Top UK CEOs handed 16% pay rise as millions of workers squeezed – as it happened

Data from the High Pay Centre thinktank showed FTSE 100 bosses collected an average 500,000 pay rise last year, taking their median pay to 3.9m

Jeremy Hunt has played down the prospect of pre-election tax cuts despite news that the public finances are in less bad shape than the government's spending watchdog forecast in the spring budget, our economics editor Larry Elliott writes.

Stronger tax receipts from an economy that has so far avoided recession meant the UK's budget deficit stood at 4.3bn last month - the fifth highest for a July since modern records began in 1993 but 1.7bn below the estimate from the Office for Budget Responsibility.

As inflation slows, it's vital that we don't alter our course and continue to act responsibly with the public finances. Only by sticking to our plan will we halve inflation, grow the economy and reduce debt.

The Treasury thinks changes to growth, inflation and interest rates put pressure on the public finances and insists it will not be deterred from its focus to get debt - which now stands at just under 2.6tn - falling over the medium term.