Chancellor Rachel Reeves says she will take "fair choices" in the Budget as economists continue to predict tax rises to try to balance the books.

Reeves is expected to give a speech to Downing Street later ahead of the 26 November Budget. Labour explicitly ruled out a rise in VAT, National Insurance or income tax in its general election manifesto.

Shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said with an "emergency press conference" Reeves was "all but confirming what many feared - higher taxes are on the way". He called for the chancellor to be sacked if she "breaks her promises yet again".

Meanwhile influential think tank the Resolution Foundation has said tax rises are now "inevitable".

Avoiding cuts to VAT, NI or income tax "would do more harm than good", warned the foundation which has close links to Labour - Treasury Minister Torsten Bell was previously its chief executive.

Hiking income tax would be the "best option" for raising cash, it said, but suggested it should be offset by a 2p cut to employee national insurance, which would "raise £6 billion overall while protecting most workers from this tax rise".

Extending the freeze in personal tax thresholds for two more years beyond April 2028 would also raise £7.5 billion, its Autumn Budget 2025 preview suggested.

The chancellor is expected to say in a speech on Tuesday morning that the Budget will focus on "fairness and opportunity" to bring down NHS waiting lists, the national debt and the cost of living.

"You will all have heard a lot of speculation about the choices I will make," she is expected to say.

"I understand that - these are important choices that will shape our economy for years to come.

"But it is important that people understand the circumstances we are facing, the principles guiding my choices – and why I believe they will be the right choices for the country."

The message from Reeves is expected to echo comments made by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer to a group of Labour MPs on Monday night.

He told those gathered that the Budget would be "a Labour Budget built on Labour values" and that the government would "make the tough but fair decisions to renew our country and build it for the long term".

The government's official forecaster, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is widely expected to downgrade its productivity forecasts for the UK at the end of the month. This could add as much as £20 billion to the Chancellor's costs if she is to meet her self-imposed "non-negotiable" rules for government finances.

The two main rules are:

• Not to borrow to fund day-to-day public spending by the end of this parliament

• To get government debt falling as a share of national income by the end of this parliament

The Treasury declined to comment on "speculation" ahead of the OBR's final forecast, which will be published on 26 November alongside the Budget.

However last week, the chancellor confirmed both tax rises and spending cuts are options as she aims to give herself "sufficient headroom" against future economic shocks.

The Resolution Foundation said changes in the economic outlook and policy U-turns are likely to reduce the current £9.9 billion of headroom against the chancellor's borrowing rule into a fiscal black hole of around £4 billion.

It urged Reeves to double the level of headroom she has against her fiscal rules to £20 billion. This would "send a clear message to markets that she is serious about fixing the public finances, which in turn should reduce medium-term borrowing costs and make future fiscal events less fraught," its Budget preview said.

It comes after the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) said last month there was a "strong case" to increase the headroom. It said the lack of a bigger buffer brought with it instability, and could leave the chancellor "limping from one forecast to the next".

Rare hyena behaviours have been caught on camera, including a mother-to-be trying to steal food from wild dogs and outsmarting rivals by hiding a stolen carcass underwater to mask its scent.

This is just some of the remarkable animal behaviour on display in the new BBC wildlife documentary series, Kingdom, which follows the lives of four rival carnivore families over five years.

​​The scenes include poignant moments as the animals face threats from snare trappings to brutal ambushes and violent territorial battles.

"We could never have written a script like this, only nature could write this script," said executive producer Mike Gunton.

​​Behind the scenes, the Zambia Carnivore Programme works to protect these animals.

​​The team followed four animal families - leopards, hyena, wild dogs and lions - in Zambia's Luangwa Valley, capturing rare moments and revealing the intricate dynamics of life in one of Africa's wildest regions.

Viewers will watch five-day-old lion cubs opening their eyes, alongside dramatic scenes shown in Kingdom for the first time, such as a pack of wild dogs rescuing one of their own from the jaws of a crocodile.

Other wild animals like elephants and baboons also feature in the new series, which is narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

​"Everything about these species has been shaped by millions of years of competition alongside each other," said series producer Felicity Lanchester. "Now…humans are changing that," she added.

Filmmakers and scientific researchers in the region have collaborated behind the scenes as the footage is a valuable source of data, informing conservation strategies.

​​"We got a lot of information that we wouldn't have been able to get otherwise... on topography, diet, movement, births, and deaths,” said Dr Matthew Becker, scientific consultant for the series and CEO of the Zambia Carnivore Programme.

The greatest threat these large carnivores face is habitat loss, while snaring and a declining prey base also play a role. Wire traps, or snares, are often set for antelope - both for food and illegal trade - but many large mammals become victims as by-catch.

These pressures are changing pack sizes, diets and survival strategies, according to Dr Becker. A single incident can have knock-on effects, impacting dozens or even hundreds of animals.

​​In one scene, a wild dog reappears after losing a leg in a snare trap. Despite his injury, his natal pack welcomes him back, ensuring he eats his share and keeps up on hunts.

​​For those not as fortunate, the Zambia Carnivore Programme exists to protect them. The organisation, along with other local groups, removes snares, safeguards dens and provides information for law enforcement on illegal trade in ivory and bushmeat.

Reflecting on the conservation focus of the series, Dr Becker said: "Ultimately, it's a message of optimism in the face of some very concerning trends."

​​Its incorporation in wildlife programmes is now an inevitability, according to the producers.

