Ireland's budget raises the income at which the higher tax rate starts to 46,500 euros, cuts heating fuel tax and lifts childcare help by up to 2,220 euros a child

The rest of the day

15 more stories on this beat.

Each with its own sources. None of these is a link to the story above.

1. 02

   Britain weighs 100 pounds more off poorer homes' bills

   John Healey, Britain's chancellor, plans to spend over 1 billion pounds on energy help in this month's Budget. [3] Most would add 100 pounds to the Warm Home Discount, a 150-pound cut for households on certain benefits. [3] Bill-payers fund today's discount; the extra would come from taxes. [3] Forecasts say the price cap could rise up to 442 pounds in January, wiping out October's VAT cut on electricity. [3][4] In 2023 every home in Northern Ireland got 600 pounds from a UK scheme, because paying by heating fuel proved too complicated. [5]

   about 1bn100 pounds, homes on benefits

   vsvs

   up to 3.2bn120 pounds, every home

   Why it matters — Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, wants green levies taken off every bill instead, cutting up to 120 pounds for all homes at a cost of up to 3.2 billion pounds. [3] Final decisions have not been made. [3]

2. 03

   Tories would halve a jobs tax for young workers

   Kemi Badenoch, leader of Britain's Conservative party, said on Tuesday it would halve employer national insurance on jobs done by people aged 21 to 24. [6] Employer national insurance is a tax a company pays on top of each worker's wage. [6] The rate would fall from 15% to 7.5% on earnings up to 50,270 pounds. [6] The party puts the cost at 3.25 billion pounds, falling to 2.3 billion by 2029-30 once more young people are in work and paying tax. [6] The party says it will publish how it pays for it on Wednesday. [6]

   Why it matters — Asked why most workers get no cut, Badenoch said she would cut it for everybody if she could afford it. [6] As talk grew that she would also propose cutting inheritance tax, paid on about one estate in 20, she denied a cut would mostly help the rich. [6]

3. 04

   Insurance fraud found in Britain jumps 14%

   Insurers in Britain uncovered 1.34 billion pounds of fraudulent claims in 2025, up 14% from 1.18 billion, the Association of British Insurers said. [7][8] The number of false claims they caught fell 2.7% to 93,900, so each one was bigger. [7] The average reached 14,300 pounds, close to the record of 14,600 set in 2022. [7] Car insurance made up 55% of cases. [7]

   Why it matters — City of London police say fraud raises premiums for honest customers, and that the 250 cases a day found are likely only part of it. [8] One man was jailed for 28 months after claiming more than 14,000 pounds for Lego sets that police later found in his living room. [7][8]

4. 05

   A record share of US car loans now run seven years

   A record 25.5% of new US cars bought with a loan between July and September had loans of 84 months or longer, up from 21.8% a year earlier, said Edmunds, a car-shopping website. [9] Even so, the average monthly payment hit a record 787 dollars. [9] Buyers borrowed 44,664 dollars on average, also a record. [9] The average interest rate on new-car loans stayed at 7%. [9] In the spring, Americans took out a record 211 billion dollars in car loans, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found. [10]

   Year earlier21.8%

   July-Sept 202625.5%

   Why it matters — Longer loans are one reason more buyers now owe more than their car is worth, CNBC reports. [24] Among such underwater trade-ins, the average gap was 6,884 dollars between April and June, against 4,576 dollars in 2015, Edmunds says. [24]

5. 06

   More UK parents open pensions for babies

   More British parents are opening pensions for their children, called Junior SIPPs, which have existed since 2001. [11] Hargreaves Lansdown, a big investment firm, opened two and a half times as many in the year to April 2026 as a year before. [11] Fidelity says its number has more than tripled since December 2023. [11] Parents can pay in 2,880 pounds a year, and the UK government adds 720 pounds of tax relief on top. [11]

   Why it matters — Under current rules the child cannot touch the money until 57, so one Swansea couple's elder child, now 20 months old, waits until 2082. [11] The UK government's top-up is a quarter of what a family pays in, so it goes to families with money to spare. [11]

6. 07

   Australians at their gloomiest since the 1990s

   Confidence among Australian consumers fell 4.7% to 80.4 points in October, on the Westpac-Melbourne Institute survey. [12] People asked after Australia's central bank raised rates on 29 September scored 67.2, the lowest since the late 1990s. [12] The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its main rate from 4.35% to 4.6%, its fourth rise this year and the highest since 2011. [13] It adds about 120 Australian dollars a month to an average 730,000-dollar home loan. [13]

   Why it matters — People with a mortgage were the gloomiest owners, at 77 points; renters were the most hopeful, at 84.8. [12] The four rises this year have added about 480 dollars a month to an average family's repayments. [13]

7. 08

   Scottish islands pay Britain's dearest diesel

   Diesel in mainland Britain hit a record 200.01p a litre, so filling an average family car costs over 110 pounds, the RAC motoring group says. [14] On the Hebrides and Shetland, islands off Scotland, some stations sold it for more than 220p. [14] One man on North Uist says he paid 2.28 pounds a litre. [14] Fuel must be shipped there, and there is little competition between sellers. [14]

