| Enjoy full access to our free-thinking journalism for less than 50p per week | .png) | Harry Brennan Consumer Affairs Editor | For 160 years, it has been Britain’s most reliable savings bank. Entrusted with £100bn by more than 26 million customers, National Savings and Investments (NS&I) is supposed to be the epitome of stability.
Now, the institution overseen by Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, is facing a surge in complaints, which have more than doubled in just over three years. At the crux of the mess is the savings bank’s bereavement service. Families of NS&I savers who have died have been forced to call in lawyers to obtain cash that is rightfully theirs, incurring thousands in costs because of failures at the taxpayer-backed bank.
Some have been forced to pay fines to HMRC after receiving incorrect information from NS&I call handlers. Others have missed out on home purchases and claim to have been denied thousands in lost interest because of delays in money being released. | A 1945 advert for National Savings, the taxpayer-backed bank | It represents a significant challenge for Dax Harkins, the chief executive of NS&I, who is already under fire for a spiralling bill relating to the bank’s embattled modernisation drive. There have been so many complaints that the compensation bill could be hundreds of millions of pounds.
It threatens to eat into government reserves at a time of rising costs and could raise serious questions about the future of the leadership at NS&I.
This exclusive reporting is available to subscribers only.
Read the full story here ➤ |  | The United States has presented Iran with a 15-point plan to end the war.
Under the proposal, the US would set strict limits on Tehran’s nuclear programme and demand the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.
Washington and Tehran would also commit to a month-long ceasefire to allow negotiations on a long-term peace agreement, according to the New York Times. Iran agreed yesterday to allow “non-hostile vessels” to pass through the shipping channel.
The news will come as a relief, with the boss of Shell warning that Europe risks fuel shortages as soon as next month as the fallout from the Middle East crisis deepens. Around one fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas supplies are trapped in the Gulf following Iran’s closure of the strait.
Elsewhere, Cyprus has demanded new and improved British security guarantees after the Iranian drone attack on UK military bases on the strategic island.
The strike, and the slow response – HMS Dragon only arrived in the Mediterranean yesterday, about three weeks after the attacks – exposed the decline of Britain’s presence in the region.
Now, Tom Cotterill reports that the Royal Navy is considering the use of civilian ships to help clear Iranian mines in the Strait of Hormuz.
 | Tom Cotterill Defence Editor | When Iran mined one of the world’s most critical shipping lanes, triggering economic mayhem, Britain was nowhere to be seen.
For decades the Royal Navy guarded the Strait of Hormuz – through which 20 per cent of the world’s oil supply flows – with its ageing fleet of specialist mine-hunting ships.
Britain’s last minesweeper in the Middle East, HMS Middleton, left weeks ago, with the Navy looking to replace older, crewed ships with a new fleet of underwater explosive-hunting robots.
Now military top brass are planning a rapid return to clear the narrow waterway, and are considering hiring civilian ships to assist. | The cargo ship M/V Seaway Hawk transports decommissioned Avenger-class minesweepers | Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, the head of the Armed Forces, is understood to be looking at proposals to charter commercial vessels and use them as “motherships” to deploy the new autonomous fleet.
Discussions are already taking place between the Navy and the maritime industry on how to make this happen, defence sources revealed yesterday, with Britain leading an international effort to clear the strait. | Crew aboard HMS Dragon en route to Cyprus | The move, still in its infancy, echoes how the Navy mobilised hundreds of civilian boats to rescue 338,000 Allied troops stranded on the beaches of Dunkirk, France, in 1940.
