Financial news

• Energy bills could rise by £160 after Iran conflict pushes gas prices higher

  04-03-2026 18:46
  Household costs could reach £1,800 a year from July as UK market hits three-year highMiddle East crisis – live updatesHousehold energy bills could climb by £160 a year from this summer after the war in Iran pushed the UK’s gas market to a three-year high.A typical combined household gas and electricity bill could reach £1,800 a year in Great Britain under the government’s quarterly price cap from July, according to analysis by Cornwall Insight, an energy consu
  
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• Blooming brilliant: 63 ways to spring into spring

  04-03-2026 16:00
  Whether it’s sowing sweet peas, servicing your bike or giving your trainers some TLC, here’s how to get your mind, body and home ready for the new season• Don’t get the Filter delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereAnd just like that, spring has arrived. After an exceptionally wet and dreary start to the year, tulips and crocuses are poking through the ground, blossom is everywhere and winter layers are being shed, all giving us reason to celebrate.Spring officially begins o
  
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• £25 for a cookie? What the baffling luxury bakery boom tells us about Britain

  04-03-2026 11:00
  Amid a cost of living crisis, pricey patisserie is all the rage – and not just in London. Our reporter goes on a crawl to find out if a tart can really be worth £45There was a time when you could get a stuffed vanilla cream slice or a neon-pink Tottenham cake for about £1 on the leafy, residential corner of Hackney, east London, where I stand today. But the branch of Percy Ingle bakery that was here for nearly 50 years is gone. In its place sits Fika, a cafe where a cinnamon bu
  
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