Mortgage borrowers, and first-time buyers in particular, are facing a sudden squeeze as lenders withdraw low-deposit deals and interest rates climb sharply.Industry data show more than 200 low-deposit mortgage products have been removed since 6 March, with one day seeing 52 deals pulled and another 30 taken off the market.Overall, over 20% of products available at the start of the month are no...

Prime Minister Keir Starmer declined to confirm whether he personally discussed Lord Peter Mandelson's ties to Jeffrey Epstein before naming him UK ambassador to the United States.During Prime Minister's Questions, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch pressed Mr Starmer repeatedly on whether he had phoned or met Lord Mandelson to raise concerns about the convicted sex offender prior to the...

President Trump defended special envoy Steve Witkoff after a leaked recording purportedly showed him advising a senior Russian aide on how to appeal to the US president over a proposed Ukraine peace plan.Trump told reporters he had not listened to the tape but characterized Witkoff’s approach as typical dealmaking — trying to pitch the plan to both Moscow and Kyiv.The leak surfaced shortly...

Motability has removed high-end brands such as BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Alfa Romeo and Lexus from its vehicle list with immediate effect as it refocuses the scheme on British-built models.The move comes as the charity sets a target for UK-manufactured cars to make up 25% of its fleet by 2030 and half by 2035, up from around 7% today.Motability says the change will prioritise vehicles that are safe,...

The chair of the Commons culture committee has raised serious doubts about the BBC board’s ability to manage the broadcaster’s current crisis after its chair, Samir Shah, gave evidence to MPs.Dame Caroline Dinenage said Shah’s responses fell short of the clear, decisive plan the committee wanted to hear and warned there appeared to be weak oversight at the top of the organisation.Shah told...

Samir Shah, chair of the BBC, told MPs he intends to remain in post and tackle the problems exposed by the Panorama edit of a Donald Trump speech.Apologising for mistakes and their effects, Shah said his priority is to stabilise the corporation and lead a programme of fixes rather than step aside.The row began after a leaked internal memo from former editorial adviser Michael Prescott warned of...

Leaders from Europe, Canada and Japan have urged further work on a US-drafted 28-point plan intended to bring an end to the war in Ukraine, expressing serious reservations about several of its provisions. At the G20 summit in Johannesburg, officials from Canada, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, the UK, Germany and Norway — together with two senior EU...