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230 headlines found — Page 11 of 20

The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Officials hugely underestimated impact of AI datacentres on UK carbon emissions

Revised figures increase fears about how the energy-intensive sites could worsen the climate emergency The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from the technology by a factor of more than 100. According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂) – about as much as gene

Environment
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Reform UK asks steel bosses to draft ‘alternative strategy’ for industry

Rival to government plans would scrap net zero policies, as party aims to woo sector after decades of job losses Reform UK has asked steel bosses to draw up an “alternative steel strategy” to rival recent government plans, stoking industry fears over a charm offensive by Nigel Farage’s party as it eyes gains in former Labour heartlands. Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, met a group of bosses shortly before Labour announced new steel tariffs in March and commissioned them to draft a competing

DefenceEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics22 Apr 2026

The Guardian view on blaming the civil service: the predictable refuge of failing governments | Editorial

Whitehall has its flaws, but reform can only be successful in a climate of trust, not fear The announcement of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador ensures that 20 December 2024 will be recorded as a fateful day in Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. Less remarked on, but relevant in hindsight, is a speech that the prime minister made earlier that month to launch a “plan for change”. Sir Keir set out ambitions to improve public services and lamented caution in the civil service. Whitehall,

Environment
The Guardian Politics22 Apr 2026

Jennie Formby, Labour’s former general secretary, says she has joined Greens

Exclusive: Formby, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn who quit role in 2020, says Labour is now ‘in hock to corporate sponsors’ UK politics live – latest updates A former Labour general secretary has defected to the Green party, in the latest sign that allies of Jeremy Corbyn are moving in large numbers to Zack Polanski’s party. Jennie Formby, who managed the Labour party from 2018 to 2020, told the Guardian she had signed up as a Green party member and intended to campaign for it before May’s local ele

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics22 Apr 2026

The security report the UK government doesn’t want you to see – podcast

Fiona Harvey tells Nosheen Iqbal why the climate crisis is a threat to national security “Last October, I and other journalists got quite excited because we thought that we were going to be attending a great event at the Natural History Museum,” the Guardian’s environment editor Fiona Harvey tells Nosheen Iqbal. “We had been told that there was a major report being launched at this event. And this report was going to come not just from where you’d expect – from the government’s environment depar

Environment
The Guardian Politics21 Apr 2026

Airlines demand UK relax noise rules and cut flight tax as fuel shortage looms

Ministers also asked to alter compensation rights and suspend emissions trading scheme amid Middle East war Airlines are lobbying the UK government to relax environmental and noise rules, modify passenger rights and cut taxes on flying, as they prepare for higher costs and a possible shortage of jet fuel because of the war in the Middle East. A list of policy requests submitted to ministers and the aviation regulator includes suspending the emissions trading scheme and relaxing limits on night f

EconomyDefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics21 Apr 2026

Labour’s great green energy plan could be a legacy as vital as the NHS | Polly Toynbee

Ed Miliband has a rare chance to do for the climate what Nye Bevan did for health: create something future generations will be proud of It looks unlikely that Labour will emerge as the largest party at the next general election (though it’s by no means impossible). If just one term is Labour’s destiny, what legacy will it leave behind? There is already in the making one great success that can’t be reversed, the transition to homegrown clean energy. This is a true “taking back control” escape fro

PoliticsEnvironmentHealthcare
The Guardian Politics20 Apr 2026

After being doorstepped by a Green canvasser, I know what voters must do to keep out Reform | Zoe Williams

The 7 May elections in Great Britain promise to be a rout for Labour and the Tories. If you need to vote tactically to stop Nigel Farage’s party, make sure you trust your neighbours If there’s one thing I love more than being canvassed at local election time, it’s being canvassed when I’m at someone else’s house. I promise those people the earth. Sure, my friend whose house it is will definitely vote Lib Dem, I tell them; I once saw him make a chicken salad to take on a protest march. When a Gre

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics20 Apr 2026

‘Dancing is resistance’: Zack Polanski and the Greens bring the party to the ravers

In run-up to May local elections, the Green party is reaching people who may not normally attend a political speech It was a Sunday evening at one of Leeds’ biggest nightclubs, hot and humid, like walking into a jungle. Dancers pulsated shoulder to shoulder along with the music, riding the optimism of a good night out to come. But the 2,000-plus crowd gathered at Beaver Works were not only there to enjoy house music and abandon themselves to whatever the evening held, they were there to support

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics20 Apr 2026

Greens ‘have welcomed’ people expelled by Labour for antisemitism, Steve Reed claims

Housing secretary also targets Reform as May elections loom, saying Farage more interested in Trump than own constituency The Greens have welcomed activists kicked out of Labour for antisemitic views and people should be “very careful” who they vote for next month, one of Keir Starmer’s most senior ministers has said in a notable stepping-up of attacks on Zack Polanski’s party. In a double-pronged attack on the two parties expected to make big gains in the elections on 7 May, Steve Reed also acc

PoliticsEnvironmentReformHousing
The Guardian Politics20 Apr 2026

England left with ‘toilet deserts’ as public facilities decline by 14% in a decade

Report says lack of provision is harmful to health and damaging for high streets The number of public toilets in England has fallen by 14% in a decade, harming public health and creating vast swathes of lavatory “deserts” and unpleasant environments, a report says. The analysis by the Royal Society for Public Health found a “significant shortfall” in provision, with 15,481 people for each public toilet in England. That contrasts sharply with Scotland, where there are 8,500 people for each toilet

Environment
The Guardian Politics20 Apr 2026

Ed Miliband to double down on net zero with measures to combat Iran energy shock

As fossil fuel prices soar ‘the era of clean energy security must come of age’, energy secretary will say Ed Miliband will double down on Labour’s commitment to net zero in the face of the Middle East conflict this week, insisting that as fossil fuel prices soar “the era of clean energy security must come of age”. The energy secretary is set to announce a package of new policies in a speech on Tuesday in response to an expected energy crisis prompted by Donald Trump’s war with Iran. Continue re

DefenceEnvironment