George Osborne hoisted an 'Open for Business' sign over Britain with a multi-billion pound package to help firms fight back against the slump at home and the troubles in the eurozone.

Treasury sources said the Chancellor will have to ‘make a decision’ on what to do about business rate relief as it is due to expire next year.

George Osborne described the crackdown as the 'largest package of measures to tackle tax avoidance, tax evasion, fraud and error so far this parliament'.

With this year's statement imminent, pension experts are pleading for a grace period for an industry that has undergone wide-ranging regulatory changes in recent years.

Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne has very little room for manouevre in today's Autumn Statement.

Changes sparked a backlash as they were forecast by the Insitute of Fiscal Studies to take £1,000 a year off 3 million families. They have now been halted altogether.

Part-time students have been handed some good news in today's Autumn Statement with access to maintenance loans to help with living costs during their studies from 2017/18.

As John McDonnell stood up for his big moment to respond to the Chancellor's spending plans, Labour's MPs were much more interested in their mobile phones than his rambling speech.

Philip Hammond fulfilled his promise to be an un-showy chancellor today as his biggest 'rabbit' turned out to be a joke about his own abolition.

As Hammond speeches go, the Autumn Statement was short and reasonably un-glum. He kept it to 45 minutes. By his own morose standards he was almost skittishly optimistic in places.

Philip Hammond told MPs he would be compiling a major report into the impact that state spending on pensioners has on the health and social care of an ageing population.

The Flat Rate Scheme for VAT, designed to cut bills and red tape for small firms, is being overhauled in a measure the Chancellor said would stem abuse of the scheme.

Some travel firms are punishing disappointed holidaymakers further, by charging excessive fees or deducting large sums in 'unrecoverable taxes'.

The 71 year-old was told by the travel insurance firm that he would not be able to claim the money back as he had not informed it straight away of pending eye surgery.

Passengers are discovering that airlines have pulled their online cash refund option and are instead pushing them to take vouchers or swap flights instead.

We have been inundated with letters asking for help regarding getting money back. Many holidaymakers are being left thousands of pounds out of pocket after being refused refunds they are legally entitled to.

Tania Morris (pictured) from Staffordshire fears this Christmas could be her last after she was struck down with Hodgkin Lymphoma a year ago and has been unable to find a donor.

Doctors in the UK have for years been using CAR T-cell therapy to make some immune cells directly target tumour cells in blood cancer patients. But exactly how this process worked was a mystery.

TA chief and Open director Craig Tiley concedes the annual summer of tennis 'will be compromised' as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Louis van Gaal created the little bit of history that he desired by ensuring Holland remained undefeated in normal and extra time with a 3-0 third-place play-off victory over hosts Brazil.

BRIAN BARWICK: And so to Match 64, or the World Cup Final as you and I call it. And the two teams are rested, recuperated, and ready for ‘the big one’.

To help stop the spread of the deadly respiratory virus, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced on Friday that all events with 500 people or more would be effectively banned from Monday.

Four ride-sharing drivers were tortured and killed last Friday after being called to the Jardim Santo Inácio favela in Salvador, Brazil. A fifth driver was abducted but escaped and alerted police.

A growing number of Premier League clubs reportedly want to abandon the current season, despite last week agreeing to extend the campaign indefinitely.

JOE BERNSTEIN: The last active English footballers in Europe are returning home after lower division football in Sweden was called off until the end of April.

Brescia president Massimo Cellino has hit out at his fellow Serie A chiefs who are insistant on resuming the current Serie A campaign amid the coronavirus crisis. Italy is the worst-hit country.

UEFA has confirmed the Champions League final will be cancelled if the competition can't be concluded by August 3 and says one-legged play-offs are an option being discussed.

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin says playing behind closed doors is a better option than scrapping the season, but warned European competitions could be abandoned.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: Manchester United players are taking legal advice about the salaries they can demand next season if the current campaign is scrapped.

The decision to cancel the Ligue 1 season is threatening to cause chaos in French football, with unhappy clubs considering legal action and a financial crisis looming.

Graphs based on requests for directions on Apple Maps show how people are beginning to leave their homes. Americans in about half of U.S. states began emerging from lockdown on Friday.

West Ham have announced that their planned pre-season tournament in Australia, which was also due to feature Crystal Palace, has been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

All games for the under-23 competitions and below have been terminated for the rest of the season, with a means of determining final standings still to be announced.

Sharing a fan theory from a Facebook group called Glasto Chat on Tuesday, The Mirror claimed an announcement confirming the news is expected to take place on Wednesday.

Glastonbury Festival 2020 has officially been cancelled amid growing fears over the coronavirus crisis.

Some of the taxes we currently pay and a number of the tax breaks we are given to encourage us to save for old age are either too onerous or far too complicated.

With the smell of a spring Budget in the air comes the rumour of yet more restrictions on the tax relief available to boost our pension saving. But how will Mr Sunak treat pension savers?

Blogger Hayley Rubery, 29, from Essex, was scheduled to have a complete refit of her bathroom, but did the job herself using leftover paint, vinyl flooring from eBay and old wood.

Britain's largest banking group, which owns Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland, spelled out changes aimed at those in 'persistent debt' for 36 months.

Ricky Gervais, 58, was praised by This Morning viewers for saying he 'won't complain' about his world tour being cancelled while NHS nurses endure 14-hour shifts fighting the coronavirus.

Eredivisie clubs are expected to agree to finish their season early after the Dutch government extended a ban on all major events due to the coronavirus pandemic until September 1.

The Premier League's biggest clubs face a further financial headache and the risk of breaking sponsorship agreements over the cancellation of this summer's pre-season tours.

Scientists say they've discovered an antibody that blocks infection by SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus behind the current global health crisis.

Ford created a futuristic-looking dog kennel that uses noise-cancellation panels and the carmarker's active noise control technology to create an insulated environment for pets.

Smaller events are also struggling, however, with those who had booked to have a stand at the annual London Book Fair facing losing money after the event was cancelled.

As winter approaches and it's time to upgrade your bedding for the cold temperatures, Amazon customers have settled on which is the best pillow to buy: the Silentnight Deep Sleep pillow.

The Premier League's biggest clubs face a further financial headache and the risk of breaking sponsorship agreements over the cancellation of this summer's pre-season tours.