Monday 16 February 2026
The Mighty Headlines
Economics: BoE rate setter says minimum wage leads to unemployment
Business and markets: ECB extends euro liquidity to more central banks
Foreign Affairs: US Secretary of State strikes warmer tone towards Europe
Security and intelligence: Ukraine peace talks in Geneva tomorrow
Domestic politics: Larry, the Downing Street cat, marks 15 years in the role
The Mighty Stats
FTSE = 10,446.35 (up 0.42%)
S&P 500 = 6,836.17 (up 0.05%)
Nasdaq = 22,546.67 (down 0.22%)
Stoxx 600 = 617.70 (down 0.13%)
UK FTSE 100 biggest riser: RELX (up 9.99%)
UK FTSE 100 biggest faller: Entain (down 4.74%)
£1 = $1.36 / €1.15
Lab / Con / Reform = 17 / 19 / 30 per cent (Techne, 11-12 February)
*If you enjoy reading the Mighty Memo, please pass it on to your friends and family! Anyone can sign-up for free at www.mightymemo.co.uk. *
The Mighty Detail
Economics: A member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, Catherine Mann, has said that youth unemployment is linked to an increase in the minimum wage.
Unemployment for 18 to 24 year olds currently stands at 13.7 per cent.
The minimum wage for 18 to 20-year olds has increased by 46 per cent to £10 an hour in the last three years.
Business and markets: The European Central Bank is to extend its euro liquidity backstop facility to central banks worldwide from Q3 2026. The facility is currently only available to a few central banks. ECB President, Christine Lagarde, said this will boost confidence to trade in euros during times of market stress.
Foreign Affairs: US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, struck a conciliatory tone towards European allies at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday.
Although Rubio spoke of a “climate cult” and mass migration, he also said that the US would “always be a child of Europe” and that the US wanted to create prosperity “with you our cherished allies and our oldest friends”.
Security and intelligence: Peace talks are taking place between the US, Ukraine and Russia tomorrow in Geneva. The US said last week that it would not finalise security guarantees for Ukraine until an overall peace deal had been reached. Ukraine wants minimum security guarantees of 20 years from the US.
Domestic politics: *Amid the recent domestic political turmoil, we wanted to bring you an uplifting “political” news story.* Larry the cat, “Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office”, marked 15 years in the role on Sunday. He was adopted by David Cameron in 2011 and has since served under six different Prime Ministers.
University of Cambridge professor, Philip Howell, said that Larry “represents stability, and that’s at a premium”.
Larry has a habit of photobombing foreign leaders’ photographs in Downing Street, including with Donald Trump in 2019. It is reported that he sleeps on a window ledge above a radiator by the door to no.10.
The Mighty Calendar
What’s happening today?
UK Covid-19 Inquiry Module 10 begins (“Impact on society”)
UK House of Commons not sitting (February Recess)
Winter Olympics focus: men’s slalom (featuring the final games for Dave ‘the Rocket’ Ryding), pair figure skating, women’s freestyle skiing (with Team GB’s Kirsty Muir), women’s short track speed skating, and women’s ice hockey semifinals
Lookahead to tomorrow
China, Hong Kong, Singapore public holidays (Chinese New Year)
Shrove Tuesday
UK House of Commons not sitting (February Recess)
“Ring of Fire” annular (i.e. ring-shaped) solar eclipse
Three-part documentary “The Tony Blair Story” airs on Channel 4
UK earnings and employment data (December)
Company results from: Carrefour, Antofagasta, BHP Group
Winter Olympics focus: two-man bobsleigh with Team GB’s Brad Hall and Taylor Lawrence, men’s freestyle skiing
The Mighty Finale
🌤️Weather today
Sunny spells in the northeast of England. Light rain in the northwest and southeast. Strong winds and light rain in the southwest. High of 10C and low of 4C in London. Light rain in Belfast and Edinburgh.
✏️Life coaching quote of the day
“The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It’s because they know they’ll lose again and again, and have learned how to deal with it.” – Roger Federer, 20 time Grand Slam tennis champion
Mighty takeaway: Keep yourself motivated through the struggles. You’ll get through it!
That’s it for this Monday morning. We hope you have an excellent start to the week.
Adios!
The Mighty Memo team
*To read the Mighty Memo manifesto and learn about why we do this visit: https://www.mightymemo.co.uk/why*