Good evening. It has emerged that Russia jammed the Global Positioning System signal of the Defence Secretary’s official jet on a round trip to Poland.
Elsewhere, HMRC failed to answer almost a million calls in January as people desperately tried to file their self assessment tax returns.
Russia jammed GPS of Defence Secretary’s aircraft on trip to Poland
Grant Shapps was travelling on the RAF’s Envoy to visit troops in Mazury, a military base near the Belarus border, when the aircraft’s pilots lost access to the GPS. The aircraft was passing by Kaliningrad, a Russian territory between Poland and Lithuania, on Wednesday morning when the attack happened.
Nearly a million HMRC calls left unanswered
The tax office said 841,945 calls were “not handled” in the first month of the year and that wait times hit a record high, in figures published on Thursday. Those who did manage to get through faced record wait times to speak to an adviser as they battled to meet the January 31 deadline and avoid a £100 fine.
Rachel Reeves accused of not knowing how state pension works
Rachel Reeves has been accused of not knowing how the state pension works after a spat with Jeremy Hunt on social media. The Chancellor claimed Ms Reeves was “scaremongering” in a post on X, formerly Twitter, after she warned cuts to National Insurance would result in less money for the NHS and the state pension.
Evening Briefing: Today’s essential headlines
AFP | Kensington Palace has been compared to North Korea by a news agency executive, who said the Prince of Wales’s household was no longer viewed as a trusted source.
Comment and analysis
Andrew Lilico | It is now clear: Ousting Truss killed the Tories
Tom Harris | Keir Starmer is yet to face up to Labour’s real extremism problem
Jake Wallis Simons | Diane Abbott must not be allowed back on the Labour benches
Tom Stevenson | The case for Britain’s unpopular stock market has become impossible to ignore
David Davis | Scrap the OBR, end Bank of England independence, and free Britain to thrive
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Feature of the day
I love my husband… but sleeping with other people made us stronger
Molly’s marriage to Stewart was a decade old when she started having sex with other men. She reveals how the pair make an open marriage work.
Business news: World needs oil to prevent net zero energy shortages, warns Shell
The energy giant said global investment in low carbon energy was only half what is needed, meaning the world will face the risk of blackouts and power shortages in future unless alternative energy sources are secured.
Live markets news: Stagflation fears after surprise US inflation figures
Editor’s choice
M&S | The new season hits you and your daughter will want to wear – and the best buys for men
Anti-Semitism | Baddiel and Warsi’s A Muslim & a Jew Go There provides refreshing balance on Israel and Gaza
Workplace | Why Britain’s toxic law firms are on the brink of a reckoning