Closing post
Time to wrap things up.
Donald Trump says he has struck a trade deal with Vietnam - Reuters flash.
Our main story today:
The root cause of the substation fire that shut Heathrow airport was a preventable technical fault that National Grid had been aware of seven years ago but failed to fix properly, investigators have concluded.
The final report by the National Energy System Operator (Neso) on the incident said the fire that cut power to the airport on 21 March, affecting more than 1,350 flights, almost 300,000 passengers and cutting power to 67,000 homes, was “most likely” sparked by moisture entering the insulation around wires.
The state-owned body said its investigation had found that National Grid, which owns the substation that caught fire, had been aware of the issue in 2018.
“An elevated moisture reading … had been detected in oil samples taken in July 2018 but mitigating actions appropriate to its severity were not implemented,” the report said. “National Grid has since initiated an end-to-end review of its oil sampling process, with a view to ensuring that it is robust.”
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care – JK
Rachel Reeves will stay as chancellor, says No 10 after her tears in Commons
Downing Street has said Rachel Reeves will stay in post and has not offered her resignation, after the chancellor was seen in tears at prime minister’s questions.
Reeves wiped away a tear on Wednesday after a series of questions from the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, who suggested Labour MPs had said she was “toast”. Badenoch suggested Keir Starmer had failed to confirm Reeves would stay in post until the election.
Afterwards Downing Street moved quickly to give its backing to Reeves as aides said she was “going nowhere” and that there would be no reshuffle.
A spokesperson for Reeves said: “It’s a personal matter, which – as you would expect – we are not going to get into.”
