Inflation surged to 3.5% last month while the government deficit was a worse-than-forecast £24.5bn, in a double dose of bad news for John Healey before next week’s budget.

The Office for National Statistics said annual inflation rose from 3.1% in August, overshooting City forecasts of a rise in the consumer prices index (CPI) to 3.4%, as a result of the surging cost of fuel.

Oil and gas prices have soared since the end of February, when the US and Israel launched their war on Iran, throttling the flow of fuel through the strait of Hormuz.

Rising inflation has also contributed to higher government borrowing costs – the key factor behind the deterioration in the public finances since the spring statement in March.

While the Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea was approved by the UK government today, Miatta Fahnbulleh is leaning towards rejecting the giant Rosebank oilfield, the Guardian understands, in what would be a blow for the North Sea energy industry and a major victory for climate campaigners.

Officials say the energy secretary is minded to refuse approval for the field, which would be one of the biggest in the North Sea. Fahnbulleh approved the smaller Jackdaw gasfield on Wednesday, prompting protests from some in the green movement.

But she told the Guardian that the rationale behind Jackdaw did not apply to Rosebank, saying the UK would rely on gas as it made the transition to net zero and that it would be better to take it from relatively low-carbon sources in the North Sea than importing it.

One is a gasfield that caters for the domestic market, while the other is an oilfield that is mainly for export. It is right that we judge each application in its own right, and it is absolutely critical that the decision is consistent with our climate obligations, our carbon budgets and the end destination we need to get to with the energy transition.

France’s borrowing costs have climbed above 5% for the first time in 24 years as political concerns and the government’s failure to agree a much-delayed budget spook the financial markets.

With some civic buildings still smouldering from recent riots, a fresh bout of selling pushed up the yield – or interest rate – on bonds issued by the second largest economy in the eurozone.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year bond – known as obligation assimilable du Trésor (Oat), issued by the French Treasury – rose more than 8 basis points to 5% in morning trading, before easing to 4.99%.

The French government has yet to pass its budget for next year, while the country has been rocked by increasingly violent street protests in recent weeks.

Thank you for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow. Take care! – JK

Jio Platforms, the Mumbai-based telecoms company backed by Meta Platforms and Google, has seen huge demand for its shares as it launched its $3.2bn initial public offering (IPO), the biggest-ever in India.

India’s second-richest man, Mukesh Ambani, launched the IPO despite a stock market downturn. It drew bids for more than double the shares available and was oversubscribed in less than two hours, according to Reuters.

The IPO values Jio at up to $108.3bn, and is expected to turn it into one of India’s biggest companies by market value when the shares start trading next Wednesday. Around a third of the shares were reserved for retail investors, and the company encouraged is 400,000 staff to buy shares at a discount.

Set up a decade ago as a subsidiary of Ambani’s conglomerate Reliance Industries, and led by Akash Ambani, the oldest son of patriarch Mukesh, Jio offers low-cost broadband to millions of Indians. It has grown into India’s biggest telecoms company with more than 500 million subscribers.

Also on the medical front, GSK, the UK’s second-biggest pharmaceutical company, said its drug Hibsago, or bepirovirsen, has been approved in the US for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB).

It offers “functional cure” after just six months treatment, leading experts to talk of a “new era in treating people living with CHB”.

Data from late-stage clinical trials showed unprecedented rates of functional cure compared to the current standard of care. GSK expets the drug to generate annual sales of more than £2bn at its peak.

CHB affects about 1.7 million people in the US. The US regulator FDA gave the medication the green light after a priority review and breakthrough therapy designation, which speeded up the process.

Functional cure occurs when HBV DNA and viral protein - HBsAg - are undetectable for at least 24 weeks after stopping all treatment, indicating the disease is controlled by the immune system without medication, GSK said.

It’s a six-month treatment and can be injected by patients themselves after the first dose.

The medication has been submitted for regulatory approval in the UK and the rest of Europe.

Tony Wood, chief scientific officer at GSK, said:

Despite current therapies, many people living with chronic hepatitis B remain on treatment indefinitely and continue to face the risk of serious liver complications. For the first time, with Hibsago, US patients have the potential to achieve functional cure after a six-month treatment course, with the added convenience of the option of self-administration after the first dose.

Hepatitis B is a viral infection that can cause both acute and chronic liver disease. Chronic hepatitis B occurs when the immune system is unable to clear the virus, resulting in long-lasting infection that affects more than 240 million people worldwide.

