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| | PM to face questions after 'mini-budget' turmoil | |  | | | | | | | | | It's been another dramatic 24 hours for the British economy, with the Bank of England having stepped in to calm markets. Its pledge to buy £65bn in government bonds came with some types of pension fund at risk of collapse. The value of some bonds - used by the government to borrow money - had halved, forcing funds that held them to start selling. The Bank acted to stop a sell-off driving down the bond value further and leaving pension funds in a position where they could not pay off their debts.
Our economics editor Faisal Islam says the "clear cause was Friday's 'mini-budget', leading to a loss of market confidence, and spiralling borrowing rates on government debt". But a Treasury minister insists the government will not abandon its approach of borrowing to fund tax cuts. Andrew Griffith says the proposals are the "right plans" to grow the UK economy, claiming "every major economy is dealing with exactly the same issues" as a result of the war in Ukraine. Meanwhile, government departments are being asked to find spending cuts to help balance the books. And this morning Prime Minister Liz Truss will make her first media appearances since the mini-budget. She's on BBC local radio from 08:00BST. Follow our live page for all the latest.
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| | Hurricane Ian leaves two million without power | | | | | | | | | Having barrelled through Cuba on Tuesday, killing two people and shattering the electrical grid, Hurricane Ian has been causing chaos in the US. After making landfall in Florida, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 241km/h (150mph), it has been moving inland, bringing with it severe flooding, continued high winds and storm surges. More than two million homes remain without electricity. While the storm is now losing power, it is still projected to remain at hurricane strength as it moves into the Atlantic Ocean later, and northward to Georgia and South Carolina on Friday. Our live page has the latest footage of the destruction. | | | | | |
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| | | He had one of the biggest hits of the 1990s, the Grammy-winning Gangsta's Paradise, which cemented his place in hip-hop history. But the rap world is mourning Coolio, 59, who has been found dead on the bathroom floor of a friend's house in Los Angeles. The cause of death is yet to be released. There have been tributes from Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube and MC Hammer, the latter describing him as "one of the nicest dudes I've known". Over a career spanning four decades, Coolio recorded eight studio albums and won an American Music Award and three MTV Video Music Awards. He had been active, performing just a few days ago as part of a tour with other 90s stars including Vanilla Ice and Young MC. | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | The intervention was driven specifically by the need to stave off chaos in the corner of the financial services industry that underpins pension funds. This explains why the Monetary Policy Committee, that normally authorises bond-buying, did not make this decision.
Insiders are adamant that this decision does not signal anything about where interest rates might go, and is not a form of loosening monetary policy or "printing money", creating it out of thin air to help a troubled government with its funding. But all of this is only required because of the violent turn against British government debts since the mini-budget. It is a dramatic emergency medicine. The risk still lingers. It does not solve the underlying problem. | | | | | | | | | | | | Faisal Islam | | Economics editor | | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | There's more focus on the government's economic policy in the press, with the Guardian describing the Bank of England's snap decision to buy £65bn in government bonds as a "scramble to avert financial crisis". It was, according to the Sun, "squeaky fund time" on "the day £1,000,000,000,000 was nearly wiped off our pensions". Under the headline "Blunder Truss", the Daily Mirror says Prime Minister Liz Truss and her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng's tax cuts prompted the episode that left Britain "on the brink". However, the Daily Express says ministers have insisted the tax cuts laid out in the mini-budget are the "right plan for economic growth" and there will be "no U-turn". Read the full review. | | | | | |
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| | | | | | | | | | | | | HMRC Thousands complain about tax repayments | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you watch one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you listen to one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | If you read one thing today | | | | | | | | | | |
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| | Need something different? | | | | | | | | | Did you hear about the triple Grammy Award-winning pop star and the crystal flute gifted to a 19th Century US president? It sounds like an unlikely combination but singer Lizzo - a classically trained flautist - played the 200-year-old instrument in front of a crowd in Washington DC, declaring it: "Like playing out of a wine glass." Find out how it all came about - and why the police were involved.
And on to very different - but no less fascinating - artefacts found in a rented flat in Birkenhead, Merseyside. Only after Ron Gittins died, in 2019, did his relatives discover he'd turned his home into a secret world, with a fireplace sculpted into a minotaur, a lion's head emerging from another chimney breast and painted fish swimming around his bathroom walls. Campaigners want to preserve his work - and turn the flat into a space for local artists. Take a look at the weird and wonderful creations. | | | | | |
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| | | | | 1979 Pope John Paul II calls on the people of Ireland to end all violence and return to "the ways of peace", in a speech to 300,000 people in Drogheda. | | | | | | |
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| | | Let us know what you think of this newsletter by emailing bbcnewsdaily@bbc.co.uk. If you’d like to recommend it to a friend, forward this email. New subscribers can sign up here. | | | | | |