The external forces acting on these creatures are clear and series like Kingdom can shed light on the need to protect them.

Speaking about conservation, ​​series editor, Simon Blakeney, said: ​​"It’s a challenge, but it's not hopeless."

Kingdom begins on BBC One at 18:20 GMT on Sunday and will be available to watch on BBC iPlayer.

Natalie Rowntree from North Yorkshire has recently started her IVF journey, and describes the process as "intense".

The 38-year-old has had seven IVF-related appointments in the space of eight weeks, including multiple blood tests, scans and X-rays, one of which left her in physical discomfort for "a good few days".

As is the nature of fertility treatment, all of these appointments have to be done at very specific times of the month - and fitting this around her job at a private opticians has proven difficult.

"I've just been using sick days and holidays to go through these appointments," she says.

Added to this is the emotional toll of having to manage the process, with no entitlement to time off.

Two years ago, Natalie had two miscarriages over a six month period and since then has not been able to conceive with her partner.

"The emotion side is quite difficult, and then trying to manage that around work...do I bite the bullet and explain what's happening? Or keep having sick days and holidays?" she says.

According to research from the social enterprise Fertility Matters at Work, Natalie is one of the around 63% of employees undergoing IVF who are taking sick leave to undergo treatment - with most citing they were doing so to hide their treatment from their employer.

Now there are calls for women undergoing fertility treatments to have the legal right to paid time off to attend their appointments.

Campaigners claim that while some employers offer fertility support, it is unequal and not guaranteed, and should be classed as a medical procedure.

Becoming pregnant through IVF enables the same maternity rights as non-IVF pregnancies, but currently in employment law there are no legal rights when it comes to fertility treatment.

According to new research by Fertility Matters at Work, that comes at a potential cost of millions to the economy and businesses in lost productivity.

Natalie says she has avoided bringing her treatment up with her managers because she is nervous about the reception she might get for taking time off work to go through the process.

"If I was to go to my managers and say I was pregnant, I wouldn't feel nervous at all about that...but with this, because you don't know how long it's going to go on for, you can't give work a timescale."

Employment guidance from the Equality and Human Rights Commission advises "good practice" to employers with workers seeking leave for IVF treatment, but it acknowledges that such requests are not covered by the protected characteristic of pregnancy and maternity in law.

However, refusing to grant someone leave for fertility treatment could count as sex discrimination in certain situations - but campaigners say this is hard to prove.

'Employers could benefit too'

Rebecca Kearns, from Fertility Matters at Work, co-founded the group with two other women after they all experienced their own difficulties undergoing IVF whilst trying to keep afloat in the workplace.

The 39-year-old says providing time off would be a potential benefit of employers, who could save the economy millions in lost productivity.

"What we're finding is, because there's 63% taking sick leave, that is having an impact on businesses, there's a cost for the disruption of this absence."

She also thinks employers need to be more aware of the toll IVF - which she considers a "significant life event" - can take on their employees.

"You often have a number of very short notice appointments you have to attend, it's very dependent on how your body is responding to medication.

"But we also know there's still a huge amount of stigma that surrounds IVF and infertility.

"We receive messages almost daily from people who are struggling with this experience...people taking sick leave to hide treatment, the fact that they're then triggered on absence procedures and potentially having their performance monitored.

"And it was all because they were going through fertility treatment and just felt unable to say that was what they were going through."

She says women have also told them they have left jobs and signed non-disclosure agreements as a result of going through IVF.

The government says that while no specific legal right to time off for IVF treatment exists, it expects employers to treat staff fairly and accommodate reasonable requests.

The government also says it is strengthening flexible working rules which will make it easier for employees to agree arrangements with their workplace for support.

But that isn't enough reassurance for the Labour MP Alice MacDonald, who will be introducing the issue in Parliament via a ten minute rule bill, which proposes to put into law the legal right to time off for fertility appointments.

Whilst it is unlikely the issue becomes law without official government backing, she is seeking to get it "firmly on the government's radar".

"Many people, especially women, are impacted by this when you're trying to have a baby and through no fault of your own, you need that extra medical support, you don't have a right to time off to go to those appointments," she says.

"At a time when you are hoping that it's going to work, hoping it's going to be successful, finally be pregnant and have the baby you've wanted you've got another additional barrier which is with your employer.

"There are many employers who are supportive but you have to hope you've got one that understands and who will give you the time off.

"If it was clearly in law what your rights are we think it opens up that conversation and employers would have to have a policy."

'Striking a balance'

Patrick Milnes from the British Chambers of Commerce says there is a concern amongst businesses about the potential for "over legislation" in anticipation of the Employment Rights Bill in particular, which will seek to ease rules on flexible working.

"Small and medium businesses in particular have been talking to us about how concerned they are about navigating different types of legislative leave," he says.

"Most employers that we speak to are doing this kind of thing anyway as a matter of good practice.

"If you legislate, those processes can become more complicated it can become more burdensome, and actually in many instances it's easier to do these things on a case by case, ad hoc basis.

"There's a middle ground between having nothing at all and having a full legislated process that might be overwhelming in some instances."

But Natalie says legal rights to time off would make a "huge" difference to her.

"If you didn't have to think about, 'what are work going to think about me being off again?' it would take a lot of the stress away.

"I'm at the beginning stages [of IVF] and I'm thinking about what it's going to look like work-wise going forward.

"I don't want this to be a thing forever, for other women that are also going to go through it. I think it's an important thing that needs to be fixed."