The disease leads t 1.1 million deaths each year and is the main cause of liver cancer cases globally. At the moment, many patients often require lifelong antiviral therapy for viral suppression.

Dr. Norah Terrault, chief of gastroenterology & hepatology, at the USC Keck Medical Centre in Los Angeles, said:

This is the start of a new era in treating people living with CHB. Bepirovirsen offers patients the potential to achieve functional cure after a short period of treatment, a long-standing goal for patients and physicians alike.

On the corporate front, GSK executive Deborah Waterhouse has been appointed chief executive of the struggling Australian biotechnology company CSL.

Waterhouse, currently the chief executive of UK drugmaker GSK’s HIV drugs venture ViiV Healthcare, will be the first woman to lead Melbourne-based CSL since it was set up more than ⁠three decades ago. She will replace interim CEO Gordon Naylor and be based in Britain.

Her appointment follows a months-long search after the abrupt departure of former boss ⁠Paul McKenzie in February, who had come under pressure from investors over CSL’s falling share price.

Once Australia’s most valuable listed company, CSL has had a series of profit ‌and revenue downgrades and announced plans ‌to slash 3,000 jobs.

Investor ‌sentiment has improved after CSL forecast growth for fiscal 2027, with its shares more than doubling from a decade low reached in June.

The company’s chair Brian McNamee said Waterhouse had the experience needed to build on the company’s recent improvement.

In February this year we said CSL’s next chief executive would need the ability to continue the momentum of our commercial performance, renew our pipeline and simplify our operations without losing the science and purpose ‌that built this great company.

Deborah has done all those things on multiple occasions.

As well as running ViiV Healthcare, Waterhouse serves as ​president of GSK Global Health. She previously ran its US vaccines and primary care businesses and held several other senior roles at the British drugmaker, including general manager for Australia and New Zealand from 2008 to 2012.

Analysts at the investment bank Citi said her tenure at ViiV showed an ability to run a global business in a highly competitive market.

Ms. Waterhouse has ⁠been thorough and consistent, and demonstrated sound commercial acumen.

I interviewed her in 2022:

CSL reported a ​net loss after tax ​of $2.6 for the most recent year, its first annual loss since listing on the Australian stock exchange in 1994, driven by $7.1bn in write-offs mostly due to its 2022 acquisition of the Swiss drugmaker Vifor.

CSL shares closed 0.1% lower at A$196.08 on Wednesday, while the broader stock market rose 0.2%.

As far as protests go, Lorenzo Tondo in Palermo has sent us this report.

Two airports have run out of jet fuel, supermarket shelves across southern Italy are empty and pharmacies are running short of medicines as lorry drivers continue to blockade roads in protest against soaring fuel prices caused by the war in Iran.

Italy’s air traffic management agency, ENAV, said on Wednesday that airports in Crotone and Reggio Calabria had run out of aviation fuel because of disruptions to supplies caused by the protests. It warned that pilots would have to refuel at their departure airports or earlier stops, carrying enough fuel for subsequent flights.

The protests began last week, with lorry drivers blocking roads and slowing traffic across the country, particularly in the south, following strikes and sit-ins by farmers and fishers. The disruption has left supermarket shelves empty in several regions, with photographs showing entire aisles stripped of goods.

A video of a lorry driver’s teenage daughter breaking down in tears has gone viral after she said her family could no longer afford to go out at weekends because they were struggling to pay their bills.

Italy’s infrastructure minister, Matteo Salvini, has proposed €430m in financial support, but the motorway blockades and lengthy traffic jams continue, putting the government under growing pressure as anger over the cost of living mounts.

The protests have also sparked criticism of Italy’s public broadcaster, Rai, which has been accused of giving greater prominence to violent student demonstrations in Milan than to the economic hardship facing families and lorry drivers in the south. Critics say the coverage plays into the government’s increasingly hardline approach to protests while diverting attention from the growing cost-of-living crisis.

Domino’s Pizza shares fell after the company revealed slower sales growth for the latest quarter, despite a boost from new ranges of thinner pizzas and fried chicken.

The London-listed shares fell 4.5% at one stage, and are now down 3%, making Domino’s one of the biggest fallers on the FTSE 250 index.

The company, a UK-based master franchise of the international fast food pizza delivery chain Domino’s, stressed that it continued to grow in August and September following a boost during the football World Cup in June and July.

