Money, in brief

BT, the UK's biggest broadband provider, has agreed to buy TalkTalk out of administration. [1][2] Administration is the legal process for a company that cannot pay its debts.

TalkTalk sells broadband and phone lines to about 1.5 million homes. [1][2] Its wholesale arm, PXC, serves about 1 million more lines that other companies sell on. [1][2]

BT's boss counts those two groups together as 2.5 million customers. [1][5] So 1.5 million is the number of homes, and 2.5 million counts every line.

Nothing changes for TalkTalk customers today. [1] Which?, the UK consumer group, says prices, the way people pay and the service all stay the same for now. [3]

TalkTalk customers' contracts move to BT along with the firm. [3] A customer still inside a minimum term would pay an exit fee to leave, Which? says. [3]

Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator, says a customer may leave without a fee if a new owner raises the price beyond what the contract allowed. [1]

About 250,000 TalkTalk customers are vulnerable. [2] Some are elderly or disabled people whose emergency alarm pendants run over the old copper phone lines. [2]

Lisa Nandy, the UK culture secretary, used a public-interest notice so that she makes the final decision. [2][5] The Competition and Markets Authority must report to her by 19 October. [4]

Virgin Media O2, a rival, called it a stitch-up dressed as a rescue. [2][5] Tom O'Hagan, a former TalkTalk executive whose own bid lost, warned of less choice and higher prices. [1]

BT says the deal will cost it about 400m pounds this year. [2][4] That includes 100m pounds TalkTalk owes Openreach, BT's network arm, which will not be paid. [2][4]

TalkTalk's home customers fell from 4 million in 2019 to about 1.5 million. [2] A 2021 takeover by a hedge fund left it with about 1.5bn pounds of debt. [2]

The UK has no 'supplier of last resort' for broadband, a scheme that hands a failed firm's customers to another firm, as energy and water have. [6] Ofcom had told governments to create one. [6]

BT had 32.5% of UK broadband customers from March to June, and TalkTalk 6.6%, says Opensignal, a firm that measures networks. [1]

Why it matters. The next test is the competition report due on 19 October, and whether BT then says what happens to TalkTalk's prices and contracts once the two firms stop running separately. [4][2]

Glasgow City Council and Unison, its biggest union, reached a deal on Monday over a new pay system. [7][8] The council had told all 23,000 of its non-teaching staff they could be dismissed and taken back on new terms. [8] The new system is meant to end years of unequal pay for women, but it would have cut wages for 11% of the staff assessed so far. [7] Those wages will now be protected for three years. [7][8] Unison will ballot its members over four weeks. [7]

Why it matters. The workers who were facing cuts now have three years before any loss arrives. [7] The council says no more money is coming, so what happens after those three years is still open. [7]

Andrew Griffith, the UK Conservative party's shadow chancellor, spoke at its conference in Birmingham on Monday. [9] He said he hoped to scrap at least one tax in every Budget if his party wins power, but only when the country can afford it. [9] First on his list is an extra council tax on homes in England worth more than 2m pounds, due to start in 2028. [9] He also said the party would keep the state pension triple lock, which raises pensions every year. [9]

Why it matters. The surcharge falls only on the most expensive homes, so scrapping it helps a small group of owners. [9] The Conservatives are in opposition, so none of this changes until an election. [9]

The Conservatives say cutting building rules would take up to 50,000 pounds off the cost of a new home in England and Wales. [10] BBC Verify found the figure comes from estimates by the housebuilding industry, and the party has not given a full breakdown. [10] The plan assumes builders pass the savings to buyers rather than keep them as profit. [10] E3G, a climate think tank, says dropping the rule that new homes need heat pumps and solar panels would add about 1,000 pounds a year to their energy bills. [11]

Why it matters. A buyer could pay less on the day they buy and more every year they live there. [10][11] The 50,000 pounds only reaches buyers if builders choose to cut their prices. [10]

The average five-year fixed-rate mortgage in the UK has reached 6.00%, the highest since September 2023, says Moneyfacts, a firm that tracks loan prices. [12] The average two-year fix is 5.98%. [12] At the start of September there were 1,494 fixed deals priced under 5%, and now there are nine. [12] On a 250,000-pound loan, 6% costs 158 pounds a month more than the 4.94% average in February. [12]

Why it matters. This lands on people whose old fixed deal is ending and on anyone buying a home now. [12] Nationwide, a building society, says yearly house price growth halved in September. [12]

