Morning Briefing: Tuesday 27 October 2026
- If you do the weekly shop: import tariffs come off more than 100 products, from baked beans and chocolate to marmalade. Combined with June’s cuts on pasta, fruit juice and tuna, the government puts the saving at up to £21 a household a year — modest, and dependent on retailers passing it on.
- If you are an unpaid carer who works: earning a penny over the weekly limit will no longer cost you the whole week’s carer’s allowance. Instead £1 tapers away for every £1 earned above it, to be confirmed in Wednesday’s Budget.
- If you drive for work: the 55p-a-mile tax-free rate for the first 10,000 business miles becomes permanent, and the rate above that rises from 25p to 35p. The Treasury says about three million people benefit; fuel duty is also expected to be frozen again.
Israel Votes With Netanyahu and Eisenkot Neck and Neck
Polls opened this morning in Israel’s first general election since the 7 October attacks, with Benjamin Netanyahu in a near neck-and-neck race against the former military chief Gadi Eisenkot. Neither bloc is projected to reach the 61 seats…
Tehran Talks End in Pledge as Houthis Fire at Saudi Arabia
Saudi Arabia, Turkey and Pakistan agreed with Iran late on Monday “to continue the dialogue” on regional security, after their defence and intelligence chiefs met Iran’s president in Tehran. Within hours the Saudi-led coalition said it had…
Melania Trump’s One-City Truce Takes Effect in Occupied Oleshky
A local ceasefire began overnight in the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky, on the Dnipro in Kherson region, a week after it was announced by the US First Lady. Both Kyiv and Moscow say it is holding. It is meant to let aid in and allow civ…
Western Powers Warn of Famine in Sudan as Nyala Is Struck
The United States, the European Union and 30 countries, Britain among them, warned of an “alarming deterioration” in Sudan’s food security and urged both sides to lift impediments to aid. Hours later a drone strike on a market in Nyala, th…
Jordan Strikes Syria After Karak Church Attack; Border Shut
Jordanian jets struck what Amman called “terrorist organisations” in Syria’s Daraa province, retaliating for Friday’s shooting at a Christian funeral in Karak that killed nine. Syrian health officials said five people, including women and…
Healey Cuts Food Tariffs and Freezes Fuel Duty Before Budget
The chancellor, John Healey, has unveiled five “everyday fixes” ahead of Wednesday’s Budget, removing import tariffs on more than 100 food products and making the 55p-a-mile business mileage rate permanent. Fuel duty is expected to be froz…
Carer’s Allowance Cliff Edge to Be Scrapped
The rule that strips unpaid carers of their whole weekly carer’s allowance for earning a penny over the limit is to be replaced by a taper, with £1 withdrawn for every £1 earned above it. The change follows years of reporting on carers lef…
Alex Chalk to Lead Independent Review Into Henry Nowak Murder
The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, has ordered an independent review into the murder of Henry Nowak, the 18-year-old student stabbed in Southampton last December, to be led by the former lord chancellor Alex Chalk KC. “We must get to tru…
Be Ready Call Drives Surge in Radio and Tinned Food Sales
Retailers report sharp rises in emergency purchases since the government urged households to prepare for crises. Iceland saw a 40% jump in tinned goods over the weekend; Robert Dyas a 160% rise in radio sales; Maplin a near-fourfold increa…
Second DUP Figure Calls for O’Neill’s Removal as First Minister
The DUP assembly member Diane Forsythe has joined the MP Carla Lockhart in calling for Michelle O’Neill to be removed as Stormont’s first minister over her part in protests that blocked an Orange Order parade at Drumcree. “It is my view th…