Morning Briefing: Thursday 15 October 2026
- If you have a mortgage or a loan: households with mortgages have paid an average of £9,034 more in repayments since 2021, and those with other loans £1,911 more. Financial markets now expect the Bank of England to raise its rate from 3.75% to 4% next month, with four further quarter-point rises priced in for 2027.
- If you are waiting on the Budget: it comes on 28 October, and the asks are now on the table — a £2,000 ceiling on typical energy bills, a fuel duty freeze and a cap on private rent rises from one side, a cut to employer national insurance and to business electricity costs from the other.
- If you buy electricity, gas or water: the average household has paid £2,644 more for electricity and gas since 2021 and £372 more for water, and typical bills are forecast to reach £2,000 a year from January. Consumer-facing services shrank 0.3% in August, which is the same squeeze measured from the spending side.
Zelensky Lifts the Block on Striking Russian Refineries
Ukraine will resume long-range strikes on Russian oil refineries, the president said in London, ending a three-day pause he had accepted at Washington’s request. “The block is out. We’re done,” he said. He also said American officials had…
Seoul Closes Down 7.5% as the Technology Sell-Off Deepens
South Korea’s Kospi finished at its weakest level since April after a session in which circuit breakers were briefly triggered and the index fell more than 9% at its worst. Tokyo’s Nikkei lost 5.08%, Samsung Electronics 9.5% and SK Hynix 1…
Twenty-Eight Killed, Nearly All Children, in Peshawar School Collapse
The roof of a school collapsed in Peshawar, in north-western Pakistan, killing at least twenty-eight people — twenty-seven students and a teacher — on a hospital spokesman’s count at 08:36 this morning. Nineteen more were injured, five of…
Bessent Skips the G20 Meeting His Own Country Chairs
Finance ministers and central bank governors gather in Bangkok today, alongside the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. The American treasury secretary is not attending despite the United States holding t…
X Suspends 13,000 Accounts Before the American Midterms
The company says it has suspended more than 13,000 accounts tied to three suspected foreign influence operations linked to Iran, Russia and China, which it says used fake accounts to post and amplify political material about candidates acr…
The Economy Grew When Forecasters Expected a Contraction
Output rose 0.1% in August, against a forecast fall of the same size. The growth came from production, up 0.8%, while services were flat and construction fell 0.2%. Over the year output was 2.1% higher, the fastest rate since August 2022.…
Reform Councillors Filmed Making Racist Remarks
Councillors and election candidates were filmed over a year by undercover reporters making racist, violent and misogynistic remarks. A councillor who is deputy mayor of Solihull called Asian homeowners “absolute parasites” and said no more…
Households Have Paid £13,961 More in Bills Since 2021
The average household has spent that much extra on mortgages, loans, energy and water over five years, about £2,792 a year, on an analysis of official figures by the trades union body. It argues the squeeze is itself holding the economy ba…
Donaldson to Be Sentenced for Rape and Child Sexual Abuse
The former leader of the Democratic Unionist Party will be sentenced at Newry Crown Court today for eighteen sex offences against two women when they were children, including one count of rape. The offences were committed between 1985 and…
Britain Threatens Eritrea With a Complete Visa Ban
From today Eritrean diplomats may not travel more than 60km outside London without permission, and fast-track visas for senior figures have been stopped. The home secretary has threatened a complete ban on Eritreans entering the country un…