Halloween headlines: Secretary of state to meet parties and Lords scrutinise Protocol Bill

Stormont

The Secretary of State is due to meet political parties on Tuesday after announcing he would call an election last week but didn't set a date. Chris Heaton-Harris has said many people found it unfair that MLAs continued to receive pay while government had not functioned properly since the May election. He's denied a u-turn in not announcing an election date on Friday.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Scrutiny of the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill continues in the House of Lords on Monday. Peers will continue to examine the elements of the bill, which aims to change the protocol by delegating powers to ministers to make new laws and implement agreements with the EU. It will be examined again on Wednesday.

Mortgage rates

House price growth has started to slow in Northern Ireland. That's according to Zoopla's latest HPI (House Price Index) )report. It's found that the recent spike in mortgage rates, following September's mini-budget, has made housing unaffordable for many. Despite signs that mortgage rates will fall back, they believe rates of 4 to 5% are likely to be the new norm.

Halloween

Expect costumes, music and fireworks in the the climatic final act of Londonderry's Halloween Festival. The Walled City celebrates fright-night like no other - and is billed as the biggest Halloween party in Europe. On Sunday, a gang of ghosts haunted a shopping centre, but, while plenty of spooky ghouls turned out, the gathering unfortunately fell short of breaking a world record.

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