   Why it matters — Islanders say there is almost no public transport, so they still drive to work and cut back on food and trips instead. [14] Some fill jerry cans on the mainland, where diesel is about 20p cheaper. [14]

8. 09

   US diesel up 68% since the Iran war

   The average price of diesel in the US was 6.32 dollars a gallon on Tuesday, up from 3.76 dollars on 27 February, the day before the US and Israel bombed Iran, the motoring group AAA says. [15] Diesel moves food and goods to shops, so economists expect the cost to reach shop prices slowly. [15] Goldman Sachs, a big US bank, expects diesel to stay dear through 2027. [16]

   Why it matters — Michael Reid of the Royal Bank of Canada says people on lower and middle incomes will feel it most. [15] Goldman expects the extra that refiners charge over crude oil to stay at about twice its usual level, because there are not enough refineries. [16]

9. 10

   US water bills up 62% in ten years

   US households pay 62% more for drinking water than ten years ago, a study by Food & Water Watch, a US campaign group, found. [22] It looked at the 500 largest water systems, which serve about 155 million people. [22] An average household paid 531 dollars in 2025, against prices overall rising 39% over the decade. [22] Bills ranged from 133 to 1,416 dollars a year. [22]

   Water bills62%

   All prices39%

   Why it matters — Water systems run by companies charged an average of 823 dollars, against 494 dollars for publicly owned ones. [22] Bills in New Hampshire rose 177%. [22]

10. 11

    One in five Americans spends half their pay on housing

    One in five Americans who rent or have a mortgage spends at least half their income before tax on housing, a CNBC and SurveyMonkey survey released on 5 October found. [21] Another 49% spend between a quarter and a half. [21] Lenders usually say 28% to 30% is the most a household should spend. [21] The average rate on a 30-year fixed US home loan is above 7.5%. [21]

    Why it matters — Housing is now the top political issue for US voters aged 18 to 34, ahead of the midterm elections on 3 November. [21] In Pennsylvania, owning a home took 18% of the middle income in 2019 and takes 24% now. [21]

11. 12

    Rising bond rates hit retirees' income shares

    Shares in companies that pay steady dividends, a slice of profit paid to shareholders, have fallen as US government bond interest rates rose. [23] Many older Americans rely on such shares, in utilities, property and materials, for income. [23] Investors put more than 3.2 billion dollars into one long-term US government bond fund in a month, its biggest monthly inflow on record. [23]

    Why it matters — When a safe bond pays more, a share paying a similar income looks less worth its risk, so its price falls. [23] Fund managers quoted by CNBC say many dividend funds have given back gains made earlier in the year. [23]

12. 13

    Jersey's banks still refuse credit cards

    Jersey, a self-governing island near France, changed its law on 30 July so its government could share residents' data with UK credit checking firms. [17] Card companies had named the missing data as the main reason they turned islanders down. [17] The Jersey Consumer Council says several providers still refuse applications. [17] Jersey's government says offering cards is a business decision for the companies. [17]

    Why it matters — The council wants Jersey's government to write to card companies telling them the law has changed. [17] Jersey's government says it has worked with providers throughout and will keep doing so. [17]

13. 14

    NHS supply drivers to strike over a 4% offer

    Lorry drivers who deliver bandages, gloves, gowns and needles to hospitals in England will strike five times between 13 October and 12 November, the union Unite says. [18] They work for GXO, which runs the NHS supply contract. [18] They rejected a 4% pay offer, which GXO says is fair. [18] NHS Supply Chain says it has plans to keep deliveries going. [18]

    Why it matters — The walkouts hit seven depots, from Tyne and Wear in the north to Kent and Somerset in the south. [18] GXO says patient care remains its priority. [18]

14. 15

    Ikea wants to buy back old furniture online

    Ikea, the world's largest furniture seller, will test buying back used furniture online in Spain and Portugal before the end of December, paying in vouchers. [20] It will bring the service to Britain if the test works. [20] Its own second-hand marketplace opens in Britain this week, free at first, with a fee of about 5% later. [20] Britain's second-hand home goods market is worth over 4.5 billion pounds. [20]

    Why it matters — In 2025, 63% of British shoppers bought something through a resale site, up from 51% in 2024. [20] Ikea pays sellers 15% more if they take a gift card instead of cash. [20]

15. 16

    A cheap community shop opens in Kent

    A community supermarket run by SEK Community Food Shop opened in the Pentagon Centre in Chatham, in Kent, south-east England. [19] It sells surplus food cheaply, such as a 1-pound bag of fruit and vegetables, and anyone can shop without booking. [19] Medway Council paid to set it up from a crisis fund. [19] SEK's two other shops had 55,500 sales last year and saved 170 tonnes of food. [19]

    Why it matters — It also offers help with jobs, budgeting and money advice in a private room. [19] A pensioner couple there said a 6-pound bag of chicken would feed them for three or four meals. [19]