Nicola Frampton, the chief executive, told investors that it was a “strong performance”, but recognised there is “a lot of work still to be done”. The company has seen sales bounce back this year after weaker orders during a “difficult” 2025.

Like-for-like sales grew by 4% year on year in the first nine months of 2026. However, like-for-like sales growth more than halved to 2.3% in the three months to the end of September, from a 5.2% increase in the previous quarter.

Total sales, which include new stores, rose by 3.5% in the latest quarter, with total order growth of 2.6%. Like-for-like orders increased by 1.4% for the quarter, slowing from 2.2%. Domino’s still expects to meet its profit guidance for this year.

Frampton flagged “strong sales” from Domino’s Italianos range of thinner pizzas, which was launched earlier this year.

The Chick ‘N’ Dip fried chicken brand, which was launched last year to tap into the popularity of chicken among younger consumers, has also done well.

Frampton said:

Whilst there is a lot of work still to be done, this gives us confidence in achieving our expectations for the full year, while building the foundations for further growth in 2027 and beyond.

The UK’s fiscal position is also not exactly rosy, as the latest public finance figures show.

The Treasury ran a higher than expected budget deficit of £24.5bn last month as rising inflation pushed up the interest paid on government debt, increasing pressure on John Healey before his budget next week.

Official figures show the government paid £10.9bn in debt interest: the highest September figure since records began, and only the eighth time the monthly number has been above £10bn.

Some government bonds are directly linked to the retail prices index measure of inflation, with payments rising in line with it. RPI has increased in recent months as the Iran war has pushed up energy costs. The Office for National Statistics said this had added £4bn to debt interest costs in September alone.

Total government debt is estimated to have hit £3tn for the first time – although as a share of the size of the economy it has dipped to 94%, from 95% a year ago.

The £24.5bn monthly deficit on the public finances was up from £17bn in August, and £1.9bn higher than the independent Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast.

In the financial year so far, public sector net borrowing is £97.8bn, the ONS said – £4.4bn lower than last year but still £6bn higher than the OBR expected. The data underlines the impact of the Iran war on the public finances.

Healey has been keen to stress his determination to stay within the fiscal rules set out by his predecessor as chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

However, he is widely expected to accept a slimmer financial buffer, or “headroom”, against those rules than the £24bn Reeves had built up at the time of her spring forecast.

Henning Diederichs, director for public sector at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, said:

The rising cost of borrowing and inflation mean that servicing the debt is a significant concern for the chancellor as he prepares for his first Budget next week.

Pressures are mounting to provide additional support for rising energy bills, but the fiscal challenges to balance spending are becoming more acute, particularly as John Healey has less headroom than in the spring forecast.

This is why the government needs to clarify the definition of current budget balance in the fiscal stability rule, given it is changing from a current budget surplus at this Budget. Ambiguity about what the new definition means for headroom could create a negative inflationary loop meaning further increases in borrowing costs and reduced investor confidence.

Revived diplomatic efforts around the Middle East have lifted market sentiment, with stock markets pushing cautiously higher.

The UK’s FTSE 100 index is up 22 points, or 0.2%, at 10,755 while Germany’s Dax rose 0.3%, France’s CAC 400 advanced 0.4%, Italy’s FTSE MiB climbed 0.5% and Spain’s is nearly 0.3% ahead.

But the gap between French and German government bonds has still widened beyond 150 basis points, to 157bps, nearing levels last seen in 2011, indicating the premium investors pay for French debt over ultra-safe German debt.

Fiscal concerns and public unrest clearly weigh on French government bonds (OATs), but more is at play, according to ING’s senior rates strategist Benjamin Schroder.

Within the European government bond space, a tentative stabilisation of spreads over Bunds mirrored the improved sentiment. However, France continues to be singled out, with the 10-year spread pushing past 150bp. We had cautioned that the public unrest was adding to concerns around France’s ability to consolidate its finances. The unrest also adds very direct costs in terms of lost GDP.

Back during the days of the sovereign debt crisis, the French spread versus Germany peaked at just below 200bp. But bear in mind, this was when Italian spreads pushed past 500bp and markets were contemplating the tail risk of a collapsing monetary union, i.e. redenomination risk.

To add some perspective, a 10-year spread of close to 200bp in late 2011 meant that French bonds yielded more than twice as much as German Bunds. The 10-year Bund yield stood at around 1.9%. Nowadays, French 10-year bonds, at just below 5%, yield less than 1.5 times as much as their German counterpart. And that 5% mark in outright yields appears to remain a hurdle for OATs for now.

