Healey plans tax raid on banks

Oregon school shooting: Children aged 5, 8 and 11 killed | ‘I’ve cycled through 40,000 red lights and I won’t stop now’

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Friday, 16 October 2026 Issue No. 600

Good morning. The Chancellor called banks a “jewel in the British economic crown”. Then, it emerged he was readying to burden them with a £20bn tax raid. As Szu Ping Chan, our Economics Editor, reports, the City warns the policy would lose the economy as much as the Government believes it would raise. Chris Evans, Editor P.S. For a limited time only, we’re giving you a year of The Telegraph for just £19. That’s less than £2 per month. If you’re already a subscriber, make sure you’re logged in to read today’s stories.   In today’s edition Oregon school shooting: Children aged 5, 8 and 11 killed — ‘I’ve cycled through 40,000 red lights and I won’t stop now’ — Plus, is there a ‘perfect’ age to start HRT? This is what the experts say

Limited time: 1 year for just £19 Enjoy full access to The Telegraph, including all the articles in this newsletter. But hurry, our lowest annual offer will expire soon. Claim your offer   Healey poised to launch raid on banks John Healey takes a selfie with fellow finance ministers at an IMF event in Thailand | Credit: Reuters / Athit Perawongmetha Szu Ping Chan Economics Editor, in Bangkok   John Healey is poised to launch a £20bn raid on banks despite describing financial institutions as “the jewel in the British economic crown”. The Chancellor is preparing to target lenders in his Budget on Oct 28 as he faces pressure to repair Britain’s public finances. It comes despite Healey praising banks yesterday in comments that raised hopes that the City would be spared. Speaking in Bangkok at an International Monetary Fund event, the Chancellor said of banks: “They’re a big contributor to the economy. “They’re an important part of our business. They’re a part of the jewel, if you like, in the British economic crown.” The Chancellor is said to be considering raising a surcharge on bank profits above £100m from 3 to 8 per cent. The move has been advocated by unions and Labour figures, including Angela Rayner, who argue it could raise £2bn for the Treasury. Banks have cast doubt on this estimate, warning that such a move would ultimately cost the economy £20bn. The Chancellor’s plan was met with alarm in the City. An executive at one of Britain’s biggest banks said: “The impact of a bank tax has a longer burn impact than National Insurance. The impact of a bank tax is about international investability in Britain.” Another senior banking executive said: “What happens if banks face higher costs? They’ll just pass those costs on.” This report is available only to subscribers. Continue reading ➤ How Healey spun Britain’s economic slowdown as ‘welcome news’ ➤ Telegraph View: Chancellor must not launch another tax raid on banks ➤   Opinion Dominic Lawson Donald Trump isn’t the first American president to double-cross Ukraine Joe Biden didn’t want Russia to lose and feared rising prices at the pump. The current president also has more venal reasons Continue reading ➤     Sherelle Jacobs I met Waitrose woman at the checkout. Kemi is a leader for her to feel good about Continue reading ➤     David Frost Ministers have lost control of the Civil Service. They must take it back Continue reading ➤     To make sure you don’t miss our newsletters when they land in your inbox, click here. In other news • A teenage gunman killed three children and a teacher in Oregon before a civilian shot him dead at the scene. Police said the lone shooter killed the children, aged 5, 8 and 11, with a “long gun” at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend. • Trans women will finally be banned from female wards in hospitals under new NHS guidance. The health service has published the advice 18 months after the Supreme Court ruling in April 2025. • A woman who accused Russell Brand of rape described his body as “snake-like and disgusting”. Two shirtless photographs of the actor were shown to the jury, allegedly taken by one of his accusers. • Kemi Badenoch has challenged the Prime Minister to rule out an independence referendum for Scotland. She said that reopening the Brexit debate was “playing into the hands” of the SNP. • Britain will send Ukraine additional ‌Storm Shadow missiles to help Kyiv defend itself. The decision was made when Andy Burnham welcomed Volodymyr Zelensky to No 10 earlier this week. • The Duchess of Sussex said it was “wonderful to be back” as she and Prince Harry made their first joint appearance since returning to Britain. As Hannah Furness, our Royal Editor writes, the visit felt like an audition.   