The display, also known as the aurora borealis, is usually visible near the Arctic Circle and in northern Scotland. This weekend it was photographed as far south as Sheerness in Kent, despite heavy light pollution in the area.

Photograph: Mike Pennington, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Met Office said sightings could continue during clear skies until Tuesday, with further sightings possible across Scotland and at similar geomagnetic longitudes. Its space weather forecast for 10 to 13 October pointed to incoming coronal mass ejections and a high-speed solar wind stream bringing a daily chance of enhancing the auroral oval where skies are clear.

Aurora may be visible at times over the next few nights over Scotland …Met Office space weather forecast, quoted by Secret Edinburgh, October 2026

Aurora displays happen when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s upper atmosphere around the magnetic poles, releasing energy as light. According to the Met Office, oxygen produces green and, at higher altitudes, rare red auroras, while nitrogen creates blue and purple hues.

The weekend display arrived in what experts have described as a peak year for aurora-spotting. Last year experts said 2026 would be a peak year, with the Sun in a heightened state of activity as part of its 11-year natural cycle.

Photograph: Mike Pennington, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Separate reporting of the display said thousands of people shared photographs taken from gardens and public roads, and advised anyone hoping to see the lights to look northwards, away from bright streetlights, and through a phone camera, when the lights usually appear between 10pm and 2am.

The Times reported that the package is aimed at forcing countries to agree to deportations, and would include banning airlines from British airspace as well as levies on goods and services. The tariff rate has yet to be fixed.

Photograph: Kim Fyson, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The proposal escalates plans first announced in February for visa bans on people legally visiting Britain from Pakistan, Afghanistan, Syria, Eritrea, Sudan or Somalia, until those countries agree to take back illegal immigrants and foreign criminals in the UK. The list includes several countries with the largest numbers of asylum seekers in the UK in recent years.

I will not tolerate countries who won’t take back illegal migrants.Nigel Farage, Reform UK leader, on social media, October 2026

Reform says tariffs would put economic pressure on states that will not accept deportees, and party figures believe they may carry more weight where visa bans alone do not. Mr Farage has written on social media: “I will not tolerate countries who won’t take back illegal migrants.”

The Times noted that tariffs have been a favoured diplomatic tool for President Trump, and that Reform could face significant legal challenges. Under World Trade Organisation rules, members must generally be charged the same tariff, known as the most-favoured nation rule, with an exemption for a war or an emergency in international relations, a principle Britain relied on in 2022 when it raised tariffs on Russia and Belarus after the invasion of Ukraine.

Photograph: Eric Fischer, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

About 20,900 people have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, down about 40 per cent on the same period in 2025, according to official figures reported by The Times. More than 211,000 people have made the crossing since 2018.

Reporting of the plan noted its timing: the i Paper, via coverage of the announcement, said Reform has seen support fall amid funding rows while Labour’s ratings have steadied since Andy Burnham arrived in Downing Street, leaving Reform second in most polls.

Floods and Drought Minister Emma Hardy will lead the group, whose members include the Environment Agency, the Met Office, mayoral authorities, fire and rescue services, local authorities, and representatives from farming, the water industry and insurance.

Photograph: Nick Chipchase, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The launch follows a wet winter and a long, hot summer that brought the country its third drought in five years and its driest July in almost two centuries, with a wetter and more intense winter now expected. The Met Office has warned of a heightened potential for wet, windy and stormy weather this winter, with the chances lifted by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

We’re taking a smarter, more joined-up approach to manage the nation’s water.Emma Hardy, Minister for Floods and Drought, quoted by Sky News, 10 October 2026

At its first meeting, members will review preparations for possible flooding this winter and consider how responses have improved, as well as discussing lessons from the ongoing drought and ways to strengthen resilience to both hazards. About 6.3 million properties in England are at risk of flooding.

Ms Hardy said: “We’re taking a smarter, more joined-up approach to manage the nation’s water.” The Government says communities and businesses will be at the centre of the taskforce’s work, with people affected by floods and drought involved directly so their experience helps shape future policy.

Photograph: Edwin Graham, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Government says it has committed at least £10.5 billion between 2024 and 2036 to flood defences, described as England’s largest flood defence programme, protecting homes, businesses and key infrastructure. Sky News reported that the relaunched taskforce will not have any new powers, and that ministers stopped short of a single dedicated phone line for flood victims or an overall target for boosting flood defences, as recommended by MPs on the Environmental Audit Committee last year.

Sky News also reported that the Government’s climate advisers said in May that £1.6 billion a year would be needed to 2050 just to keep flood risk similar to today’s levels. The existing National Drought Group will continue to lead the operational response to drought, while the new taskforce takes a broader, longer-term view of preparation for both flooding and drought.

The force said it received reports at 1.35pm on Saturday 10 October that a man had entered the enclosure at the park. “The tiger subsequently attacked the man, resulting in serious injury,” a police spokesperson said.

“Emergency services attended and sadly, despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene,” the spokesperson said. Police said the man's family had been informed and was being supported by specialist officers.

Photograph: Graham Hogg, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Despite the best efforts of medical personnel, the man was pronounced dead at the scene.South Yorkshire Police, 10 October 2026

Police confirmed the tiger was uninjured and remained in the enclosure after the incident, and said there was no wider risk to the public. The park was evacuated and officers remained on the scene carrying out enquiries.

“We are aware of videos circulating online and we would encourage people not to share this distressing footage,” the force said.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park said a serious incident had occurred at the tiger enclosure and that its emergency response procedures were immediately activated. “We are working closely with the authorities to ascertain exactly what happened,” the park said, adding that the park would remain closed on Sunday.

Photograph: Chris Morgan, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Yorkshire Ambulance Service said it was called to the park at 1.33pm on Saturday and sent two land ambulances, the Yorkshire Air Ambulance and a doctor to the scene.

The park's Land of the Tigers attraction, a two-acre reserve for endangered Amur tigers, opened in 2011. Yorkshire Wildlife Park itself opened in 2009.

Robert Jenrick, Reform's Treasury spokesman, said his party would cancel the 5p increase and cut duty even further at the next Budget. “We urge Chancellor John Healey to see sense and listen to motorists,” he said. “Motorists are being battered right now. Tradesmen, carers, mums and dads trying to take their kids to school, HGV drivers. It can't go on.”

Photograph: Robin Stott, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Times reported that diesel hit a record high of more than £2 a litre last week, passing the previous record set in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Petrol is rising too: the average litre of unleaded costs almost £1.75, about 40p more than at the start of the war.

Motorists are being battered right now.Robert Jenrick, Reform UK's Treasury spokesman

According to the AA, diesel now costs 199.98p a litre, meaning about £110 to fill a typical 55-litre tank, while petrol at 174.79p a litre costs about £96.13 for a full tank. Mr Healey said he was concerned about the pressure rising pump prices put on families and businesses.

The duty row comes as Labour's new fuel price tool faces a backlash from drivers. From Thursday, Google Maps and Waze have shown live pump prices at nearby forecourts, using data from the Government's fuel finder scheme, which requires stations to report prices within 30 minutes of a change or face fines. The Government estimates motorists can save an average of £40 a year by shopping around.

Photograph: Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Drivers have dismissed the feature as inaccurate “rage bait”, with thousands commenting on a Facebook post from the Prime Minister promoting the tool. Some said it shows only one price rather than separate petrol and diesel figures, while experts warned the underlying data cannot yet be relied upon: the fuel finder covers 97 per cent of stations, and PetrolPrices identified more than 200 stations it believes did not upload prices consistently in September.

Clare Lafferty, commercial director of PetrolPrices, said: “The Government's Fuel Finder data can't yet be relied upon as the sole source for providing a complete picture of UK forecourt prices.”

The minister for energy consumers, Polly Billington, called the tool a “game-changer” for near real-time prices, saying cheaper fuel should be simple to find. Edmund King, president of the AA, called it a “massive step forward” that could encourage more competitive prices.

Speaking at the Innovation Nation Summit at Bruntwood SciTech's Circle Square in Manchester on Friday, the Prime Minister said some companies had gone “too far” in their use of restrictive practices such as non-compete clauses, leaving workers “held back and unpaid” while sitting on the sidelines.

Photograph: House of Commons, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

“I can confirm today we will legislate to make sure that non-compete clauses will no longer be a barrier to hiring for our most promising start-ups and scaling firms,” he said. “Call it, if you like, the Bosman ruling for the innovation sector, but I think it's needed and long overdue.”

Call it, if you like, the Bosman ruling for the innovation sector, but I think it's needed and long overdue.Andy Burnham, Innovation Nation Summit, 9 October 2026

Non-compete clauses stop workers joining a rival or setting up on their own after leaving a job, he said, and are “a drag on innovation” that prevents the best from being energised. He added that workers in the “foundational economy, the everyday economy” would not be prevented from moving jobs either.

The pledge follows a campaign by leading tech firms including ElevenLabs and Synthesia to limit non-compete clauses and extended notice periods. Dom Hallas, chief executive of the Startup Coalition, called it “a huge move”, arguing that mobile talent is what lets start-ups build and grow faster.

Photograph: LimeSpiked, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The Government did not set out the scope of the planned restrictions. An earlier working paper, published nearly a year ago, ranged from an outright ban to statutory duration caps and thresholds linked to salary or company size, and the detailed legislative proposals have yet to be announced.

Mr Burnham also set out three measures to make Britain an “innovation nation”: devolving funding for innovation, identifying the clusters across the UK with the potential to become truly world-leading, and pressing for more collaboration between those clusters, so the country can “punch above its weight”.

He set an ambition for Britain to make a major scientific breakthrough within a decade, naming a cure for cancer, a breakthrough on dementia and nuclear fusion. “We did it before, so why not?” he said.

With the Budget due on 28 October, he hinted at tax breaks for firms looking to grow in Britain. “If the UK wants to build global companies, we need to be globally competitive,” he said. “Too often, our best ideas are developed and scaled overseas.”

The probe found MPs accepted around £275,000 in luxury trips and flights laid on by the UAE, way ahead of the other political parties, alongside £14,000 of Manchester City tickets and hospitality. The British Bulletin, reporting the same probe, put the UAE figure at £273,396.

Photograph: Kimmyuandooo, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The deputy leader, Lucy Powell, is the biggest individual beneficiary of City's hospitality. The MP for Manchester Central, whose constituency covers City's Etihad stadium, accepted free tickets to five matches over an 11-month period worth £2,360, including an £840 VIP ticket to watch City play Newcastle United at the Etihad in March 2024.

Taxpayers will be concerned to hear that politicians are receiving gifts that may lead to conflicts of interest.William Yarwood, TaxPayers' Alliance, quoted in The Sun, 9 October 2026

Andrew Western, the Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, accepted tickets to four matches, including two VIP hospitality tickets for the Community Shield at Wembley in August 2024 worth £880. After Mr Burnham entered Downing Street in July, Mr Western was promoted to a ministerial post in the Department for Work and Pensions.

Jeff Smith, the MP for Manchester Withington, was a guest of the club on four occasions, including a £1,798 ticket for the FA Cup final against Manchester United in May 2024.

Photograph: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The figures are drawn from MPs' Register of Interests entries. Since 2012, UAE government ministries, royal offices and state-funded bodies have spent more than £467,000 across at least 78 entries, an average of almost £3,000 a month, with £23,519 registered in 2026 alone. Donors named include the UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Abu Dhabi Education Council and the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi.

The findings land weeks after an independent commission found City guilty of more than 100 serious breaches of Premier League financial rules. The club denies wrongdoing and has lodged an appeal.

Mr Burnham was heavily criticised for saying he would be “really concerned” to lose City's owners after the verdict was announced. He later clarified: “I think it's important to separate the football issues from wider investment.”

The probe also lists hospitality received by Mr Burnham himself: £105 of Massive Attack tickets at Manchester's Co-op Arena, part-owned by City Football Group, in June 2025, and four £440 Courteeners tickets at the same venue in November 2024. Further MTV European Music Awards tickets at the arena were provided by an unclear source, the Sun reports.

William Yarwood of the TaxPayers' Alliance said: “Taxpayers will be concerned to hear that politicians are receiving gifts that may lead to conflicts of interest. Politicians who are elected to serve taxpayers must uphold the highest standards of integrity and avoid any conflicts of interest.”

The two leaders formally ratified the Kensington Treaty, signed in 2025, which commits Britain and Germany to deeper cooperation on science, technology, defence, security and growth. They also launched a joint partnership against sabotage, cyber attacks and other hybrid threats attributed mainly to Russia.

