Chancellor John Healey to end standing charges on household gas bills, as City expects a quiet budget – business live
Posted on Wednesday October 28, 2026

Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news

• What to expect from John Healey’s first budget: who wins, who pays?

Abolishing the standing charge doesn’t mean that every gas user will save money.

Because the cost is shifting onto the unit rate of gas, a household that consumes a lot of gas might end up paying more overall.

“Too many families face unfair charges, so we’re making it easier for people to take control of their energy bills.

“By removing one of the nation’s bugbears - taking standing charges off gas bills, with extra support for those who need it - we’ll give millions of people breathing space.

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What to expect from John Healey’s first budget: who wins, who pays?
Posted on Wednesday October 28, 2026

Struggling households, new homebuyers and small shops stand to gain, while banks and online marketplaces could face higher levies

John Healey will present his first budget on Wednesday, which will set the tone for Andy Burnham’s premiership.

Despite the chancellor’s promises in the summer that the tax and spending event would not be beset by the leaks that preceded those of his predecessor, Rachel Reeves, both official and unofficial sources have indicated much of what Healey is likely to announce. Here’s what to expect:

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Budget 2026: six charts that reveal the economic realities facing the chancellor
Posted on Tuesday October 27, 2026

From tackling the youth jobs crisis to repairing Brexit’s economic damage, John Healey has his work cut out for him

• You be the chancellor: play our budget game to see if you can balance the books

John Healey will deliver his first budget on Wednesday as UK households and businesses come under pressure from the unfolding economic shock caused by the war in the Middle East.

Against a febrile backdrop in global markets, the chancellor is facing a delicate balancing act to provide “breathing space” measures to ease the cost of living crisis while increasing growth and sticking to the fiscal rules.

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Plan for multibillion-pound Sizewell nuclear plant a ‘terrible deal’ for UK taxpayers, MPs say
Posted on Wednesday October 28, 2026

The public accounts committee has said the risk to billpayers is ‘extraordinary’

The government’s plan to fund a multibillion-pound nuclear plant at the Sizewell site in Suffolk represents a “terrible deal” for the UK taxpayer over the rest of the century, according to the government’s spending watchdog.

MPs on the public accounts committee (PAC) have warned the government that the cost of the Sizewell C nuclear reactor could spiral to almost £48bn, leaving bill payers on the hook to provide an extra £9.8bn to construct the plant before 2040 and a further £12bn over its 60-year operating life.

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‘Meaningless as a laptop screensaver’: reviewers slate Musk’s AI-made Odyssey film
Posted on Tuesday October 27, 2026

Tesla tycoon launched Grok project after criticising Christoper Nolan’s diverse casting for his Homeric blockbuster

Elon Musk has released an AI-generated rival to Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey after pledging to make a version “true to the art of Homer”.

Having criticised the hit movie in the summer, the tycoon said he would use Grok Imagine to make a “historically accurate” adaptation.

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Anthropic accelerates – for the rest of us, the speed of growth spells precarity
Posted on Tuesday October 27, 2026

The AI industry is still defined by a careening intensity that’s taking the world’s finances along for the ride

• This was originally published in TechScape, a newsletter about how technology shapes our lives. Sign up to receive it here.

Today in tech, we’re discussing Anthropic’s astronomic growth, how a settlement over social media safety dented Meta’s revenue, and Lula’s accusations of interference against Meta.

‘You can’t make this stuff up’: why we remain fascinated by Elizabeth Holmes

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The datacentre next door: on the frontline of tech’s latest David v Goliath battle

Meta plans $95bn stock offering to help cover AI expansion

iPhone Duo owners report cracks in Apple’s first foldable handset

Microsoft to reportedly offer buyouts to 60,000 employees in latest cuts

Ukraine’s military says Starlink satellite connection stable after recent restrictions

Experts cast doubt on Anthropic report detailing how AI has altered work at the company

‘Black October’: cybersecurity experts sound the alarm over new era of AI-enabled hacking

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Fantastic Fleetwood seal shootout success in Carabao Cup shock against Arsenal
Posted on Tuesday October 27, 2026

It is more than 20 years since Arsenal played at Highbury but their trip to League Two Fleetwood – and a stadium of the same name – did not bring back fond memories as they were dumped out of the Carabao Cup on penalties. It was the team with red shirts and white sleeves that triumphed, but on this occasion it caused one of the greatest upsets in English football history.

Aaron Loupalo-Bi and Viktor Gyökeres exchanged goals in normal time but Arsenal were unable to find a winner, despite being the dominant force, as Fleetwood battled to the end. The home manager, Matt Lawlor, was almost in tears, unable to cope after the tension was released when Conor Haughey smashed the ball into the top corner to settle the shootout.

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An unmanageable club? Carrick the latest to suffer in Manchester United’s faded grandeur
Posted on Tuesday October 27, 2026

Only Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson have truly succeeded in the Old Trafford hot seat with each casting uneasy shadows

Should any football club fit the Great Man theory of history it is Manchester United. In the past 100 years, only Matt Busby and Alex Ferguson have knocked the club into shape. A pair of 20th-century Scotsmen, born 15 miles apart in Bellshill and Govan respectively, found the key. Otherwise, United has been a managerial dustbin, Michael Carrick the latest likely lobbed on the pile.

Busby and Ferguson built the club around themselves, possessing the charisma to convince others that theirs was the path to follow. Carrick, an insider, a club man, is falling victim to the same isolation as his predecessors in failure. Bruno Fernandes and Lisandro Martínez going off-piste in TV interviews to depth charge Carrick were actually following club tradition. With glamour comes decadence, the faded grandeur that has so often chased a United manager out the door.

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