We don’t do our best work just before lunch, and it’s not much better afterwards

Stagnating productivity might be blamed either on distracting hunger pangs or post-prandial doziness

‘Petrified’ non-doms poised to flee UK over Labour’s tax plans, say experts

Prospect of party closing Tory ‘loopholes’ if elected prompts some wealthy individuals to explore a move overseas

Rishi Sunak spent £2m on focus groups for ‘eat out to help out’ scheme

Exclusive: Extensive polling ordered by the then chancellor, documents reveal, but scientific advisers not consulted

Aggressive use of state subsidies risks expensive trade wars, IMF warns

Call for caution amid fears government intervention could lead to costly mistakes and prompt subsidy battle

People are poorer than at the last election and all Hunt can do is hope

Economic upticks are welcome but they won’t help the chancellor’s chances of retaining his seat

Ditching European trade for China and India was ever a poor bet. Now it’s a farce

Brexiters’ Asia hopes have foundered amid economic woes and hardline nationalism; it’s time to look at markets in our own backyard

Councils demand independent review of ‘arbitrary’ levelling up schemes

Boris Johnson’s 2019 policy faces accusation of being politicised and failing to tackle skills shortages

‘We’re forgotten about here’: the broken promises of levelling up

Five years after the Tories won over the ‘red wall’ with a pledge to restore deprived areas, voters in the north-east say they’ve given up waiting for change

Levelling up report card: how the Tories’ pledges stack up today

Boris Johnson’s winning manifesto said it would ‘level up’ deprived parts of the UK by making the most of Brexit. Our writers drill down into the numbers to judge whether the party is making good on this promise

Can this ‘ethical capitalist’ solve the UK’s social housing crisis?

Julian Richer, a landlord himself, says markets have created only disaster and the nation must shift from its focus on ownership

Labour membership falls by 23,000 over Gaza and green policies

Party claims financial position still strong as it continues to hold a commanding lead in opinion polls

What now for Thames Water as investors turn off the taps?

With £500m of emergency funding withdrawn, calls are growing for the stricken company to be taken into public ownership

Why UK recession may be deeper than two quarters of falling GDP suggest

Greater fall per head and latest trade data illustrate longer term decline of economy

Minimum wage is UK’s ‘most successful economic policy in a generation’

Resolution Foundation study suggests lowest earners are £6,000 a year better off due to policy

Planned cuts to shelters in England will cost lives, say homeless people

Council funding crisis threatens hostels and support workers from next month