Ben Chu

2 days ago | bbc.com | Ben Chu |Tom Edgington |Rob England |Lucy Gilder

What are the challenges facing the government's immigration plan? Ben Chu, Tom Edgington, Rob England and Lucy GilderBBCWhen it comes to reducing UK immigration, there have been plenty of promises and targets from successive governments over the last 15 years, but the numbers remain high. Prime Minister Keir Starmer is now pledging to "take back control of our borders", promising tighter rules to bring down the numbers "significantly".

2 weeks ago | bbc.com | Ben Chu

Why might public sector workers go on strike again? Getty ImagesThe government ended a wave of public sector strikes last summer when it accepted, in full, the recommendations of independent public sector pay review bodies to increase the pay of teachers, nurses and others. But ministers might be facing another headache over pay and the possibility of a fresh threat of strikes from some unions. BBC Verify examines why this pressure over public sector pay and industrial action has re-emerged.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Ben Chu |Lucy Gilder

Ben Chu & Lucy GilderBBC VerifyThe fate of the Scunthorpe steel works has shone a fresh spotlight on Chinese investment in the UK economy with critics raising questions over potential security risks. The British Steel plant had been owned by China's Jingye Steel. But the UK government has now taken control of the Scunthorpe site, amid claims the Chinese owners were planning to permanently decommission its two blast furnaces and use its rolling mills to process imported Chinese-made metal instead.

1 month ago | bbc.com | Ben Chu

There has been a historic upheaval in American trade policy. The announcement of Donald Trump's so-called "reciprocal tariffs" on 2 April - what he called "liberation day" - sent a shockwave through the global trading system and financial markets. And the President's 90-day pause on some of these tariffs on 9 April set off a relief rally in stock markets. But where has the rollercoaster of new US tariff announcements - and partial reversals - actually left the situation?

1 month ago | namibian.com.na | Ben Chu

A full-scale trade war with China and the US is in prospect after President Donald Trump imposed tariffs of more than 100% on Chinese goods imports. China has said it will “fight to the end” rather than capitulate to what it sees as US coercion, and will hike its own tariffs on American goods from 34% to 84% in response to the White House’s latest move. What does this escalating trade conflict mean for the world economy?