Kemi Badenoch says a Conservative government would end inheritance tax on family homes and let couples leave another 1m pounds tax-free

The rest of the day

21 more stories on this beat.

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

1. 02

   Britain heads for its worst run on living standards

   The Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a UK charity that studies poverty, expects household incomes to fall over this parliament. [10][11] After paying for housing and allowing for rising prices, incomes in 2029-30 would be 440 to 770 pounds a year lower than in 2024-25. [11] Either figure would make it the worst parliament since records began in 1961. [11] The range depends on energy prices, which have tracked the Bank of England's worse case since oil went back above 100 dollars a barrel. [10][11]

   Why it matters — John Healey, the UK's chancellor, gives his Budget on 28 October and is expected to offer about 1bn pounds of help with energy bills. [10] The charity wants a fixed block of cheaper energy for every home, with more for those in need, while the UK Treasury points to taking VAT, a sales tax, off electricity bills. [10]

2. 03

   US home loan rates hit a three-year high

   The average 30-year fixed US mortgage rate rose to 7.49% in the week to 2 October, the Mortgage Bankers Association, a lenders' group, said. [12] It was last higher in November 2023. [12] US mortgage rates follow the 10-year US government borrowing rate and have climbed about 1.4 percentage points since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began in late February. [12] Freddie Mac, a US home-loan agency, put its average at 7.28%, and mortgage applications fell 6% in a week. [14]

   Why it matters — At 7.28%, a median-priced US home costs about 900 dollars a month more than at the 3% rates of the pandemic years, NPR calculated. [13] A four-year used-car loan costs about three percentage points more than at the start of 2022. [13]

3. 04

   UK house prices stand still

   UK house prices did not move in September, according to Lloyds, a big UK bank whose index used to be called the Halifax index. [15] The average home cost 298,441 pounds, about the same as a month and a year earlier. [15] Prices had fallen 0.3% in August, the first fall in three years. [15] On Monday the average five-year fixed mortgage reached 6% for the first time in three years. [15]

   Why it matters — Applications for mortgages to buy a home were 18.2% lower in the third quarter than a year before, and first-time buyers' fell 18.6%, Stonebridge, a mortgage network, found. [15] Owners whose fixed deals end now renew at the higher rates. [15]

4. 05

   US heating oil bills to rise a fifth

   The US Energy Information Administration, the US government's energy statistics office, expects homes heated with oil to spend 2,115 dollars this winter, 21% more than last winter. [16][17] The fuel is forecast to cost 34% more, at 5.26 dollars a gallon, but a warmer Northeast should mean less of it is burned. [17] Heating oil is almost the same product as diesel, which is scarce after refinery disruptions in Russia and the Middle East. [17] About 4.1 million US homes use it, 82% of them in the Northeast. [17]

   2,115 dollarsHome heated with oil

   vsvs

   640 dollarsHome heated with gas

   Why it matters — Homes heated with natural gas should spend 9% less, about 640 dollars, and propane homes 3% less. [16] NEADA, a group of state officials who run energy help for poorer homes, expects oil heating to cost about 50% more, with prices near 6 dollars a gallon across much of the Northeast. [17][18]

5. 06

   India raises interest rates

   The Reserve Bank of India, the country's central bank, raised its main interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 5.5% on Wednesday. [19][20] It was its first rise since February 2023. [20] Prices in India rose 4.8% in the year to August, above the bank's 4% target, after ten months of rising inflation. [19] India buys about 90% of its crude oil abroad, and oil costs more than 100 dollars a barrel. [20]

   Why it matters — Banks pass the higher rate on, so Indians may pay more for car, home and personal loans, the BBC reports. [20] Governor Sanjay Malhotra said rate cuts were off the table for now. [20]

6. 07

   Americans expect prices to rise faster

   US households now expect prices to rise 3.9% over the next year, up from 3.6% in August, the New York Federal Reserve's monthly survey found. [22] That is its highest reading since May 2023. [22] More households said they were worse off than a year ago, and more expected to be worse off next year. [21] The survey asks a rotating panel of about 1,300 heads of household. [21]

   Why it matters — Petrol cost a US average of 4.37 dollars a gallon on Wednesday, against about 3.12 dollars a year ago, according to AAA, a motoring group. [21] The US central bank treats these expectations as one of the things that drive real price rises. [22]

7. 08

   Trump's payments to voters reach 2.35bn dollars

   The Trump administration is sending 2.35bn dollars in direct payments to millions of Americans in the weeks before the 3 November elections for the US Congress, Reuters counted. [23] They include 90 dollars each to 20.8 million people in Medicare Part B, part of the US health scheme for over-65s, and 500 dollars each to 950,000 people who buy cover on HealthCare.gov. [23] Reuters found that 71% of those getting 500 dollars live in states with close Senate or governor races. [23]

