Wednesday evening UK news briefing: Inflation nightmare just beginning

Evening briefing: Today's essential headlines

Nato expansion | Turkey vetoed a Nato decision on whether to accept Finland and Sweden into the military alliance. At a "classified" meeting of Nato ambassadors in Brussels, the Turkish representative stopped a vote on their applications, which were officially submitted earlier in the day, according to sources with knowledge of the discussion. Read what happens now and more on Ukraine in the Around the World section.

• Rape arrest | Sir Keir Starmer backs calls for Tory MP to be named

• Julian Assange | He should not be extradited to US, Europe tells Patel

• Pavement parking | Scrap it or net zero drive will fail, charity warns

• 'Blood rain' | Red Saharan dust cloud to mix with thunderstorms

• Watch | Morrison channels inner Johnson as he rugby tackles child

The big story: Large mortgage warning amid inflation

Homeowners have already felt the impact of inflation surging to a 40-year high on their energy and food bills.

They should also be preparing for a worse shock coming down the line, as these three charts show.

Yet could the economic woes be about to bleed into the property market?

Homebuyers should "under no circumstances" take out large mortgages to buy property, one of Britain's leading housing experts has warned.

Paul Cheshire, a former government adviser and emeritus professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science, said the market was the most exposed to persistently falling prices since the early 1990s and predicted a nationwide drop of at least 10pc.

Read why he said today's outlook is worse than during the global financial crisis.

Jeremy Warner thinks there will not be a house price crash, but also sets out the reasons why investors should beware a buy-to-let market dip.

The inflation figures dominated Prime Minister's Questions, where Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of performing the "hokey cokey" over imposing a windfall tax on oil and gas giants to help tackle the cost of living crisis.

The Labour leader said "one minute they are ruling it in, the next they are ruling it out" as he urged the Prime Minister to back the levy.

Sir Keir also predicted that the Government will eventually be forced into rolling out the policy as he said "every single day he delays his inevitable U-turn - he is going to do it - he is choosing to let people struggle when they don't need to".

Read how Mr Johnson responded.

Pensioners hit

Rishi Sunak has vowed to cut taxes for businesses later this year as surging inflation threatens to plunge the UK into recession.

Speaking at the annual dinner for the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) tonight, the Chancellor will reassure firms that "we are on your side" and call on them to help increase productivity and enterprise.

That may not be welcome news for pensioners, though, who have experienced a £551 real terms cut to their income over the past year, with the cost of living rising three times as fast as the state pension.

More than 12 million pensioners will be left thousands of pounds worse off throughout their retirement after the Government broke its promise and suspended the "triple lock" at the same time as inflation surged to a 40-year high.

Research also suggests parents are drawing down their pensions and taking money out of properties to help their children manage the cost of living crisis.

What to do today

Making money from your savings has rarely been so tough.

Inflation has peaked at a 40-year high of 9pc while the best cash savings rate stands at just 1.5pc.

There are few ways to safely preserve your wealth, let alone grow it.

Investing remains the only way for savers to keep their money in line with inflation – or even beat it.

Here are six ways to make money while inflation is at 9pc and three things you must do today to beat rising prices.

Also make sure you know the pay rises you will need to beat the rising cost of living and the jobs with inflation-busting pay rises.

Comment and analysis

• Robert Service | Putin is micromanaging his way to military collapse

• Ben Marlow | Russia's disastrous isolation leaves Putin nowhere to go

• Annabel Denham | Bank of England is not 'helpless' to stop crisis

• Allison Pearson | Wagatha Christie? More like Chavatha Christie

• Oliver Brown | If clubs can't control their fans, stadiums should close

Around the world: The fall of Mariupol

Top-ranking Ukrainian commanders at the Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol "have not surrendered", a pro-Russian separatist leader has said, as Russia claims that almost one thousand Ukrainian troops have left the plant. While the Ukrainian city was unlikely to grace a tourist brochure, no shortage of people proved willing to die for the right to call it their own. With harrowing pictures and haunting words, Colin Freeman and Verity Bowman describe the fall of Mariupol. It comes as the US is preparing to force Russia to default on its international debts for the first time in a century in a blow to Vladimir Putin. Also, the first Russian soldier on trial in Ukraine for war crimes during Moscow's invasion pleaded guilty today, facing possible life imprisonment in Kyiv.

Wednesday interview

'The BBC are so nervous it's soul-destroying'

Steve Rider's disappointment in the BBC is as clear as his forthright views on the changing landscape of TV broadcasting. He tells Thom Gibbs how sports journalism should be done and where his loyalties lie

Read the full interview

Sport briefing: Ollie Pope set to bat at No 3 for England

England will launch their latest red-ball reset by recalling Ollie Pope at number three, with Matthew Potts set to make his Test debut against New Zealand on June 2. The first Test squad of the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era - which is for the opening two games of the series - includes eight members of the side who were thrashed by 10 wickets in Grenada in March to seal a series loss to West Indies. In football, read how Liverpool have been using cutting-edge Silicon Valley computer algorithms that both detect injury risk and recommend preemptive action in their quest for an unprecedented quadruple. Meanwhile, the Russian gymnast who displayed the 'Z' symbol on the podium has been banned for a year and stripped of his World Cup bronze medal.

Editor's choice

1. London's lost railway arch | This and 16 other architectural wonders that are no more

2. Changing reputation | The six-drink rule that will make or break Magaluf

3. Gail Porter | 'Mental health’ interview cut through all the mindfulness mumbo-jumbo

Business briefing: Record energy exports to Europe

The UK has been exporting record levels of energy to Europe after ships delivered vast quantities of liquid gas to British ports from around the world. Both gas and electricity exports to the continent have surged in recent months as prices in Europe climb above those in the UK. It comes amid efforts to use the UK as a "bridge" to Europe for international supplies of gas to replace those from Russia. Elsewhere, if Elon Musk wants to walk away from his Twitter takeover over fake accounts, James Titcomb analyses why unwinding the deal may not be simple.

Tonight starts now

Europa League final | Rangers will not get carried away despite being only one game from making history when they play Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League final, midfielder Aaron Ramsey said. The Scottish club, who are in their first Europa League final since finishing runners-up in 2008, will be bidding to win a second European trophy 50 years after they claimed the 1972 Cup Winners' Cup. Read everything you need to know about the game - which you can follow live here. Ten years since the club entered administration, Sam Wallace examines the philosophy behind Rangers' rise from financial ruin to Europa League final.

Three things for you

• Watch | Derry Girls: the Agreement, Channel 4, 9pm

• Theatre | Grease, review: Peter Andre's small but prominent part

• Play | Telegraph Puzzles featuring today's crossword and sudoku

And finally... for this evening's downtime

'Richard Burton told me he was ashamed to be an actor' | As he brings his brutally honest one-man show to the West End, Golden Globe winner Gabriel Byrne explains to Dominic Cavendish why he never wanted to be "an Armani model" – or James Bond.