The happiest place to live in the UK? It’s not London …

It may not have the bright lights of London or Edinburgh, or even the celebrity or notoriety of some of the Great Britain’s better known villages and towns.But in one respect, Woodbridge in Suffolk seems to trump them all: it is the happiest place to live in Britain. At least that is the conclusion of a survey by the property website Rightmove.Its study, now in its 13th year, was completed by more than 35,000 people across Britain, with residents being asked how they feel about their area.Residents of Woodbridge scored it particularly highly for feeling that they are able to “be themselves” in the area, the community spirit and friendliness of the people, and access to essential services such as doctors and schools

UK services sector ‘close to stalling’ after budget tax rises, data shows

Growth in the UK’s dominant services sector slowed to its lowest rate in more than a year in November as firms digested business tax rises in the autumn budget.The closely watched S&P Global UK services PMI survey scored 50.8 in November, slowing from 52.0 in October.It was slightly above the 50

Interest rate cut hopes rise and Australian dollar slumps after GDP expands by a weak 0.3%

Australia’s economy grew at a weaker-than-expected pace in the September quarter despite extra government spending, and slow pace may make early interest rate cuts more likely. The Australian dollar slumped.Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded 0.3% in the July-September months, the fastest in a year and the 12th quarter in a row of growth, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said on Wednesday. That pace compared with the 0

South Western Railway to become first train operator nationalised under Labour

South Western Railway will be the first train operator nationalised under the Labour government, ministers have announced.One of the UK’s biggest commuter services, which operates out of London Waterloo, it will be taken into public hands in May.SWR is run as a joint venture between First Group and MTR, the Hong Kong rail operator.The decision spells a more cautious timeline for renationalisation under new transport secretary Heidi Alexander than envisaged by her predecessor, Louise Haigh, who resigned last week.SWR will be the next to be brought under the control of the Department for Transport’s operator of last resort, DOHL, when its contract ends in May

Sir Kit McMahon obituary

At an age when many people are preparing for retirement, Sir Kit McMahon, who has died aged 97, made his first move into business. In 1986 McMahon, an economist and central banker, was parachuted into Midland Bank to rescue the once-mighty institution – a process that eventually led to its takeover by the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank (HSBC).The period was, he said, “the most exciting and enjoyable of my life”. But it was a difficult time and, while nobody doubted McMahon’s intellectual powers, his belated transformation into a bank chief executive was only a partial success.His arrival at Midland came after 22 years at the Bank of England

Ministers considering renationalising British Steel if rescue plan fails

Ministers are considering renationalising British Steel in a last-ditch attempt to save thousands of jobs, amid a standoff between the government and the company’s Chinese owners over a £1bn investment.Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, is locked in talks with British Steel and its owner, Jingye, to agree how much each party should put into a rescue plan for its main Scunthorpe site.But with the discussions showing little sign of progress, sources say Reynolds is open to taking it over entirely, in a move that would reverse Margaret Thatcher’s privatisation of the British steel industry in 1988.One Whitehall official said: “It is one of several options being looked at. We would have been negligent not to look at it