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The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Manchester shows biggest fall in inner-city deprivation in boost for Burnham

City made outsized contribution to falling levels of deprivation between 2010 and 2025, thinktank finds Manchester has recorded the biggest fall in inner-city deprivation in Britain, according to a report, as Andy Burnham stakes a claim that he could replicate the city’s revival nationwide. As the frontrunner to replace Keir Starmer, the Greater Manchester mayor has placed the city’s economic performance at the heart of his campaign, describing “Manchesterism” as a political philosophy for a mo

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Reeves to promise free summer bus rides for children and food tariff cuts in living costs package

Chancellor launches ‘Great British summer savings scheme’ after Keir Starmer postpones fuel duty increase Planned fuel duty rise to be scrapped, says Keir Starmer Rachel Reeves is to promise free summer bus rides for children and cut tariffs on some food imports, as part of a package of measures aimed at easing the costs of the Iran conflict. The chancellor will give a statement in the House of Commons on Thursday, outlining her latest plans for cushioning the blow to consumers from an expecte

Politics
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

UK struggles to reassure Ukraine after easing new sanctions on Russian oil

Diplomats mount salvage operation after ‘clumsy’ announcement upsets Kyiv The UK was last night desperately trying to reassure Kyiv its new sanctions policy on Russia did not weaken restrictions, after Ukrainian officials warned the change could help Moscow fund its war efforts. While Downing Street insisted the decision to allow the temporary import of Russian oil and jet fuel was only one element of a tougher overall sanctions package, a British minister conceded that the matter had been handl

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Burnham to back Shabana Mahmood’s immigration changes, allies say

Exclusive: Greater Manchester understood to support home secretary’s push to limit legal and illegal migration Andy Burnham is backing Shabana Mahmood’s controversial changes to the immigration system, his allies have said, in a blow to those in Labour who hope to soften them. The Greater Manchester mayor is understood to be keen to reframe the changes but supportive of the home secretary’s attempts to limit legal and illegal migration, which have been criticised by some senior Labour MPs as un-

PoliticsImmigration
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Starmer’s top advisers knew about ‘indefensible’ journalists’ probe, documents reveal

PM’s former chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, among aides who were briefed on investigation into journalists writing about Labour Together Keir Starmer’s most senior advisers were briefed about an “indefensible” investigation into journalists writing critical pieces about the Labour Together thinktank, according to a newly released document. Among the aides who received updates on the probe, commissioned by the thinktank’s director, Josh Simons, were Morgan McSweeney, the former chief of staff t

The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

From fuel duty to sanctions, Kemi wants to make it clear how little she understands | John Crace

Why would Tory leader bother to look into national or global politics? That time would be better spent picking fights Being assertive and sounding confident is always a good start. No leader of the opposition is going to get far without those qualities. And Kemi Badenoch certainly manages that. But winning at prime minister’s questions requires something more basic than that. Something fundamental. A very basic understanding of the facts. Not just reading a headline in the papers and a few posts

Politics
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Russian jet causes ‘dangerous’ near collision after flying close to RAF spy plane

UK government calls incident ‘unacceptable’ after Su-27 jet comes within six metres of unarmed spy plane over Black Sea A Russian jet flew within six metres of an RAF spy plane flying at 500mph over the Black Sea, one of two mid-air incidents last month described as “dangerous and unacceptable” by the defence secretary John Healey. An Su-27 jet conducted six passes in front of an unarmed RAF Rivet Joint flying close to its nose, potentially risking a collision that could have triggered a diploma

Defence
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

Former health minister with terminal cancer urges MPs not to bring back assisted dying bill

Exclusive: Ashley Dalton said rejected amendments could have made bill stronger but it became a ‘pretty dangerous set of affairs’ A former public health minister facing terminal cancer has urged MPs not to bring back the assisted dying bill. The Labour MP Ashley Dalton revealed she would be on lifelong treatment for metastatic breast cancer which has spread throughout her body – but said her parliamentary colleagues should not revive the bill which would legalise an assisted death to those with

Politics
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

The Treasury’s supermarket food price cap wheeze was bananas | Nils Pratley

Retailers such as M&S need not worry – the UK is not in a state of emergency and competition is clearly working Call for food price caps ‘preposterous’, says M&S boss “Completely preposterous,” said Stuart Machin, chief executive of Marks & Spencer, about the Treasury’s proposal for voluntary price caps on food staples. He was outdone in the outrage stakes by City analyst Clive Black at Shore Capital, who thought the government “appears to be losing its mind in an orgy of neo-Soviet policy ide

Economy
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

British Council staff in Italy to strike over proposed 80% workforce cut

Soft power institution faces funding crisis linked to Covid-era government loan soon due to be repaid Staff at the British Council in Italy will go on strike over deep cuts that would slash about 80% of its workforce due to a funding crisis facing the organisation. Out of 130 of its teaching staff across Rome, Milan and Naples, 108 are being targeted as teaching activities in Italy face the axe. The move would end 80 years of British Council English language teaching in Italy as part of the orga

The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

UK strikes £3.7bn trade deal with six Gulf states

Keir Starmer describes the agreement, worth double original estimates, as a ‘huge win’ for British businesses Keir Starmer has struck a trade deal with six Gulf states in what he described as a huge win for British business, ending four years of talks led by four different prime ministers. The deal will offer £3.7bn worth of opportunities for exporters – double the original estimates – particularly in the food and luxury car sectors but also defence, aerospace, hospitality and other services, th

DefenceHousingHealthcare
The Guardian Politics20 May 2026

A decade after the Brexit vote, we want to hear how you feel now

As the UK approaches the 10th anniversary of the Brexit referendum, we’d like to hear how people feel about the decision now and whether your views have changed over the past decade It’s been nearly ten years since the fateful Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016 when the UK voted to leave the EU. We’d like to hear from people across the UK about how they voted at the time, how they feel about Brexit now and whether their views have changed over the past decade. Do you still feel the same way you d

Politics