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Social care and prisons are the government services most in need of extra money, an influential think tank has said.

But Chancellor Sajid Javid is likely to favour vote-winning measures ahead of a "potentially imminent" election, says the Institute for Government (IFG).

He will reveal the government's spending plans for the next year later on Wednesday.

Mr Javid has promised to prioritise spending on schools, police and health.

Read more here.

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The government will maintain the discredited RPI measure of inflation until at least 2025 and will consult on whether to keep it going until 2030.

The UK Stats Authority has recommended that RPI be changed to bring it into line with more modern measures of inflation.

Because of the effect this would have throughout the economy the chancellor has said that businesses would need time to prepare and he will need time to consult on when to bring those changes in.

RPI is used in the calculation of student loan interest rates and increases in train fares. It runs higher than CPI which is used in the calculation of increases in benefits and tax thresholds.

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Furnishing retailer Dunelm has reported a 23% jump in its annual pre-tax profits of £125.9m, compared with £93.1m in 2018.

Dunelm said sales rose in June due to a rise in online spending, as well as wet weather in the month driving consumers to visit its out-of-town stores.

In particular, the retailer said it benefited from tablet-based selling tools that enabled its staff to offer customers home delivery on an extended range of products.

Dunelm said that the homewares market had seen modest growth as a whole over the last two years, and it remains cautious in its outlook since Brexit on 31 October falls just before the winter retail season.

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Sterling is up 0.5% against the dollar at $1.2147 in early trade.

"The pound edged higher as Boris Johnson's Brexit strategy appeared in disarray," says Neil Wilson, of Markets.com

"The move higher only serves to underscore the kind of headline risk and volatility we can expect to see over the coming weeks which will make sterling a tough currency to trade. And it is worth noting that at least a portion of the rally is down to the drop in the US dollar following that weak ISM manufacturing reading."

Hong Kong's stock index jumped on Wednesday after media reports that the government will formally withdraw the extradition bill that first led to months of protests.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was 3.7% higher. The index also benefited earlier from an upbeat survey on China's services sector.

The Shanghai Composite was up 0.9% while Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.1%.

Despite ongoing Brexit turmoil the FTSE 100 was ahead in early morning trade on Wednesday.

At open the benchmark index of bluechip stocks was up 0.69%, or 50 points, at 7318.65.

It comes ahead of Chancellor Sajid Javid's spending review plans, which will be unveiled at 1300 BST.

Japanese car sales in South Korea fell 57% in August from a year earlier, Reuters has reported.

Toyota's South Korean sales fell 59% in August compared to the year before, while Honda's sales plunged 81%, the report said, citing industry data.

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Further to the news that retailer Marks & Spencer is to drop out of the FTSE 100 today for the first time since the index was launched in 1984, after its value fell below the threshold for inclusion.

"It's really a roller coaster ride for what was a bellwether of the British stock market for many years," Laura Lambie of Investec Wealth Management told the Today programme.

"The shares really peaked under Sir Richard Greenbury’s leadership [from 1988-1999], but then we had a series of boardroom battles and shares have suffered since then, and it’s really sad."

The food and fashion giant has had a hard year, with its shares down 40%.

Its all-important clothing business has continued to struggle, and its food business has shown signs of weakness.

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Huawei has accused the US government of "using every tool at its disposal" to disrupt its business.

In a media release, the Chinese tech giant said the US had launched cyber-attacks to infiltrate its networks and was threatening its employees.

The firm, which was put on a US trade blacklist this year, did not offer evidence for the allegations.

Huawei has become a centrepiece of the trade dispute between the US and China.

In its media release, external, Huawei alleged the US had been unlawfully detaining its staff, launching cyber-attacks to infiltrate its internal information systems and that FBI agents were being sent to the homes of its employees to pressure them to collect information on the company.

Read more here.

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Economist Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, says that in his forthcoming Spending Review the Chancellor Sajid Javid is likely to declare that austerity is over.

"There is money there, he can say 'I really have finished austerity today'," he tells Radio Four's Today programme.

"The problem is that spending is being based on forecasts made back in the spring, with no reports since then from his independent fiscal watchdog.

