Philip Hammond claimed there are "no unemployed people" on this morning's Andrew Marr Show. The Chancellor made a TV appearance ahead of the Budget on Wednesday, which has been dubbed a make-or-break moment for the embattled front bencher. Hammond made the statement as he painted a rosy picture of an economy bouncing back from the long downturn, despite new global figures showing that the UK is now bottom of the growth league among major economies in Europe and North America. He asked "where are...

Blended from a selection of single malt whiskies aged in rare Mizunara oak casks for at least 18 years, Suntory Whisky launched Yamazaki Mizunara 2017 last week. Spicy, evocative of incense and uniquely Japanese, the production of this limited-edition whisky pushed the blenders at Yamazaki to perfect new cask-making techniques, creating flavours never before tasted in whisky. The result? An exceptional Japanese whisky, but with a high retail price of £1000 per bottle. Though the price point will seem intimidating...

Scottish Labour have announced their new leader -Richard Leonard – a big victory for the left of the party, which will be seen as Jeremy Corbyn shoring up his hold on the party. The candidate of the left immediately called for unity after a hotly fought and bitter Scottish Labour leadership campaign. Centrist Labour figures such as Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham had given their support to rival candidate Scottish Labour leadership Anas Sarwar, as had most of Scottish Labour’s MSPs...

  Reports have emerged that US Navy pilots appearing to draw a giant contrail cock in the skies above their Whidbey Island base North of Seattle. The talented top guns' artistry was spotted near the town of Omak, in north-central Washington. https://twitter.com/anahi_torres_/status/931266469869977600?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thedrive.com%2Fthe-war-zone%2F16181%2Fapparently-navy-pilots-from-nas-whidbey-island-drew-this-massive-penis-in-the-sky https://twitter.com/adamrg/status/931388092149153792?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2017%2Fnov%2F18%2Fpenis-in-the-sky-us-navy-pilots-grounded-over-obscene-drawing A humourless US Navy spokesman commented: "The Navy holds its aircrew to the highest standards and we find this absolutely unacceptable, of zero training value and we are holding the crew accountable."   RELATED: https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/must-reads/weird-news/ufo-clouds-leave-holidaymakers-bewildered-popular-seaside-resort/26/10/ https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/must-reads/weird-news/secret-ufo-files-released-cia/20/01/ https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/must-reads/weird-news/ufos-getting-ready-invade-devon/13/01/ https://www.thelondoneconomic.com/satire/donald-trump-never-sounded-brilliant/16/11/

The Labour Party has removed a candidate for a safe council seat in next year's Bradford Council elections after an outcry over antisemitic posts on social media. Nasreen Khan was a former Respect party activist who had joined the Labour Party and was on the shortlist for a Labour council seat despite a series of comments she made in 2012 on a video posted on Facebook called "The Palestine you need to know." The prospective councillor posted: “It’s such a shame...

With World Cup qualifying now over the Premier League returns this weekend with some vital matches set to take place. The much anticipated North-London derby is the first game of the weekend with the Gunners desperate to get one over on their main rivals. Unbeaten Man City travel to Leicester who have made a promising start under Claude Puel, while their title rivals Man Utd, looking to bounce back from defeat at Chelsea, face a visit from Newcastle. Other match...

A live reverse auction has been launched in the run up to Black Friday and Cyber Monday with one lucky winner getting their hands on a brand new electric car. For the first time ever, comparethemarket.com is putting the Nissan LEAF up for grabs at auction. With more electric cars on the UKs roads than ever before, this eco-friendly mode of transport is becoming more and more viable – especially for those who live in cities. Battery prices are coming down and with a...

Several are feared dead after a plane and helicopter fell from the sky after crashing mid-air near a country estate. Emergency services were called to the scene after the aircraft came plummeted into the Waddesdon Manor National Trust site just after midday today. Both aircraft came from the pilot training centre Wycombe Air Park some 20miles away from the estate at High Wycombe, Bucks. An air ambulance has landed near where plumes of smoke have been seen rising from the...

Britain is set to pay a long-standing debt of £450 million to Iran to help free imprisoned mum Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. According to new reports Boris Johnson and Philip Hammond have authorised government lawyers to settle the 38 year-long dispute over a tank deal. Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been locked up since April 2016 on trumped up propaganda charges. Her sentence was extended after the Foreign Secretary made a colossal blunder over her intentions while in the country. According to exclusive reports Iranian hardliners have told...