This is not to say that spreads cannot push further, especially in the absence of any good news and with a long way to go until the presidential elections. But it is important to highlight that there are other factors pushing spreads wider that do not directly reflect pure credit concerns. Overall, rates volatility has increased and weighs on spreads more generally. Especially when market liquidity is subdued, this can exacerbate widening pressures across European government bonds. The French CDS [credit default swap] spread, for that matter, while wider, is still 160bp away from its 2011 peaks rather than a bit over 40bp when looking at the bond spread.

Meanwhile, in financial markets government borrowing costs are still climbing, with the yield on the French 10-year bond rising beyond 5% at one stage, a new 24-year high.

The yield, or interest rate, on the benchmark 10-year bond – known as obligation assimilables du Trésor, issued by the French Treasury – rose more than 8 basis points to 5% a little while ago, before easing a tad to 4.99%.

The French government has yet to pass its budget for next year, while the country has been rocked by increasingly violent street protests in recent weeks. They started in September with students protesting over mould- and rat-infested schools, a lack of teachers and big class sizes, and have evolved into wider demonstrations about the rising cost of living.

Initially calm protests have often been met with aggressive police tactics, and the country has descended into chaos. There has been looting of shops such as Louis Vuitton, while protesters also set fire to the town hall in Limoges.

Meanwhile, the yield on the UK’s 10-year gilt was up a tad at 5.4%.

New analysis has found that the government’s Your First Home programme, targeted at first-time buyers, would cut the time to save a deposit from almost three years to 18 months.

But, despite the 2.5% deposit offered to buy a new-build home plus a 20%. government equity loan, the scheme could be out of reach for lower earners.

They would still need to borrow more than 4.5 times their income in three quarters of the 17 English cities analysed, and as high as 9.9 times in London, according to the UK mortgage broker Tembo, which was set up during the pandemic.

In Leeds the figure is 8.7 times, in Newcastle 8.4 times and in Leicester 8.2 times. Only four cities – Birmingham, Stoke-on-Trent, Liverpool and Southampton – keep lower earners below the 4.5x threshold.

Tembo’s third-quarter First-Time Buyer Index also found the average first-time buyer is now aged 34, up from 31 a year ago.

Glasgow topped its city index for the third quarter running, while London remains the hardest place to buy.

And buyers in Bristol are almost £111,000 better off after five years than if they had kept renting, while in London they are £4,514 worse off, according to the analysis.

The scheme would make saving a deposit significantly quicker. Across the 17 cities, the typical time to save falls from 34 months for a standard 5% deposit to 18 months under Your First Home, cutting more than a year off the wait. The biggest reductions would be for buyers in London (40 months) and Brighton (32 months).

Richard Dana, the founder and chief executive of Tembo, said:

We would encourage the government to build on the ambition behind Your First Home, and address the affordability challenge faced by the very people the scheme is targeting. In addition, to consider how small changes to first-time buyer Stamp Duty relief and the existing Lifetime ISA could make existing support more equitable, helping average buyers in the most challenging cities in the UK to become a homeowner.

Rents in the UK were up nearly 4% year on year in September, according to the latest official figures, while house price growth eased in August, ahead of next Wednesday’s budget.

The average private rent increased by 3.8% to £1,406, in the 12 months to September, the same annual rate as in August, the statistics office said.

Average rents increased to £1,466 (4.0%) in England, £848 (4.1%) in Wales, and £1,011 (0.7%) in Scotland in September. In Northern Ireland, average rents increased to £879 (1.7%) in July.

In England, private rent annual inflation was highest in the North West (5.7%), and lowest in London and the South East (both 3.5%) last month.

Turning to for-sale data, the average price of a UK home rose by 0.9%, to £273,000, in the 12 months to August, down from July’s annual rate of 1.2%.

Average house prices increased to £294,000 (0.4%) in England, £216,000 (3.1%) in Wales, and £198,000 (2.9%) in Scotland.

The lowest annual inflation of English regions was in London, where prices fell 2.2% year on year, driven by large falls in the average price of flats, which account for approximately half of sales in London.

Turning back to UK inflation, which accelerated to an annual rate of 3.5% last month from 3.1% in August, the highest rate since last October.

