British business leaders have reacted with relief at the agreement of a transition deal between Britain and the EU amid fear firms could have faced a "cliff edge" break when the UK leaves in March 2019.

Latest: A senior member of Britain's Jewish community has offered an apology to Jeremy Corbyn amid controversy over the Labour leader's message for Holocaust Memorial Day.

Theresa May’s infrastructure tsar has quit and delivered a scathing verdict on the Prime Minister’s handling of Brexit.

Flagship Brexit legislation survived intact as it returned to the Commons despite further Tory concerns and a mini-rebellion.

The UK Government has been accused of impotence after the US upped a proposed import levy on products made by one of Northern Ireland's largest employers to 300%.

Jeremy Corbyn has avoided a potentially divisive clash over Brexit at Labour's annual conference after delegates agreed not to push the issue to a vote.

Theresa May is flying to Canada on Monday to lay the foundations for a post-Brexit trade deal amid a continuing furore over the Government's approach to EU withdrawal.

Boris Johnson is preparing for crunch talks with Theresa May amid recriminations over the Brexit blueprint that left him clashing with officials and facing criticism from colleagues.

Theresa May is expected to be back in Downing Street this week as ministers prepare to flesh out their negotiating position on Brexit.

Free movement from the European Union will end in March 2019, Downing Street insisted as Theresa May sought to contain a Cabinet row over Brexit.

Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has dismissed reports of splits in the Cabinet over Brexit, saying senior ministers are united on delivering a global Britain after its departure from the European Union.

No opposition leader can muster a vision inspiring enough to compete with Russian leader Vladimir Putin, says Leonid Bershidsky

Philip Hammond has warned failing to secure a Brexit deal would be "very, very bad" for Britain ahead of the start of exit talks in Brussels on Monday.

Vince Cable has warned that the Tories have "adopted wholesale" policies from Ukip as he unveiled a campaign poster featuring Nigel Farage's face superimposed on to the British Prime Minister's head.

Nigel Farage, the leader of Britain’s anti-EU UK Independence Party, withdrew his resignation after tendering it last week over his failure to win a seat in the British parliament.

David Cameron has promised the UK “we are on the brink of something special” as he returned to Downing Street as a Prime Minister with a Tory Commons majority for the first time.

The British graduate unmasked in reports as the Islamic State (IS) executioner known as Jihadi John was a model employee, “calm and decent” and “very good with people”, his former boss has said.

The national minimum wage in the UK should be increased by 20p an hour to £6.70, the Low Pay Commission is recommending.

British business secretary Vince Cable said David Cameron is out of touch with the reality of EU membership and his aim of clawing back powers will be difficult to achieve.

A union has branded as “disgraceful” the timing of an announcement that nearly 3,000 workers in the UK are facing redundancies over the holidays.

A UK government-commissioned inquiry into the sale of Royal Mail Group will call for changes to the way initial public offerings are managed in London, according to a sources.

Royal Bank of Scotland is cutting lending faster than other banks are making loans, UK business secretary Vince Cable said.

Export licences for €6.4m worth of military goods for Israel have been approved by the Government in the past three years, the Irish Examiner can reveal.

fBritain’s major lenders are facing a full-scale competition probe over personal accounts and small business banking under plans set out by the watchdog today.

Jubilant Ukip leader Nigel Farage said his “people’s army” was on its way to Westminster after securing first place in historic elections for the European Parliament.

Royal Mail has warned of a threat to the universal postal service because rivals can “cherry-pick” easy-to-serve urban areas.

Pfizer defended the business case behind its plan to acquire AstraZeneca yesterday and questioned the UK company’s ability to stand alone for much longer as the US group’s CEO prepared for a grilling from British MPs.

Speculation is mounting that US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is set to make a hostile bid for AstraZeneca after its €76bn takeover offer was spurned.

Barclays bosses will face more shareholder anger over pay tomorrow when the banking giant holds its annual general meeting in London.

Ulster Bank is confident that an extension of a probe into alleged fraudulent activity by its parent, RBS — to cover its Irish operations — will find it innocent of any wrongdoing.

The head of the Ulster Bank has warned of future branch closures in response to a huge ongoing shift towards on-line banking.

Allegations that Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc pushed small businesses into default will be investigated as the British markets’ regulator called on other banks to review their lending practices.

More reasons emerged this week to suggest that the best banking inquiry would not be one examining what happened in the run-up to Sept 2008, but instead one into what has happened at the Irish banks since and continues to happen.

Royal Bank of Scotland has appointed law firm Clifford Chance to conduct an inquiry into the treatment received by small business customers in financial distress, responding to suggestions it closed down viable businesses too quickly.

Royal Bank of Scotland is facing allegations of “unscrupulous” treatment of small businesses in a report claiming the lender drove firms to collapse to buy back their assets at rock-bottom prices.

Sticky problem

Lloyds Banking Group investors are betting that UK house prices will continue to rise across the country as the economy recovers.

Nick Clegg, Britain’s deputy prime minister, has said that the UK is nowhere near a house-price bubble and the Bank of England has tools to prevent it, amid growing concerns that government support for home-buying is stoking another boom.

There are growing calls for British Prime Minister David Cameron to consider a second vote on military action in Syria, if more evidence against President Assad emerges.

Plans to boost credit to small businesses in the UK have been dealt a blow after a major lender delayed its launch into the sector until 2016.

It is believed that the consulting firm Blackrock International will complete its stress testing of Ulster Bank’s loan books within two weeks, which is part of the British government’s review of Royal Bank of Scotland.

British Business Secretary Vince Cable has cooled expectations over Royal Bank of Scotland’s return to private ownership by signalling it may be in public hands for another five years.

The UK government said it will sell a majority stake in 360-year-old Royal Mail via an initial public offering by the end of March.