Morning Briefing: Monday 26 October 2026
- If you are in Scotland, northern England or Northern Ireland: a yellow wind warning for Storm Chloe runs from three tomorrow morning until just before midnight. About 33,500 Scottish properties are still off supply from the last storm, and the larger network says it cannot guarantee everyone is reconnected before Chloe arrives.
- If you are waiting on Wednesday’s Budget: reporting says about a million pensioners will be taken out of income tax by a new allowance, and that the tax-free pension lump sum survives. None of it is confirmed, and published estimates of the chancellor’s headroom range from £12bn to £23.6bn.
- If you are at risk of homelessness or work with people who are: a further £432m takes the rough sleeping commitment to about £874m, extended to the end of this Parliament. It buys an offer of accommodation or support rather than a guaranteed home, and it is the only Budget measure so far published rather than briefed.
Vucic Concedes to a Student Movement Without a Final Count
Aleksandar Vucic has conceded Serbia’s parliamentary election to the leaderless student list that grew out of two years of protest, telling supporters: “We still do not have final results… it is clear that we have lost these elections.” Th…
Lula Wins a Fourth Term but Bolsonaro Demands Annulment
With every vote counted Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva took 51.79% to Flávio Bolsonaro’s 48.21%, a margin of 4.4 million, having narrowly lost the first round three weeks ago. His opponent has refused to concede and asked for the result to be a…
Hebron Mayor Calls Mass Displacement Collective Punishment
Nearly 2,000 Palestinians — 370 families by the municipality’s count — have been driven from the Ein Deir Baha district of Hebron after two Israeli soldiers were killed at a checkpoint on Friday. The city’s mayor, Yousef al-Jabari, calls i…
Saudi, Turkish and Pakistani Chiefs Fly to Tehran Today
Defence and intelligence chiefs from the three Mecca pact states travel to Tehran today for a joint meeting, confirmed by both Saudi and Iranian officials. It is the first high-level contact between Iran and all three members since the Hou…
Zelensky Says Three-Way Talks Will Happen in November
President Zelensky says a trilateral meeting with Washington and Moscow will take place in November to restart stalled peace talks, speaking in a Sunday interview. Ukraine will not discuss limits on its armed forces or enforced postwar neu…
Two Dead in Boelo as Storm Chloe Arrives Tomorrow
A second man has died in Storm Boelo: a driver in his twenties killed when a tree fell on his car in north London at twenty to one on Sunday, two hours after a 60-year-old was struck near Castle Douglas. About 33,500 Scottish properties ar…
Rough Sleeping Fund Doubles to £874m With a Summit Today
The government will put a further £432m into ending rough sleeping, confirmed at Wednesday’s Budget and roughly doubling the £442m already committed. Support extends beyond March 2027 to the end of this Parliament. The first Downing Street…
Pensioners Reported Shielded From Tax as Budget Nears
Reporting two days before the Budget says about a million pensioners will be shielded from income tax by a new personal allowance, because the full state pension is set to rise above the £12,570 threshold. The chancellor is also said to ha…
Cabinet Reported Split Over the Rosebank Oil Decision
The chancellor is reported to favour approving the Rosebank oil field and the energy secretary to oppose it, with the prime minister deciding if they cannot agree. She holds the decision. Nothing has been published, and her department stil…
Board of Deputies Declares the Greens a Racist Party
The Board of Deputies of British Jews has voted by 118 to one to declare that the Green Party has “by adopting an antisemitic platform, become a racist party”, and urged other parties not to make deals with it. The Green leader says he wil…