Photograph: Steffen Prößdorf, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Speaking before the talks, Burnham said the two countries were “joining forces to find, expose and disrupt” such threats. “Attacks on our infrastructure, our businesses and our democracies are not a distant threat,” he said. “They reach into people’s homes and workplaces, and they are designed to make us weaker and more divided.”

Attacks on our infrastructure, our businesses and our democracies are not a distant threat.Andy Burnham, Berlin, 8 October 2026

Downing Street said deeper cooperation against hybrid threats from Russia would be high on the agenda. Intelligence services in both countries have warned of rising threats, including last month, when an explosive-laden drone was found near Ukrainian cargo planes at Leipzig/Halle airport, prompting Britain to summon a Russian diplomat and Germany’s interior minister to cite Russia’s pattern of hybrid operations.

On defence industry, Burnham said Britain was open to Germany joining the Global Combat Air Programme, the partnership between Britain, Italy and Japan to develop a new fighter jet. “I’ve indicated to the Chancellor ... our openness to Germany joining GCAP,” he told a press conference. “That is something that we seek to progress in the coming period, working with our other partners, Italy and Japan.”

The visit came days after Burnham told Labour’s conference in Liverpool that Brexit had done “more harm than good” and promised to set out options for the long term, up to and including re-entry. Merz called Britain’s exit from the EU regrettable and welcomed the change of tone.

Photograph: Anil Öztas, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Burnham named economic growth and irregular migration as the areas where London wants to move first. A German government spokesman said any future referendum would be primarily a question for Britain, but that Berlin supports stronger ties between the UK and the EU.

There are limits to the courtship. The European Commission has said it is for the British Government to define the relationship it wants, and at home Burnham remains bound by the 2024 Labour manifesto, which rules out the customs union, the single market and free movement until the next general election, due in 2029. Reform UK’s deputy leader Richard Tice accused the Prime Minister of trying to “sneak us back into Brussels via the back door”.

The two leaders also convened a UK-Germany Regional Growth Forum of British and German business chiefs, and discussed support for Ukraine, instability in the Middle East and disruption to trade routes such as the Strait of Hormuz.

The men, aged 32 and 36 and both resident in Britain, were found inside the base perimeter at about 2am on Thursday. Ministry of Defence Police on patrol had spotted an abandoned vehicle near the fence at about 10pm on Wednesday, and a small breach in the perimeter fence was then identified.

Photograph: MSGT Patrick Nugent / U.S. Air Force, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

They were first arrested on suspicion of trespass on a prohibited site and criminal damage, and then further arrested on suspicion of entering a prohibited place for a purpose prejudicial to the United Kingdom, an offence under section 4 of the National Security Act 2023. Both remain in police custody.

There is nothing to suggest this incident is connected to the events at RAF Fairford last week.Commander Helen Flanagan, Counter Terrorism Policing

The investigation is being led by Counter Terrorism Policing, which is searching two addresses in the Peterborough area. Specialist explosives officers examined the abandoned vehicle as a precaution; nothing of concern was found, and road cordons around Glatton, including part of the A1, have been lifted.

Commander Helen Flanagan, who is leading the investigation, said: “We’re very aware of the recent heightened interest and concern around military sites, but at this stage there is nothing to suggest this incident is connected to the events at RAF Fairford last week.” She added that the investigation was at its very early stages and that officers were keeping an open mind about the men’s motives.

Photograph: Senior Airman Eugene Oliver / U.S. Air Force, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

RAF Molesworth, about 60 miles north of London, is used by American personnel and hosts intelligence analysis and command operations, including a NATO intelligence centre. It is not used for flying operations.

The arrests come weeks after a suspected plot targeting RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire, which the Government has linked to Iran. A 22-year-old British man arrested in that investigation was released on bail on Thursday.

Sagal Abdi-Wali, the leader of Camden council, won 12,292 votes, 45.2 per cent of the total, against 8,928 votes, 32.8 per cent, for Polanski: a Labour majority of 3,364. The Conservatives finished a distant third on 7.1 per cent, followed by Reform UK on 5.9 per cent, while the Liberal Democrats, on 3.4 per cent, lost their deposit.

Photograph: Bristol Green Party, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0 1.0)

The contest was triggered by the resignation of Sir Keir Starmer as an MP, six weeks after he stood down as Prime Minister. The north London seat has returned Labour MPs since its creation in 1983: Frank Dobson held it for 32 years, Starmer for 11.

This is Camden, and this is Britain.Sagal Abdi-Wali, after winning the Holborn and St Pancras by-election, 9 October 2026

Turnout was 38.8 per cent, down from 54.1 per cent at the 2024 general election and below the 58.7 per cent recorded in the Makerfield by-election and 47.5 per cent in Gorton and Denton.

Abdi-Wali came to Britain as a child refugee from Somalia and grew up in Camden, where she was elected as a councillor in 2022 before becoming leader of the council in May.

Photograph: Suzanne Schroeter, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Speaking after the declaration, she said: “I hope this moment also says something about who gets to belong, for people who look like me, I hope they see themselves reflected in this place and know that their path too belongs here. This is Camden, and this is Britain.”

The result caps a bruising week for the Greens. Their annual conference passed a motion on Zionism that the Prime Minister called “terrible judgement”, urging the party’s leadership to reverse the decision. Polanski did not take part in the vote, saying he was campaigning in the constituency instead.

Caroline Lucas, the party’s former leader, told BBC Newsnight: “I would have hoped he would have been a strong critic of [that] motion, because the motion was flawed from top to bottom.” Asked whether Polanski should stand down, she said: “Let’s see what happens in the coming days and weeks.”

Polanski denied he had lost control of the party, saying its membership had grown from around 60,000 when he ran for leader to 220,000. Asked by Sky News whether he would stay on, he said: “Yes absolutely, that’s what leaders do.”

For Burnham, holding one of Labour’s safest seats removes the threat of an early humiliation. But a swing of 13 points from Labour to the Greens since 2024 underlines how far the party’s left flank has shifted, in the seventh by-election since the general election.

The four animals were chosen after a public consultation that drew 478,531 responses, the most the Bank has ever received for a banknote imagery consultation. Respondents cast 2,549,003 selections across a shortlist of 18 animals drawn up with a panel of wildlife experts.

Photograph: Iifar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The buff-tailed bumblebee was the most popular animal overall with 360,399 nominations, followed by the barn owl on 270,596 and the European hedgehog on 259,665, each topping its category. The Atlantic puffin, on 183,137, was selected as the most popular marine animal, chosen to add variety to the series and celebrate the British coastline.

With their support, we have chosen four distinct and inspiring animals that not only showcase the great variety of wildlife we have in the UK.Victoria Cleland, Bank of England chief cashier

The Bank has not yet decided which animal will appear on which denomination; that choice will be announced closer to launch. The notes will also carry other elements from nature to complete the designs, and the monarch’s portrait will continue to appear.

The first denomination of the new series is expected to be launched “over the next few years”. Designing, testing and printing banknotes takes a number of years, the Bank said, to ensure they are high quality, resilient and accessible.

Photograph: Merops, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

The new series will replace the current Series G notes: Winston Churchill on the £5, issued in September 2016, Jane Austen on the £10, JMW Turner on the £20 and Alan Turing on the £50. Historical figures have featured on Bank of England notes since 1970.

The decision follows the Bank’s announcement in March that it would no longer feature famous Britons, opting for nature instead after 60 per cent of respondents to a 2025 theme consultation nominated it. The move dismayed politicians across the spectrum. Kemi Badenoch had previously accused the Bank of “erasing our history”.

“I am delighted that nearly half a million people responded to our wildlife imagery consultation, showing that cash still matters,” said Victoria Cleland, the Bank’s chief cashier. The Bank notes that cash remains the preferred payment method for about one in seven people, with £91.5 billion in circulation at the end of February 2026, even though fewer than one in ten payments were made in cash in 2024.

The proposed cuts would fall on the head office on Farringdon Road in London and on support function roles, through an “organisational review” that is subject to consultation. Royal Mail said there would be no compulsory redundancies, with the reduction achieved through natural attrition and a voluntary redundancy programme, and no cuts to frontline delivery and processing roles, including posties and drivers.

Photograph: Christine Matthews / Geograph, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The 2,500 roles represent less than 2 per cent of Royal Mail’s 131,000-strong workforce.

These proposed changes remove duplication and allow us to invest further in the service we deliver for our customers.Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail chief executive

The company said it was undergoing a “significant transformation” as it implements reform of the universal service obligation and adapts to a market in which letter volumes have fallen sharply while demand for parcels has surged.

“These proposed changes remove duplication and allow us to invest further in the service we deliver for our customers,” said Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail’s chief executive. He said the company was committed to treating staff fairly and working closely with the unions.

Photograph: Jim Osley / Geograph, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The shake-up is the first main organisational shift since Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s EP Group completed its £3.6 billion takeover of International Distribution Services, Royal Mail’s parent company, last year, after agreeing undertakings with ministers that included a government golden share.

Last July, Ofcom agreed changes to the universal service obligation after years of lobbying by Royal Mail, including an end to Saturday deliveries of second-class letters.

The survey’s index of permanent placements rose to 50.9 from 50.5 in August, its highest reading since September 2022. Readings above 50 denote growth, and September was the second successive month of improvement after a protracted slowdown.

Photograph: DanielMichaelPerry, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

“For the second month in a row we are seeing the jobs market starting to flicker back to life, with businesses increasing their hiring across both permanent and temporary roles,” said Jon Holt, KPMG’s group chief executive.

For the second month in a row we are seeing the jobs market starting to flicker back to life.Jon Holt, KPMG group chief executive

Permanent starting salaries increased, but at a slower pace than in August, a cooling that may offer tentative reassurance to Bank of England officials trying to gauge the extent of domestic inflation pressure. Demand for staff contracted overall, but at the weakest pace since August 2024.

Recruiters reported the strongest demand for IT and computing staff and for engineers, chiming with official data pointing to an AI-related upswing in activity. Retail and hospitality showed the sharpest falls in demand for workers.

Photograph: Robin Sones / Geograph, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Report on Jobs, a survey of recruitment consultancies, is viewed as a leading indicator of the British labour market. Its findings add to signs of resilience in the wider economy, which grew by more than expected in the first half of the year.

The figures will be watched at Threadneedle Street. Some Bank rate-setters had hoped a cooling labour market would help stop high inflation becoming entrenched as energy prices rise, stoked by the US-Iran war.

The Metropolitan Police said five people were arrested on Wednesday morning for inciting racial hatred at what the force described as a “spontaneous protest” outside the Board of Deputies of British Jews in Camden, after allegedly shouting or chanting slogans calling for intifada. Four more were arrested at pro-Palestine student marches and one at a counter-protest in Holborn for breaching the Public Order Act, while another individual was held for common assault.

Photograph: Dianas111, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Around 100 pro-Palestine protesters marched from King’s College London on the Strand to University College London in Holborn, chanting “free, free Palestine”, while counter-protesters holding Israeli flags gathered at Russell Square. A separate rally took place at Queen Mary University in east London. The Metropolitan Police had imposed strict conditions on the marches, including a ban on face coverings.

not be threatened or intimidated by this small and extremist minority of British societyPhil Rosenberg, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, 7 October 2026

The demonstrations had been condemned in advance. Defence Secretary Wes Streeting called the planned protests “shameful”, while Education Secretary Lucy Powell urged students to show compassion and protest on another day. Board of Deputies president Phil Rosenberg said the organisation would “not be threatened or intimidated by this small and extremist minority of British society”, and would continue to advocate for the Jewish people and stand up for peace and security for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider Middle East.

Separately, Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar said Israel would hold firm on its decision to close the British consulate in Jerusalem on Thursday, despite British efforts to reach an agreement to prevent the closure. A spokesperson for Mr Saar told Reuters: “It would close on Thursday, as announced.” The consulate’s diplomatic status is to be removed, barring around 30 diplomats from legally operating from the building, though Israel will stop short of expelling them and says they should work from the British embassy in Tel Aviv.

Israel State Archives, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

Israel ordered the closure on 8 September, giving Britain 30 days to comply, after the UK announced a ban on goods made in Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. France and Canada joined the sanctions. Britain’s national security adviser, Jonathan Powell, travelled to Israel last week in an unsuccessful attempt to keep the consulate open, though Reuters reported that talks were continuing.

The UK has threatened a tit-for-tat expulsion of Israeli diplomats from London if British diplomats are expelled. The consulate, in the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, provides consular services to Palestinians in the city and handles British relations with Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

The Government had been expected to hold a spending review in the spring of 2027 that would set out a timetable for reaching 3 per cent, alongside plans for all government spending up to 2030. However, ministers are now weighing whether to hold the review next October, alongside the next Budget. Reaching the interim target would cost an extra £10 billion a year, while the Office for Budget Responsibility has put the cost at an additional £17.3 billion. The existing Defence Investment Plan faces a £4.7 billion funding gap.

