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77 headlines found — Page 1 of 7

The Guardian Politics22 Jun 2026

I disagree with Andy Burnham’s politics. But as former health secretaries, we both know the NHS needs to be fixed | Jeremy Hunt

As prime minister, he would have a unique chance to turn the world’s most bureaucratic health service into its most innovative one If Andy Burnham moves from Manchester to No 10, he will be the first prime minister to have been health secretary in the history of the NHS. What might that mean for the troubled service? His commitment to social care is well known. But when the Treasury tells him there is no money, he is going to have to think hard about how to make his mark. The UK now spends the f

PoliticsEconomyHealthcare
The Guardian Politics21 Jun 2026

‘There’s no jobs’: struggle and regret in a Welsh town that backed Brexit

Ten years ago Ebbw Vale had the highest proportion of leave voters in Wales despite huge EU funding, which has not been fully replaced Where Ebbw Vale’s steelworks once stood is now a cluster of gleaming modern buildings including a hospital, a leisure centre and a college. Over the past decade, these public facilities have been joined by a public-private cybersecurity research centre and two tech firms. A new railway station opened at the site in 2015. Yet, during the Guardian’s visit to the We

Healthcare
The Guardian Politics16 Jun 2026

Makerfield voters are giving Burnham the benefit of the doubt. If he fails, the consequences will be grave | Owen Jones

Winning this byelection wouldn’t make Reform disappear. Would Burnham really have the courage needed to see them off in No 10? ‘Well, good,” says a middle-aged woman outside Boots about the prospect of millions of migrants being deported. “Because we want the country safe.” I point out that, even as immigration has risen sharply for the last two decades, by every measure – murder rates, or numbers of people admitted to hospitals because of knife attacks and assaults – violence has fallen steeply

PoliticsImmigrationCrimeHealthcareRemigration
The Guardian Politics15 Jun 2026

Disabled people with lifelong conditions facing ‘unnecessary’ Pip reassessments

‘Pointless’ reviews are wasting public money and ‘significantly harming’ the mental health of claimants, charity says Disabled people with lifelong conditions are repeatedly being put through “pointless” benefit reassessments, contrary to official guidance, new analysis suggests. A study by the anti-poverty charity Z2K has found that hundreds of thousands of disabled people are going through “unnecessary” personal independence payment (Pip) reviews, “wasting” public money and “significantly har

Healthcare
The Guardian Politics14 Jun 2026

Ministers could give billions raised by business rates to England’s regions

Exclusive: devolving tax is part of plans to give local areas more power in areas including justice, health and education Ministers are considering handing over billions of pounds raised by business rates to regional mayors as part of one of the biggest shake-ups of the English tax system in recent years. Steve Reed, the local government secretary, said the government was working on plans to devolve the tax, which has been the subject of recent protests by pubs and other hospitality businesses.

EconomyEducationReformHealthcare
The Guardian Politics12 Jun 2026

Merope Mills awarded CBE in king’s honours list for Martha’s rule campaign

Journalist and healthcare campaigner was driving force behind patient safety initiative after death of 13-year-old daughter The healthcare campaigner and journalist Merope Mills has been made a CBE in the king’s birthday honours list for services to patient safety. Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, was a driving force behind the introduction of an initiative in England said to have potentially saved hundreds of lives. She has spent years campaigning for the introduction of Martha’s rule un

DefenceHealthcare
The Guardian Politics11 Jun 2026

Patients are dying in A&E corridors - but I've seen how things could be different | Sophie

When I started nursing at 21 we were able to deliver timely, good care. That has become nearly impossible Sophie (not her real name) is a member of the Royal College of Nursing and a senior A&E nurse in a hospital in the south of England I began my career as an A&E nurse in 2010, when I was 21. It was a completely different world. If a patient needed immediate attention, there was easily the capacity for two nurses to look after them straight away. The NHS target of seeing patients within a fo

HousingHealthcare
The Guardian Politics11 Jun 2026

Young people in Britain are suffering a joblessness epidemic – and, so far, Labour is just making it worse | Larry Elliott

Youth unemployment is harming the mental health of a generation. A sluggish economy will only make things harder Unemployment is bad for anyone, but really hard on the young. That’s because prolonged periods of worklessness in your late teens or early 20s scar you for life. As academic studies have shown, it can cause depression and affect earning potential for years to come. There is a clear link between poor mental health and being unemployed. That’s why Alan Milburn’s probe into youth unemplo

EconomyHealthcare
The Guardian Politics8 Jun 2026

Top chefs back Andy Burnham for prime minister to cut VAT on hospitality

Tom Kerridge says ‘whole of hospitality’ should get behind Burnham who has called for VAT cut from 20% to 10% Chefs and restaurateurs have said they hope Andy Burnham becomes prime minister after he backed calls to cut VAT tax for hospitality businesses. Burnham, who is standing as the Labour candidate in the Makerfield byelection and is expected to launch a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership if he wins, has called for the rate to be cut from 20% to 10% to be in line with European rates. Co

PoliticsEconomyHealthcare
The Guardian Politics7 Jun 2026

Social housing lists ‘would take 119 years to clear at current building rate’

Research shows generations of children in England will grow up homeless unless government addresses council housing debt, charity says It would take more than a century to clear the social housing waiting lists in England at the government’s current speed of delivering new social homes, research by Shelter has shown. The housing charity found that more than 1.3m households are on a waiting list for a social home, but only 12,198 were built by councils, housing associations or private developers

HousingHealthcare
The Guardian Politics4 Jun 2026

The Guardian view on NHS records: patients are not raw material for big tech | Editorial

Ministers should end Palantir’s contract before medical confidentiality is sacrificed to Silicon Valley’s appetite for public data Alarm bells ought to have rung when it emerged last month that Palantir engineers could gain “unlimited access” to identifiable NHS patient data. Such sensitive medical information was only supposed to be available either to someone involved in a patient’s care or with the patient’s informed consent. NHS England’s new position appears to have changed that, extending

Healthcare
The Guardian Politics3 Jun 2026

UK government to pay £1.3bn to help fund Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire

Chancellor hails deal saying it will create tens of thousands of jobs in the construction, hospitality, creative and technology sectors Business live – latest update British taxpayers will provide £1.3bn in funding to help Hollywood studio giant Universal build its first theme park in Europe. Comcast, the US media company that owns NBC Universal and Sky, had been considering a number of countries in which to build its first European theme park. Continue reading...

EconomyHealthcare