This has added to expectations that the Bank of England will raise its base rate by a quarter point to 4%. at its meeting next month.

Services price inflation, closely watched by the Bank of England as a guide to underlying price pressures, rose to 3.7% from 3.4%, also higher than expected.

The core rate of inflation that strips out volatile items like energy and food. also rose, to 2.8% from 2.6%.

Transport prices were up 6.6% in the 12 months to September, compared with 4.6% the previous month, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The average price of petrol rose by 8.2 pence a litre between August and September, to 169.5p, the highest since August 2022.

Diesel prices rose by 10.7, taking the average price to 192.5p – the highest price recorded since July 2022.

Overall motor fuel prices leapt 29.8% in the 12 months to September, up from 23% in August.

Within transport, there were smaller upward effects from air fares and sea fares, and partially offsetting small downward effects from roadside recovery, and second-hand cars, the ONS said.

In better news for hard-pressed households, food prices fell 0.2% between August and September, leaving the annual food inflation rate unchanged at 1.3%.

However, James Smith, developed markets economist at ING, said:

Seven months on from the start of the Iran War, and there’s still zero sign that the UK’s inflation shock is broadening out beyond energy. Second round effects are so far non-existent.

Headline inflation was admittedly a tad above consensus at 3.5% in September, though inline with our forecast. What’s particularly eye-catching though is the month-on-month fall in food prices. This caps a remarkably benign period for food inflation. No doubt it will pick up into the winter, not least given the recent rise in natural gas prices. But all the models tell us we should be seeing some effect of the energy shock in food – and so far we aren’t.

Partly because of that, our calculation of ‘energy intensive’ inflation is actually down this year and shows little-to-no sign of picking up. That’s even when you strip out the effect of last year’s water and car tax increases which otherwise distort the picture. This gauge tracks inflation categories that are classed as having either ‘very high’ or ‘high’ energy intensity by the Office for National Statistics – and range from food to cafes.

UK oil and gas giant Shell and Norway’s Equinor have been lobbying hard for the green light for Jackdaw. Adura, a North Sea 50-50 joint venture between Shell and Equinor, commissioned a report this week that said rejecting the two projects would cost the UK economy nearly £10.8bn over the next decade.

The Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea is “equivalent to Norwegian gas in terms of environmental performance”, Adura chief executive Neil McCulloch claimed this morning.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, McCulloch was asked about the UK producing “more pollution in British gas fields than they do in Norwegian gas fields” – with campaigners claiming four times as much.

Asked about the example of emergency gas flaring, which Norway has banned, and whether he could “clean up your act”, McCulloch replied:

Jackdaw is a really good example of a very good gas field.

So, Jackdaw itself doesn’t have a flare, and its carbon intensity is eight kilogrammes per barrel of oil equivalent, which is exactly the same as Norwegian pipe gas.

So, this is exactly equivalent to Norwegian gas in terms of environmental performance, and so we should thank that it’s coming into the grid.”

What it does bring, though, is it brings jobs, it brings economic value to the UK, and it supports the supply chain as they transition into a future which will undoubtedly have more renewables within it.

The Treasury ran a higher than expected budget deficit of £24.5bn last month as rising inflation pushed up the interest paid on government debt, increasing pressure on John Healey before his first budget next Wednesday.

Official figures out this morning show the government paid £10.9bn in debt interest: the highest September figure since records began, and only the eighth time the monthly number has been above £10bn.

Some government bonds are directly linked to the retail prices index measure of inflation, with payments rising in line with it. RPI has increased in recent months as the Iran war has pushed up energy costs. The Office for National Statistics said this had added £4bn to debt interest costs in September alone.

Total government debt is estimated to have hit £3tn for the first time – although as a share of the size of the economy it has fallen to 94%, from 95% a year ago.

The £24.5bn monthly deficit on the public finances was up from £17bn in August, and £1.9bn higher than the independent Office for Budget Responsibility had forecast.

In the financial year so far, public sector net borrowing is £97.8bn, the ONS said – £4.4bn lower than last year but still £6bn higher than the OBR expected.

The data underlines the impact of the Iran war on the public finances, before next Wednesday’s budget.

Healey has been keen to stress his determination to stay within the fiscal rules set out by his predecessor as chancellor, Rachel Reeves.

However, he is widely expected to accept a slimmer financial buffer, or “headroom”, against those rules than the £24bn Reeves had built up at the time of her spring forecast.

