Digested week: The Traitors suddenly feels tired – time for a politicians version?
Liz Truss is like a broken record, Harry Kane is for ever Spurs, and the celebs in the castle are getting on my nerves
Britain’s blighted high streets will improve by next election, says Rayner
Housing secretary says Labour wants to reverse fortunes of towns plagued by boarded-up shops and rogue businesses
Andy Burnham admits he would have liked more radical first budget
Prime minister says room for manoeuvre was limited by geopolitical crises and Labour’s 2024 manifesto
Mahmood infuriates fellow ministers by failing to reveal impact of UK migration shake-up
Home secretary’s colleagues fear homelessness will rise as a result of changes to the asylum system
UK side-hustle tax-free allowance to rise to £3,000 next year
Up to 1.4 million people could benefit from change to trading allowance announced in budget, with some saving hundreds in tax
Hitting the fan: London council angers residents with removal of 700 dog-waste bins
Conservative-run Hillingdon aims to save £100,000 but local people fear dog poo will ‘be dumped everywhere’
Security guard who protected Nigel Farage on campaign trail was facing rape charge
Ryan Dinnage – who accompanied Reform UK leader on walkabouts before local elections – was later jailed, raising questions about vetting failure
TUC leader expects wave of union recognition in private sector over coming year
Paul Nowak says ‘hundreds, if not thousands’ of employers could sign access agreements as ‘transformative’ rules come into force
The White House Farm massacre phone calls: could a single disputed digit set Jeremy Bamber free?
He has been in prison for 41 years for killing five members of his family. But if a phone call was made to the police by Bamber’s father on the night of the murders – as his team believes – one of the UK’s most notorious criminals could be exonerated
British Council’s £197m debt should mostly be written off, MPs say
Commons report calls on Foreign Office to bail out soft-power flagship reeling from job cuts and asset sales