Photograph: PO(Phot) Si Ethell / MOD, via Wikimedia Commons (Open Government Licence)

One Whitehall source said the “working assumption” was that the review would be pushed back until next October, pointing to the decision under Rachel Reeves to hold only one fiscal event a year. A government source said it would be wrong to characterise the move as a delay because ministers had never set a date for the review.

The date of the Spending Review has not been set. This is pure rumour and speculation.Finance ministry spokesperson, 6 October 2026

A spokesperson for the finance ministry went further: “The date of the Spending Review has not been set. This is pure rumour and speculation.” John Healey, who became Chancellor in July, said earlier this year he would outline an initial path to 3 per cent of GDP at the next spending review. He wants to use his first Budget, on 28 October, to reassure markets that the Government is committed to fiscal responsibility without imposing large-scale tax rises during the cost-of-living crisis, although economists expect higher than expected borrowing costs to have halved the amount of fiscal headroom he has against the Government’s existing plans.

Photograph: Richard Townshend / House of Commons, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Burnham has pledged that Britain will meet NATO’s target of 3.5 per cent of GDP by 2035, but his Government has yet to set out the steps required to get there. The question carries a difficult history for Healey: he resigned as defence minister in the previous government after failing to secure funding to raise defence spending to 3 per cent of GDP by 2030, a move that helped bring down Keir Starmer.

The Conservatives have sought to make the issue a line of attack at their Birmingham conference. Kemi Badenoch used the gathering to pledge £10 billion for “Britannia Shield”, a British missile and drone defence network, saying the move showed the Tories were serious about keeping Britain safe while Labour would “not commit the money Britain needs for defence”.

The story lands days after the United States removed bombers from RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire on Sunday after the base was targeted in a suspected Iranian plot, an episode the Journal reported on 6 October, which has sharpened the debate over how Britain meets its NATO commitments.

“There is a fight coming that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century,” she will say, according to the pre-speech briefing. “It will be a battle for the soul of this nation that goes to the very core of who we are and what kind of country we want to be.” She will accuse Labour of believing that people’s “income, pension and savings are theirs to take”.

Photograph: delegateconnectimages, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The centrepiece of the speech is expected to be a cut to inheritance tax, the levy she has called “immoral” and which she has described as “unreal”. At present, the tax is charged at 40 per cent on the value of an estate above £325,000, or above £500,000 where a home is passed to a direct descendant, and a couple can combine their allowances to pass on up to £1 million to their children without any tax falling due.

There is a fight coming that we have not seen in this country for more than half a century. It will be a battle for the soul of this nation.Kemi Badenoch, remarks trailed ahead of her Conservative Party conference speech, 7 October 2026

Senior Tories have said she is not expected to announce the outright abolition of the tax because it would be too expensive. Under her “golden rule”, which requires half of all savings made by a future Conservative government to be put into reducing the deficit, full abolition would require about £22 billion in savings. Instead she is expected to cut the 40 per cent rate or lift the threshold at which the tax kicks in. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that cutting the rate to 35 per cent would cost £2 billion a year, while raising the main threshold to £450,000 would cost about £3.5 billion.

The tax raised £8.5 billion last year and the amount collected is forecast to reach £15 billion by 2030. It is levied on fewer than 5 per cent of estates, but that share is expected to rise to one in ten by 2030 as frozen thresholds drag more families into the net.

Photograph: Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

Badenoch will also pledge to halve employers’ national insurance for workers aged 21 to 24, from 15 per cent to 7.5 per cent, as part of a rescue plan for young people. The flat rate cut would cost £3.25 billion before extra tax receipts and lower universal credit spending are counted, falling to a “dynamic” cost of £2.3 billion by 2029-30. The party says it would save companies an average of £1,545 for every young worker they employ, and estimates it would create 33,600 jobs by the end of the decade.

“Young people have a much worse problem than everybody else,” Badenoch told the BBC, pointing to what she called a graduate recruitment crisis. Latest Office for National Statistics figures show 981,000 young people aged 16 to 24 were not in education, employment or training between April and June. The pledge builds on last week’s “tough love” offer under which under-25s who have not worked continuously for six months would be barred from moving straight from school onto benefits.

She told GB News ahead of the speech: “We are not announcing anything until we’ve found the money for it. We are a fiscally responsible party.” The tax cuts would be paid for with more than £30 billion in welfare cuts that would also contribute to paying down Britain’s £3 trillion debt, under what the party calls the Conservative savings plan.

Labour’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, said the Conservatives were “stuck in the past and remains completely out of touch with what people across Britain want to see”, adding: “Last week Andy Burnham set out a plan to bring back hope to Britain. Kemi Badenoch wants to drag our country back to a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years.”

The man was arrested in the London borough of Westminster on Tuesday on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, Counter Terrorism Policing said. Six other suspects arrested earlier in the investigation have been released on bail.

The inquiry began on 27 September, when officers stopped three vans near the US bomber base in Gloucestershire. A substance found in drums inside the vehicles was later found not to be a viable explosive, The Sun reported.

US Air Force photograph by Airman 1st Class Laiken King, via Wikimedia Commons

This remains a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford.Vicki Evans, Counter Terrorism Policing, 6 October 2026

A sixth suspect, a 25-year-old British-Iranian dual national, was arrested in Westminster on Thursday and released on bail on Saturday.

The US Air Force removed all 12 of its B-1 bombers from RAF Fairford on Sunday amid the continuing investigation.

US Air Force photograph by Senior Airman Ryan Hayman, via Wikimedia Commons

"This remains a live investigation and our specialist teams continue to pursue multiple lines of enquiry into the circumstances surrounding events near RAF Fairford," Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for Counter Terrorism Policing, said on Tuesday.

Precious metal miners rose 0.55 per cent as gold and silver prices jumped, and copper miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto were also among the day’s risers. Metlen Energy & Metals advanced after signing a long-term gallium supply agreement with a Japanese chemical company covering up to 16 per cent of output from its facility in Greece, which is under construction.

Photograph: mattbuck, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Ithaca Energy was the standout performer after agreeing to buy a portfolio of conventional offshore oil assets off the east coast of Newfoundland and Labrador from Canada’s Suncor Energy, in a deal worth up to $1.1 billion including contingent payments, with $842 million in initial cash.

Surging fuel prices due to the Middle East conflict continued to drive up input cost inflation in September.S&P Global, via Hargreaves Lansdown, 5 October 2026

BT Group gained after saying it had bought TalkTalk out of administration on a debt-free basis to protect customers and critical national infrastructure. The company estimated the total cash impact of the deal in financial 2027 at around £400 million, comprising consideration, transaction and administration costs, working capital impacts and a trading loss of about £60 million.

A survey of services firms on Monday showed stronger cost pressures last month as fuel prices surged on the Middle East conflict. S&P Global said rates of input cost and output price inflation reached their highest since June, driven by higher energy, fuel and transport bills, and that the rise in prices charged by services companies was the sharpest since May, reversing the slowdown seen in the middle of the year.

Photograph: Steve Daniels, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Brent crude dipped in choppy trading after exports from the Middle East increased and the G7 nations pledged to boost supplies, though the conflict between Yemen’s internationally recognised government and Iran-backed Houthis kept investors on edge. Fuel prices have been under scrutiny for their effect on inflation expectations and the Bank of England’s interest-rate trajectory.

“No country in history has ever taxed its way to prosperity, so we will cut taxes, but only when we can afford to do so, and always saying clearly how we will fund that within our golden economic rule,” he said. “Like Nigel Lawson, it’s my ambition to scrap at least one tax every Budget.”

Photograph: delegateconnectimages, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The headline pledge was to scrap what the Conservatives call Labour’s “family homes tax”, the high-value council tax surcharge on properties valued at more than £2 million, which is due to apply from 2028. Griffith called it “a vindictive raid on family homes” and “an anti-growth tax”, telling the hall: “They pretend it’s a mansion tax, but it will hit people here in Birmingham, in Manchester, and those living in ordinary homes making long commutes to our capital city. For many, it will be simply unaffordable.”

No country in history has ever taxed its way to prosperity, so we will cut taxes, but only when we can afford to do so.Andrew Griffith, Conservative Party conference, 5 October 2026

He also promised to remove the tax on plastic packaging, a levy he admitted “most people have never heard of” but which he said damaged businesses, and said tax simplification would be “a mission for every treasury minister”, calling the UK’s tax code “a cat’s cradle of complexity”.

On infrastructure, Griffith backed a third runway at Heathrow, saying a future Conservative government would be “all in” for growth and would “legislate to sweep away the blockers to getting the infrastructure our country needs built”. He promised cheaper flights, better connections and more exports for high-value British goods.

Photograph: DiscoA340, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The wider package, trailed before the speech, includes scrapping the Future Homes Standard for new builds, replacing section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy with a single developer charge to speed up approvals, and abolishing Natural England and the Environment Agency, with their key functions brought back into Whitehall.

The Tories also plan to scrap the extended producer responsibility scheme, which makes producers pay for the costs of managing packaging waste, saying the move would lift a £1.5 billion burden from businesses.

“This will be the most ambitious deregulation project in a generation,” Griffith said. “We will set out our plans line by line, every bill, every regulation, every chapter.” Labour’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, said the Conservatives wanted to take the country “back to a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years”. The Liberal Democrats’ Daisy Cooper said “no-one can take anything the Conservatives say on the economy seriously given their litany of fantasy-land financial pledges”, while Reform UK’s Robert Jenrick accused the Tories of copying his party’s policies.

The survey of 2,050 UK adults, carried out between 30 September and 2 October, put Labour on 30 per cent, up two points on the previous week. Reform UK stood at 25 per cent, up one point, with the Conservatives unchanged on 17 per cent, the Greens on 11 per cent, up one, and the Liberal Democrats on 9 per cent, down one.

Photograph: Laurie Noble, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

Burnham remains the only party leader with net positive approval, at plus 8, up a point on last week. Kemi Badenoch sits at minus 1, the Liberal Democrat leader, Ed Davey, at minus 6, while Nigel Farage and the Green leader, Zack Polanski, are the most unpopular at minus 22 each. Asked who would make the best prime minister, voters put Burnham 21 points ahead of Badenoch, with a similar lead over Farage.

Andy Burnham clearly knows how to deliver a commanding conference speech, backed by major policy announcements, that dominates the political agenda. The question now is simple: can Kemi Badenoch seize the country’s attention next week in anything like the same way?James Crouch, Opinium, 3 October 2026

The poll also tested Burnham’s conference announcements. Nearly half of adults, 48 per cent, backed the proposed National Care Service, free at the point of use and funded by general taxation, with 15 per cent opposed. His proposed change to the pensions triple lock was backed by 40 per cent and opposed by 23 per cent, with 22 per cent neither for nor against. A third of the public, 34 per cent, called the triple-lock change a fair trade-off for the care service, against 27 per cent who called it unfair.

On Europe, 54 per cent said Burnham was taking the right approach to Britain’s future relationship with the EU by considering all options, against 25 per cent who said it was the wrong approach. Some 46 per cent said Brexit had done the UK more harm than good, against 13 per cent who said it had done more good than harm and 21 per cent who said it had done equal amounts of both.

Photograph: fdecomite, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The findings landed alongside a separate Messina Group megapoll of 11,461 people, conducted between 12 and 24 September, which found 49 per cent backed rejoining the EU against 28.5 per cent opposed. It also found 52.4 per cent believed Britain was wrong to leave the EU, against 29.7 per cent who believed leaving was the right decision.

Photograph: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Opinium’s head of policy and public affairs, James Crouch, said Burnham had shown he could dominate the political agenda: “Andy Burnham clearly knows how to deliver a commanding conference speech, backed by major policy announcements, that dominates the political agenda. The question now is simple: can Kemi Badenoch seize the country’s attention next week in anything like the same way?”

Taking the stage at the ICC on the opening day of the four-day gathering, which runs until Wednesday, Badenoch hailed Birmingham as “the city of a thousand trades built by entrepreneurs, small businesses and family firms”, and told delegates: “Birmingham can and will be Conservative again.” She also praised the Jewellery Quarter, recently awarded World Craft City status, saying its businesses “deserve a lot better than Labour are giving them”.

