European Central Bank raises interest rates to fight inflation; Nationwide to lift fixed mortgage rates – as it happened

UK mortgage holders face worst squeeze since 1990s crash, while Europe's central bank hikes borrowing costs to battle inflation

• UK has no choice but to raise interest rates to curb inflation, says Jeremy Hunt

UK businesses have improved female representation on their boards, research shows, but two-fifths of FTSE 100 firms still do not have a woman in one of their top four executive roles.

The proportion of women on the boards of the 585 FTSE all-share listed companies has risen over the past year from 36% to 40%, according to the analysis of Companies House data.