Evening Briefing: Friday 30 October 2026
- If you were planning a heat pump: the boiler upgrade scheme still offers a typical household £7,500, but its funding will now rise only with inflation after the Budget took £741m from it. Installations are expected to stagnate or grow far more slowly than planned.
- If you hold tech funds or gold: Intel fell 29% on Friday and US tech stocks were on course to lose more than $1tn in value. Gold has dropped to a one-year low and is down 5.9% so far this month.
- If you are a Yorkshire Water customer: the Environment Agency has rated the company one star out of four, its lowest rating, after 260 pollution incidents in 2025. Its chief executive, Nicola Shaw, leaves on 1 January.
Limpet Mines Disable Tanker in First Such Hormuz Attack of War
On Thursday a small boat attached explosives to the hull of the Panama-flagged tanker Louise 1, about 25 nautical miles north-east of Khasab in Oman. The blast started a fire that was later put out. Maritime security sources told Reuters i…
Intel Suffers Worst Day Since 1974 as AI Sell-Off Deepens
Intel shares fell 29% on Friday, on course for their worst day since 1974, after the company gave weaker-than-expected guidance. It blamed a plant shutdown in Israel and weak PC demand. US tech stocks were on track to lose more than $1tn i…
Hundreds Evacuated From Occupied Oleshky Under Kherson Ceasefire
Hundreds of residents left the devastated, Russian-occupied town of Oleshky on Friday. It was the first joint relief operation of the war, made possible by a ceasefire across the Kherson region brokered by Melania Trump. A convoy of 25 bus…
G20 Photo Scrapped as Europeans Refuse to Stand With Lavrov
The United States cancelled the traditional ‘family photo’ at the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting in Atlanta after European diplomats, including the UK’s, refused to pose with Russia’s Sergei Lavrov. A US official said Washington had droppe…
Novaya Gazeta to Close, Accusing Russian State of Killing It
Novaya Gazeta, Russia’s best-known independent newspaper, announced on Friday that it will close. It had received an eviction order, and at the same time the system it used to collect readers’ donations was disabled. “They’ve killed us,” i…
First Ministers Tell Burnham Local Devolution Is Theirs to Decide
Andy Burnham chaired his first National Economic Council for the nations in Glasgow and urged all four nations to “move together” on handing power to regions. John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth agreed to work with him. But both insisted tha…
Streeting Denies Kicking Defence Spending Can Down the Road
Wes Streeting rejected claims that the government is putting off decisions on defence spending. He and John Healey announced that foreign firms winning UK defence contracts worth more than £50m must invest the same amount in Britain. These…
Budget Takes £741m From Heat Pump Scheme to Help Fund Defence
John Healey’s Budget cut more than £3bn from the energy department, much of it to pay for defence. This includes £741m from the boiler upgrade scheme, which subsidises heat pumps. The scheme’s funding will now rise only with inflation, ins…
Yorkshire Water Chief Quits a Day After One-Star Rating
Nicola Shaw will step down as Yorkshire Water’s chief executive on 1 January. Her announcement came 24 hours after the Environment Agency gave the company its lowest rating and classed it as ‘poorly performing’. The regulator said the firm…
Number 10 North Advertises 50 Jobs in Manchester Hiring Drive
Andy Burnham’s Manchester office has advertised 50 jobs, including a ‘rewiring the state deputy director’ paid up to £117,000. BBC analysis puts the total basic salaries at up to £2.8m. No10 North already has 120 staff, nearly half the 280…