Photograph: delegateconnectimages, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The booklet argues that “business, not government, creates growth”, and sets out a programme of tax cuts, reduced regulation and a civil service cut back to pre-pandemic levels. Badenoch declared herself a “classic old school Conservative” in an interview with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg to mark the conference.

Birmingham can and will be Conservative again.Kemi Badenoch, Conservative Party conference, 4 October 2026

Among the headline pledges trailed ahead of the conference is an end to the £100,000 childcare “cliff edge”: any parent employed for at least 16 hours a week would qualify for 30 hours of funded care a week, ending a rule under which a single parent earning a pound over the threshold loses the entire entitlement. Party officials put the cost at £700 million a year, funded by cutting headcount in arm’s-length public bodies such as Arts Council England and the Environment Agency, with NHS organisations excluded.

Unveiling the pledge during a visit to the Wendy House Day Nursery in Wythall, Birmingham, with the shadow education secretary, Laura Trott, Badenoch called the current rules “absurd” and a disincentive to work more. “Conservatives believe that you shouldn’t be punished for working more, but this childcare cliff edge does exactly that,” she said. “No one should be turning down a promotion or a pay rise because they literally cannot afford to earn more.”

Photograph: Robin Webster, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The other big pre-conference pledge is 50,000 new prison places, funded in part by cutting the overseas aid budget to £1 billion a year, which the party says would end the early release of offenders. Badenoch acknowledged her party’s record in power, when the prison estate grew by a net of around 500 places once closures and dilapidation were taken into account. Labour’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, called the proposals “just not credible from a party who left our criminal justice system at breaking point”.

The conference has been run on an election footing, with senior Tories presenting the package as proof the party could hit the ground running amid talk of a possible snap election. Badenoch hinted she was open to cutting inheritance tax if it were fiscally responsible, calling the move “morally right” in a Sunday Times interview, while insisting the party would keep the pensions triple lock despite senior colleagues questioning its sustainability. The wider programme includes ditching legally binding net zero targets and backing more North Sea oil and gas.

Photograph: UK Parliament, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

On the party’s right flank, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage mocked the Tories’ poll ratings in a social media post: “A year ago, the Conservatives were polling at 17 per cent. Today? Still 17 per cent.” The post came as Reform released an attack video about Badenoch’s past, which drew a community note clarifying that she had not claimed to be Nigeria’s national chess champion.

Labour dismissed the Tory platform outright. Phillipson said the party was “stuck in the past and remains completely out of touch with what people across Britain want to see”, adding: “Last week Andy Burnham set out a plan to bring back hope to Britain. Kemi Badenoch wants to drag our country back to a politics that let so many people down over the past 40 years.”

The monthly Decision Maker Panel showed companies in the three months to September expected their own prices to rise by 3.7 per cent over the year ahead, down 0.1 percentage points from the three months to August. Expectations for wage growth over the next 12 months were unchanged at 3.4 per cent, implying firms expect pay growth to slow by 0.6 points from the 4.0 per cent actually recorded in the three months to September.

Photograph: Xeverything11, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The survey, run with King’s College London and the University of Nottingham, drew 1,993 responses from businesses between 4 and 18 September. Firms’ expectations for consumer price inflation were unchanged at 3.1 per cent one year ahead and 2.8 per cent three years ahead.

Businesses therefore expect output price inflation to be unchanged over the next year, based on three-month averages.Bank of England, Decision Maker Panel release, 2 October 2026

The energy shock continues to shape business plans. Some 57 per cent of firms expect to raise prices in response to it, down seven points since April, while 70 per cent expect the shock to cut their profit margins, up two points since April. Realised annual employment growth was minus 0.2 per cent, while expected employment growth over the next year firmed by 0.1 points to 0.2 per cent.

Photograph: Acabashi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Bank is watching wage growth and price-setting by companies to gauge broader inflation risks from the surge in energy prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East. Investors expect the central bank to increase borrowing costs by a quarter point in November, in what would be the first interest rate rise since the war in Iran started.

The proposals, drawn up under Sir Keir Starmer’s premiership and put forward by his justice secretary David Lammy, would have seen defendants facing likely jail terms of under three years tried by a judge alone in the Crown Court rather than by a jury. Justice Secretary Alex Norris said he had “heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course”.

Photograph: Nevilley, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The decision by Andy Burnham, who became Prime Minister in July, marks a significant break with his predecessor’s agenda and heads off a backbench rebellion led by the Labour MP Karl Turner. Turner welcomed what he called the rightly binned, unworkable plans, but added: “This is an important step, but the fight to protect access to justice and ensure justice is properly served for both victims and the accused does not end here.”

I have heard the strength of feeling on the proposals for increasing the number of judge-alone trials in the Crown Court and have made the decision to change course.Alex Norris, Justice Secretary, 4 October 2026

The Criminal Bar Association welcomed the move. Its chair, Andrew Thomas, thanked the Government for “listening to the evidence and reaching the right verdict”, though he warned “a severe threat to our trial by jury remains”. The Bar Council’s chair, Kirsty Brimelow, said giving magistrates greater powers when the backlog in magistrates’ courts is increasing could be counterproductive.

The retreat comes against a criminal justice crisis. The backlog of cases awaiting trial in the Crown Courts of England and Wales stood at nearly 81,000 at the end of June, almost double the figure in 2020, and almost a third of those cases had been waiting a year or longer. Hundreds of prisoners have meanwhile been released early to stop prisons becoming full.

Photograph: Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

What survives of the reforms will be carried by the Courts and Tribunals Bill, which returns to the House of Commons on 13 October. Magistrates’ sentencing powers will still rise from 12 months to two years, and courts rather than defendants will have the final say on where borderline “either-way” cases are heard, removing the right to elect a Crown Court jury trial. Technical and lengthy fraud and financial offences will still be allowed to be heard by a judge alone, though a government-commissioned review this year had rejected the idea.

Lawyers warned the remaining measures still pile pressure on an overstretched lower tier. The wait for a magistrates’ trial has risen by 24 per cent over the past year to an average of almost six months, according to analysis of official data by the Institute for Government, and the Government’s own impact assessment suggests magistrates would hear about 25,000 more cases a year, of which 5,500 would be trials. Ministers have announced a recruitment drive to raise magistrate numbers from about 15,000 to 21,000 within three years.

The Government will also make a statutory commitment to consider any impacts of the structural reforms on ethnic minorities and people of different backgrounds, led by an independent reviewer. Sarah Sackman KC, the minister for courts and legal services, said: “Justice delayed is justice denied. We must take action to bring down the backlog using every lever we have.”

Battery electric vehicle registrations climbed 36.3 per cent to a record 99,199, taking 28.3 per cent of the market, supported by greater model choice, manufacturer discounts and government grants. It was the tenth consecutive month of growth for the new car market.

Photograph: Tupungato, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

The Jaecoo 7 was Britain's best-selling model in September with 10,813 registrations, while Tesla's Model 3 was the best-selling battery electric, ahead of the Model Y and BYD's Sealion 7.

Drivers are increasingly embracing the growing choice of models made available and high fuel prices are also undoubtedly giving more consumers reason to consider going electric.Mike Hawes, chief executive, SMMT

The milestone masks a tougher backdrop. EVs accounted for just 26.2 per cent of sales in the first nine months of the year, well below the 33 per cent mandated for 2026 under the zero-emission vehicle rules, and behind even last year's 28 per cent target. The SMMT has called for the mandate to be revised.

Mike Hawes, the SMMT's chief executive, said: “September's record EV performance is a major achievement. Drivers are increasingly embracing the growing choice of models made available and high fuel prices are also undoubtedly giving more consumers reason to consider going electric. The industry's commitment is clear with billions of pounds of investment in new models, new technology and incentives.”

Electrified vehicles took a record 58.4 per cent of September registrations. Plug-in hybrids rose 55.7 per cent to a record 17.0 per cent share, while conventional hybrid uptake dipped 4.2 per cent to 13.1 per cent.

Fleets drove much of the volume. Fleet registrations passed the one-million milestone for the year to date at 1,000,499, after a 9.6 per cent September surge to 190,988, while private registrations climbed 13.9 per cent to 149,158.

Photograph: GeographBot, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Vicky Edmonds, chief executive of the EV advocacy group EVA England, said: “Nearly 100,000 new electric cars were registered in September alone. That's clear evidence that growing numbers of drivers are convinced electric works for them. The challenge now is bringing the next wave of drivers with us by tackling the barriers that are genuinely holding people back: upfront cost, the gulf between home and public charging, and a charging network that still isn't reliable, accessible or easy enough to use. Greater policy uncertainty risks weakening, rather than strengthening, that momentum.”

The SMMT will publish final figures for the month on Monday.

IG said third-quarter revenue was expected to be about £240m, down from £280m a year earlier and well below the £313m City analysts had expected. The company cut its full-year revenue growth forecast to the “mid-single-digit per cent range”, having previously told shareholders to expect organic growth of between 10 and 15 per cent in 2026.

Photograph: Kaihsu, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Breon Corcoran, IG's chief executive, said the company had been hurt by “less supportive market conditions” in the three months to the end of September, which affected the amount of income it retained from clients using leveraged trading products. Part of the group's “revenue retention” depends on how clients' market bets perform, with profitable wagers costing the company money.

I remain confident in meeting our medium-term guidance.Breon Corcoran, chief executive, IG Group

The warning rattled the wider sector. Shares in rival online trading firms CMC Markets and Plus500 fell sharply; Plus500 issued a statement insisting it “continues to trade in line with current market expectations”, helping its shares pare losses to close 5.2 per cent down at £32.40, while CMC closed 4 per cent lower at 632p.

IG said it retained about 70 per cent of revenue from customer trading in its over-the-counter derivatives business during the quarter, below the roughly 80 per cent averaged since the second half of 2025.

Photograph: Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

It is the second time in as many months that IG has rattled investors: in July it disclosed, alongside disappointing first-half results, that it was spending as much as $1.3bn on the American prediction markets business Underdog.

Corcoran, who took charge in early 2024, is due to give a strategy update on 22 October. He said: “I remain confident in meeting our medium-term guidance.”

He is in the midst of a reorganisation that involves redomiciling the company to Jersey and cutting hundreds of jobs from a workforce that totalled 2,300 at the end of June. The overhaul cost £16.4m in the first half and the company said on Friday the bill would rise to about £30m by the end of the year.

Founded in 1974 by Stuart Wheeler, IG pioneered spread-betting in financial markets.

Kerry is already charged with the murder of the former MP Ann Widdecombe, who was found dead at her home on Dartmoor in July after being struck 21 times with a hammer, according to evidence heard in court. The alleged terror conduct took place between 31 May 2024 and 8 July 2026.

Photograph: Nilfanion, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Kerry, from Rotherham in South Yorkshire, is said to have driven nearly 265 miles to Widdecombe's home. He was refused bail at an Old Bailey hearing in July and remanded in custody, with a provisional murder trial date set for 8 June next year.

An attack on anyone in politics is an attack on us all.Shabana Mahmood, Home Secretary, 2 October 2026

The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, wrote on X: “I know the new charges made today will be extremely concerning. My profound sympathies are with Nigel Farage and his family. Let no one make any mistake: an attack on anyone in politics is an attack on us all.” She said the case raised serious questions about the security of those in public life and promised to update parliament on work to strengthen protections when it returns.

The charge was announced by counterterrorism police and the Crown Prosecution Service on Friday. Vicki Evans, the senior national coordinator for counterterrorism policing, said: “We have been running a hugely intensive and complex investigation for some time. The charge announced today is a result of the tireless work of investigators across the counterterrorism policing network.”

Photograph: Ham II, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Frank Ferguson, chief crown prosecutor of the CPS special crime and counterterrorism division, said prosecutors had “worked closely with police to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring this case to court”. He reminded all concerned that proceedings remain active and that Kerry has the right to a fair trial, adding it was vital there should be no reporting or commentary that could prejudice the proceedings.

Kerry is due to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on Wednesday.

Widdecombe, 78, was first elected as a Conservative MP in Kent in 1987, served as a prisons minister in the 1990s and later sat as an MEP for the Brexit Party; at the time of her death she was Reform UK's spokeswoman on immigration and justice.

Farage has said a £5m gift he received from the crypto investor Christopher Harborne in 2024 was to cover his personal security, according to reports in The Times and Reuters.

Some 23 individuals and entities will be subject to asset freezes and travel bans, while eight ships linked to Russia’s so-called shadow fleet face trade sanctions. The Government said it has now sanctioned more than 3,400 individuals, entities and ships since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Photograph: Martian-2008, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The sanctioned vessels include three alleged shadow-fleet ships, two vessels providing them with bunkering services and three Russian-owned ice-class ships. The Foreign Office said Russia was trying to circumvent sanctions on ships by using different vessels, and the new sanctions target ships acquired as recently as July, including liquefied natural gas carriers. The UK said it has now sanctioned nearly 600 tankers linked to efforts to move Russian energy outside Western restrictions.