Read the full story here ➤
Go deeper with our full coverage of the Iran war:
Trump hands Iran 15-point plan to end war ➤
Latest updates: Inflation stalls ahead of Iran conflict ➤
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Last night, Channel 5 aired Power: the Downfall of Huw Edwards, its feature-length drama starring Martin Clunes as the disgraced newsreader. Anita was moved by what she saw. Read the review ➤ | | | | | Blood sugar spikes have been linked to a host of health problems, including cardiovascular and kidney disease, with the latest research finding that people who experienced higher spikes after eating were 69 per cent more likely to develop Alzheimer’s. Our experts explain why and give some simple food swaps to reduce your risk (and it’s good news if you like full-fat milk). Continue reading ➤ | | | Images included IDF soldiers standing with skulls, blood and the star of David | | I went to Margate for sun and sea, writes Zoe Strimpel. Little did I know when I stepped off the train that within an hour I’d be face to face with the most shocking display of anti-Semitic imagery I have ever seen outside a Nazi exhibit in a museum. Having popped into a small gallery at random, I found myself in the lair of an anti-Jewish fever dream. However, as I would soon find out, in Britain today, this isn’t considered the work of either a madman or a hate criminal: it’s just how things are. Continue reading ➤ | | | | | Author Helen Longstreth reflects on growing up with a brilliant but troubled father | | Food provokes powerful memories, and not always happy ones. Helen Longstreth, a writer, recalls a childhood in which her father cooked with abandon. Sounds wonderful, you might think. In fact, his toil was fuelled by drinking and depression, and she came to despise his minestrone soup in particular: “It was what he made when my mother wasn’t there,” she writes, in an acute recollection of food, family and deep feeling. Continue reading ➤ | | | James Hickman shares how he has outperformed the market | | Can an amateur investor beat the professionals? Yes, according to the story of James Hickman. Over the past two decades, the former plumbing business founder has grown his pension pot from £100,000 to £1.8m. Hickman, 57, reveals the strategy behind his 19 per cent annual returns, achieved without putting a penny in AI. Continue reading ➤ | | | Siena has long been a go-to city for tourists seeking art, history and Tuscan gastronomy, writes Nick Trend | In this year of geopolitical uncertainty, and with flight prices starting to spiral, it seems wise to return to an old holiday favourite. Somewhere like Provence, Tuscany or Andalusia, to which Britons have been flocking for generations. These holiday Arcadias are the backdrops for long lunches on shaded terraces, warm summer nights, and waking to cloudless blue skies. Nick Trend, one of our travel experts, explains how best to visit seven of our all-time favourite destinations in 2026, and gives tips on escaping the crowds. Continue reading ➤ Below one more article for you this morning: - Whoever came up with the adage “a messy home is a happy home” clearly never felt the satisfaction of scrubbing a countertop until it sparkled. Our expert reveals clever, eco-friendly ways to tackle stains, scuffs and everyday domestic disasters.
| Sweet tooth Every weekday, Orlando Bird, our loyal reader correspondent, shares an off-piste topic that has brought out the best of your opinions and stories. Orlando writes...
I can take or leave chocolate – which is just as well, given that I’m pretty good at racking up unnecessary calories in other ways. Still, as Easter approaches, even I might be doing a certain amount of taking, and it would be remiss of me not to mention the debate prompted by Xanthe Clay’s article ranking the best and worst mini eggs. Does Cadbury still reign supreme?
Sam Thomas thought so: “My teenage children still love to make a batch of chocolate nests with cornflakes and a couple of mini eggs for teatime on Easter Sunday.”
However, others had become disillusioned. According to Chris GG: “Cadbury Dairy Milk used to be pure bliss: creamy, melty, iconic. Now? Waxy and greasy. It tastes nothing like the childhood classic anymore. I blame the palm oil.”
Was it ever the best, though? Bernadette Danaher recalled: “I used to think Cadbury Creme Eggs were the acme of delight until Mackintosh brought out toffee and mallow eggs. Anyone remember those?”
Jacqueline Mariner, meanwhile, told how, “when I was a child, you could buy Easter eggs that looked like and were the same size as real eggs, with a white or brown icing shell and chocolate inside. I loved them. You could suck them for about half an hour before you broke through the coating. Alternatively, if you didn’t have the patience, you could hit them with a hammer”.
As for the best options today, another reader concurred with Xanthe’s award of a full five stars to Waitrose mini eggs: “They are lovely.” And Linda Hunt confessed a weakness for “Lindor mini eggs. They’re a bit too moreish, though”. What’s your go-to Easter chocolate? Send me your responses here, and the best of the bunch will feature in a future edition of From the Editor PM, for which you can sign up here.
Please confirm in your reply that you are happy to be featured and that we have your permission to use your name. | | Find as many words as you can in today’s Panagram, including the nine-letter solution. Visit Telegraph Puzzles to play a range of head-scratching games, including PlusWord, Sorted, and Quick, Mini or Cryptic Crosswords.
Yesterday’s Panagram was LIBERTINE. Come back tomorrow for the solution to today’s puzzle. | | Thank you for reading. Have a fulfilling day and I hope to see you tomorrow. Chris Evans, Editor
P.S. I’d love to hear what you think of this newsletter. You can email me your feedback here. | |
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