Hitting banks with a windfall tax and extending the mansion tax to homes worth £1.5m have the backing of voters a poll suggests, in a potential boost for the Chancellor ahead of the Budget.
John Healey is facing a major challenge to balance the books ahead of the 28 October Budget as global instability threatens to wipe out his financial headroom against Labour’s spending and borrowing rules.
Many analysts expect Labour will have to increase taxes once again, and the Chancellor is believed to be considering hitting banks with a windfall tax as they profit from rising interest rates, as well as extending the mansion tax to lower-value homes.
The three ways Healey could soften energy price rises
Ministers are drawing up plans for targeted help with energy bills in next month’s Budget amid fears the Iran war will lead to a cost of living crisis for millions this winter, it has been reported.
Chancellor John Healey has told officials to come up with options to soften the blow from energy price hikes.
Gas and oil prices spiral
Wholesale gas prices have risen by more than 150 per cent since the start of the Iran conflict, while oil has increased by more than 40 per cent, according to figures compiled for the Government.
Energy bills could be more than £600 higher next year than when Labour came to power, despite its pledge to cut them by £300 by the end of the decade.
Existing cost relief
- 1Ministers have already announced plans to remove VAT from domestic electricity bills for six months from 1 October, saving households about £45 a year.
- 2Then there’s the warm home discount, which gives £150 off bills to almost six million households receiving means-tested benefits.
- 3Plus, the £1bn crisis and resilience fund, which is administered through councils.
Pressure mounts as costs rise
Ministers are keen to examine more targeted intervention, reported. But any additional energy relief packages would add to the pressure raise money at the Budget via taxation.
Clare Lombardelli, a deputy governor at the Bank of England, warned on Thursday that an interest rate rise was “increasingly likely” if energy prices remained elevated.
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Healey’s options:
- Ministers could prolong the temporary VAT cut beyond March.
- The Chancellor is also understood to be prepared to reduce the fiscal £23.6bn “headroom”.
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British climber falls
to his death on
Spanish mountain
A British climber, 28, has fallen to his
death on a Spanish mountain, according
to local authorities.
Emergency responders were alerted to
the incident on Torrecerredo mountain – Spain’s 17th highest peak – at roughly
1:30pm yesterday.
What we know so far:
- According to , the man was a 28-year-old from England and fell up to 60 metres from the peak of Torrecerredo in the Picos de Europa in northern Spain.
- Local reports also added that he was 20 metres below the summit when the accident happened.
- A doctor mobilised by a regional emergency response coordination centre confirmed around an hour later the Briton had lost his life in the accident.
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Remains transported to Llanera
A forensic search had been carried out of the area and his belongings were recovered.
His remains were transported to La Morgal,
a regional sports, aviation and emergency services complex, in Llanera near the Asturian cities of Oviedo and Gijon.
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What remains unclear:
- It is not clear whether the unnamed man had been alone or accompanied by family or friends.
- Although one local report said
he was near the summit when he fell, another said he was on his
way down.
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The UK is running low on diesel – how worried should we be?
Britain could see shortages of diesel with prices at the pump soaring to all-time highs of £3 a litre if Donald Trump bans US exports, analysts have warned.
Britain relies on US oil
- Trump is said to be considering a 90-day export ban in weeks, after diesel in America hit a record average of $6.52 (£4.93) a gallon.
- Britain relies on the US for about 30 per cent of its diesel imports.
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Shortages could hit UK pumps in weeks
- Britain has just four operational refineries – down from 18 in the 1970s – leaving the UK with around 42 days of emergency stockpiles, Sky News reported.
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Trucks and cars off the road
A lot of trucks would come off the road. You wouldn’t be able to fill them. We’d start seeing delays in goods being transported around the UK.
dr pauline swift, charity chair,
blood pressure uk
UK turning to alternative suppliers
The Government would have to bring in measures to destroy demand to bring prices down, James Noel-Beswick, head of commodities at Sparta Commodities said.
Though Thomas Pugh, chief economist at the audit, tax and consulting firm RSM UK, say the UK wouldn’t necessarily see a diesel shortage as alternative suppliers exist.
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The Reform MPs who face losing their seats according to new poll
Robert Jenrick and Suella Braverman are among four Reform UK MPs who would lose their seats if a general election were held tomorrow, fresh polling by YouGov shows.
Falling behind the Tories
Tory defector Danny Kruger and Sarah Pochin – who beat Labour in a 2025 by-election – would also be unseated, according to the leading UK pollster’s first large-scale election modelling since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister.
