HMRC to close tax helpline for six months a year from April; jobs at risk as Ted Baker ‘prepares to appoint administrators’ – as it happened

HMRC's self-assessment phone line will be closed between April and September each year and open only to taxpayers with priority queries" between October and March.

• HMRC to close self-assessment helpline for six months a year
• Japan raises interest rates for first time since 2007
• Criminal fraud trial of UK tech tycoon Mike Lynch begins

Reaction to today's landmark interest rate rise in Japan is pouring in.

The Saxo Strategy Team say:

The Bank of Japan has entered a new era as it scrapped negative interest rates and yield curve control, while also ending its ETF purchases.

The central bank has set the short-term interest rate at between 0-0.1% in its first rate hike since 2007, although comments suggested that they expect accommodative conditions to persist for some time which is a signal that concurrent rate rises are unlikely.

Aimed a conquering falling prices, ultra-loose monetary policy has been in place since 2016 and the Bank of Japan has been ultra-cautious about shifting stance, even though core inflation has been running at 2% over the year.

But now that Japan's biggest companies, through a negotiated deal with the largest industrial union, have agreed to raise wages by 5.28%, and consumer price inflation hit 2%, the Bank has finally judged it prudent to make a move.

We expected - at the start of this year - that March would bring a Fed rate cut. It brought a BoJ rate hike instead.

Yes, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) scrapped its negative rate policy, raised the rates from -0.10% to 0%, ditched its YCC policy and ended the purchases of ETF and Japanese real estate investment trusts. However, the bank said that it will continue to purchase sovereign bonds with broadly the same amount' and that the policy will remain accommodative for now.

Action is what shareholders wanted to see from the new team at the top, and that's what's been delivered today. Ice Cream always looked like the odd one out when you compare it to other product lines, and performance has struggled of late.

It's not a huge shock to see this move, but it's something prior management wasn't able to deliver. Unilever's not an overly expensive name at the minute so expect markets to react positively to the news, perhaps more due to the decisive action than anything else."