Morning Briefing: Monday 5 October 2026
- Filling up: Diesel reached a record £2 a litre on Friday. More than 160 offshore workers have now backed action that the union says could take down the Forties pipeline, which carries almost a third of Britain’s oil and gas, later this month. The G7 is releasing up to 100 million barrels of emergency crude and diesel.
- Your broadband: BT is buying TalkTalk and its two and a half million connections. Ministers intervened within hours on the grounds that a failure would put hospitals, schools and emergency care at risk. Customers need take no action and services continue as normal; the competition authority reports by 19 October.
- If you live in supported housing: Rules in force today align the Housing Benefit earnings taper with Universal Credit’s, ending an arrangement under which working more hours could leave you worse off. More than 325,000 residents are affected, nearly 50,000 of them young people.
Flávio Bolsonaro Wins the First Round in Brazil
Flávio Bolsonaro took 47% of the vote to Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s 45.1% with 99.9% counted, forcing a run-off on 25 October. Every major poll had put Lula first. The right also took 34 of the 54 Senate seats decided, and the Liberal Par…
The US Removes Every Bomber From RAF Fairford
The Pentagon has confirmed that all American bombers at RAF Fairford — thought to be about a dozen B-1s — have returned to their home stations in the United States. The withdrawal follows the 27 September incident at the Gloucestershire ba…
The Euro Falls to a 17-Month Low on Spanish and French Politics
The euro fell 0.6% against the dollar on Monday to its weakest since 19 May last year, as rising euro-area inflation, interest rates and borrowing costs met political uncertainty in Spain and France. Pedro Sánchez is widely expected to cal…
Dodik’s Party Sweeps the Bosnian Elections
Milorad Dodik’s ally Željka Cvijanović took more than 55% of the vote for the Serb seat on Bosnia’s tripartite presidency, about thirty points clear, with nearly 90% counted. Mr Dodik, barred from office last year after a conviction for de…
Tigrayan Forces Abandon Mekelle as Four Neighbours Issue a Declaration
The Tigray People’s Liberation Front says it has temporarily withdrawn from Mekelle, citing the risk to civilians as the national army closed on the regional capital. Two residents told the BBC that pro-government forces now hold the city…
Tories Would Abolish the Environment Agency and Natural England
Andrew Griffith will use his first conference speech as shadow chancellor to promise the abolition of Natural England and the Environment Agency, the scrapping of the Future Homes Standard and of the packaging producer scheme, a single dev…
BT Rescues TalkTalk and the Government Intervenes Within Hours
BT has agreed to buy TalkTalk, which had been close to administration over its debts and carries 1.5 million retail and a million wholesale customers. Within hours Lisa Nandy issued a public interest intervention notice under the Enterpris…
North Sea Strike Ballot Threatens a Third of UK Oil and Gas
More than 160 Apache offshore workers have backed industrial action that could begin later this month, Unite says, affecting the Forties and Beryl fields. The union warns the Charlie platform could be brought to a standstill and the Fortie…
Israel Bans Polanski After the Greens’ Zionism Vote
Israel’s foreign ministry has barred the Green leader Zack Polanski from entering the country after members voted 1,022 to 813 in Brighton for a motion defining Zionism as racism and backing a single state in all of historic Palestine. The…
Protesters Confront Police as 149 Migrants Land at Gosport
About 150 anti-migrant demonstrators gathered at a marina in Gosport to stop migrants being brought ashore, setting off flares and scuffling with police in a stand-off that ran into the early hours. The Home Office says 149 people were res…