   Why it matters — Most of the 70.6 million people in Medicare, and buyers in the 20 states that run their own health marketplaces, get nothing. [23] A separate promise of 5,000 dollars for every adult would cost 1.2 trillion dollars and needs the US Congress, where it has won little support. [23]

8. 09

   US housing agency investigates Wells Fargo

   The US Department of Housing and Urban Development has told Wells Fargo, one of the country's biggest mortgage lenders, that it is investigating the bank for discrimination. [24] Its letter says programmes for Black home buyers, including cheaper refinancing and a 150m-dollar credit programme, broke the Fair Housing Act. [24] That civil-rights-era law bars lenders from weighing race when they decide on loans. [24] The agency raised the prospect of bringing in the Justice Department. [24]

   Why it matters — Black and Hispanic families are far less likely to own homes than white and Asian families, according to the Pew Research Center. [24] Wells Fargo has deleted many references to the programme from its website, and its shares fell 1.5%. [24]

9. 10

   US Medicare drug premiums barely move

   Medicare, the US health scheme for over-65s, expects the average monthly premium for stand-alone drug plans to rise by less than a dollar, from 35.09 to 36.00 dollars, in 2027. [25] Many had expected sharp rises after the US government ended a subsidy to drug-plan insurers in August. [25] That subsidy had paid insurers more than 3bn dollars this year. [26] Private insurers still set each plan's price, so premiums vary from plan to plan. [25]

   35.09 dollarsAverage premium, 2026

   vsvs

   36.00 dollarsAverage premium, 2027

   Why it matters — Other costs do rise: the most anyone pays from their own pocket in a year goes to 2,400 dollars from 2,100, and the highest deductible, what a person pays before cover starts, to 700 dollars. [25] About 56.1 million people have a Medicare drug plan. [25]

10. 11

    Rich residents leave Britain, or had already

    UK residents worth a combined 121bn pounds have left Britain or loosened their ties since Labour took power in 2024, an analysis of Bloomberg's billionaires list found. [27] Many blame the end of the non-dom rules, which let some residents pay UK tax only on money made in the UK. [27] The best-known recent case had not just left. [28] David Reuben, a property billionaire reported to have moved to Monaco, has been a tax resident there since at least 2014, TaxWatch, a research group, found. [28]

    Why it matters — Monaco charges no income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax. [28] Arun Advani, a tax economist, said rich people move every year and a few loud cases do not show that anything has changed. [27]

11. 12

    Madrid tenant whose eviction began protests dies

    Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old Madrid tenant, has died, the Madrid Tenants' Union said. [29] She was carried from her flat of more than 70 years on a stretcher on 23 September, after she could not pay a rent rise. [29] Her eviction set off protests across Spain and a political row that led to an early election. [29] The firm that owns the flat had offered her a lower rent, but she was in hospital before she could sign. [29]

    Why it matters — A few hundred people marched from Madrid's Puerta del Sol to Spain's parliament after the news. [29] In the Madrid region, renting an 80-square-metre flat would take 71% of the average advertised salary, a study by the property site Fotocasa and the jobs site InfoJobs found. [30]

12. 13

    Japan raids its four big brewers

    Japan's competition regulator, the Japan Fair Trade Commission, searched Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo and Suntory on suspicion that they fixed beer prices together. [31] The four firms dominate Japan's beer market. [31] The inquiry is reported to centre on price rises they made in October 2022 and in April last year. [31] All four had blamed higher costs for raw materials, energy and transport. [31]

    Why it matters — Kirin said the search was on suspicion of breaking Japan's Antimonopoly Act, its law against firms rigging a market. [31] Shares in Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo fell after the news. [31]

13. 14

    Royal Mail to cut 2,500 office jobs

    Royal Mail, Britain's main postal service, plans to cut 2,500 head office and support jobs by the end of 2027. [32] That is about 2% of its 131,000 staff. [32] Postal workers and drivers are not included, and the company says the cuts will come from voluntary redundancy and people leaving. [32] It blames competition and falling demand for letters. [32]

    Why it matters — The Communication Workers Union, which represents postal staff, said the plan showed a company demoralising its staff, and asked the UK government to step in. [32]

14. 15

    HSBC refunds a card fraud it first refused

    HSBC, a big UK bank, refused to refund Sahil Gandhi after 4,000 pounds was taken in chip-and-PIN payments in Dubai while his card sat in his gym locker in the UK. [33] The bank said its genuine card and PIN had been used, and accused him of writing the PIN down. [33] A security professor told Which?, the UK consumer group, that it sounded like a relay attack. [33] In that kind of attack, criminals catch a card's short-range radio signal and pass it to a machine far away. [33]

