Morning Briefing: Saturday 7 November 2026
- Thursday’s rate rise reaches your pocket fastest if you are one of 1.3 million on a variable mortgage; if you are a saver, Nationwide’s 5.3% members-only bond and easy-access accounts near 5% mean it pays to move cash now.
- New US strikes on Iran and a Qatari plan to reopen Hormuz pull in opposite directions on oil: Brent ended the week at $98 after a 16% fall, so Monday’s open will decide whether the recent easing at the pump continues.
- The fight over merging England’s 43 police forces into eight to ten is now a mayors-versus-Met contest for Andy Burnham to settle; whichever way he goes will decide who you call, and who answers, for the next decade.
Trump orders ‘minor’ strikes on Iran as Qatar pushes Hormuz deal
American forces struck an Iranian air-defence site on Qeshm island on Friday, the first attack since the midterms. “They built a little bit of an anti-aircraft device and we knocked it out in about 15 minutes, maybe five,” Donald Trump tol…
Trump makes Stephen Miller chief of staff as Susie Wiles departs
Donald Trump has replaced Susie Wiles with Stephen Miller, the architect of his immigration crackdown, as White House chief of staff three days after the midterm defeat. “Sometimes in life you have to make moves,” the president said; Mr Mi…
Paraguay’s Peña impeached 44–0 and placed under house arrest
Paraguay’s Senate voted 44 to nil on Friday to remove Santiago Peña from office over the collapse of Ueno bank, and prosecutors arrested him at his home minutes later on suspicion of illicit enrichment, money laundering and influence peddl…
Wall Street steadies as US adds 165,000 jobs; FTSE closes 1% down
The Nasdaq rose 1.1% and the S&P 500 0.3% on Friday after Thursday’s rout, helped by an October jobs report showing 165,000 posts added against a forecast of 59,000 and unemployment falling to 4.1%. The Dow slipped 0.4%. London did not sha…
Bomb hoaxes top 50 flights this week as Ireland sees ‘coordinated campaign’
At least 18 more flights to or from Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, France, Hungary, Italy, Portugal, Romania and Britain were disrupted by hoax bomb threats on Friday, taking the week’s total past 50, and Dublin’s broadcasters were evacuated a…
Brand inquiry widens as barrister reports himself over courtroom clash
The Metropolitan Police are investigating two further rape allegations against Russell Brand and will begin sifting reports about other potential victims next week, with detectives reported to fear the eventual number could reach double fi…
Variable-rate borrowers feel Thursday’s rise as savers are offered 5.3%
Around 1.3 million households on variable-rate mortgages are the first to pay for the Bank of England’s quarter-point rise to 4%, while one borrower coming off a 1.4% five-year fix faces paying about £200 a month more at the best two-year…
Northern mayors call Met chief’s ‘super-force’ plan a threat to local policing
England’s regional mayors have turned on Sir Mark Rowley’s proposal to merge the 43 police forces into eight to ten, a day after his speech warning that policing is “heading for failure”. Liverpool’s Steve Rotheram called it “the wolf of c…
Early-release prisoners sleeping rough up 130% in three years, charity finds
The number of prisoners released into rough sleeping has risen 130% in three years, from 6,040 in 2022–23 to 14,360 in 2025–26, according to the prison charity Pact, as probation officers warn that the next tranche of early releases on 10…
Hoyle: Parliament restoration delays ‘frustrating’ as cost estimate hits £40bn
The Commons Speaker, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, says MPs are “putting ourselves in handcuffs” by endlessly surveying the Palace of Westminster instead of repairing it, days after the Public Accounts Committee called this “crunch time” for a restor…