Closing summary
Senior MPs on the Treasury committee are grilling Jeremy Hunt, the UK chancellor, on the autumn statement and the economy. My colleague Andrew Sparrow is watching and live blogging here:
Our main stories today:
Strikes by postal workers around Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas are to go ahead after their union rejected a pay offer that Royal Mail said was final.
Members of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) will strike for 48 hours on Thursday and Friday and on 30 November and 1 December, and will also carry out single days of action on 9, 11, 14, 15 and 23 December and on Christmas Eve.
Meanwhile, the UK transport secretary, Mark Harper, will meet the union leader Mick Lynch on Thursday for the first time for urgent talks to try to call off rail strikes over the festive period.
The RMT general secretary defended the industrial action after critical newspaper reports painted him as “the Grinch who stole Christmas”. Lynch said: “I’m not the Grinch. I’m a trade union official, and I’m determined to get a deal.”
The Glazer family has been urged by Manchester United fans to sell quickly and to make sure they leave the Premier League club in the right hands rather than chasing the biggest bid.
In an open letter, the Manchester United Supporters Trust also warns the Glazers that any sort of uncertainty could be “disastrous” and tells them “it’s time for a change”. It comes after reports the Americans want at least £6bn for a club they bought in 2005.
Our other stories:
Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK
Earlier, official US figures showed a better-than-expected rise in durable goods orders of 1% in October.
Andrew Hunter, senior US economist at Capital Economics, said:
The solid 1.0% m/m rise in durable goods orders in October indicates that business equipment investment continues to hold up reasonably well in the face of higher borrowing costs, helped by a boost to transport investment from easing supply shortages. Nevertheless, we doubt that resilience will continue indefinitely.
