Daily Brief — Tuesday 3 November 2026

The UK and EU have agreed a draft deal to scrap Brexit red tape on food exports. It is the most significant piece of the reset so far, and it lands ahead of the UK-EU summit later this month. Expect the summit to be where the rest of the package gets tested.

Two domestic items are worth a note. The home secretary has scrapped her plans for settlement rules covering migrant care workers and set out a revised proposal on when migrants can claim permanent residency. Separately, the new Founders’ Relief, a 10% capital gains rate on up to £10m of lifetime gains, is already under fire. Economists call it “bonkers” because its restrictive rules could punish startups for growing.

On the global side, the US midterms are today and everything else is in their shadow. The question is whether a Democratic wave takes Congress and leaves Trump a lame duck for his last two years. The Economist’s forecast has Democrats betting that voter discontent carries them. Texas is the race to watch, with Ken Paxton against James Talarico for the Senate.

In tech, Nvidia has told its data centre clients to cut their China exposure. Cloud providers must now make sure a majority of their customers are non-Chinese. Apple, meanwhile, warned on its Monday night call that “unprecedented” memory chip costs will hit margins. It expects robust holiday sales, but the services outlook disappointed. Management also hinted at new revenue from third-party AI apps without saying how. The AI build-out is also running into local politics, with at least seven Bay Area cities having passed data centre moratoriums.

The cyber story to watch is Europe’s supermarkets. Fridges and freezers in seven countries malfunctioned, with thermostats remotely pushed as high as 50C. This is the second apparent attack in weeks. The EU has called it a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain.

On geopolitics, the US struck Iran’s Qeshm Island on the eve of the election. Officials describe the strikes as limited and defensive, aimed at Tehran’s potential use of surface-to-air missiles. On Ukraine, western officials say an Anglo-French-led stabilisation force would be allowed to fire back if attacked. It would also avoid US systems such as Starlink and be almost exclusively European. Thousands of European troops will rehearse the deployment, and officials stress they would not take part in offensive operations.

Polls open across the US from 10:00 GMT today, and results will come through tonight and into Wednesday 4 November.

Sources

California’s Bay Area debates data centres ahead of US midterm elections — Al Jazeera
Texas Senate candidates Paxton and Talarico make final appeals — Al Jazeera
Americans head to the polls for elections that could define Trump’s closing chapter — BBC News
UK and European peacekeepers in Ukraine would be allowed to fire back at Russians — Guardian
Nvidia orders data centre clients to reduce China exposure — FT
‘Bonkers’ founders’ relief criticised over rules that could punish startup growth — City AM
What time do polls open and close in the US midterm elections 2026? — Al Jazeera
Mahmood scraps settlement plans for migrant care workers — BBC News
US strikes Iran’s Qeshm Island on eve of election — FT
US strikes Iran ahead of midterm elections — BBC News
UK and EU agree draft deal to scrap Brexit red tape over food exports — BBC News
Apple may try to increase revenue by doing…something with third-party AI apps — TechCrunch
Apple warns ‘unprecedented’ memory chip costs will hit margins — FT
Thousands of European troops to rehearse Ukraine deployment in event of peace — BBC News
As voters head to the polls, Democrats bet that discontent will power their victory — The Economist
Key races that will decide the US midterm elections — FT
Who is hacking Europe’s supermarket fridges and freezers, and why? — Guardian

Al Jazeera, BBC News, Guardian, FT, City AM, TechCrunch, The Economist — 2026-11-03