In the headlines
Britons must “accept they’re worse off” and stop asking for inflation-busting pay rises, the Bank of England’s chief economist says on a podcast released yesterday. Huw Pill, who is on £190,000 a year, needs to “engage brain before opening mouth”, one top City figure tells the Daily Mail. British soldiers overseeing the evacuation of UK nationals from Sudan are “ready to use force if required”, says the I newspaper. More than 200 people have been flown out of the conflict-hit country so far, with several more flights expected today. Joshua Reynolds’s Portrait of Omai has been jointly bought by the National Portrait Gallery and America’s Getty organisation for £50m. The 18th-century painting (below), which depicts the first Polynesian visitor to England, has been subject to an export ban since 2001 in a bid to get it into public ownership. It will go on display when the gallery reopens in June.