superman who saved the banks! Brown the new Master of the Universe! European journalists treated him as the maestro of world finance.
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Rescue package lost amid the stormA massive emergency package for Britain's banks - but will it work?
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Will the last one out please switch off the lights?What a year of hammer blows for Scotland plc. First Scottish & Newcastle is lost to a combo of Dutch and Danes. HBOS is tottering under a £12 billion takeover by Lloyds TSB . Now British Energy has agreed to a £12.5 billion take-over bid from French energy giant EDF.
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How HBOS was brought downHowever this appalling day is written, the one word that did for HBOS was confidence - or the lack of it. Read article
Fannie and Freddie: Why doubts persistLet's count our blessings. Two hours on from the great Large Hadron Collider (LHC) switch-on and we're all still here. But oh for an LHC switch-on to blast away the financial market blues.
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Still on course for a house price crashIf yesterday's package of measures won't do much to help the housing market, what will? And if we let house prices fall to their "equilibrium level", how much lower will that be?
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A recovery package? Not from this Dad's Army duoA package today for economic recovery? Pull the other one. Such has been the reaction to the Chancellor's latest assessment of the UK economy that sterling fell yesterday to its lowest level against the dollar since 2006, to a 12-year low against a basket of major competitor currencies – and to a record low against the euro.
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