Evening Briefing: Friday 23 October 2026
- If you want to be better prepared for disruption: the government is asking households to keep enough tinned food and bottled water for three days. The free first step it recommends is the priority services register, which obliges energy and water suppliers to give extra help to people who need it.
- If you pay a water bill in England or Wales: the environment secretary has told regulators that affordability must come first in the price review running to 2029. Nothing has been cut yet — on the last review, average bills are still set to rise 36% across the second half of the decade.
- If you are saving for a first home: earnings limits for the new government-backed equity loan are reported at £110,000, or £140,000 in London, and are expected to be confirmed at the Budget on Wednesday. No department has confirmed those figures yet.
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Ukraine Says Starlink Is Still Throttled Despite Trump’s Claim
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Burnham Urges Households to Keep Three Days of Food and Water
The prime minister has encouraged people to keep tinned food and bottled water sufficient for three days of disruption, as a government preparedness campaign launched this week. He said it was “not about panic buying”. The official guidanc…
Healey Promises to Cut £800m a Year of Business Paperwork
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Retail Sales Fell 0.4% in September as Warm Weather Hit Clothing
Retail sales volumes fell 0.4% in September, after a 0.7% rise in August, though they remain 0.8% higher than a year earlier. Non-food stores drove the decline, with clothing, footwear and sports equipment down on lower footfall. It is the…
Environment Secretary Intervenes in Water Price Review for First Time
Dame Angela Eagle has written to regulators and to water company chief executives in England and Wales setting conditions for the next five-year price review, which concludes in 2029. She told them affordability must come first. The interv…