UK pledges extra £10bn for Ukraine after minister overrules export agency's risk warning

Chancellor John Healey announced a £10 billion package of additional financial and military support for Ukraine alongside the Budget, including emergency funding for air defences ahead of winter, with President Zelensky confirming the package on Wednesday. The Treasury set out where the money will go, building on UK Export Finance's role in providing £3.5bn of export finance capacity for nuclear fuel, critical infrastructure reconstruction and air defence supplies. The announcement came with controversy: Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds issued a ministerial direction after UKEF's chief executive Tim Reid argued that raising total exposure to £6.5bn carried too high a risk of default. The funding lands as Ukraine faces disrupted Starlink and Starshield satellite services and Russian pressure on its power grid going into winter. Also in this briefing: Budget verdict: OBR sees 1% living-standards growth in a decade as bills rise £600; Bank of England set to raise rates to 4% next week, its first rise this year; High-speed train crash south of Madrid leaves at least 68 dead.

Listen in the Fylom app.