Could you do better than Reeves as chancellor? Play our interactive budget game

On 26 November, Rachel Reeves will deliver this year’s budget to parliament. As in all years, the chancellor has to strike a balance between:Raising the money needed to fund the services that voters demand.Keeping taxes at levels that are acceptable to voters.Persuading the government’s creditors in the bond markets that it will continue to be able to pay its debts.In our game you get to try your hand at designing a successful budget

No 10 calls on Farage to urgently address ‘disturbing allegations’ of past racist behaviour

Keir Starmer has called on Nigel Farage to urgently address multiple and detailed allegations of racist behaviour during his teenage years, as the Reform leader attempted to dismiss the claims as “one person’s word against another”.Pressure was put on Farage by the prime minister over what Downing Street said were “disturbing allegations” after the Guardian reported the testimony of more than a dozen school contemporaries, including an award-winning director who claimed to have been targeted with antisemitic abuse.In the face of concerns raised by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and an extremism adviser to the last Conservative government, Farage’s spokesperson on Wednesday appeared to question whether it would be possible to remember events from the 1970s and early 1980s.“If things like this happened a very, very long time ago, you can’t necessarily recollect what happened,” the spokesperson claimed.Speaking in the Commons after a question from the Reform MP Lee Anderson at prime minister’s questions, Starmer said Farage needed to personally explain himself in the light of the Guardian’s reporting

China’s power play: MI5 warns of relentless espionage attempts in Britain

An unexpected connection on LinkedIn. An offer of work from a headhunter, most likely a young woman, based in China. The chance to earn perhaps £20,000 part-time writing a handful of geopolitical reports for a Chinese company peppered with “non-public” or “insider” insights. Payment in cryptocurrency or cash preferred.It may seem obvious, on this telling, that something about this approach would be amiss

A guttural groan in an energy-free zone: sullen resignation haunts PMQs

It’s like watching dead men walking. Or, to be accurate, a dead man and a dead woman walking. Ghosts of Christmas parties past, haunting the dispatch box. Cast your mind forward to a year from now. It’s more than likely that prime minister’s questions will look very different

Ask young Reform voters their views | Brief letters

The Guardian may get a better idea of why some young people support Reform UK by asking actual Reform voters who work in shops, offices and factories in “red wall” towns and cities such as Mansfield, Grimsby and Derby what they think, rather than three students, an environmental activist and a youth equality organiser (How should we tackle Reform and the rise of the far right? Our gen Z panel has some ideas, 13 November).Nigel ScollinBreaston, Derbyshire Back in 1984, my driving test examiner in Lampeter, Wales, was called Mr A Lane (‘You get more attention than you would choose’: how an unusual name can shape your life – for better or worse, 13 November). I passed the test first time and never drove again. Do I get brownie points for using the buses all these years?Nicholas Q GoughSwindon, Wiltshire Is it missing the point to suggest that Great Western Railway should invest its money in improving the speed and efficiency of rail journeys rather than the ease of using the internet (Report, 17 November)?Leigh HughesSaltash, Cornwall Why was Mohammed bin Salman not wearing a suit (Trump shrugs off Khashoggi murder during Saudi prince’s White House visit, 18 November)?Philip RobinsAddingham, West Yorkshire Don’t forget the almond slivers for ears on your blancmange rabbit (Letters, 16 November).Catriona Graham Methven, Perth and Kinross How come your article on narcissism didn’t mention me (How to build a better life, 17 November)?Pete BibbySheffield Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section

Chinese spying amounts to interference in UK democracy, minister says, after MI5 warns MPs – as it happened

Jarvis says MI5 issued an espionage alert earlier today to MPs, peers and parliamentary staff. (See 12.18pm.)He urges all parliamentarians to read it.He says China is trying to contact MPs and peers to get sensitive information about parliament