We are targeting both the revenues that help sustain Russia’s aggression and perpetrators of horrendous crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including children.Lord Wood of Anfield, Minister for Europe

The package follows the sham elections Russia held in temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories earlier this month. Eight people are being sanctioned for their involvement in the arbitrary detention, torture and ill-treatment of Ukrainian civilians, which the Foreign Office described as part of a wider system of repression in the occupied territories.

A further seven people are targeted for their role in the indoctrination and militarisation of Ukrainian children, including those deported by the Russian authorities. The Foreign Office said about 6,000 Ukrainian children to date had been placed in what it called “heinuous” camps established for “re-education”, and that millions more under occupation are subjected to propaganda programmes, including training in weapons handling and drone operation, designed to strip children of their Ukrainian identity.

Photograph: Colin Smith, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The disinformation strand of the package targets people accused of spreading pro-Kremlin narratives, including four Georgian nationals. Among those named is Mamuka Pipia, the leader of the pro-Russian Georgian party Solidarity for Peace.

“We are targeting both the revenues that help sustain Russia’s aggression and perpetrators of horrendous crimes against Ukrainian civilians, including children,” said the Minister for Europe, Lord Wood of Anfield. The Foreign Office said the measures were timed to maintain pressure on Moscow ahead of winter, noting that Russia fired more than 3,100 jet-powered drones into Ukraine in September, outstripping its wartime record from August.

The sell-off began in early trading on worries about surging government bond yields and accelerated during the afternoon after it emerged that the chief executives of the leading lenders had been summoned to a meeting with the Chancellor next Tuesday. Barclays closed down 4.1 per cent, HSBC fell 4.1 per cent, Lloyds lost 4.5 per cent and NatWest finished 5.4 per cent lower.

Photograph: Steve Daniels, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The chief executives of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group have been asked to attend the meeting, first reported by Sky News. The bosses of Santander UK and Nationwide Building Society are also understood to have been invited. It will be the first such in-person meeting Healey has held with UK bank chiefs since he replaced Rachel Reeves as Chancellor in July.

The selloff is much more to do as well with concerns over the fiscal outlook of the UK as we head towards the budget later this month.Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst, StoneX

The talks come ahead of the Autumn Budget on 28 October, which is expected to contain billions of pounds of tax rises. Banks make an attractive target because of their robust profits, which have been buoyed by higher-for-longer interest rates: tax paid by the banking sector rose 8.5 per cent to £39.1bn in the 2025-26 tax year, according to HM Revenue and Customs figures.

The FTSE 350 banks index fell 4.1 per cent on Thursday, set for its largest one-day drop since May 5, while the wider FTSE 100 dropped 1.48 per cent to a three-month low of 10,448.78. The yield on the 30-year gilt surged to 5.9773 per cent, its highest since early 1998, and the benchmark 10-year gilt climbed to 5.449 per cent, the highest since 2007. The Treasury declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Photograph: Kagiaras, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Trades Union Congress and the campaign group Positive Money have both called for a windfall tax on banks to fund cost-of-living support, but lenders have lobbied hard against higher levies. UK Finance, the industry lobby, has told Healey that raising bank taxes would contradict the growth agenda, calculating that the total tax rate this year on a model corporate and investment bank in London is 46.5 per cent, compared with 39.1 per cent in Frankfurt and 27.9 per cent in New York.

“If we want the UK to thrive, we must ensure our operating environment attracts international capital rather than pushing it elsewhere,” said David Postings, the chief executive of UK Finance. JP Morgan chief executive Jamie Dimon has also warned against raising the banking surcharge, saying it could push investment to other countries.

She died at her home in the New Forest surrounded by loved ones. Her children, Miriam, Rebecca and Joshua Wilcox, said their ‘adored mother’ had left a ‘legacy of compassion and understanding’ that would live on in her charities, Childline and The Silver Line. ‘She was our sunshine,’ they said.

‘We are grateful she is finally at rest with her beloved husband, Desmond Wilcox, but we will miss her immeasurably,’ the family said. ‘She was the most wonderful mother to us three children and a cherished grandmother to her five treasured grandchildren.’

Photograph: Brian Minkoff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

She was the most wonderful mother to us three children and a cherished grandmother to her five treasured grandchildren.The family of Dame Esther Rantzen, 30 September 2026

Born in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, on 22 June 1940, Rantzen read English at Somerville College, Oxford, before joining BBC Radio in 1963. She moved into television as a researcher, and in 1973 was chosen to front That's Life!, which at its peak drew more than 20 million viewers and ran until 1994.

The programme's most enduring legacy followed a feature on child abuse: when the phone lines were opened for 48 hours they were inundated with calls from children, prompting Rantzen to establish Childline as a permanent, confidential helpline in 1986. It merged with the NSPCC in 2006. The NSPCC's chief executive called her ‘a unique and truly remarkable woman’ who leaves behind an ‘extraordinary legacy’, estimating that millions of children had been helped in the 40 years since the helpline was founded.

Photograph: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Her honours tracked her influence: an OBE in 1991, a CBE in 2006, BAFTA's Richard Dimbleby Award, and a damehood in the 2015 New Year Honours. After That's Life! ended she hosted a BBC Two chat show that ran for 600 episodes, appeared in the second series of Strictly Come Dancing in 2004, and on I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! in 2008.

Following the death of her husband, the documentary maker Desmond Wilcox, in 2000, she turned her attention to loneliness among older people and founded the confidential helpline The Silver Line.

Photograph: JoshCrawfish, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

In her final years she became a leading voice in the campaign to legalise assisted dying, after a stage-four lung cancer diagnosis she made public in 2023. She openly discussed plans to travel to the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland and criticised the ‘messy and cruel’ law in England and Wales; in September she said she had become too physically frail to make the journey. The Bill ran out of time in the Lords after more than 1,000 amendments were tabled. Kim Leadbeater MP, who brought the Bill to Parliament, described her as ‘a strong, warm and compassionate woman and a fighter to the end’.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham said Dame Esther had ‘changed countless lives and gave a voice to people who often went unheard’. The television presenter Davina McCall wrote that she had ‘made the world a better place, and inspired so many of us to do better and live life to its fullest’. Martin Lewis praised her as an ‘inspiration’ and a ‘pioneer’ whose ‘impact and memory will long continue to shine’.

Output expanded by 0.5 per cent in the three months to June, a shade stronger than the preliminary estimate of 0.4 per cent, which economists polled by Reuters had expected to be confirmed. Gross domestic product was 1.4 per cent higher than a year earlier, revised up from an initial 1.2 per cent.

The figures pointed to strength across the economy, with output rising in manufacturing, construction and the dominant services sector. Business investment was revised sharply higher, to an annual rate of 5.2 per cent, from an initial estimate of 0.8 per cent.

Photograph: Steve Daniels, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The upward revision to real GDP growth in Q2 … suggests that the economy has been a bit more resilient to higher energy prices in the first half of the year than previously thought.Ashley Webb, senior UK economist at Capital Economics

The clearest bright spot was household finances. Real household disposable income per head rose by 1.0 per cent in the quarter, the largest jump since the end of 2024, reversing a 0.8 per cent fall in the first three months of the year. The household savings ratio edged up to 8.8 per cent.

The numbers are a welcome boost for Andy Burnham's Government as it seeks to spur growth. The Prime Minister told Labour's conference in Liverpool on Tuesday that his plan to increase public control of key services could help bolster the economy.

But economists warned the resilience may prove short-lived. “The next six months looks tougher with potential interest rate rises, a sharp increase in inflation and another tax-raising budget all to come. That will drag heavily on growth over the winter,” said Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK.

Photograph: London Stock Exchange, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

“The upward revision to real GDP growth in Q2 … suggests that the economy has been a bit more resilient to higher energy prices in the first half of the year than previously thought,” said Ashley Webb, senior UK economist at Capital Economics. “This resilience may continue into Q3, but we still expect it to fade in Q4 as higher inflation takes a bigger bite out of households' real incomes.”

The Bank of England held interest rates at 3.75 per cent in September, and investors are pricing in a quarter-point rise in November, the first since the Iran war began, with another move expected in February.

Separate balance-of-payments data showed Britain ran a smaller current account deficit than economists expected, at 19.9 billion pounds against a consensus of 24.7 billion. Stripping out precious metals trade, the deficit narrowed to 1.4 per cent of economic output, the smallest in five years, helped by strong growth in services exports.

“The bigger picture is that the current account will remain under pressure as higher-for-longer energy prices keep imports elevated,” said Rob Wood, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

“We are discussing with the British the terms of exiting the agreement,” the French Interior Ministry told Le Monde. Signed in 2025, the deal created a novel exchange: for every person sent back to France after arriving in Britain by small boat, London would admit an asylum seeker from France through a legal route.

Photograph: Nilfanion, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The decision is a blow to Downing Street. Andy Burnham personally urged Emmanuel Macron to continue the programme during their early-September meeting in London, his first bilateral with the French president as prime minister, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has been pressing to make the arrangement permanent and increase the number of returns.

We are discussing with the British the terms of exiting the agreement.French Interior Ministry, to Le Monde, 30 September 2026

Paris had made its position clear months ago. Interior minister Laurent Nuñez told a French parliamentary inquiry in June: “For our part, we want to move away from this bilateral relationship with the UK. We consider that France should not have to carry it alone, and that it would be better to integrate it into an agreement between the EU and UK. So I have already clearly told my counterpart that this pilot agreement, which we signed in August 2025, was not intended to be renewed beyond October 1, 2026.”

What Paris wants instead is an EU-wide scheme: Britain could still return Channel migrants to the bloc, but would be expected to take asylum seekers with legitimate claims from across all 27 member states. Nuñez conceded that there was no replacement ready, saying: “It would be naive of me to tell you there will be a mechanism to bridge the gap.”

The pilot’s deterrent effect has been limited. Britain has returned 1,400 small-boat migrants to France, just 4 per cent of the more than 32,000 who have crossed the Channel since the treaty came into force, according to The Times. Crossings overall have fallen 40 per cent since early 2026, though two boats landing undetected in Kent this month embarrassed the Government.

Photograph: kallerna, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The Home Office declined to comment beyond saying discussions were ongoing. A spokesperson said: “The government’s agreement with France has been extended until autumn. This will ensure we will continue to remove migrants who arrive on small boats over the summer.”

The deal was a first: it established, for the first time, the principle of returning to France migrants turned away from Britain, after France had repeatedly refused such deals until Bruno Retailleau became interior minister in September 2024. Fifteen non-profit organisations challenged the scheme in court, calling it “a system of bargaining that sacrifices access to international protection”, but failed to block it. Ending it also removes a legal route into Britain, however limited it was.

“We could stay as we are. That’s definitely an option, if people think this is the right place to stay,” Burnham told the broadcaster. “We could look at what George Osborne has said about a customs union. We could look at what the Liberal Democrats said at their conference about single market, or we could go all the way.”

Photograph: Thijs ter Haar, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The intervention followed his address to Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool on Tuesday, where he declared that “Brexit has done more harm than good” and promised to use a UK-EU summit in November to lay out the long-term options for the relationship and seek a consensus around one.

I am very clear, and I will say this bluntly: Brexit has caused more harm than good. So the question is, what do we do about that?Andy Burnham, Prime Minister, BBC interview, 30 September 2026

“We will not give Britain the clear path we need into the rest of the century until we decide on a long-term relationship with what is still our largest market,” he told delegates. “I cannot say to you truthfully that where we are is good enough.”

Speaking to the BBC after the speech, he was blunter still: “I am very clear, and I will say this bluntly: Brexit has caused more harm than good. So the question is, what do we do about that?” He said the options should be assessed on “what is doable” and the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Photograph: Cbliu, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The move risks reopening a debate many in Westminster had hoped was settled. Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, ending more than four decades of membership, and successive governments have wrestled with the economic and diplomatic fallout. Labour’s 2024 manifesto red lines, which rule out a customs union, the single market or freedom of movement, stand for the rest of this parliament, so any closer arrangement would have to come later.

Polling suggests the public may be ahead of the parties. A YouGov survey in June found 55 per cent of voters supported rejoining the EU and 34 per cent opposed it, while 59 per cent backed closer ties short of full membership, the single market or a customs union.

