Evening Briefing: Sunday 19 July 2026
- Petrol & Energy: American forces struck Iran for an eighth consecutive night and Brent crude is holding near a one-month high of $88, up about 14 per cent on the week. Markets are shut for the weekend, but forecourt and energy-bill pressure will persist, and a confirmed move against a second shipping chokepoint would push prices higher still.
- A New Prime Minister Tomorrow: Andy Burnham enters Downing Street on Monday and has confirmed he will scrap the roughly £2bn digital ID scheme, redirecting the money to the cost of living. His deputy says he will be “bolder” while keeping the manifesto, with a cost-of-living package and the full Cabinet expected on Monday. Expect a clear change of direction.
- Savings & Markets: The war-risk premium in oil persists, the ten-year gilt yield sits near 4.97 per cent, and Friday brought a safe-haven bid into gold and bonds. A prolonged oil shock is the main threat to the inflation the incoming government has promised to bring down.
US Bombs Iran for an Eighth Night to “Punish” the Revolutionary Guard
American forces struck Iran for an eighth consecutive night into Sunday, hitting coastal surveillance, air-defence and missile-storage sites at Sirik, Qeshm Island, Bandar Abbas and near Shadegan. Central Command said the raids were design…
American Death Toll in the Iran War Climbs to Sixteen
The American military death toll in the conflict rose to sixteen on Sunday after a Navy pilot missing earlier in the month was declared dead, the second increase this week following the two soldiers killed in Jordan. President Trump, mourn…
Iran Hits a Kuwait Plant Again as Bahrain Sirens Wail
Iran pressed its Gulf retaliation on Sunday, launching a large drone attack on two US facilities in Kuwait and striking again the Kuwaiti power-and-water plant hit the previous day, restarting a fire. Bahrain sounded air-raid sirens for a…
Russia Fires a Record Ballistic Barrage at Kyiv, Killing One
Russia launched its largest number of ballistic missiles against Kyiv since the start of the war early on Sunday — 41 missiles, including 25 ballistic, alongside 125 drones nationwide. One person was killed and at least sixteen wounded acr…
Dozens Missing as a Guyana Ferry Capsizes With 116 Aboard
A passenger ferry, the MV Barima, capsized off Guyana’s coast while sailing from the capital, Georgetown, to Port Kaituma, carrying 116 passengers and crew. It issued a distress call late on Saturday. Prime Minister Mark Phillips said 53 p…
Burnham to Scrap Starmer’s £2bn Digital ID Scheme
Andy Burnham will axe Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship digital identity programme when he takes office on Monday, redirecting the money — put at around £2bn — to the cost of living in what his team calls a “reset of priorities”. It is the first…
Burnham Will Be Bolder but Keep the Manifesto, Says His Deputy
Labour’s deputy leader, Lucy Powell, said Andy Burnham would stand by the 2024 manifesto while being “bolder and more ambitious”, using the change of leader to “clear the decks” and focus on the cost of living. Speaking on the BBC’s Sunday…
Badenoch Dismisses Burnham’s Plans as “Airy-Fairy Stuff”
The Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch, used the BBC’s Sunday programme to attack Andy Burnham as a “people pleaser” unwilling to take tough decisions, dismissing his weekend pronouncements as “airy-fairy stuff”. She refused to give the in…
Rayner Tipped for a Cabinet Return as Burnham’s Team Takes Shape
Angela Rayner is being lined up for a Cabinet comeback as Andy Burnham finalises his top team over the weekend, according to reports, with Wes Streeting also expected to return. One account suggesting Ms Rayner would take Health to lead an…
Farage’s Finances Dog Reform on the Eve of the Handover
As Labour prepares to take power, Reform UK remains under pressure over Nigel Farage’s finances: a tax expert claims the party could face a £3m bill over his undeclared £5m donation, on top of a paused parliamentary standards inquiry and c…