Morning Briefing: Tuesday 20 October 2026
- If you are looking for work or asking for a rise: there are now 691,000 vacancies, the fewest outside the pandemic since 2014, and 2.4 unemployed people for every one of them. Regular pay is growing 3.7% a year, which is 0.6% after inflation on the measure that includes housing costs.
- If you park in a private car park: a new code laid in Parliament today guarantees five minutes to decide whether to park and ten to leave afterwards, caps the maximum charge at £100, limits minor slips such as a mistyped registration to £20, and requires charges to be cancelled on appeal for breakdowns, medical emergencies and broken ticket machines. It applies in England, Scotland and Wales.
- If you own shares or a second property: the chancellor is reported to have decided against raising capital gains tax at the Budget in eight days. The rate is 18% for basic-rate taxpayers and 24% for higher and additional-rate. Note this rests on unnamed Treasury sources, not an announcement.
Alberta Rejects the Path to Separation by Three to One
Albertans have voted against beginning a legal process towards leaving Canada by about 76% to 23%, on a projection by the national broadcaster with more than a million votes counted. It was the first of ten questions on the ballot and the…
Curfews Imposed in Central Paris and Seven Other Cities
After Monday’s crisis meeting the prime minister gave mayors the power to impose curfews where they judged them necessary. Paris police then set one from 23:00 to 06:00 covering the Place de la République and Les Halles, with gatherings ba…
Saudi Arabia Postpones Its Flagship Investment Conference
The Future Investment Initiative, due in Riyadh from 26 October and marking its tenth year, has been put back to 2027. Expected speakers included the heads of BlackRock and Goldman Sachs and the president of Alphabet. Government staff have…
Adviser Says Ukrainians Have Died for Want of American Warnings
Serhii Beskrestnov, who advises the Ukrainian president on military technology, says American intelligence has become “incomplete and inconsistent” and that “people [have] already died” as a result. The White House says there has been no c…
Kenyan Preacher Convicted of 191 Murders, Nearly All Children
Paul Mackenzie, who led a church in the south-east of the country, has been convicted in Mombasa of murdering 191 people, all but one of them children. Twenty-eight other leaders were convicted alongside him. All had pleaded not guilty, in…
Vacancies Fall Below 700,000 for the First Time Since the Pandemic
There were 691,000 vacancies in the three months to September, down 21,000 on the quarter and the fewest outside the pandemic since 2014. Unemployment fell 0.1 percentage points to 4.7% and employment rose to 75.3%. Regular pay grew 3.7%,…
Healey Said to Have Decided Against Raising Capital Gains Tax
Treasury sources say the chancellor is minded not to increase capital gains tax at the Budget on 28 October, a broader position than the decision reported last week against equalising it with income tax. There is no named source and no Tre…
Serious Offenders in Secure Hospitals to Lose Universal Credit
Regulations laid today will stop universal credit payments of up to £800 a month to offenders detained in psychiatric hospitals, where the health service already funds their bed and board. About 2,500 people are affected now and roughly 20…
Parking Charges Capped at £100 and Car Clocking Banned
A statutory code for private car parks has been laid in Parliament, freezing the maximum charge at £100, guaranteeing five minutes to decide whether to park and ten to leave, and capping minor errors such as a mistyped registration at £20.…
Trust Prosecuted Over Two Children’s Deaths From Sepsis
The care regulator has brought three charges against Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust alleging care was “not provided in a safe way”. Two concern a three-year-old who died within ten hours of arriving at hospital with a temperature…