In Money today: the UK economy unexpectedly contracted by 0.1% in January; British travellers won't have to pay for a visa to visit Europe until 2027 at the earliest, it is being reported; a look ...

The last thing I was expecting to discover on the doorstep of a Falkirk house was a 70-year-old woman crying at the near 16% council tax rise she and tens of thousands of others face next month.