Let’s start with the numbers. There are about 13.5 million tame wolves (we call them pet dogs), 12.5 million cats, one million rabbits, 700,000 tortoises and turtles, 700,000 guinea pigs, 600,000 hams

Just 23 sleeps until the big day – make sure you’re not wasting cash in the run-up to Xmas. Financial strategist Laura Linden, of Feisty FD (feistyfd. com), shares some savvy reminders...

Daisy Lindlar knows she’s very lucky. The 32-year-old and her partner are looking forward to spending their first Christmas in their private rented home with labradoodle Gizmo, who is eight months old

NO-NONSENSE SOLUTIONS TO EVERYDAY HASSLES

Didn’t get quite the present you wanted from Santa? Well, there is probably someone else, somewhere, who will want it. If you can’t return it for a refund or replacement, why not help out a good cause

Budget fiasco: That the whole of Wednesday’s Budget was erroneously published by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) an hour before chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) stood up to give her spee