Your essential reads ‘I’ve cycled through 40,000 red lights and I won’t stop now’ Although I don’t consider myself much of a lawbreaker, I do often run through red lights, our anonymous cyclist writes. I reckon I tot up about ten a day, which means I’ve done some 40,000 since I started cycling. People hate it, obviously, but I can’t say I’m likely to stop. Here is why... For subscribers only ➤   ‘My stalker held me hostage at gunpoint but his death means I finally feel free’ When Rhianon Bragg met Gareth Wyn Jones, it felt like a fairytale romance, writes Jack Rear. He helped out at her smallholding, became a shoulder to cry on as her father’s illness advanced, and loved her children. Gradually, however, his furious temper and controlling tendencies became more apparent. Here Bragg explains how her rural seclusion was transformed into terrifying isolation by a deranged, vindictive partner. Continue reading ➤   ‘If Amol Rajan wants to be the next Tucker Carlson, he needs people to actually watch him’ Amol Rajan is hoping to become a media tycoon, launching his YouTube venture with a Gareth Southgate interview and sponsorship from Waitrose. Yet the two-hour debut barely garnered 3,000 views. While Tucker Carlson thrives on internet rage, Rajan is hawking £999 “Pina Colada” memberships to build a digital empire, discovering that polite conversation struggles in the brutal online wilderness. Continue reading ➤   Why the humble hatchback could save Europe’s car titans The Citroën 2CV is making a comeback Facing an aggressive onslaught from Beijing, Continental carmakers are fighting back with affordable nostalgia, from a canvas-roofed Citroën 2CV to a reborn Renault 5. Matt Oliver, our Industry Editor, reveals that Chinese electric vehicles cost just £15,100 to build compared with almost double that for a comparable European model. While the flurry of retro releases shows the European Union’s auto industry hasn’t given up on the affordable end of the market, can going back to the past secure its future? Continue reading ➤   ‘My son is non-verbal, but he’s taught me more than words ever could’ When Harry, my son, was diagnosed with a rare chromosomal condition affecting his speech and development, family life changed forever, writes Luke Adam Hawker. Now five, Harry is largely non-verbal and has survived life-threatening pneumonia. Raising a disabled child has been challenging, but also joyful beyond words. Continue reading ➤   Seize the day Is there a ‘perfect’ age to start HRT? This is what the experts say Dr Naomi Potter, founder of Menopause Care, says there is no one-size-fits-all approach to hormone replacement therapy Tiredness, anxiety, migraines, brain fog and bone pain have many women in midlife racing for HRT, but it’s difficult to know when to start. New research points to a “window of opportunity” when it can help the most and even reduce our dementia risk. Our experts guide us through the best ages, how long to stay on it for, and whether it’s even worth taking in our 60s. Continue reading ➤ Here is another article that I hope you’ll find helpful this morning: Britain is bursting with brilliant options for family days out, whatever the weather might have in store. Here are our best picks.   As Anita sees it Unruly celebrities are becoming a nightmare for the BBC Anita Singh Arts and Entertainment Editor   The most hilarious thing about this series of Celebrity Traitors – aside from Ross Kemp, the show’s answer to Buzz Lightyear – is that the BBC is obsessive about maintaining the reputation and mystique of the series, but the celebrity contestants keep doing their best to blow it up. First there was Richard E Grant, who was all set to be a viewer favourite until he torpedoed the rules by revealing his Traitor identity in the very first episode. Now one of the ousted contestants, the mononymous Myha’la, has claimed that the show features “unconscious racial and cultural bias”. BBC bosses would rather be accused of mass murder than something so terrible. Now we have James Acaster publicly stating not only that the cast spends each night in a “Travelodge-level” hotel an hour from the luxury of the castle, but that there is some sneaky editing going on, with one contestant banished for an entirely different reason to the one shown on screen. The ratings are high, but the blood pressure of the Traitors producers will be even higher until the series is finished and they can stop worrying about celebrities going rogue. Read our Celebrity