Burnham, who replaced Keir Starmer as prime minister in July, has previously said he would like Britain to rejoin the EU in his lifetime, and has argued the country cannot afford another decade of uncertainty over the question. In Liverpool he also hinted he would sign up to a new migration pact with the EU to cut small-boat crossings, saying control over immigration had been “weakened when we lost collaboration with our European partners”.

The November summit is now the staging post. Burnham promised the conference he would “take the opportunity around the summit to lay out to the country what I believe the different options are for Britain’s long-term relationship with our European partners”, adding: “I will see if we can find consensus around one which will give us clarity about our position, and the future of the continent we live in.”

The headline index dropped 12 points to 41 per cent, below its 47 per cent average over the past year. Optimism about the wider economy took the bigger hit, down 18 points to 31 per cent, six points below its 12-month average, while firms’ view of their own trading prospects fell eight points to 50 per cent.

Photograph: Steve Daniels, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

“September’s fall in business confidence was driven primarily by a significant decline in economic optimism, with businesses responding to a combination of higher global energy prices and increased global uncertainty,” said Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking. “(The) trading outlook also fell, suggesting that firms are becoming more cautious about the outlook for demand and activity over the coming year.”

September’s fall in business confidence was driven primarily by a significant decline in economic optimism, with businesses responding to a combination of higher global energy prices and increased global uncertainty.Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist, Lloyds Commercial Banking, 30 September 2026

One figure will worry rate-setters more than the gloom: the share of firms planning to raise prices in the next 12 months ticked up slightly, suggesting cost pressures have not fully faded even as optimism ebbs. Lloyds’ figures are based on an Ipsos survey of 1,200 British businesses with annual sales of at least £250,000, conducted between 2 and 16 September.

Photograph: London Stock Exchange, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Reuters reported that executives’ view of the global economic outlook darkened as the Iran war pushed up costs. Not every region followed the national mood: in the West Midlands, business confidence jumped 22 points to 69 per cent in September, its highest reading of the year, according to Lloyds.

The gloom caps a difficult month for the economy. The Bank of England held rates at 3.75 per cent earlier in September, with three policymakers voting for a rise, and inflation climbed to 3.1 per cent in August as fuel and transport costs bit. With the autumn Budget still to come, the pressure on firms is unlikely to lift soon.

Diesel has risen by 56.8p a litre since 28 February, the start of the US-Iran war, when it averaged 142.38p. The RAC said filling an average family diesel car now costs almost £110, about £31 more than it did at the start of the conflict.

Photograph: Geograph Britain and Ireland contributor, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Unleaded petrol has also climbed sharply, reaching an average of 174.13p a litre on Monday, up 41.3p since February. The RAC’s data covers supermarkets, motorway service stations and independent retailers.

The average price of a litre of diesel has now reached the highest level in UK history, in what will be a financial blow to households and businesses that use their vehicles regularly.Simon Williams, head of policy at the RAC, 28 September 2026

“The average price of a litre of diesel has now reached the highest level in UK history, in what will be a financial blow to households and businesses that use their vehicles regularly,” said Simon Williams, the RAC’s head of policy.

The Chancellor, John Healey, told the BBC that diesel prices were “extreme” and confirmed Britain was discussing a possible American ban on diesel exports with Washington. “We’re also making the provision that we may need to, and we have our own stocks in the UK,” he said, speaking on the sidelines of the Labour conference in Liverpool.

Photograph: Geograph Britain and Ireland contributor, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

President Donald Trump has threatened to restrict diesel exports in an effort to bring down prices for American motorists, telling reporters at the weekend: “We’re thinking about it very seriously.” He is under pressure from Republican politicians to act before November’s midterm elections.

Britain imports around a third of its diesel from the United States, so an export ban could push pump prices higher still. Healey said Britain was working with the Americans to ease pressure on fuel markets and, ultimately, to secure a diplomatic settlement to end the fighting with Iran.

The Type 23 frigate’s firing was the centrepiece of a coordinated strike on the former USS Klakring, a decommissioned US Navy frigate used as the target vessel. A Wildcat helicopter of 815 Naval Air Squadron also fired a Sea Venom missile at the hulk during the serial.

Photograph: PO(Phot) Si Ethell, Ministry of Defence (Open Government Licence), via Wikimedia Commons

“The successful firing of NSM marks a significant milestone for the Royal Navy, demonstrating our ability to deliver credible, modern maritime strike capability,” said Lieutenant Commander Louise Kirkaldy.

The successful firing of NSM marks a significant milestone for the Royal Navy, demonstrating our ability to deliver credible, modern maritime strike capability.Lieutenant Commander Louise Kirkaldy, Royal Navy, 29 September 2026

The exercise, which concluded on 25 September, brought together Royal Navy warships, helicopters and allied units for high-end warfighting serials in waters off the Scottish coast.

The final blow to the target was delivered from beneath the waves: the submarine USS Massachusetts fired a Mk 48 torpedo that sank the former Klakring, completing the destruction of the hulk.

Photograph: US Navy (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

The Naval Strike Missile is the Royal Navy’s new ship-busting weapon, and the firing marks a step change in the lethality available to the fleet’s frigates and destroyers.

Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor said the men, who had been travelling in three vehicles, were freed subject to stringent conditions on their movement and contact with others. “To be very clear, this does not mean the investigation is over,” he said. “They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of enquiry.”

Photograph: Senior Airman Mary Bowers, US Air Force (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

Armed officers from Gloucestershire Police made the arrests in the Whelford area, about a mile from the base, after a call at 12.45am on Sunday reporting three suspicious vehicles apparently heading towards the airfield. The men were initially arrested on suspicion of offences under the Explosives Act and later further arrested on suspicion of preparation of a terrorist act under section 5 of the Terrorism Act 2006.

To be very clear, this does not mean the investigation is over. They absolutely remain under investigation as we explore multiple lines of enquiry.Assistant Commissioner Laurence Taylor, head of National Counter Terrorism Policing, 28 September 2026

Police established a 400-metre cordon around the vehicles, which were examined by British Army explosive ordnance disposal personnel with forensic experts. About 85 households were evacuated from properties near where the vehicles were found, and residents were told to expect an emergency services presence in the area for some time.

All five suspects are British nationals from London, in their early 20s. Counter Terrorism Policing said multiple lines of inquiry had emerged after investigators worked at the scene overnight, and officers are working to establish the full circumstances of the activity of those arrested, their knowledge, and any motivation behind the incident.

Photograph: Senior Airman Eugene Oliver, US Air Force (public domain), via Wikimedia Commons

The case has taken on an international dimension. The US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, told the Fox News programme Hannity late on Monday that the incident involved “the hands of a foreign actor”, without giving evidence or specific details. President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that the incident “might be” connected to Iran, and said he would not have released the suspects on bail: “I wouldn’t have done that.” Iran has categorically denied any involvement.

RAF Fairford hosts US Air Force units including heavy bombers, and Britain has authorised the US to use bombers based there for strikes on Iranian missile sites. Security at the base had been increased in recent weeks, with heavy vehicles and concrete blocks positioned across some airfield gates.

Counter Terrorism Policing said a cordon remained in place on Monday while investigators continued their work, and thanked residents for their patience after what it called a hugely disruptive incident.

Start with the name of the place. Great Britain is the island: England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom is the sovereign state: Great Britain plus Northern Ireland. The British Isles is the archipelago, a geographical term that includes the Republic of Ireland, which is a separate country and does not appreciate being claimed. Get this right early; it matters to people.

Photograph: George Washington Wilson (restored by Adam Cuerden), via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The weather is not a topic of conversation here so much as a condition of life. It changes fast, it rains sideways, and a bright morning is no promise about the afternoon. Dress in layers, keep something waterproof within reach, and accept that discussing the weather with strangers is not small talk but a genuine social bond. The forecast is consulted the way other countries consult horoscopes: frequently, sceptically, and with feeling.

Britain will not tell you its rules. It will simply queue, apologise, and expect you to notice.British Journal newcomer's guide

The queue is the national institution. It forms at bus stops, at bars, at cash machines, in shops, everywhere. Join the back of it. Do not push in, do not hover ambiguously near the front, do not attempt to argue that you were here first. The queue is how Britain does fairness, and queue-jumping is one of the few things that will make an entire room of English people speak to you directly.

The calendar has traps for the newcomer. Bank holidays, the days on which banks and many businesses close, are not the same across the country: England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each have their own lists, and the dates move from year to year. The government's official lists are the authority; check them before you book travel or plan around a long weekend.

Photograph: Francois Thomas, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The television licence surprises almost everyone. You need one, by law, to watch or record live television on any channel, on any device, and to use BBC iPlayer. It is not optional, it is not folded into another bill, and the licensing authority writes to addresses it has no licence recorded for. The details, including the current fee, are on the official site; the principle is simple enough to state here: if it is live TV, or iPlayer, you need the licence.

Apologise constantly. In Britain, 'sorry' means excuse me, pardon me, I didn't catch that, after you, my fault, your fault but let's move on, and sometimes nothing at all. It is punctuation as much as apology. Saying it costs nothing and buys a great deal.

The pub is the community living room. Order at the bar, not at the table; pay as you go or start a tab; and understand the round, in which each person in turn buys drinks for the group. Leaving before your round comes up is noticed. The pub is also where you will learn more about Britain in an evening than in a month of guidebooks.

Photograph: Mike Peel, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

London is not Britain. The capital is a world city with its own rhythms, prices and assumptions, and the rest of the country knows it. The nations have their own parliaments and their own politics; the regions have their own accents, industries and grievances. Travel. The train network will take you most places worth going, and the view from the window is the point.

Britain will not tell you its rules. It will simply queue, apologise, and expect you to notice. Welcome.

Parliament has three parts: the Commons, the Lords and the Monarch. In practice almost everything that matters happens in the first two, and almost everything that is decided is decided in the Commons.

The House of Commons is the elected chamber. It has 650 members, one for each parliamentary constituency, elected by the first-past-the-post system in which the candidate with the most votes in a constituency wins the seat. General elections are ordinarily held every five years; the last one, in which all 650 constituencies voted, was held on 4 July 2024.

Photograph: UK Parliament, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

The Commons is elected, the Lords is appointed, and the elected chamber always has the last word.British Journal guide to Westminster

The House of Lords is the unelected upper chamber. Most of its members are life peers, appointed for their expertise, experience or public service; they sit alongside 26 bishops of the Church of England and the 92 hereditary peers who remained after the reforms of 1999. The Lords revises, delays and amends legislation, and its members bring a concentration of specialist knowledge that the Commons, full of career politicians, often lacks.

Photograph: UK Government, via Wikimedia Commons (Open Government Licence)

The Monarch's part is formal but essential: no bill becomes law until it receives Royal Assent. The three parts together make up what is called the Crown-in-Parliament, the constitutional authority from which British law flows.

Parliament and government are not the same thing, and the confusion between them is where most misunderstandings of Westminster begin. The government is formed by whichever party, or coalition of parties, can command the confidence of the Commons. Its leader becomes Prime Minister. Ministers are drawn overwhelmingly from the Commons, which means the executive and the legislature overlap: the same people who run the country also sit in the chamber that holds them to account.

Laws begin as bills. A bill is introduced, debated and amended, moving through readings and committee stages in both Houses, where MPs and peers examine it line by line. Bills concerning taxation and spending begin in the Commons. When both Houses have agreed the final text, the bill goes to the Monarch for Royal Assent and becomes an Act of Parliament.

The balance between the two chambers was settled, in essence, by the Parliament Acts of 1911 and 1949. They established that the elected Commons prevails: the Lords can delay most legislation, but it cannot block it indefinitely, and the 1949 Act reduced the maximum delay from two years to one. The Acts have been used seven times since 1911, a reminder that the ultimate power in the system belongs to the chamber the voters choose.

Photograph: Julian Herzog, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Scrutiny is the other half of Westminster's work, and it never stops. Ministers answer questions in the chamber, including the regular set-piece of Prime Minister's Questions. Select committees of MPs examine departments, policies and spending in detail, taking evidence from experts, officials and ministers. Much of what is actually wrong with a government policy is found here, in committee rooms, long before it becomes a headline.

The shape of the Commons changes with each boundary review, as the electoral map is redrawn to keep constituencies roughly equal in population. The 2023 review changed the boundaries across the United Kingdom, with England gaining ten seats, Wales losing eight and Scotland losing two. The map you vote on is never quite the map of last time.

Westminster can look arcane, and some of it is. But its logic is simple: an elected chamber that has the last word, a revising chamber that slows it down, a government drawn from the first and answerable to it, and a sovereign in whose name it all happens. That is the machine. The Journal's job is to tell you what it is doing.

