New figures published by HMRC reveal that the total number of claims for overpaid tax on pension withdrawals has soared above half a million to 502,000 - resulting in a total of almost £1.5bn reclaimed since the introduction of Pension Freedoms in 2015.

There was good news for the government today ahead of next week's Budget after the International Monetary Fund upgraded its UK GDP forecast for 2024 to 1.1%, up from 0.7% in July.