Official figures showed higher spending on public services, while national debt hit levels last seen in the early 1960s.

Dignitaries have marked the recovery of a photo portrait of Winston Churchill known as The Roaring Lion, which was stolen in Canada and recovered in Italy after a two-year search by police.

Plans to open a vast area of the Arctic seabed to mining will cause “irreversible harm” to unique and vulnerable wildlife and habitats, Greenpeace International has warned.

Retail sales rose 1 last month as warmer weather and end-of-season deals helped to boost supermarkets and clothes stores.