Green Party leader Zack Polanski described the Jackdaw gasfield approval as “climate vandalism” and a “victory for Shell over the people”.

Today’s decision by Labour is a betrayal of all of our futures, Labour has abandoned all credibility in the fight against climate change.

The energy secretary has herself said it will make no difference to energy bills; the health secretary has admitted the summer heatwave added to pressure on the NHS, and the industry’s own assessment is that it will create only 27 jobs.

The chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey, focused on the new energy wealth fund – which looks similar to Norway’s fund but is too little, too late, according to critics – in his remarks.

I want Britain’s energy wealth to spark a new wave of clean power to work for the British people.

Since North Sea gas and oil were discovered decades ago, the benefit of our existing nation’s natural resources have not been turned into the long-term investment our country needs.

Through our new Energy Wealth Fund, we will invest in the clean energy industries of the future, creating jobs, driving growth and strengthening Britain’s energy security.

Good morning, and welcome to our rolling coverage of business, the financial markets and the world economy.

UK inflation has accelerated more than expected to 3.5% as the cost of motor fuels surged at the fastest rate in four years, with diesel topping £2 a litre this month.

The Office for National Statistics said annual inflation, measured by the consumer prices index (CPI), rose from 3.1% in August. Economists had forecast a rise in the consumer prices index to 3.4%.

The ONS said the biggest factor pushing up inflation was transport, in particular motor fuels; while restaurants and hotels made the largest, partially offsetting, downward contribution.

The motor fuel inflation rate was the highest since August 2022.

Core CPI (excluding volatile energy, food, alcohol, and tobacco costs) rose by 2.8% in the 12 months to September, up from 2.6% in August.

Oil and gas prices have soared since the end of February when the US and Israel launched their war on Iran. The practical closure of the strait of Hormuz to most fossil fuel traffic since then has sent the price of Brent crude well north of $100 a barrel.

Petrol prices have climbed above £1.70, while the cost of a litre of diesel has also risen, hitting a record high of more than £2 a litre this month.

Bank of England officials are widely forecast to raise interest rates when they meet next month, with concerns that inflation will jump above 4% next year – more than double the central bank’s 2% target rate.

The UK government has approved the controversial Jackdaw gasfield in the North Sea, a widely expected move that will nonetheless dismay environmental campaigners and a number of Labour MPs.

Miatta Fahnbulleh, the energy secretary, said the project will start supplying gas to homes and businesses from the end of this month.

At the same time, she said a new energy wealth fund will be set up by the government with a £2bn downpayment to reinvest oil and gas revenues into the climate transition, away from fossil fuels.

She said:

Following careful consideration of all relevant factors I have agreed that the regulator can grant consent for gas to be produced at Jackdaw, which will begin to supply the UK with gas from this winter thanks to the highly skilled and vital North Sea workers.

This decision will support the country’s energy security with homegrown gas this winter and help minimise the UK’s use of imported higher emission fuels as we continue our transition to renewables and nuclear.

The decision is compatible with our legally binding climate commitments, and we remain resolute in ending new licences for oil and gas and achieving net zero by 2050.

While Labour’s 2024 election manifesto committed to a ban on new drilling licences in the North Sea, the companies behind Jackdaw and the Rosebank oilfield project, which is being decided on separately, have sought environmental approval for existing licences.

The companies resubmitted their applications for environmental approval earlier this year. The decision on Jackdaw had been expected last month but was delayed, seemingly to take it beyond the Holborn and St Pancras byelection on 8 October, where Labour was defending a seat against a Green challenge and ultimately won.

Andy Burnham, the prime minister, said the decision will “protect hundreds of jobs and help keep millions of homes warm this winter”.

At a time when people are really struggling, it’s right that we look in a responsible way at maximising the existing energy reserves we have in Britain that could help.

We’re committed to moving towards renewable energy and reaching net zero by 2050. But even on our ambitious climate path, we’ll still require oil and gas as part of our energy needs for decades to come. That’s why we’re taking a pragmatic approach to the North Sea. We’re also establishing a new Energy Wealth Fund to invest in renewable energy, support the green transition and help reduce energy bills over the long-term.

Our approach will ensure we can boost our energy security, back British workers, ringfence future North Sea proceeds to speed up the green transition, hit our ambitious climate targets and - crucially - bring down bills.

The Agenda

• 2pm BST: Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey speech

• 5pm BST: European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde speech