A cross-party alliance last night defeated Boris Johnson in parliament in a bid to prevent him taking Britain out of the EU without a divorce agreement – prompting the prime minister to announce that he will immediately push for a snap election.

The pound made gains on currency markets after the prime Minister lost his majority in the House of Commons.

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GKN Aerospace is to shed 1,000 jobs worldwide as part of a restructuring that it said pre-dated its controversial £8bn takeover by Melrose.

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Ferguson, the FTSE 100 plumbing and heating supplies merchant, is to demerge its UK arm and focus on its larger North American activities in a victory for US hedge fund and activist investor Trian Partners