Evening Briefing: Friday 2 October 2026
- Filling up: Diesel has passed £2 a litre for the first time, averaging 200.01p, with petrol at 174.71p. Filling a family diesel car now costs £110, almost £32 more than when the war began.
- Relief, eventually: The G7 will release up to 100 million barrels through the International Energy Agency, frontloaded with diesel in the first twenty days, and has ruled out export bans between members. None of it reaches a forecourt immediately.
- Your mortgage: The ten-year gilt sits at 5.38% and the thirty-year is back to 5.90%, both well below Thursday’s highs. Gilt yields set the benchmark for fixed-rate pricing, and the Budget is on 28 October.
G7 Unlocks 100 Million Barrels and Rules Out Export Bans
The Group of Seven will release up to 100 million barrels of emergency crude and diesel reserves over four months, coordinated by the International Energy Agency, with “a frontloaded substantial diesel release within the first 20 days”. In…
Kyiv's Bridges Close as Russia Turns on the Capital Itself
Kyiv’s Southern bridge has been struck four times in two days, with all metro and vehicle traffic suspended across it and restrictions on the city’s other Dnipro crossings. One person was killed when a residential block was hit overnight.…
France's School Revolt Hardens After Talks With the Minister Fail
Pupil and student organisations called for further mobilisation after meeting the education minister, complaining that no concrete measures were offered; a coalition of unions is now calling for a strike on Tuesday. At least 400 of France’…
Spain's Right Sinks Sánchez's Housing Decrees
Congress rejected both of the government’s emergency housing decrees, the conservative People’s Party, Vox and the Catalan pro-independence Junts voting them down. The measures would have halted evictions of vulnerable people until 2030 an…
Congo's Ebola Epidemic Passes 4,000 Deaths
Figures released on Friday put the death toll at 4,018, with 8,300 confirmed cases across seven provinces — already the largest and deadliest outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s history. The World Health Organisation warns the e…
Burnham Will Legislate to End the Triple Lock This Parliament
The government will pass legislation scrapping the state pension triple lock during this parliament, even though the guarantee itself remains in place until 2030. Guidance published alongside the Prime Minister’s conference speech shows MP…
Police Mount a Major Public Safety Operation at Drumcree
The Police Service of Northern Ireland said a “major public safety operation” will continue in Portadown this weekend, and that it is “continuing to seek safe and peaceful compliance with the Parades Commission determination”. Its investig…
London Fire Brigade Among Those Facing Possible Grenfell Charges
The London Fire Brigade and the Kensington and Chelsea Tenant Management Organisation have confirmed they are among the bodies facing possible criminal action over the Grenfell Tower fire. Prosecutors received a file on 20 organisations an…
Powell Orders Ofsted Back to the Drawing Board on Inspections
School inspections in England will be overhauled for the second time in a year after complaints that the new system was dangerously stressful and was damaging teachers’ mental health. The education secretary Lucy Powell will tell Ofsted to…
Polanski Tells Voters: Vote Green and Watch Labour Move
The Green leader used his conference speech in Brighton to argue that “sustained pressure” from his party had already forced Labour to shift on climate and on Israel, and that more would follow. “Vote Green, and watch Labour move,” he told…