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, TUE., OCT. 6, 2026No. 2 · 6:00 p.m. BST6 p.m. BST
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Security · DefencePress ✓ 5 outlets · the Iran link is reported by officials, not proved

A reported Iranian drone threat made the US pull its bombers from Fairford. Police arrest a seventh suspect

Sky News and The Times say a "reported threat of possible Iranian drone attack" lay behind the withdrawal. No one has been charged in public view, and a separate court case heard of Iranian plots against journalists in Britain.

The reason the United States pulled its bombers out of RAF Fairford now has a name, though not yet a proof. The base, an RAF station used by US Global Strike Command, has been central to the American air campaign against Iran. Sky News and The Times reported on Tuesday that the withdrawal followed a "reported threat of possible Iranian drone attack" on the Gloucestershire base. Earlier, US officials had told The New York Times that the move came after new details about threats to the base, as Channel 4 News noted. Washington has given mixed explanations since all 12 B-1B Lancer bombers left over the weekend: President Trump spoke of "threats", while Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it a routine rotation and said he has confidence in the security of US bases. Channel 4 News reported that US sources told it a more complex attack had been planned, while the analyst Michael O'Hanlon called the departure "no big deal". On Tuesday the British investigation also moved on. Counter Terrorism Policing said a 22-year-old British man was arrested in Westminster, London, on suspicion of preparation of terrorist acts, and a property in the area was searched. He is the seventh person held over the incident of 27 September, when three vans were stopped near the base; police found petrol but no explosives. The Financial Times and Sky News both reported the arrest.

Police stress that the inquiry is live and that several lines are being pursued. Officials have offered no public evidence for the Iranian link. Andy Burnham has said only that Iran "played a part", and Tehran denies any plot and summoned the British ambassador in Tehran over the arrests. Elsewhere the Iranian dimension was in a courtroom. The Times and Sky News reported a hearing in which it was said that Iranian agents plotted to "eliminate" journalists in the UK, and that an alleged Iranian spy wanted £150,000 to "finish off" one of them. Those are allegations in a separate case, not findings, and nothing in the reports ties them to Fairford. Together they still explain the mood in Whitehall. The government must weigh a threat it cannot yet describe in public against an American ally whose aircraft have left, and against an Iran that says bases used to attack it are legitimate targets. The Conservatives, meeting in Birmingham, answered with a pledge of a "Britannia Shield" to protect the UK from drone attacks, the Financial Times reported. The practical question for ministers is simple: what, if anything, now defends the base, and who would say so if the answer were nothing? Until police charge someone, or ministers publish more of what they know, the public is left with headlines, denials and an empty runway.

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By the numbers
12B-1B Lancer bombers that left Fairford over the weekend (CNN, others)
7people arrested over the 27 September incident, with Tuesday's arrest (FT, Sky News)
£150,000the sum an alleged Iranian spy is said to have wanted to "finish off" a UK-based journalist (Sky News)
Economy · BudgetPress ✓ 5 outlets · bank-meeting details attributed to people briefed on it

Healey tells bank bosses the fiscal picture is 'challenging' and keeps them guessing on a windfall tax

Chancellor John Healey met the chief executives of Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, Nationwide and NatWest in Downing Street on Tuesday and told them Britain faces a "challenging" fiscal picture ahead of the Budget on 28 October. He did not say whether banks will pay more. The Times and the Financial Times both reported that he made no tax decisions. The session lasted just under an hour and was run with City minister Lucy Rigby, and Mr Healey was said to be in "listening mode". Bloomberg has reported that one idea is a windfall levy that would not apply to international banks. The bankers replied that overseas investors own shares in the big UK lenders, so a tax aimed at domestic banks would still hurt sentiment, and that the Bank of England's capital rules already restrain lending. Sky News asked a related question: who is in charge of the Budget, the Treasury or Number 10? On the same day the Times reported that the IMF wants governments to drop blanket energy aid and help only poor families. In markets, the FTSE 100 rose 0.42% to 10,541.69 as oil fell, and sterling climbed to about $1.327 as softer Fed-rate expectations weighed on the dollar, DailyForex noted. Informa led the risers, up about 3%, after agreeing to buy Clarion Events from Blackstone. The Chancellor's silence matters because the 30-year gilt yield broke through 6% last week, so the Budget has to persuade bond investors as well as voters.

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Word of the day
Windfall taxTax

A one-off or temporary levy on profits that a government thinks are unusually large, often because of an external shock such as higher interest rates or energy prices. The idea being discussed for banks is a windfall levy that would not apply to international banks.

Politics · ConservativesPledges reported by the FT · Sky News and the Guardian on the mood

At the Tory conference Badenoch offers a 'Britannia Shield', cheaper hiring of the young and a rewrite of the EU food deal. She admits the party would not win now

In Birmingham, Kemi Badenoch's Conservatives set out policy. The Financial Times reported three pledges: a "Britannia Shield" to protect the UK from drone attacks, a halving of employers' National Insurance contributions for younger workers, and a plan to tear up the UK-EU food deal, which the paper said risks "huge uncertainty" for trade. In an interview with Sky News's Beth Rigby, Ms Badenoch said the Conservatives would not win an election now, but that she would rather fight than do a deal with Reform UK.

