6:40 am, September 14, 2026
Bank set to hold interest rates but ‘needs to be ready’ to act on inflation
The Bank of England is expected to keep interest rates unchanged for the sixth time this year, but experts said it ‘needs to be ready’ to hike rates if energy prices continue to surge.
Most economists are expecting the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) to hold rates at 3.75% at its next meeting on Thursday September 17.
Experts think policymakers will continue to favour a ‘wait-and-see’ approach particularly to the Middle East conflict and how it is impacting the UK economy.
Hundreds of hospitality businesses call on Burnham to lower VAT
More than 800 hospitality businesses have written to the Prime Minister urging him to set out how he will introduce a lower rate of VAT.
The VAT’s The problem campaign has called for the hospitality VAT rate to be reduced from 20% to 10%.
Businesses involved in the campaign have signed a letter urging Andy Burnham to deliver on his public support in February for a lower rate of VAT for hospitality.
Vauxhall Astra receives price cut and manual gearbox
Vauxhall has announced that the Astra hatchback and Sports Tourer estate have received a price cut and can now be ordered with a manual gearbox.
Customers can now order the Astra with a 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine that sends its power through a new six-speed manual gearbox. The new transmission also means that the entry-level Griffin model is now priced at £26,495 – £1,000 less than the automatic model.
Vauxhall has also updated the Astra range with a new Denim Blue paint colour, while Electric Yellow is available on the hatchback and Clover Green is available on the Sports Tourer estate. Order books are open now.
The markets
Stock prices in London closed in the green on Friday, with equities in New York bursting higher, even after a US inflation report may have cemented a Federal Reserve rate hike next week.
The FTSE 100 index ended up 41.52 points, 0.4%, at 10,650.44. Nonetheless, the large-cap benchmark has fallen 1.7% over the course of the week. It was its worst week since July. The FTSE 250 added 89.79 points, 0.4%, at 23,975.73, and the AIM all-share climbed 2.92 points, 0.4%, at 790.87.
The pound was quoted at 1.3523 US dollars on Friday, down from 1.3532 dollars at the same time on Thursday. Against the euro, sterling rose to 1.1648 euros from 1.1636 euros a day prior.
Donations cap to be debated in wake of £72m Reform gifts
Peers are to debate calls for a cap on political donations amid concern from campaigners over two £36m donations from crypto-billionaires to Reform UK.
The donations from Christopher Harborne and Ben Delo, disclosed over the weekend, together amount to three quarters of the money spent at the last general election by all parties combined. Reform has said it will use the money to fund its preparations for office, and that the men want ‘nothing’ in return.
Proposals for a cap are likely to feature heavily in the House of Lords, which will debate the government’s Representation of the People Bill on Monday.
Trump makes announcement on whiskey tariffs as he brings Irish visit to a close
Donald Trump made a surprise announcement that he was removing US tariffs on Irish whiskey as he brought his two-day visit to Ireland to a close.
Crowds cheered the US president as he made the announcement on the 18th green during the prizewinning ceremony at the Amgen Irish Open at his Doonbeg golf resort in Co Clare.
Shortly after, the US president left Shannon Airport aboard Air Force One to fly back to Washington. Earlier, Trump doubled down on his comments in support of Irish unity, saying it was ‘one of the naturals of all time’.
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Weather
Most parts of the UK will see variable cloud, sunny spells and warmer temperatures, reports BBC Weather. Further north, more showery rain will continue to move in, however.
Tonight, rain will push forth south-eastwards into England and Wales. Heavy showers for the north.