Gordon Brown announced that Britain would build three, not four, replacement Trident submarines, saving between £3bn and £5bn. The move is not dependent on offers from other nuclear states. Downing Street has stated that retaining a nuclear deterrent was "non-negotiable". The total cost of Trident has been set out at between £72bn and £92bn over the next 20 years.

Recovery from recession is now underway in the UK, according to business group CBI, although growth is expected to be fragile. GDP is predicted to grow by 0.3% between July and September, and 0.4% between October and December. But unemployment is expected to rise until mid-2010, peaking at three million.

As the Labour party conference begins, expected announcements include the retirement of Welsh First Minister Rhodri Morgan.

Nick Clegg called for the Liberal Democrats to cut any election pledges deemed too costly at the party's annual conference. The pledge to scrap tuition fees may be be dropped. Vince Cable was under fire for proposing a "mansion tax" on properties worth over £1m without prior discussion with senior Lib Dems.

New guidance on assisted suicide in England and Wales was issued, clarifying the risk of prosecution for "compassionate partners". The guidance spells out the factors taken into account, including financial motive and how the decision is made. However, assisted suicide remains illegal. In Scotland a bill is expected before parliament in a bid for legalisation.

The treatment of rape complaints is to be examined in a review led by independent peer Baroness Stern. Ministers are concerned by the current low conviction rate of 6.5%. The review will focus on improving the way public bodies work together on rape complaints.

The Office of Fair Trading has levied fines totalling £129.5m on 103 building companies for rigging bids on building contracts. The practice of "cover pricing", where companies submit quotes for jobs they do not intend to win, raising the fee for a job, has resulted in customers, including local authorities, overpaying for construction work.

Airlines will pledge to cut CO2 emissions to half the 2005 levels by 2050, the British Airways CEO Willie Walsh announced at the UN's climate summit. The industry also proposes to make all growth in the aviation sector carbon-neutral by 2020.

Banks must change radically to regain public trust, Lord Turner, head of the Financial Services Authority, has said. He also admitted the FSA got regulations on the amount of money banks keep in reserve "quite wrong".