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TUC finds UK households paid £13,961 extra on bills since 2021

Illustration accompanying article: TUC finds UK households paid £13,961 extra on bills since 2021
  • The Trades Union Congress said UK households paid an average of £13,961 extra on bills since 2021, equivalent to £2,792 a year.
  • The TUC analysis attributed the rise to soaring inflation triggered by the exit from the Covid pandemic and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, with the extra cost falling on mortgages, loans, energy bills and water costs.
  • The union said the UK recorded the weakest consumer spending growth in the G7 since before the pandemic.
  • The TUC pressed Chancellor John Healey to ease cost-of-living pressures ahead of his budget on 28 October.
 2026-10-15 · 4 MIN READ

Maine loggers and fishers absorb rising costs from Trump-Canada trade war

Illustration accompanying article: Maine loggers and fishers absorb rising costs from Trump-Canada trade war
  • Molly London and her husband Alex shut down their family logging business WW London Woodlot Management Company in August after years of rising costs, with tariffs on Canadian goods making replacement equipment too expensive to obtain.
  • Maine loggers report equipment, parts and truck prices rising 30% to 50% since Trump's tariffs on Canadian goods were first announced, according to Dana Doran, executive director of the Professional Logging Contractors of the Northeast.
  • Fuel prices above $5 in some parts of the state have forced commercial fishermen to fill their vessels only halfway per trip, with fuel costs reaching $2,500 per trip, according to Justin Allen Liddy, a Fort Clyde fisherman with 29 years on the water.
  • The U.S. imposed a 50% tariff on select Canadian goods beginning Aug. 22 after trade negotiations broke down; Canada retaliated with tariffs ranging from 15% to 50% on $20 billion in American imports.
  • Democrats hope voter frustration over the tariffs will unseat Sen. Susan Collins (R) in November's midterms; she and Democratic challenger Troy Jackson are running neck-and-neck in public polling.
 2026-09-26 · 5 MIN READ
Illustration accompanying article: Burke to outline Labor migration plan restricting student family visas