Sainsbury's, the UK's second-biggest supermarket, held talks this year about merging with Morrisons, the Guardian reports, citing the Financial Times and Sky. [13] The talks are no longer live. [13] Together they would hold 23.6% of the grocery market, behind Tesco's 27.8%. [13] In 2019 the Competition and Markets Authority blocked a deal between Asda and Sainsbury's, saying it would mean higher prices. [13] Lidl's British sales rose 10%, to more than 13bn pounds, in the year to February. [13]

Why it matters. Fewer big supermarkets usually means less pressure to keep food prices down, which is why such a deal would face the same regulator now judging BT. [13] Shoppers are already moving to cheaper stores like Lidl. [13]

A Guardian Australia investigation found more than 100 unmarked graves in New South Wales used to bury people too poor to pay for a funeral. [14] Each grave usually holds four to six strangers, at Rookwood cemetery in Sydney. [14][15] They include two Vietnam war veterans, though a federal fund exists to pay for poor veterans' funerals. [14] In six cases, family or friends were not told in time to pay for a burial themselves. [15] NSW Health has apologised. [14]

Why it matters. The state takes charge of the remains when nobody can pay, which means about 98 burials a year in New South Wales. [15] Families who would have paid lost the chance to say so. [14]

A woman's husband booked a 2,400-pound cottage with Sykes Holiday Cottages for an 80th birthday, then died 10 days before the trip. [16] Sykes refused to move the booking into her name without a death certificate, which she could not get because an inquest had been ordered. [16] It then sent emails to her late husband asking if he had enjoyed the stay. [16] After the Guardian's consumer column asked, Sykes refunded the 2,400 pounds and added 150 pounds. [16]

Why it matters. Sykes has no written policy for customers who die, so a family's money depended on one complaint reaching the press. [16] The firm says it is reviewing its processes. [16]

President Donald Trump signed an order on Monday letting dyed diesel, the untaxed fuel meant for farms, be used on US roads. [17] It defers the federal fuel tax of 24.4 cents a gallon until the end of the year. [17] US diesel prices are at record highs, and at least 10 states had already done the same. [17] Trump said a typical trucker would save more than 100 dollars on every fill-up. [17]

Why it matters. Food and many other goods move by truck in the US, so dear diesel pushes up their prices. [17] The tax is deferred, not cancelled, unless the US Treasury finds a way to drop it. [17]

Pakistan's government raised petrol by Rs0.88 a litre to Rs393.64 and cut diesel by Rs1.88 to Rs397.76, from Tuesday. [18] Prices are now set every day because of the war with Iran. [18] Petrol peaked at Rs458.41 in April, after starting the war at about Rs266. [18] Pakistan's government still takes Rs114 a litre in taxes on petrol and Rs100 on diesel. [18]

Why it matters. Petrol fuels the motorbikes, rickshaws and small cars of middle- and lower-income families. [18] Diesel moves goods and runs generators, so its price reaches almost everyone. [18]

Pedro Sanchez, Spain's prime minister, has called a snap general election for 29 November. [19] It came after parliament narrowly voted down his measures to stop evictions and improve tenants' contracts. [19] Anger over rents has grown in recent days, the BBC reports. [19] Polls put the conservative People's Party on about 34% and his Socialists on 26%. [20]

Why it matters. Renters in Spain now wait for an election to decide whether any new protections come at all. [19][20] A right-wing government could include Vox, which voted against the tenant measures. [19][20]

More than 100,000 public workers in Ireland, including nurses, school staff and civil servants, began work-to-rule last week. [21] That means doing only the duties their contracts require, with no unpaid extra hours. [21] Their last pay agreement with the Irish government ended on 30 June, and no talks are taking place. [21] Teachers' unions planned to join from 5 October, with one-day strikes on 14 and 21 October. [21]

Why it matters. Schools could close on the strike days, which lands on working parents. [21] The unions want cost-of-living help at the start of any talks, and Ireland's government wants talks first. [21]

About 130 workers at Pilgrim's Europe's food factory in Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, voted to accept a pay deal and end their strike. [22] They had been on strike since the start of September. [22] The deal gives all shop-floor workers a 4% rise and pays them fully for their breaks. [22] The plant makes brands such as Fridge Raiders and Richmond sausages. [22]

Why it matters. Paid breaks add to take-home money without changing the hourly rate. [22] Talks on next year's pay start at the end of this year. [22]

US airfares in August were 23.4% higher than a year earlier, CNBC reports. [23] Hopper, a fare-tracking app, says a round trip over Thanksgiving costs 402 dollars, up 31%. [23] Christmas fares are up 23%, at 452 dollars. [23] Airlines have passed higher jet fuel costs on to passengers since the war with Iran began in February. [23]

Why it matters. Families travelling home for the holidays are booking anyway, and booking earlier than usual. [23] Delta, the first big US airline to report this season, gives its outlook on Friday. [23]