Although the party’s numbers of MPs would hugely increase, it would have fewer seats than the Tories overall, marking a significant fall when compared to last year’s polling.
How a Labour government could be formed
The poll predicts that Labour would be the biggest party in a hung parliament.
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey recently ruled out forming a coalition with Reform or the Tories but stopped short of excluding a coalition with Labour.
However, to form a Parliamentary majority in this scenario, Burnham would also need to work with the SNP or Plaid Cymru.
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Reform expanding its operations
The polling comes as Reform is preparing a huge expansion of its operations around the country, targeting London, the South East, the South West and the East of England.
- Analysis of Reform job adverts by The i Paper suggests the party is pumping resources into areas where it wants to keep its high-profile Tory defectors.
There’s turmoil in the Liberal Democrats. And MPs are struggling for direction
Stagnant in the polls but still a potential kingmaker, the party’s at a crossroads – even its own members are asking what comes next.
Record number of assaults on Britain’s trains – what to know
Assaults on Britain’s railways have hit record levels, new figures from the Office of Rail and Road (ORR) have revealed.
The numbers
The data published on Thursday showed there were 13,464 reported assaults on people who were not railway workers between April 2025 and March 2026, an increase of 36 per cent compared to the previous year.
- 11,289 assaults on rail workers on mainline networks were also recorded, an increase of 12 per cent. This included 6,390 incidents of verbal abuse, 2,487 physical assaults and 2,412 threats.
Working to make railways safer
No-one on the railway should be subjected to violence, threats or abuse. We’re working with industry and our trade union colleagues to address work-related violence and harassment, including through recent guidance which sets out what we expect from rail employers.
Richard Hines, ORR’s chief inspector railways
Walkers reveals three new crisp flavours
Three new “gold” flavours of Walkers are now available for crisp lovers. The new snacks mark the brand’s biggest revamp in 80 years.
What are the flavours and how much are they?
The new flavours are black truffle, sea salt and olive oil and Somerset mature cheddar and onion.
Each pack is branded as “Premium Potato Crisps”.
The crisps come in 140g bags and can currently be bought for £2 each.
Where you can buy them
The entire range launched on Ocado officially today, but from October 12, they will be widely available in major UK supermarkets for a cheaper price of £1.50.
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While his predecessor Rachel Reeves became deeply unpopular in the wake of tax-raising Budgets, Healey would have the backing of voters for these measures, the latest BMG Research survey for The i Paper shows.
50 per cent of voters back a windfall tax on banks, with just 13 per cent opposed, with Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green voters most supportive. Even among Reform voters more (40 per cent) support such a move than oppose it (21 per cent).
The Chancellor is believed to be considering such a move as the UK’s four largest lenders – HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group – generated £200bn in pre-tax profits over the past five years, largely off the back of rising interest rates.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) said reversing the 2023 reduction of the bank surcharge – an extra tax on profits – from 8 per cent to 3 per cent would raise £9bn over four years and could help fund a “social tariff” to help low and middle earners with rising energy bills.
Similarly, 49 per cent of voters back extending the mansion tax, with just 21 per cent opposed, with more support than opposition across all parties.
Under current plans, owners of properties in England worth more than £2m will be hit with a surcharge of at least £2,500 from 2028.
Voters were asked if they backed reducing the threshold to £1.5m
Healey is reportedly considering lowering the threshold to properties worth £1.5m, which would increase the number of homes forecast to pay the charge from 134,000 to 271,000 based on current values.
Such a move would raise around £800m, according to expert estimates.
However, the Chancellor is facing a backlash from London Labour councils and MPs who argue that £1.5m is the price of a family home, not a mansion.
Healey, who quit as defence secretary over a lack of funding, is also under pressure to find £4.7bn to plug a gap in the Defence Investment Plan in this year’s Budget, and then go further in next year’s spending review to fund military spending of 3 per cent of GDP by 2030.
Andy Burnham this month rejected Conservative proposals to cut welfare to directly fund a rise in defence spending and the poll suggests this is backed by Labour voters.
Around a third said benefits should be protected even if defence spending rises less (37 per cent), or that defence spending should be increased without cutting benefits (32 per cent). Only one in five (19 per cent) backing increased military spending, even if benefits are cut.
Conservative and Reform voters are more likely to support moves to increase defence spending even if that means cutting benefits.
BMG surveyed a representative sample of 1,515 GB adults between 23rd and 24th September. BMG are members of the British Polling Council and abide by its rules.