"Had they reported they may well have said 'you have not got the headroom you thought you had'.

"The risk is that you end austerity, he starts spending... but the deficit and debt then go up, and then he might have to reimpose austerity."

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Housebuilder Barratt has announced record profit before tax for the year of £909.8m, up 8.9% on the previous year.

The firm also said it built 17,856 homes in the year to 30 June 2019, up from 17,579 in the previous 12 months.

David Thomas, Barratt chief executive, said: "Whilst there is increased economic and political uncertainty, we begin the new financial year with a strong forward order book, balance sheet and cash position which we believe provides us with the resilience and flexibility to react to potential changes in the operating environment in full year 2020 and beyond."

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The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has announced that it is likely to see additional charges relating to the mis-selling of Payment Protection Insurance (PPI).

The bank says that the volume of PPI claims it received in August was significantly higher than it expected, with a further spike in the final days leading up to the deadline of 29 August 2019.

RBS said that it now expects to take a charge of between £600-£900m in its third quarter results, however, as it is still processing claims, the final charge could be above or below this range.

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With the legalisation of medicinal and recreational cannabis in Canada and certain states in the US, the industry has become big business in these countries.

So it would be unsurprising for investors in the UK to be interested in getting involved, but is this a good idea?

According to Katie Stephen, a partner at the law firm Norton Rose Fulbright, you could risk breaking the law if you invest in a cannabis firm, because of the way that UK money laundering legislation works.

"If there’s a Canadian business that is operating entirely legitimately in Canada doing cannabis-related activities, if those activities would give rise to an offence in the UK, any proceeds from that business could be treated as proceeds of crime," she explained to BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

"[Investors] need to be very cautious, particularly buying and selling shares, obtaining the proceeds of that by way of dividends or sales of shares, [or] becoming involved in transactions with businesses."

She said that it was unlikely for the UK to legalise cannabis "anytime soon", and that authorities still consider transactions involving the plants to be serious offences.

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Marks & Spencer will drop out of the FTSE 100 for the first time since the index was created in 1984, after its value fell below the threshold for inclusion.

The relegation was confirmed at the close of trading in London on Tuesday.

The official announcement will be made today and changes will take effect on September 23.

When asked on Radio Four's Today programme whether she would invest in the company, Laura Lambie, of Investec Wealth Management, bluntly replied "no".

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Asian markets were broadly higher on Wednesday.

In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index jumped 1.3% while the Shanghai Composite was 0.4% higher.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was up 0.3%.

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As mentioned Chancellor Sajid Javid will unveil the government's spending review later today.

Melanie Baker, Senior Economist at Royal London Asset Management, tells Radio Five live's Wake up to Money that there may be some new money announced today, rather than just a repacking of previously earmarked cash.

"This spending review is already really overdue, it has to be done," she adds.

The last one was in 2015, four years ago.

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More from Salma Shah, former advisor to Sajid Javid, who has been ruminating on how her former boss may approach today's Spending Review.

“I think he will be cautious with what he has to spend, he is economically quite dry," she says.

"He is not going to break any fiscal rules. He has the difficulty of funding a no-deal Brexit, so he needs a twin track approach.

“You will see a little bit of spending, incredibly focused on public spending… police, education, health."

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Salma Shah, long-serving former special advisor to Chancellor Sajid Javid, has been talking to Radio Five live's Wake Up to Money.

She has been following the Brexit manouverings in Parliament with interest.

"The interesting thing to note is that Boris Johnson may not get the election he wants.Labour seems to have changed its tune," she says.

"I still believe that the Brexit [the government] wants is with a deal, but whatever your belief,[the Commons vote] has made things much more uncertain."

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The pound has been under the cosh this week as uncertainty around Brexit has seen it lose ground against the US dollar and euro.

Laura Lambie, of Investec Wealth Management, has been talking to BBC Radio Five live’s Wake up to Money.

“Sterling did bounce back on the back of the Commons vote last night, to $1.20,” she says.

“We have a very volatile two months ahead, and beyond that will also remain very volatile. There is very little room (for the pound) to recover.”