Evening Briefing: Tuesday 27 October 2026
- If you are 18 to 20 and on the minimum wage: tomorrow’s Budget is expected to raise your rate by the same 3.9% as everyone over 21, rather than by more. The gap therefore stops closing, and the promise to abolish age bands slips. The figures are reported, not yet announced.
- If you are thinking about a heat pump or solar panels: a government-backed loan scheme opened today, with no money upfront and up to thirty years to repay in some cases — up to £15,000 for solar, £20,000 for the common air-to-water heat pump and £35,000 for a ground-source system, stackable with the existing grant.
- If you are waiting to see what the Budget actually does: very little is confirmed. What is on the record is modest — tariffs off 100 food items worth up to £21 a year, fuel duty frozen again, and a carer’s allowance taper that does not arrive until 2030. Almost everything else remains briefing.
Record Israeli Turnout, and a Fight Over Closing Time
Two-thirds of Israel’s electorate had voted by six o’clock this evening, 66.7%, the highest since such things were first measured in the early 1970s. The prime minister’s party and its coalition partners have asked the electoral authoritie…
Bolsonaro’s Passports Cancelled, His Whereabouts Unknown
Brazilian police have cancelled the passports of the defeated candidate after he missed the 24 hours the Supreme Court gave him to surrender them, in a money-laundering investigation he denies. He has not been seen since Monday and officer…
Emergency Agency Puts Taraba Death Toll at Sixty-Two
At least 62 people were killed and 52 wounded when gunmen attacked the Binnari community in Taraba state, north-eastern Nigeria, on Friday, according to the state head of the national emergency agency. Thousands have been displaced. Fifty-…
Nordic Leaders Hold a Rare Joint Call With Putin
The president of Finland and the prime minister of Norway spoke to President Putin for ninety minutes from Helsinki, in a call they initiated to discuss ending the war in Ukraine. Norway’s leader said it showed “big differences in views”.…
Turkish Committee Clears the Mecca Pact for a Full Vote
Turkey’s parliamentary foreign affairs committee has approved the mutual defence agreement with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, carried by the governing party and its allies over opposition objections. It now goes to the full assembly for debat…
Minimum Wage to Rise, but the Age Gap Stops Closing
Tomorrow’s Budget is expected to raise the minimum wage by 3.9% for every adult band. That is the point of contention: because younger workers get the same percentage rather than a larger one, the gap between them and older workers stops n…
Warm Home Loans Open for Heat Pumps and Solar Panels
A government-backed loan scheme opened today offering households interest-free or low-interest borrowing from £7,500 to £35,000 to fit heat pumps, batteries and solar panels with no money upfront. The government says the full combination c…
Minister and Spokesman Give Different Answers on Free Movement
The business secretary says officials will begin discussing the range of future options for the relationship with the European Union, free movement among them, before the summit in Brussels on 20 November. A government spokesman, the same…
Two Charged Over Alleged Iran-Linked Plot at RAF Fairford
Two British nationals, both 24 and from London, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today over an alleged plot at the American-operated airbase in Gloucestershire. One is charged with assisting a foreign intelligence service, which…
Two MPs and an MSP Detained and Turned Back by Israel
An SNP member of parliament, a Labour member and a Scottish Greens member of the Scottish Parliament say they were held for eight hours at the crossing from Jordan and refused entry to the West Bank. Israel’s embassy says the group gave fa…