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295 headlines found — Page 11 of 25

The Guardian Politics6 May 2026

Airlines and companies using fuel surcharges to cover surge in costs, UK survey shows

Firms raising prices at fastest rate in three years, driven by soaring energy and wage bills but also extra cost of metals and plastics Business live – latest updates Oil prices fall as Trump hails ‘progress’ on Iran deal Airlines and other companies are increasingly using fuel surcharges to cover soaring costs, a survey has found, in a further sign of Iran war-linked inflation hitting the economy. A poll of companies in the services sector, which includes airlines, found rising fuel prices h

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics6 May 2026

Zack Polanski says he was wrong to call himself a Red Cross spokesperson

Green party leader also accuses rightwing media of politically motivated attacks as popularity grows UK politics live – latest updates Zack Polanski has said he was wrong to describe himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson, and that intensified media scrutiny of the Green party reflected fears of its rising popularity and support for wealth taxes. Polanski described himself as a British Red Cross spokesperson while campaigning for the party leadership, the Times revealed. The claim was als

PoliticsEconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics5 May 2026

Reinstate windfall tax on banks after surge in profits, TUC urges

Unions group wants rate returned from 3% to 8% after big four UK lenders reveal £14bn total profit in first quarter An increased windfall tax should be imposed on the UK’s largest banks according to trade union leaders, after the big four lenders reported almost £14bn in first-quarter profits, partly fuelled by market turbulence caused by the Iran war. The Trades Union Congress (TUC) renewed its call for an increase in the current bank surcharge, which was reduced from 8% to 3% of profits above

EconomyDefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics5 May 2026

Rachel Reeves and Scott Bessent argued in person about Iran war, sources say

UK chancellor said to have told US treasury secretary she did not like his tone during meeting in Washington in April UK politics live – latest updates Middle East crisis – live updates Rachel Reeves had an angry exchange with her US counterpart, Scott Bessent, in Washington last month over the war in Iran, sources have said, in the latest sign of the deepening tensions between the two countries. The chancellor and the US treasury secretary argued in person during the spring meetings of the I

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics5 May 2026

UK’s long-term borrowing costs hit highest level since 1998

Rise in bond yields due to fuel prices and political stability concerns will eat away at Rachel Reeves’s fiscal headroom Business live – latest updates The UK government’s long-term borrowing costs have hit their highest level since 1998, amid rising fuel prices and concerns about political stability. The yield – effectively the interest rate – on 30-year UK government bonds (gilts) hit 5.76% at lunchtime on Tuesday, up 0.11 percentage points – exceeding the 27-year high reached last autumn.

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics5 May 2026

Reform UK’s immigration policies are a significant risk to the UK economy | Sushil Wadhwani

An exodus of workers will be damaging – and electoral change might help Britain escape instability and low growth While all eyes are on the Middle East and the risk of a global recession, a possible scenario with significant downside risk for the UK economy after the next general election is building: the impact of anti-immigration policies. We do not know enough about the actual policy changes a Reform UK-led government would impose, but if we get forced repatriation (including of some who were

PoliticsEconomyImmigrationReformRemigration
The Guardian Politics5 May 2026

‘There is a good deal of fear’: what would a Labour leadership challenge mean for bond markets?

Rayner and Burnham are trying to gain markets’ confidence amid concerns they could loosen fiscal rules if they replace Starmer Who calls the shots on the bin collections in Sunderland, potholes in Hackney, or schools in Cardiff is not normally of interest to City traders in the multitrillion-pound sovereign bond market. But for those dealing in UK government debt, Thursday’s local and devolved government elections are significantly more important than usual, amid speculation that a dire showing

PoliticsEconomyEducation
The Guardian Politics4 May 2026

Reform government could cause Truss-style chaos, says renewables industry

Lobbyist Tara Singh says stripping projects of subsidy contracts would undermine investor confidence in UK Britain could be beset by levels of economic chaos last seen under Liz Truss if a Reform UK government were to fulfil its promise to strip renewable energy projects of subsidy contracts, according to the industry’s chief lobbyist. The anti-renewables policy put forward by Nigel Farage’s populist party would severely undermine investor confidence in the energy industry and across the wider U

EconomyDefenceEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics3 May 2026

Investment or waste? How the M4 relief road plan for Newport sums up Wales’s economic quandary

As potentially seismic Senedd elections loom, competing parties have differing visions of how to reinvigorate the economy It is afternoon rush hour on the M4 and drivers are yet again making slow progress around the city of Newport, often seen as the gateway to south Wales given its location between Cardiff and Bristol. Cars and lorries are stuck in gridlocked traffic in both directions on the approach to the Brynglas tunnels, where the road narrows to two lanes in each direction, while flashing

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics3 May 2026

Dynamic pay on platforms such as Uber should be banned, says TUC

Exclusive: Union body finds workers describing themselves as ‘gambling’ because wages felt like the outcome of chance rather than work The practice of using “dynamic pricing” to set pay on gig economy platforms including Uber should be banned because it leaves workers at the mercy of shadowy algorithms with no certainty over their earnings, trade union leaders have urged. In a report exposing the human cost of the gig economy practice, the Trades Union Congress said pay was becoming decoupled fr

EconomyReform
The Guardian Politics2 May 2026

Samuel Ojo on Starmer and the cost of living crisis – cartoon

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Economy
The Guardian Politics1 May 2026

The Guardian view on Britain’s fragile systems: when global shocks hit your shopping bill | Editorial

Energy disruption abroad drives prices at home, showing how few safeguards are built in – which is why a call for resilience must be heeded When the Bank of England warned this week that food inflation could reach 7% by the end of the year, it revealed how little stands between a geopolitical jolt and a domestic crisis in Britain. A shock wave in the Gulf feeds through energy, fertiliser and supermarket prices into falling incomes, weak growth and job losses. What it exposes is not just inflatio

PoliticsEconomyDefence