The tie-up, announced in May, will create a banking giant with millions of customers and about £89 billion worth of assets.

Just 42,500 applications have been approved since July, when the Government said almost 900,000 households were missing out on the benefit.

Seven people have died in a landslide triggered by torrential rains in Indonesia’s Sumatra island, officials said, adding to ...

“While remaining high by historic standards, net migration is now beginning to fall and is provisionally down 20% in the 12 months to June 2024. Over that period we have seen a fall in immigration, ...