    Why it matters — After Which? took up the case, HSBC reversed its decision, citing the claim's unusual nature, and apologised. [33] UK customers whose bank rejects a complaint can take it to the Financial Ombudsman, which settles disputes with banks. [33]

15. 16

    A 6.5% savings account that earns less than 5%

    Chase, a digital bank in the UK, launched its first regular savings account at 6.5% interest. [34] Savers can put in at most 300 pounds a month, and only Chase current account holders can open one. [34] Which? worked out that paying in the full 300 pounds every month for a year earns 125.53 pounds of interest on 3,600 pounds. [34] The same 3,600 pounds paid in on day one at 5% would earn 180 pounds. [34]

    125.53 pounds6.5%, 300 pounds a month

    vsvs

    180 pounds5%, 3,600 pounds at once

    Why it matters — The rate is paid only on what is in the pot, and the pot starts empty and fills over the year. [34] Santander, another bank, pays 8% on its regular saver for the first year. [34]

16. 17

    Tui cruise passengers spent days on coaches

    Passengers who paid thousands of pounds for Tui river cruises on the Danube say they spent much of the trip on coaches. [35] Low water after a hot summer stopped the ship, Isla, from sailing parts of the river on the 14 and 21 September departures. [35] Richard Pearson says he spent 14 to 15 hours on coaches and wants back part of the 3,300 pounds he paid. [35] Tui offered no refund, saying the trips ran under its standard booking conditions. [35]

    Why it matters — One group that chose not to travel on the changed plan has complained and says it will go to the small claims court, a court for small sums, if it must. [35]

17. 18

    Bumblebee and hedgehog chosen for UK banknotes

    The Bank of England chose a puffin, a barn owl, a buff-tailed bumblebee and a hedgehog for its next series of banknotes. [36][37] Wildlife replaces the figures from history, such as Winston Churchill, who appear on the notes now. [36] More than 2.5 million votes came from 478,531 people, and the bumblebee won with 360,399. [36] The monarch's portrait stays, and which animal goes on which note will be decided later. [37]

    Why it matters — The Bank says the animals were also chosen because distinctive images make notes harder to forge. [36][37] Designing, testing and printing a new series takes several years. [37]

18. 19

    UK money rules to rise with the economy

    The Prudential Regulation Authority, the part of the Bank of England that supervises banks, insurers and credit unions, wants 128 of its money limits to rise automatically. [38] They would grow every five years in line with the UK economy's total output in pounds, which rises with both prices and real growth, from 1 July 2031. [38] Today the limits change only when the PRA updates them by hand. [38] The smallest is a 7,500-pound limit on what one person can owe a credit union. [38]

    Why it matters — The regulator says limits left unchanged become barriers for small and medium firms that sit just under them. [38] The consultation is open until 7 February 2027. [38]

19. 20

    South Africa pressed for fuel relief

    Unions and business groups are pressing South Africa's government for about 600m dollars of help with fuel costs. [39] The Iran war pushed a litre of fuel above 30 rand, almost 2 dollars, for the first time. [39] Cosatu, the country's biggest union federation, says workers spend nearly a third of their wages on transport. [39] South Africa's central bank has raised its main interest rate twice this year. [39]

    Why it matters — Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana presents his three-year spending plan later this month, and relief would test the coalition government's name for careful budgets. [39]

20. 21

    Families with children leave New York City

    New York City's public schools have about 885,000 pupils this year, against more than a million a decade ago, said Mark Levine, the city's comptroller, its chief financial officer. [40] He expects 150,000 fewer over the next decade. [40] Families with young children leave the city at more than twice the rate of other households. [40] There are now 219 schools with fewer than 200 pupils each. [40]

    1 million+Pupils a decade ago

    vsvs

    885,000Pupils this year

    Why it matters — Care for a baby and a four-year-old averages 28,190 dollars a year across the US, according to LendingTree, a loans website. [40] A household needs at least 211,970 dollars a year to afford a median-priced home in the city, StreetEasy, a property site, says. [40]

21. 22

    Five rate-rigging convictions overturned

    The Court of Appeal in London quashed the convictions of five former Barclays traders jailed for rigging Libor and Euribor. [41][42] Those were benchmark interest rates that once set the cost of loans such as mortgages and car finance. [41] The ruling follows the UK Supreme Court's 2025 decision clearing Tom Hayes, which found the juries had been given unfair instructions. [42] The Serious Fraud Office, which brought the cases, did not fight the appeals. [42]

    Why it matters — Two traders still hold convictions over rate rigging, and one of them, Christian Bittar, challenges his on 9 October. [41] Hayes and Carlo Palombo, cleared in 2025, argued they had been prosecuted for normal business practice to satisfy public anger after the 2008 crisis. [41]