The Guardian's verdict was that the Tories are united behind her, but that the road to recovery remains long. A recent YouGov MRP of about 17,000 people shows why: it puts Labour first with 241 seats, the Conservatives on 130 and Reform on 123, a hung parliament. The Tories are second mainly because Reform has fallen, amid a police investigation into alleged illegal donations and a parliamentary probe over a £5 million gift to Nigel Farage, which Reform and Mr Farage deny. Ms Badenoch's net favourability, YouGov found, has risen 20 points in a year to −15.

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Politics · GreensPress ✓ 5 outlets · party reaction attributed to named sources

The Greens' vote to treat Zionism as racism brings international fallout. Their leader did not vote

Members of the Green Party of England and Wales voted 1,022 to 813 at their Brighton conference to adopt a motion that treats Zionism as a form of racism and backs a single democratic Palestinian state, according to reports. Leader Zack Polanski, who is Jewish, was not there for the vote; he had asked for changes, which members rejected, the BBC reported. One deputy leader backed the motion, the other opposed it, as did four of the party's five MPs.

The Guardian reported that the party faces "international ostracism", and The Times that the US will make "representations" about the policy. Israel's foreign ministry said it has barred Mr Polanski from entering the country. On the party's side the accounts conflict: a spokesperson told the Independent that such motions have no material impact on governance or discipline, while the Guardian said the policy is binding on the party's anti-racism working group. The party has not said which holds.

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Obituary · BooksPress ✓ 6 outlets · career facts from the publisher and obituaries

Jeffrey Archer, novelist, peer and convicted perjurer, dies aged 86 on the day his last book is published

Jeffrey Archer died at home on Monday between writing sessions, his publisher HarperCollins said. He was 86. He was a Conservative MP, later the party's deputy chairman, and became a life peer in 1992; his novels sold more than 300 million copies worldwide. In 2001 he was sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice, which ended his active political career. Sky News, the Times, the Financial Times and the Queen all marked his death, with the Queen calling him "irrepressible".

He had said days earlier that his latest novel, Adam and Eve, would be his last. It was due out worldwide on Tuesday, and he had been due at the Cheltenham Festival on Saturday to discuss it. He and his wife Mary marked their 60th wedding anniversary this year; they had two sons and five grandchildren. Nadhim Zahawi called him "an extraordinary human being" and Denis MacShane described a "larger-than-life personality" for whom politics was "the most serious game in town".

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In brief
  • Informa agrees to buy Clarion Events from Blackstone for an enterprise value of £2.24 billion, raising about £940 million in new shares at 860p; its shares rose about 3%FT · Guardian · Alliance News
  • Asos investigates after app customers receive a notification warning of a "hack"FT · The Times
  • Boats able to carry 1,700 migrants seized at a Midlands airportSky News · The Times
  • Andrew and Tristan Tate used a "lover boy" model to exploit women, UK prosecutors allege in court documentsSky News · Independent
  • Germany arrests a former intelligence chief on suspicion of treason and spyingGuardian · FT · Sky News
  • UKHSA says the risk to Britain of plague is "very low" after a Russian laboratory worker's suspected pneumonic plague death; the WHO says epidemic risk in Russia is lowSky News · Guardian · Independent
Seven minutes every evening, one front page — see About

Unverified — what we could not confirm

"Iran is proved to be behind the Fairford plot." Reports cite a "reported threat of possible Iranian drone attack", but officials have shown no evidence in public and police say several lines of inquiry are open. Tehran denies it.
"Healey has decided on a bank windfall tax." He told bank chiefs the opposite: no decision has been made. A levy that spares international banks is one idea reported by Bloomberg.
"Britain has expelled Israeli diplomats." It has not. The Guardian and FT report a threat to do so if the East Jerusalem consulate is closed; Israeli media say 27 diplomats. The Foreign Office has not confirmed the number.
Glossary · dotted words — economics, law, security and science terms explained in the context of the story. The list grows every day.
INSIDEA reported Iranian drone threat made the US pull its bombers from Fairford. Police arrest a seventh suspectSecurity · DefenceHealey tells bank bosses the fiscal picture is 'challenging' and keeps them guessing on a windfall taxEconomy · BudgetAt the Tory conference Badenoch offers a 'Britannia Shield', cheaper hiring of the young and a rewrite of the EU food deal. She admits the party would not win nowPolitics · ConservativesThe Greens' vote to treat Zionism as racism brings international fallout. Their leader did not votePolitics · GreensJeffrey Archer, novelist, peer and convicted perjurer, dies aged 86 on the day his last book is publishedObituary · Books