Ten Things You Need to Know Today: 30 September 2022

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1. PM to hold ‘unusual’ fiscal meeting
2. Labour surges to 33-point lead
3. ‘Substantial’ deaths from hurricane
4. More food banks set up for nurses
5. Hedge boss denies Kwarteng collusion
6. US won’t accept annexations
7. Harry was told of Queen’s death ‘hours later’
8. Turkey and Brussels mock Truss
9. Cinemas reopen in Kashmir
10. Swimming pools turn down the heat

1. PM to hold ‘unusual’ fiscal meeting

Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng are set to meet the head of the Office for Budget Responsibility, the UK’s independent financial forecaster. The meeting is “an unusual move,” said the BBC, but is designed to reassure the markets about the government’s economic plans, which have been greeted with alarm on the markets. However, a government insider told The Guardian, the OBR meeting was “like trying to read the manual after you’ve broken the thing”.

Labour is enjoying its largest poll lead in nearly three decades after Liz Truss’s economic strategy caused mayhem on the markets. The YouGov study found that 54% of voters would back Labour in a snap general election with only 21% supporting the Tories – a lead of 33 points, higher than any time since the Tony Blair years. A separate poll, carried out by Survation, showed Labour had 49% of voters with the Tories on 28%. A third study, by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, noted a 19-point lead for Labour.

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The White House says Hurricane Ian could be the deadliest hurricane in Florida’s history. At least 19 people have been reported dead so far due to the storm, which has intensified to a Category 1 hurricane as it heads toward South Carolina, according to the National Weather Service. During a visit to Federal Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Washington, DC, Joe Biden said: “The numbers are still unclear but we’re hearing early reports of what may be substantial loss of life.”

One in four hospitals has set up food banks for nurses, a study has revealed. As the cost of living crisis causes an “exodus” of NHS staff for better pay in pubs, restaurants and shops, a new survey of 150 hospital chief executives, by NHS Providers, revealed 27% have set up food banks to support staff. Speaking of the flood of staff leaving the service, a health chief said: “Amazon pay a £1,000 signing-on bonus, which is attractive when your energy bills have doubled in a year.”

Kwasi Kwarteng’s former hedge fund boss bet big on the pound falling after a lunch with the Tory politician, revealed The Times. Crispin Odey, who has profited from the fall in the value of the pound and government debt, met Kwarteng at his home in London on 17 July, during the Tory leadership campaign. Asked about his lunch with Kwarteng, Odey said: “I have never talked to Kwasi about anything serious.” Speaking to the FT, he denied that he had a trading advantage because Kwarteng had worked for him.

Washington will “never, never, never” recognise Russia’s attempt to annex territory in Ukraine, Joe Biden has said. The Kremlin claims that Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson voted to join Russia in recent referendums but the legitimacy of the votes has been questioned in the West. “The United States, I want to be very clear about this, will never, never, never recognise Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory,” said the US president. Vladimir Putin is expected to sign into law the annexations of the four regions today.

The Queen’s death certificate has confirmed that she died from old age on September 8 at 3.10pm at the Balmoral estate in Aberdeenshire, more than three hours before the world was told of her passing. Analysing the timing of announcements on the day, the Daily Mail said it also “took more than three hours” for royal officials to tell Prince Harry his grandmother had died. Prince Charles only managed to contact his son, who was flying to Scotland to join the family, five minutes before the news was officially announced.

Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan has claimed the pound is “blowing up” and Brussels diplomats have accused Liz Truss of “gaslighting” the British public. In the latest episode of international criticism of Truss’ economic management, the Turkish leader, who has overseen a 50% slump in the lira in the past year, said: “They were bragging about the pound on how valuable they are against this and that, but we got the news today that they blew up.” Then, an EU diplomat told The Telegraph that Truss’s administration “gaslights the British people”.

Cinemas are reopening in Indian-administered Kashmir for the first time in more than 20 years. Until the early 1990s, Kashmir – India’s only Muslim-majority region - had a dozen cinemas, but an armed rebellion against Indian rule forced them to close. As the theatres began to reopen, Manoj Sinha, the lieutenant-governor of Jammu and Kashmir, called it a “historic day” and “a reflection of a new dawn of hope, dreams, confidence and aspirations of people”.

Swimming pools are getting colder and Jacuzzis are being switched off as leisure centres respond to higher bills, reported The Times. Nuffield Health, which owns 114 gyms with pools, has written to members to say that its 72 Jacuzzis will be switched off next Monday and won’t be turned back on until the spring. Meanwhile, Greenwich Leisure Limited, which runs 258 gyms and pools on behalf of councils, said that it had turned down water and air temperatures at its pools to lower bills.

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