Evening Briefing: Monday 5 October 2026
- Your mortgage: The average five-year fix passed 6% today for the first time in three years. On a £250,000 loan over twenty-five years that is £1,611 a month against £1,453 at February’s average — £158 more a month, or £1,896 a year. Around half a million homeowners need a new deal before the year is out.
- Your council tax: The shadow chancellor has pledged to scrap Labour’s High Value Council Tax Surcharge, under which English homes worth more than £2 million pay an extra levy from 2028. No costing has been published for the repeal.
- If you are self-employed or a landlord: Six months remain until Making Tax Digital for Income Tax applies to anyone with turnover above £30,000. That threshold counts gross self-employment and property income, before expenses or allowances.
Sánchez Calls a Spanish Election for 29 November
Pedro Sánchez has called a snap general election for 29 November, in a televised address three days after parliament threw out his two housing decrees and two days after tens of thousands marched in Madrid, Valencia and Barcelona. Spain wa…
Yemen’s Government Turns on Sanaa as Turkey and Pakistan Commit Forces
Saudi-backed government forces have declared a “battle for liberation” and launched an offensive towards the Houthi-held capital, saying they have taken Mocha on the west coast. The claim is not independently confirmed. Separately, a commi…
Washington Plays Down the Fairford Withdrawal; No 10 Says Base Is Safe
Twelve B-1 Lancers left RAF Fairford so quickly that the refuelling aircraft needed to get them across the Atlantic were reportedly still being fuelled as crews were ordered to scramble. Marco Rubio declined to connect the move to last mon…
Russian Drones Sink a Turkish-Owned Grain Ship in the Black Sea
Two drones struck the Royad Mammadov, a Turkish-owned vessel carrying corn, which sank about thirty nautical miles south of the Romanian port of Sfantu Gheorghe, inside Romania’s exclusive economic zone. Eleven crew, nationals of Azerbaija…
Teenager Loses a Hand as France’s School Protests Enter Week Three
A fifteen-year-old’s hand was blown off during a confrontation between school protesters and police at Lens in Pas-de-Calais, in an incident the prefect called “very serious”; the boy’s life is not in danger. The police watchdog is investi…
The Average Five-Year Fixed Mortgage Rate Hits 6%
The average five-year fix reached 6.00% today, up from 5.98% on Friday and the first time above six in three years. The two-year average is 5.98%, its highest since December 2023. The number of fixed deals priced below 5% has collapsed fro…
Griffith Pledges to Scrap the Family Homes Tax and Back Heathrow
The shadow chancellor told the Conservative conference he will abolish Labour’s High Value Council Tax Surcharge, under which English homes worth more than £2 million pay an extra levy from 2028. “They pretend it’s a mansion tax, but it wi…
Shadow Home Office Minister Claims “No-Go Zones” in Luton
Blake Stephenson, the MP for Mid Bedfordshire appointed to the Conservative frontbench a fortnight ago, told a fringe meeting in Birmingham that in parts of Luton “white people won’t go. They are like no-go zones.” He called the town “a ve…
Andrew Challenges the Search Warrants; the King’s Money Is Ruled Out
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor is seeking judicial review of warrants for Sandringham and Royal Lodge, issued at the Central Criminal Court on 18 February, the day before his arrest on his 66th birthday on suspicion of misconduct in public off…
Southport Inquiry Told Violent Material Stays Online for Weeks
A review for the Southport Inquiry found that violent material was still available two weeks after being reported in more than 80% of cases, across X, TikTok, Reddit, Instagram and Discord — the result of a single eight-hour search. Nichol…