Day: November 4, 2025
Chancellor to give Downing Street speech as markets open and is expected to be ‘candid’ about choices to fill fiscal gap
Good morning. David Cameron is credited with popularising the term “pitch rolling” in Westminster, to describe the process whereby politicians prepare the public for difficult announcements by shaping the argument in advance. It is a metaphor with connotations of a gentle game of cricket, and pleasant summer afternoons.
Today Rachel Reeves is engaged in a classic piece of “pitch rolling”. But her task is more daunting. She won’t be flattening the odd bump; she has to shift some colossal PR obstacles, which is more a task for a fleet of JCB diggers.
Spokesperson says company prepared to share names of those who bought dolls before they were removed from sale
The Asian e-commerce company Shein has pledged to cooperate with French prosecutors who have opened an investigation into the sale of childlike sex dolls on its platform.
“We will cooperate fully with the judicial authorities,” Shein’s spokesperson in France, Quentin Ruffat, told RMC radio, adding that the company was prepared to share names of those who had bought such dolls.