Scotland has the most powerful of the devolved institutions. The Scottish Parliament sits at Holyrood, at the foot of Edinburgh's Royal Mile, and its 129 Members of the Scottish Parliament make laws on devolved matters: areas such as health, education, justice, transport and the environment. Reserved matters, including foreign policy, immigration, defence and the constitution itself, stay with Westminster. The Parliament's business, its committees and its bills are all published by the Parliament itself.

Wales is governed from the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, in its glass-fronted building at Cardiff Bay. Its 60 Members pass Senedd Acts, the Welsh equivalent of Acts of Parliament. The institution began life as an assembly with limited powers and has grown, through referendums and new legislation, into a parliament with primary lawmaking authority. Its plenary sessions, committees and records are public, in Welsh and English.

Photograph: The wub, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Devolution is not federalism. It is four different settlements, negotiated at different times, for different reasons.British Journal guide to devolution

Northern Ireland's Assembly sits in the great white bulk of Parliament Buildings at Stormont, outside Belfast. Its 90 Members are elected under a system designed to ensure that power is shared between unionists and nationalists, and its executive can only function with ministers from both traditions. The Assembly is the product of the 1998 Belfast Agreement, and its history since has been one of suspensions and restorations as often as of steady government.

Photograph: Albert Bridge, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

England is the exception that proves the shape of the system: it has no devolved parliament of its own. England is governed directly by the Westminster Parliament, in which English MPs sit alongside MPs from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The one devolution England does have is in London, where the Greater London Authority pairs an elected Mayor with the London Assembly, the body that scrutinises the Mayor's decisions, holds hearings and publishes its reports and minutes.

Photograph: Crux, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.5)

The point to grasp is that devolution is not federalism. In a federation, the division of power is uniform and constitutional; in Britain, it is four different settlements, negotiated at different times, for different reasons, each with its own scope and its own history. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland do not have the same powers, because they were not given them for the same reasons.

The effects are practical, not abstract. Because health and education are devolved, a policy made in Edinburgh need not match the one made in London or Cardiff: prescriptions, tuition and school curricula can all differ across internal borders. Anyone who lives, works or studies in more than one nation of the UK learns this quickly.

Devolution is also unfinished business, and it is argued about constantly. Westminster retains the power to legislate on reserved matters and, in principle, on devolved ones too; the devolved governments guard their competences; and the question of where one ends and the other begins is settled, when it is settled, in courts and in politics rather than in any single tidy document.

For the reader, the practical consequence is simple: British politics has four stages, not one. A story that begins in Westminster may end in Holyrood, Cardiff Bay or Stormont, and the Journal covers all four. The official record of each legislature is the place to start: the Scottish Parliament, the Senedd and the Northern Ireland Assembly all publish their business, their debates and their legislation in full.

The union survives, in part, because it bends. Devolution is the bending: an admission that one parliament, however sovereign, cannot comfortably speak for four nations at once.

The first thing to understand is what does not exist: there is no state licensing of the press. No minister signs off a newspaper before it prints, and no government department grants permission to publish. What Britain has instead is a system of regulation that the press built, in large part, for itself, under pressure from Parliament, the courts and public outrage.

Image: Sue Clark, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)

The largest part of that system is IPSO, the Independent Press Standards Organisation. It regulates most of the national and local newspapers and many magazines: its members agree to be bound by the Editors' Code of Practice, it handles complaints from the public, and it publishes its rulings. If you believe a newspaper has behaved unfairly or inaccurately, IPSO is, for most titles, where the complaint goes.

The press is not regulated by the state. It is regulated, mostly, by arrangements the industry built for itself, in the shadow of a judge's report.British Journal guide to press regulation

Alongside it sits IMPRESS, a smaller regulator with a different constitutional basis. IMPRESS is the only press regulator approved under the Royal Charter on self-regulation of the press, and it regulates independent and smaller publishers. Its status is reviewed every three years by the Press Recognition Panel, the body Parliament created to judge whether regulators meet the Charter's criteria; the Panel's 2025 cyclical review confirmed that IMPRESS continues to do so.

Behind both regulators stands the Leveson Inquiry, the judicial investigation into the culture, practices and ethics of the press. Its recommendations led to the Royal Charter and to the recognition system that the Press Recognition Panel administers. Whatever one thinks of Leveson, it is the reason the current arrangements look the way they do: self-regulation, but self-regulation conducted in the shadow of a judge's report.

Broadcasting is a different world, with a different regulator. Ofcom is the statutory regulator for communications in the UK: its codes and rules cover television, radio and video-on-demand, and it investigates breaches and publishes its findings in its broadcast bulletins. A newspaper answers to IPSO or IMPRESS; a broadcaster answers to Ofcom; the two regimes reflect the historic difference between print, which no one licenses, and the airwaves, which the state always has.

Photograph: Richard Cooke, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

None of this displaces the law. Defamation, contempt of court, privacy and the criminal law all bind journalists as they bind everyone else, and the courts on the Strand still hear the cases that test where reporting ends and wrongdoing begins. Regulation handles standards; the law handles legality; the two overlap constantly.

Photograph: Robin Webster, via Geograph / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

For the reader, the system is practical. A complaint about a newspaper goes to its regulator; a complaint about a broadcast goes to Ofcom; and the rulings of both are public, which means the press is judged, week by week, in the open. It is an imperfect system, and the press and its critics argue about it endlessly. That argument is itself part of the tradition.

This guide is descriptive, not a legal opinion, and the arrangements it describes will keep evolving. But the principle underneath them has held for three centuries: the British press is free to publish, and it answers for what it publishes afterwards.

“There’s nothing progressive about losing control,” he told the hall. “Because it’s working people who pay for it.” It is a line designed to do two jobs at once: to reassure the markets that Labour has learned the lessons of the Truss era, and to tell the party’s left that restraint is not betrayal but solidarity.

Photograph: DaveLevy, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The gamble is in the sequencing. Healey is asking the country to accept discipline now on the promise of hope later, with the Budget he delivers a month from today as the first instalment. The conference speech was heavy on creed and light on detail, which means the Budget must carry the weight the speech declined to lift.

Every chancellor promises discipline. Healey’s trick is to make it sound like the radical option.Peter Mallory

There were shrewd politics in the packaging. The tribute to Rachel Reeves as the first female Chancellor, the invocation of Gordon Brown’s red tie, the miners’ lamp from Cortonwood: each was a signal to a different Labour tribe that the new Chancellor understands the party’s history even as he asks it to trust his judgment.

The attack lines were chosen with equal care. Calling Nigel Farage “Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account” ties Reform’s economic credibility to the most toxic recent memory in British economic management. It is the kind of line that writes its own headlines, which was rather the point.

Photograph: DaveLevy, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

But speeches do not move inflation, which stands at 3.1 per cent, or cut waiting lists, which stand at 7.33 million treatments. The test of Healey’s doctrine is not whether conference applauded it, they did, but whether the Budget a month from now makes the country feel the breathing space he promised.

For Andy Burnham, watching from the front row of his first conference as Prime Minister, the speech was also a transfer of risk. The Chancellor now owns the economy. If the Budget lands, they share the credit. If it does not, the Prime Minister has a Chancellor to blame, and the Chancellor has nowhere to hide.

Opening with a tribute to his predecessor, Healey said Rachel Reeves had brought “financial discipline” to the country and would “always be recognised as this country’s first-ever female Chancellor”. He also paid tribute to Keir Starmer, who he said had taken the party “from one of our worst-ever defeats to one of our biggest-ever victories”.

Photograph: Rodhullandemu, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The central argument of the speech was that hope for the economy must be earned. “There’s nothing progressive about losing control,” Healey said. “Because it’s working people who pay for it.” He told the hall that he and the Prime Minister were “in lockstep” on meeting the fiscal rules, balancing the books with a buffer against uncertainty and bringing down borrowing to control inflation.

There’s nothing progressive about losing control. Because it’s working people who pay for it.John Healey, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Labour Party conference, 28 September 2026

Healey set out what he called a Plan for Britain, built, he said, “on the rock of fiscal discipline”, on a growing economy with good work and jobs in more places, and on the new age of industrialisation. He pointed to the Government’s record in its first two years: railways coming back into public hands, new rights for renters and at work, and British Steel saved.

He also listed the cost-of-living measures taken in what he called Andy Burnham’s first week as Prime Minister: VAT cut from electricity bills, bus fares capped at £2, and business rates reduced on pubs, clubs and music venues, “to give people just a bit of breathing space”.

Photograph: DaveLevy, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

On young people, the Chancellor said the number not in employment, education or training had risen to nearly one million before the election, and said benefits should be a bridge to work, not a trap: “for everyone else, benefits should be a bridge to work, to wider participation, to a better life”.

The speech took direct aim at the opposition. Healey attacked the Conservatives’ economic record under Liz Truss’s mini-Budget and turned on Reform UK, saying of Nigel Farage: “when it comes to the economy, he’s Liz Truss with a Bitcoin account.”

There were personal notes too. Healey recalled his first Labour conference, in Blackpool in 1986, forty years ago, and told the story of lending Gordon Brown his red tie before the then-Chancellor’s 1999 conference speech in Bournemouth. “I did get it back, he signed it and I’ve never worn it since,” he said. “Until today.”

He closed by returning to the miners’ lamp he keeps at home in Rotherham, from Cortonwood Colliery, as a symbol of solidarity and hope: “no matter the darkness, there’s always light at the end of the tunnel.”

The triple lock, a commitment the Government has said it will keep for this Parliament, raises the state pension each April by the highest of three figures: growth in average earnings, consumer price inflation, or 2.5 per cent.

Photograph: Tilemahos Efthimiadis, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The final number is not yet known. September’s inflation figure, published next month, could yet overtake the earnings figure and become the binding measure. Only when both are in can the exact uprating be calculated.

The triple lock is simple in design and expensive in practice. This year’s calculation is no exception.British Journal analysis

Applied to this year’s full new State Pension rate of £241.30 a week, confirmed by the DWP for 2026/27, the 3.9 per cent earnings figure points to around £250.70 a week, or roughly £13,036 a year, from April 2027. That projection will move if September inflation comes in higher.

The politics of the lock are as fixed as its arithmetic. Pensioners vote in large numbers, and no party in recent years has dared to touch the mechanism, whatever Treasury officials think of its cost. With a Budget due within weeks, the Chancellor will have noted the figure with care: every extra tenth of a point on the uprating is tens of millions in committed spending.

Photograph: Mike Peel, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

What is certain is that pensioners will get at least 3.9 per cent. What is not is whether inflation will hand them more.

The backdrop is unforgiving. Inflation stood at 3.1 per cent in August, unemployment at 4.9 per cent, and the Bank of England has held interest rates at 3.75 per cent. More than 18,500 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year, including 781 on a single day last week, the highest daily figure of 2026.

Photograph: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Burnham has also used his first outings in the Commons to argue that Brexit caused “a decade of low growth”, a line that sets up a difficult week on the economy for his Government as John Healey prepares his first Budget.

A new prime minister gets one first conference. What Burnham does with his will set the terms of his entire premiership.British Journal analysis

The Prime Minister’s political challenge is twofold. He must reassure a party that changed leaders only in July that the Government has a plan for growth, and he must give the country a reason to believe that plan before John Healey delivers his first Budget as Chancellor a month from now.

Healey’s conference speech on Monday was designed to do exactly that, promising “a new age of industrialisation” built on fiscal discipline. The Chancellor’s performance was watched closely by delegates as the first full statement of the economic direction of the Burnham Government.

Photograph: Rodhullandemu, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For Burnham himself, the conference is an exercise in authority. His allies point to the cost-of-living measures of the summer policy blitz, including the VAT cut on electricity bills and caps on bus fares, as evidence of a Government that acts. His critics, inside and outside the party, will be watching for any sign that the leadership change of the summer has not settled the question of who runs Labour.

The week will close with the leader’s speech, the moment by which every new prime minister is judged. Burnham’s predecessors used theirs to define an era. He has five days in Liverpool to show he can define his.

The shortlisted artists are Simeon Barclay, Kira Freije, Marguerite Humeau and Tanoa Sasraku. The winner will be announced at an award ceremony in December, on 10 December, when one of the four will take British contemporary art’s best-known prize.

Photograph: Stinglehammer, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The staging at MIMA, which is part of Teesside University, continues the prize’s recent habit of travelling beyond the capital. Tate Britain director Alex Farquharson called the exhibition “a fascinating cross-section of the visual arts in Britain today”, noting the artists’ engagement with “ecological thought, human precarity, the geopolitics of oil, and the lived experience of deindustrialisation in the North of England”.

