Scotland to raise income tax by 1p for those on over £43,666 to raise money for NHS – as it happened

Finance secretary says starter, basic and intermediate rates of income will stay the same. This live blog is closed

The Bank of England has raised UK interest rates to 3.5%, the highest since October 2008, my colleague Graeme Wearden reports on his business live blog.

Yesterday James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, told MPs in a written statement that the government had given the Chinese a week for six of their diplomats to comply with a request to be interviewed by the police over the beating-up of a pro Hong Kong democracy campaigner at the consulate in Manchester. He said the diplomats had all avoided police action because they have either left the country, or are about to do so.

The consul general and five others brutalised a refugee on British soil and rather than being expelled or prosecuted, they've been allowed to slip off, flee like cowards, which makes their guilt even more evident.

By giving a week's notice to them, which goes so far beyond the Vienna convention, we have essentially denied Bob Chan any sense of justice.