Traitors recap here and join Michael Hogan in the comments at 8.30am ➤ For what to watch, and the one thing to avoid, read on… Television Time ★★★★★ David Tennant may be the big name in this ferocious Jimmy McGovern drama set inside a young offenders’ institution, but the young actors who play the troubled inmates are the ones who will break your heart. Read the full review ➤ Television Tyson ★★★★☆ A grimly compelling look at one of boxing’s most gifted and most notorious characters, this four-part series features lengthy interviews in which Mike Tyson recounts his chequered history in and out of the ring. Contributors include Donald Trump. Read the full review ➤ Film Whalefall ★★★☆☆ To be fair, this might be an enjoyably crazy watch: a survival thriller about a scuba diver trapped in the belly of a sperm whale, but our critic Tim Robey’s description of the set as “disgustingly tactile”, and his advice to watch it on an empty stomach, is pretty off-putting. Read the full review ➤   Your say Scandalous reading Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal Reader Correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes... Last week, the Queen offered us a glimpse of her youth, describing how she read Lady Chatterley’s Lover under her pillow by torchlight after it had been published with all its Anglo-Saxonisms intact in 1960. I confess I’ve never got round to tackling DH Lawrence’s taboo-busting, red trouser-worshipping novel – Sons and Lovers was enough for me – but I’ve enjoyed your accounts of similarly surreptitious encounters.   Rob Dorrell recalled: “My mother and grandmother, who lived with us, kept their copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover under the base cushion of an armchair. My wife’s father put her and her mother’s copy in the dustbin. They retrieved it and covered it with brown paper.”   Anthony Singlehurst added: “I was at an all-boys boarding school in Hampshire when Penguin’s edition of Lady Chatterley’s Lover first became available. “A keen reader of Exchange & Mart, I spotted a small advertisement offering to send the controversial book by post, anonymously, in a plain brown parcel. I sent off a postal order and, a few days later, having outwitted the school censors, I became for a short time a very popular boy. “Unfortunately, I let slip where this literary treasure had come from, and large numbers of boys sent away for their own copies. The sheer quantity of identical brown parcels arriving, each clearly labelled with the recipient’s name, soon aroused suspicion, resulting in mass confiscations and canings – a fate I luckily but unfairly avoided.”   Richard Edward Brown was less successful in his subterfuge: “When I was 17, I was marched down to the kitchen by my mother, who had found my paperback copy of Lady Chatterley’s Lover hidden in my 13-year-old brother’s bedroom. She proceeded to tear out the pages of the book in front of both of us and deposit them one by one into the open hatch of the coke-fired boiler, declaring, ‘This is where that book belongs!’” I’d love to hear more of your stories. You can send them here, for potential inclusion in tomorrow’s newsletter. Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name.   On this day 1834 | The original Houses of Parliament are largely destroyed by a massive fire, leaving only Westminster Hall standing 1962 | Cuban Missile Crisis begins 1964 | Harold Wilson’s Labour Party wins the election (see our front page coverage from the following day below) 1968 | Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos give the Black Power salute on the 200m medal podium during the Mexico City Olympics Birthdays: Naomi Osaka (29), Davina McCall (59), Gary Kemp (67) Plus, in the news today, tourists are set to be blocked from paddling in a river in a popular Cotswolds village. Where is this? 1. Bibury 2. Castle Combe 3. Bourton-on-the-Water 4. Lower Slaughter Click one of the options to reveal the answer...   Puzzles Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including The 1% Club, Cogs, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.   Yesterday’s Panagram was DIAPHRAGM. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle.   Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor Please let me know what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback at fromtheeditor@telegraph.co.uk. Limited time: 1 year for just £19 Enjoy full access to The Telegraph, including all the articles in this newsletter. But hurry, our lowest annual offer will expire soon. Claim your offer

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