Author: SKYNEWS

Government spending and borrowing have defied expectations, resulting in “perilous” public finances and placing pressure on the chancellor to raise taxes or cut spending. Government borrowing last month was £15bn more than last year, with the deficit higher than economists predicted, according to official figures. The gap between what the government takes in and what it spends was £10.7bn in February, the Office for National Statistics said, as spending was higher and tax takes were lower than forecast.The sum is the fourth-highest since records began in 1993 and £4.1bn higher than anticipated by economists polled by the Reuters news agency.Money…

The US attorney general has said three people alleged to have damaged Tesla cars and charging stations could be jailed for up to 20 years.Pamela Bondi announced unspecified charges against three people who used Molotov cocktails in what she called a “wave of domestic terrorism”. It comes as US safety regulators recalled almost all Cybertrucks from Elon Musk’s company due to a “dangerous road hazard” that increases the risk of a crash. Image: A Tesla Cybertruck. File pic: AP It is the eighth recall of the Tesla vehicle for safety problems in 15 months.The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recall,…

An actress who worked in a film directed by Noel Clarke said she felt “shell-shocked” when he asked her to “bend over further” during a scene where she was naked from the waist down, the High Court has heard.The woman, known only as Mila, gave evidence on Thursday in Clarke’s legal case against Guardian News and Media (GNM).Mila told the court that although she felt uncomfortable about filming the nude scene, she needed the work.In her witness statement, she said: “Noel was telling me to bend over, repeating things like ‘bend over further, come on’, and ‘do it properly’.”I was…

Wage growth has remained strong, the latest official figures show, as the Bank of England mulls its interest rate decision.Wages – excluding bonuses – grew 5.9% in the three months to January, the same amount as a month earlier, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. Meanwhile, growth in average weekly earnings, including bonuses, fell to a surprise 5.8%. Economists polled by the Reuters news agency anticipated a 5.9% rise.Money blog: top chef reveals pet hate in restaurantsIt means wage growth is still high and well above the rate of overall price rises. Inflation stood at 3% in…

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈 Netflix’s hit drama series Adolescence has shone a light on the pressures faced by boys growing up today, and the rise in misogynistic violence that frequently hits the headlines. It tells the story of what happens to the Miller family after 13-year-old Jamie is arrested in a dawn raid for killing a female classmate.Sky News’ political correspondent Tamara Cohen and Labour MP for Darlington Lola McEvoy join Niall Paterson to discuss Sky News’ exclusive survey of a thousand kids aged 16 to 17 about what they see online.Is social…

Sir Keir Starmer has revealed he is watching Netflix’s Adolescence with his family and supports a campaign for it to be shown in parliament and schools.The drama, starring Stephen Graham, depicts the aftermath of the stabbing of a teenage girl – as a 13-year-old boy from her school is arrested for her murder. Politics live: PM challenged over tax rises Graham and co-writer Jack Thorne have said they want it to be a show that “causes discussion and makes change”, after it was hailed by critics and topped Netflix’s charts around the world.Asked by Labour MP Anneliese Midgley if he…

Up to 750 jobs are at risk at Santander bank under plans to close nearly a quarter of its high street branches.The high street lender has announced plans to close 95 of the bank’s existing 444 UK branches. Of the remaining branches, 36 will operate on reduced hours branches and 18 will be “counter-free”.Money blog: ‘I created something the biggest drinks companies are fighting over’Only 290 full-service Santander branches will remain. The continued move to online banking has been given as a reason for the closures. The bank said financial transactions completed in branches fell 61% since 2019, while the…

Perhaps it was just an accident of scheduling that meant Butch and Suni were brought back to Earth on a SpaceX capsule called Freedom.The test pilots were supposed to have just a brief stopover on the International Space Station (ISS) but ended up staying for nine months. Christmas, birthdays, and those big family moments – all missed as they whizzed around the planet at 17,500mph. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player 3:32 Stranded astronauts exit capsule But the choice of capsule – there are several in the Crew Dragon fleet – could also have been deliberate.Donald…

Drag queen James Lee Williams – known as “The Vivienne”- died after taking ketamine, their family has said.Williams, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 under their drag name, was found dead at the age of 32 at their home in Cheshire on 5 January. In a statement shared in an Instagram story today, Williams’ manager Simon Jones said the “family and I feel it is important to say how James tragically died”.Mr Jones continued: “We hope that by us releasing this information, we can raise awareness about the dangers of ongoing ketamine usage and…

Thousands of government credit cards are being cancelled because some of the expenditure is “not justified”, a cabinet minister has said.Appearing on Sky News’ Breakfast with Wilfred Frost, Pat McFadden was asked if the crackdown on government procurement cards (GPCs) was because civil servants are “fiddling their expenses”. Politics live: What to expect from benefits cutsHe said he would “not use that phrase”, but added: “I don’t think some of the lines of expenditure I’ve seen are justified.””This is public money – I think people need to take care with it,” he said. “So the process now will be, if…