Jeremy Hunt scales back tax cuts as UK slips into recession

Good evening. It has emerged Jeremy Hunt is scaling back plans for tax cuts in the Budget next month, after it was announced that the UK economy is now technically in a recession.

Elsewhere, Sadiq Khan has been accused of “virtue signalling nonsense” after renaming London Overground lines in a tribute to multiculturalism and feminism.

Jeremy Hunt scales back tax cuts as UK slips into recession

The Chancellor was handed figures by the Office for Budget Responsibility on Wednesday night that show he has less money available than expected for his Budget on March 6. It means the Treasury is now also looking at adopting deeper spending cuts than planned for the years after the general election so as to fund the tax cuts which Number 10 wants.

Live markets news: No guarantee of rate cuts when inflation hits 2pc, warns Bank official

Khan renames Overground in tribute to multiculturalism

The Mayor of London announced on Thursday that the overground network’s 103 miles of interconnecting tracks would be split into six new identities. The rebranding exercise, estimated to cost £6.3 million, is supposed to make the overground network easier to navigate, but critics say that Mr Khan is engaging in a “pointless gimmick”.

Moscow laying groundwork for Moldova invasion, warn experts

The Kremlin is using “very similar” rhetoric towards Moldova as it did before its invasion of Ukraine, the Institute for the Study of War reported. The think tank says Moscow’s methods are “likely” designed “to set conditions to justify possible future Russian escalation against Moldova”.

Evening Briefing: Today’s essential headlines

Derbyshire | A murder investigation has been launched after an award-winning young farmer was shot dead. A man in his 30s was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and has been released on bail while an investigation continues.

Comment and analysis

Andrew Lilico | Was Liz Truss right all along?

Tom Harris | Rishi has failed his pledges. Now comes the reckoning

Ross Clark | Where is the ECHR when Brits are having properties seized for asylum-seekers?

Telegraph readers | For every Muslim vote Starmer loses, there are a lot of people who support him

Hamish de Bretton-Gordon | Putin’s deadliest weapon yet has been revealed – and the West has no answer

Feature of the day

I received 11,771 abusive messages and death threats – but it hasn’t stopped my pursuit of conspiracy theorists

The BBC’s disinformation correspondent Marianna Spring has spent four years tracking down online trolls to find out why they really do it.

Business news: Tinder sued after ‘addicting’ users to dating apps instead of finding them love

The owner of Tinder has been accused of addicting users to endless scrolling on apps rather than helping them find true love. In a US lawsuit filed on Valentine’s Day, dating app users accused Tinder’s parent company Match of “prioritising profits over relationship goals”.