Evening Briefing: Tuesday 3 November 2026
- Most analysts expect the Bank of England to raise Bank Rate from 3.75% to 4% on Thursday, its first rise since 2023; the decision feeds through to mortgage, credit card and savings rates.
- Some drivers mis-sold car finance between April 2007 and November 2024 may now receive early compensation offers, starting with Barclays; accepting is voluntary, but it ends any further claim.
- Hoax bomb threats disrupted seven European flights on Tuesday, two of them from the UK; all were false alarms. The government said Britain has “one of the most robust aviation security systems in the world”.
Americans vote as Democrats seek control of Congress
Voting is under way across the United States in midterm elections that will decide control of Congress for the last two years of Donald Trump’s presidency. Democrats need net gains of three House seats and four in the Senate, and go into p…
Trump says American military aid to Israel will end this year
President Trump said on polling day that the United States would stop its roughly $4bn a year in aid to Israel at the end of 2026, under a deal he said he had struck with Benjamin Netanyahu. “We’ve already agreed that by the end of this ye…
Tehran holds to its terms after American strikes on Qeshm
Iran insisted on Tuesday that its conditions must be met before the Strait of Hormuz reopens, hours after American forces struck Qeshm Island in what US officials called a defensive response to Iranian surface-to-air missile fire. A senior…
Komyshuvakha toll rises to 33 as Kremlin confirms Abu Dhabi talks
At least 33 people are now known to have died in the glide-bomb strike on an aid centre in Komyshuvakha, Zaporizhzhia, and President Zelensky called it “one of the largest mass killings committed by Russia during this war”. Russian strikes…
Hoax bomb threats disrupt seven flights across Europe
At least seven passenger flights bound for Warsaw, Sofia, Rome and Murcia were searched after bomb threats on Tuesday, including a Ryanair flight from Manchester and a LOT flight from London diverted to Warsaw’s Modlin airport. No devices…
King calls slave trade a ‘shameful chapter’ but offers no apology
Opening the Commonwealth summit in Antigua, the King said the transatlantic slave trade “fills my heart with horror and my soul with the most profound personal sorrow”, and that it “still casts a shadow” over the 56-nation association. He…
MI5 spared contempt proceedings despite lying to three courts
Three senior judges, including the Lady Chief Justice, ruled that MI5 and its officers will not face contempt of court proceedings, although the agency admitted giving false evidence to three courts about an abusive informant known as Agen…
Gilt yields climb as Bank is tipped for first rise since 2023
The ten-year gilt yield rose back above 5.2% on Tuesday, recovering from near two-month lows before Thursday’s Bank of England decision. Economists polled by Reuters expect Bank Rate to rise from 3.75% to 4%, its first increase since Augus…
Watchdog clears early car finance payouts as Barclays moves first
The Financial Conduct Authority will allow lenders to make early compensation offers to drivers mis-sold car finance, provided they are no worse than its proposed redress scheme, which faces a legal challenge in February. Barclays will beg…
Welsh first minister warns BBC cuts risk ‘irreversible deterioration’
Rhun ap Iorwerth has warned the BBC’s director-general, Matt Brittin, that planned cuts in Wales risk an “irreversible deterioration” in its service and could put the corporation in breach of its Royal Charter obligations. BBC Wales announ…