Good evening. The Bank of England has raised interest rates to 4.25 percent, the 11th increase in 18 months.
Meanwhile, Russia will “bomb any country that arrests Putin,” claims former president Dmitry Medvedev.
The Bank of England raises interest rates to 4.25 percent
Interest rates have risen for the 11th time in 18 monthsas the Bank of England indicated that more increases may be needed to curb inflation.
The Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee raised interest rates to 4.25 percent on Thursday, an increase of 0.25 percentage points, after data showed inflation rose unexpectedly last month.
The Consumer Price Index came out at 10.4 percent, while the forecasts were 9.9 percent.
Eir Nolsøe writes that Threadneedle Street has claimed that the extension of the government’s energy price guarantee and falling gas prices would help to reduce inflation further than expected.
Bank officials added that there had been “big and volatile moves in global financial markets” after that the collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank in the US and the rescue of Credit Suisse in Europe.
In the meantime, Melissa Lawford has the details on why this rate increase wipes £550bn from private pension schemes.
And Ben Marlow claims the move is still a huge gamble that can easily backfire.
Starmer signals that he is tearing down Labour’s transgender stance
The Labor leader today appeared to be backtracking on Labour’s position as transgender, saying lessons needed to be learned from Scotland.
Nicholas Steur unexpectedly resigned as prime minister last month after her radical approach to trans rights cost her the support of her SNP colleagues.
A law drafted by Mrs. Sturgeon, but blocked by Westminster, would have allowed anyone over the age of 16 to self-determine their sex without a medical certificate.
Mr Kur previously vowed to reform the Gender Recognition Act to allow transgender people to identify themselves.
However, the Labor leader appeared to back away from the pledge when asked if he still intended to go through with the changes.
Sir Keir told reporters: “I mean, I think when we think about what happened in Scotland, the lesson I take from that is that if you’re going to make reforms, you’ve got to take the public with you.”
Our political reporter Dominic Penna has the full story.
Russia bombs any country that arrests Putin
Russia’s ex-president Dmitry Medvedev has warned that Moscow will attack any country that detains Vladimir Putin using the International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant.
The ICC last week called Putin a war criminal about his alleged role in the kidnapping of thousands of Ukrainian children.
Putin can therefore be arrested in more than 100 countries that recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC warrant.
However, Medvedev warned that any attempt to carry out the order would be seen by Moscow as a “declaration of war”.
Russia is not one of the 123 member states of the ICC and a future trial against Putin is therefore very unlikely.
But the order is expected to affect his ability to travel, as he could be caught and sent to The Hague.
You can follow all updates on our live blog here.