OBR outlook for living standards also downgraded as part of impact of Middle East conflict on economy Healey offers £100 payment to households to help navigate ‘global economic storms’ Budget 2026: key points at a glance Budget 2026 live – latest updates Britain’s economy has taken a multibillion-pound hit as the war in the Middle East drags down growth and triggers a fresh cost of living crisis, according to the government’s independent forecaster. In a report as John Healey announced his first budget, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) issued a sharp downgrade for growth, living standards and the public finances despite the measures taken by the chancellor . Continue reading...
UK growth forecast for 2027 slashed despite Healey’s budget measures
Source: The Guardian
Original reporting
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CNBC4 outlets
At least 68 people dead in high-speed Spain train crash
High-speed service travelling from Madrid to Seville runs into back of another, knocking two carriages off track Spain train crash – latest updates At least 64 people have been killed after two high-speed trains collided in Toledo province in central Spain, in the country’s second major train accident this year. The trains were travelling in the same direction on the line from the Spanish capital, Madrid, to Seville in the south-west of the country. One ran into the tail of the other that had stopped, knocking two of its cars off the track. Authorities said the cause of the crash was not yet known. Continue reading...
CNBC
The UK cuts energy bills, taxes banks and boosts defense in high-stakes budget
The U.K. budget cuts household energy costs, raises taxes on banks and directs billions toward defense, Ukraine and artificial intelligence
BBC Business4 outlets
Budget 2026: Key points at a glance
John Healey has announced his first budget – here are the main points, with political analysis Healey offers £100 payment to households to help navigate ‘global economic storms’ UK growth forecast for 2027 slashed despite Healey’s budget measures Budget 2026 live – latest updates John Healey starts by saying that his budget is “delivered at a time when global uncertainties and pressures are swirling worldwide and hitting people here at home”. Healey says he will meet the fiscal rule that day-to-day spending must be covered by tax receipts, and the investment rule that government debt, defined as public sector net financial liabilities, must be falling as a percentage of GDP in the third year of the forecast. The government will have £15bn of headroom in 2029-30 and £20bn in 2030-31, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the government’s forecaster. Government borrowing will
The Guardian
GSK shares dive as weaker vaccine sales unnerve investors
British pharma company one of biggest fallers on FTSE 100 despite better than expected financial results Business live – latest updates Shares in GSK slid on Wednesday despite the UK drugmaker reporting better than expected financial results, as investors were unnerved by weaker sales of its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and shingles vaccines, and recently launched medications. Britain’s second-biggest pharmaceutical company reported a 19% decline in pre-tax profit to £1.9bn in the July to September quarter and £318m of restructuring charges, with more to come. Core operating profit and core earnings per share rose 5% and 1% respectively, however, beating analysts’ expectations. Continue reading...
BBC Business
Your pay, energy bills and savings: How the Budget affects you
Changes announced by Chancellor John Healey in his first Budget will affect your finances directly. Here's how.
The Guardian
‘Elonville’: US residents say Musk’s xAI offered to buy homes if they don’t sue over datacenter noise
Several Mississippi homes have been purchased near datacenters and one resident said realtor outlined target to buy more than 400 People in a Mississippi neighborhood, many of whom dislike a nearby power plant central to Elon Musk ’s artificial intelligence ambitions, have received a stark offer – to sell their houses to his company and make way. Real estate agents have been going door to door in Southaven, Mississippi, on behalf of xAI, touting a deal to purchase houses as long as the owners agree to not join a lawsuit against the company over the power plant’s noise. (Musk’s AI company officially became SpaceXAI in July and has lately been rebranded as SpaceXSI but to neighbors of the datacenter in Mississippi, it remains xAI.) Continue reading...