The most interesting art prize in Britain is the one that leaves London.British Journal

For visitors, the exhibition is the first chance to see the four practices side by side and to weigh the judges’ choice before December’s announcement. Entry details and opening hours are published by the gallery.

Photograph: Robert Eva, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Turner Prize has a long record of argument, which is rather the point. Middlesbrough now gets three months of it.

The figure is 42 per cent below the same point in 2025, when 32,188 people had arrived, and 26 per cent below the figure at this stage in 2024. A Government spokesperson said progress this year was “indisputable”, with crossings down by 42 per cent and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.

Photograph: kallerna, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

But the record day came in a difficult week for the Government. Two boats reached British shores undetected within two days: one at Samphire Hoe near Dover, where 21 people were detained, and one at Folkestone on Monday morning, the first unauthorised landings in a year.

Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable, with crossings down by 42 per cent.Government spokesperson, September 2026

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has ordered an urgent review by the Border Security Command, said the failure to intercept the two boats was “not acceptable”.

Education Secretary Lucy Powell said that “you can’t stop everything all of the time”, a remark seized on by the Conservatives.

Photograph: kallerna, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The three-day total from Monday to Wednesday reached 1,085 arrivals: 150 on Monday, 154 on Tuesday and 781 on Wednesday, an average of about 78 people per boat on the record day.

The figures will dominate the immigration debate at Labour’s conference in Liverpool this week. Ministers insist the year-on-year fall shows enforcement is working; critics say a single calm week can still produce numbers that overwhelm the system.

The six novels are The End of Everything by M. John Harrison, The Disappearers by Marlon James, Black Bag by Luke Kennard, May We Feed the King by Rebecca Perry, The Things We Never Say by Elizabeth Strout and John of John by Douglas Stuart. They were chosen from 163 submissions written in English and published in the UK and Ireland between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

Photograph: James Petts, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Marlon James, who won in 2015 with A Brief History of Seven Killings, returns with The Disappearers, set in Kingston, Jamaica in the late 1980s. Douglas Stuart, who won in 2020 with Shuggie Bain, is shortlisted for John of John, set on the Isle of Harris in the 1990s. Only four authors have ever won the Booker twice.

These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic.Mary Beard, chair of the Booker Prize 2026 judges

The chair of judges, Mary Beard, said: “These novels range from the hilarious to the discomfiting, from the frighteningly strange to the alarmingly domestic, from the powerfully shocking to the intriguingly understated.” The panel also included Raymond Antrobus, Jarvis Cocker, Rebecca Liu and Patricia Lockwood.

At one end of the career scale, M. John Harrison, 81, would become the prize’s oldest-ever winner should The End of Everything, his dystopian novel set on a post-apocalyptic Kent coast, take the prize. At the other, Rebecca Perry’s May We Feed the King, a debut set between an unnamed medieval court and the present day, is the list’s single first novel; it won the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize in July.

Photograph: Phil Whitehouse, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

The list also reaches across the Atlantic. Elizabeth Strout, the Pulitzer-winning American author shortlisted previously for Oh William!, is nominated for The Things We Never Say, set in coastal Massachusetts in the run-up to the 2024 US election.

Two independent publishers have a book each on the shortlist, Serpent’s Tail with The End of Everything and Granta with May We Feed the King, while the big houses account for the other four titles across their imprints.

The Court of Directors is the Bank’s governing body, responsible for managing its affairs outside monetary policy and financial stability decisions, which sit with the Monetary Policy Committee and the Financial Policy Committee respectively.

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Nowak’s appointment brings a trade union voice to the Court’s table at a moment when the Bank is watching pay growth closely for signs of persistent inflation. The TUC general secretary, a former call-centre worker who took over the union body in 2022, has recently led its calls for higher taxes on banks’ profits, arguing that “taxing bank profits to cut bills is plain common sense”.

The Court rarely makes headlines, but it is where the Bank’s independence is given its institutional form.British Journal analysis

Craig, the founder of the financial data company Refinitiv, led its data and analytics division after its sale to the London Stock Exchange Group. Smits, a former global head of BNY Investment Management, succeeds Sabine Chalmers and attends her first Court meeting on 11 February 2027.

Photograph: Robert Lamb, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Chancellor said the appointments would strengthen the Court “at a critical moment for the UK economy, providing deep and varied experience to support the Bank in delivering its core missions of monetary and financial stability”. Lord Jitesh Gadhia and Tom Shropshire were reappointed for second four-year terms.

The appointments fill seats on a body whose membership is periodically refreshed by the Chancellor of the day, and they arrive as the Bank navigates one of its more finely balanced periods, with its rate-setters split 6-3 in September on whether borrowing costs should rise.

The decision leaves borrowing costs unchanged as the Bank weighs inflation, which the ONS measured at 3.1 per cent in August, against a labour market that has been softening for months.

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The split is the story. A 6-3 vote with the minority favouring a rise suggests the committee’s hawks are increasingly uneasy about price pressures, even as the majority judges that holding is the right call for now. The Bank’s staff now expect CPI inflation to reach slightly over 4 per cent in early 2027, up from 3.2 per cent in the July forecast.

The split vote shows how finely balanced the judgment has become: inflation above target, but an economy that is barely growing.British Journal analysis

Governor Andrew Bailey warned that the longer the conflict in the Middle East persists, the more likely the Bank would need to raise rates: “The longer this volatility persists, the bigger the impact it will have on inflation, and the more likely it is we will need to raise Bank Rate to ensure that inflation falls back to our 2% target.”

Photograph: Ben Brooksbank, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

For households, the hold means no immediate change to the cost of variable-rate mortgages or to the savings rates banks choose to offer. For the Government, it means the Chancellor’s first Budget, due on 28 October, will be framed by borrowing costs that markets still expect to fall only slowly.

The Bank publishes its full reasoning in the minutes of the September meeting. Its next scheduled decision on Bank Rate is due in November.

Prices rose 0.5 per cent on the month. Transport inflation reached 4.6 per cent, while services inflation, the measure the Bank of England watches most closely for signs of persistent price pressure, stood at 3.4 per cent. Core CPI, which strips out volatile food and energy prices, was 2.6 per cent.

Photograph: Geographer, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The figures, published by the ONS in its August consumer price inflation bulletin, confirm that the path back to the Bank’s 2 per cent target remains uneven. Fuel prices, which feed into both household budgets and business costs, were the single largest driver of the monthly increase.

At 3.1 per cent, inflation is far from the double-digit peaks of recent years, but it is moving the wrong way for the Bank of England.British Journal analysis

For the Monetary Policy Committee, which held Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent in September with three members voting for a rise to 4 per cent, the August data vindicates the hawks’ unease. Markets will now look to the September inflation figures, due next month, for evidence of whether the August rise was a blip or a trend.

For households, the practical effect is at the till and the pump. With regular earnings growing at 3.5 per cent, pay is still outpacing prices on average, but the margin is narrowing, and it is narrowing fastest for those who drive to work.

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Vacancies fell to 702,000 in June to August, continuing a long slide from the record highs of the post-pandemic hiring boom. Regular earnings growth, excluding bonuses, slowed to 3.5 per cent, barely ahead of inflation at 3.1 per cent.

Photograph: Acabashi, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

One of the more striking features of the current data is the divergence between the two main measures of employment. Payroll data from HMRC and the Labour Force Survey have been telling increasingly different stories, a reminder that the headline numbers come with unusual uncertainty attached.

The headline rate is steady. Everything underneath it is moving.British Journal analysis

The House of Commons Library’s briefing on the figures notes the softening in hiring alongside pay growth that, while still positive in real terms, is losing momentum.

For the Bank of England, the labour market is the other half of the rates puzzle. Cooling vacancies and slowing pay growth argue for patience; persistent services inflation argues for caution. The September minutes showed the committee split 6-3 on exactly that judgment.

Photograph: Dietmar Rabich, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

For the Government, the figures land a month before the Chancellor’s first Budget. A labour market that is cooling without collapsing gives John Healey room to argue that discipline is working, but little room to claim that growth has arrived.

The soloists were the pianist Yuja Wang and the tenor Nicky Spence, who headed a programme that balanced the ceremonial with the celebratory in the usual Last Night fashion. Wang gave the first Proms performance of Samuel Barber’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Piano Concerto, and also delivered a Proms premiere, Alexander Tsfasman’s Jazz Suite for piano and orchestra.

Photograph: Colin, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The evening’s most talked-about moment was its tribute to Dolly Parton, who had died three weeks earlier. The second half began with To Dolly, with Love, a seven-minute medley of three of her songs arranged by Fiona Brice: Sheridan Smith, dressed as Parton, sang “9 to 5”, Ward Thomas delivered “Jolene” and Beverley Knight sang “I Will Always Love You” as audience members lit the hall with their mobile phones.

The Last Night remains the strangest and most beloved ritual in British music: part concert, part party, part national singalong.British Journal

Spence, the evening’s tenor soloist, sang Dvořák’s Rusalka in the first half and led a medley of Scots songs, Scotch Snap, created this year by Stuart Calvert. Later, dressed as Nicely-Nicely Johnson from Guys and Dolls, he sang “Sit Down, You’re Rockin’ the Boat” with the BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Singers.

Photograph: Diliff, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The 2026 season presented 86 concerts over eight weeks, from 17 July to 12 September, with more than 70,000 tickets at £8 and 24 programmes on BBC television. On this evidence, the argument about the Last Night will run a while yet.

The figures, published in September as accredited official statistics, show the list up from 7.27 million treatments and 6.15 million patients at the end of June, and the highest since October 2025. The list remains below its record high of 7.77 million treatments in September 2023.

Photograph: Oxyman, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.5)

Some 65.4 per cent of patients began treatment within 18 weeks of referral in July, down from 65.8 per cent in June but above the interim target of 65 per cent that the Government and NHS England had set for March. The new target is 70 per cent by March 2027, on the way to the pledge that 92 per cent of patients will begin treatment within 18 weeks by the end of this Parliament in 2029.

The NHS is now facing a twin crisis, with summer joining winter as a major pressure on services.Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, September 2026

Long waits grew. An estimated 111,379 people had been waiting more than a year to start routine treatment at the end of July, up from 105,711 at the end of June. The number waiting more than 65 weeks rose from 7,831 to 9,095.

The waiting-list figures came alongside the busiest summer the NHS has recorded. A&E attendances in June, July and August topped a record 7.2 million, 240,000 more than the same period last year, while ambulance services dealt with a record 2.4 million callouts, up more than 130,000 on last year. NHS England said that despite the record demand, staff had treated, admitted or discharged the highest ever number of A&E patients within four hours: 5,462,182.

Photograph: Partonez, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

There were brighter spots. A record 308,200 people were seen in July following an urgent suspected cancer referral, and more than 5 million people had a diagnostic test or check across June and July, the highest number ever over those months.

But pressure on emergency care remains acute. There were 92,177 instances of so-called corridor care in England in August, an average of 2,973 patients a day. Sarah Woolnough, chief executive of The King’s Fund, said the NHS was “now facing a twin crisis, with summer joining winter as a major pressure on services and leaving little room for staff and the system to recover between peak periods”.

Nicola Ranger, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said the summer’s five heatwaves had “supercharged” the corridor-care crisis and demonstrated the “extraordinary pace at which corridor care has become completely normalised in the NHS”. The Government has made £1.5 billion available for building and maintenance work, alongside measures to build resilience to hotter weather.

Data from Lloyds showed house prices falling 0.4 per cent on the year in August, the first annual decline since November 2023, with prices down 0.2 per cent on the month. Nationwide, by contrast, reported prices up 1.6 per cent on the year and 0.2 per cent on the month.

Photograph: N Chadwick, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The divergence is largely methodological: the two lenders sample different buyers at different stages of the purchase process. But both indices agree on the bigger picture, which is of a market going sideways, constrained by borrowing costs that remain far above the lows of the last decade.

Two indices, two directions, one market that is essentially standing still.British Journal analysis

With Bank Rate at 3.75 per cent and the Bank of England’s committee split on whether rates should rise further, mortgage pricing is unlikely to fall far or fast. Lloyds’ mortgages director Andrew Asaam said the market had faced “a more difficult backdrop”, with sellers choosing to sit tight rather than cut prices and some buyers waiting to see how conditions develop.

Photograph: N Chadwick, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Lloyds index, the successor to the old Halifax measure, put the average property at £298,468 in August. Northern Ireland recorded the strongest annual growth, at 6.9 per cent, with the average property value at a record high of £231,245; Scotland grew 3.5 per cent and Wales 0.6 per cent, while price growth remained under pressure across much of southern England.