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The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

Reform to ask for Clacton byelection to be held on 6 August after Farage resignation

Constituents to vote in contest being boycotted by major parties over financial scandal surrounding Reform leader Reform UK will request that the Clacton byelection be held on 6 August, the party has said, after Nigel Farage’s decision to resign from the seat. The Reform UK leader, who has represented the Essex constituency since the 2024 general election, said on Tuesday he was standing down and would put himself forward again in what he has sought to portray as a “people versus the establishme

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

Bin tactics. At times like these, only a Zia perma-rage defence of Nige will do | John Crace

Reform keeps Tice on the bench, sending in attack specialist Yusuf in effort to take back control as byelection stunt unravels You can often tell when Reform is running scared and losing control of the political narrative, because that’s the time Richard Tice is put back in his box. Everyone but Dicky knows that Dicky is a halfwit. A man whose very life force is dependent on Nigel Farage’s continued existence. Without Nige there would be no Dicky. He is the tick with no autonomous nervous system

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

Treasury yet to do due diligence on finding extra money for UK’s Nato spend

How to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise would be a matter for ‘the next prime minister’, MPs told The Treasury has as yet carried out no analysis of the trade-offs necessary for the UK to hit the 3.5% of GDP defence spending promise made to Nato, chief secretary Lucy Rigby has said. Under robust questioning in a joint session of the Treasury and defence select committees on Wednesday, Rigby repeatedly said that how to fund additional defence spending would be a matter for “the next

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

IMF upgrades UK growth forecast as fears over impact of Iran war diminish

July update projects GDP growth of 1% this year, making UK the third fastest-growing economy in the G7 The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has upgraded its growth forecast for the UK, while leaving those for other G7 countries weaker or unchanged, amid hopes the economic impact of the Iran war may be less severe than feared. In a July update of its World Economic Outlook, which was finalised before the latest outbreak of hostilities in the Middle East, the Washington-based organisation project

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

Lack of safeguards over prisoners’ early release puts abuse victims at risk, Lammy warned

Exclusive: victims commissioner and domestic abuse commissioner call for pause on planned releases A failure to put in place safeguards ahead of a change to the law that will result in offenders being released early will leave abuse victims at risk, ministers have been warned. In a rare coordinated intervention, the victims commissioner and the domestic abuse commissioner have written separately to ministers urging them to immediately pause planned early releases of offenders convicted of crimes

DefenceCrime
The Guardian Politics8 Jul 2026

‘More public control’: what will Burnham do about water and energy?

In the fifth of a series on nationalisation, we look at utilities – including the cost of ending private ownership Will Burnham ‘go big’ in expanding the role of the state? Atlee: the postwar blueprint that inspires Burnham How council housebuilding is central to Burnham’s vision How Burnham aims to shake up UK transport When the former Undertones frontman turned campaigner Feargal Sharkey backed Keir Starmer for prime minister in 2024, he hoped that the Labour leader would be the man to cl

DefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics7 Jul 2026

Europe doesn’t need to worry about Andy Burnham. He has the makings of a great ally | Jessica Berlin

Defence strategists fret about the next PM’s inexperience. But he knows about local resilience. That’s the kind of skill Nato urgently needs I recently asked a senior Labour figure what Andy Burnham’s defence agenda might look like. “He doesn’t really have one,” came the reply – offered not so much as a criticism of the UK’s prime minister in waiting, as a statement of fact. Given that Keir Starmer’s resignation came after a mutiny within his own government over inadequate defence spending, some

Defence
The Guardian Politics7 Jul 2026

Burnham urged to ditch ‘dangerous’ UK-US NHS drug deal

Exclusive: health groups call on expected next prime minister to rip up agreement, which analysis suggests could lead to 229,000 excess deaths by 2036 UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham is being urged to scrap the UK-US trade deal on medicines as health organisations and doctors’ groups warn it is dangerous and prioritises pharmaceutical company profits over the lives of NHS patients. Ministers have defended the agreement, signed last December, as a way of helping British drug expo

PoliticsDefenceHealthcare
The Guardian Politics7 Jul 2026

Act soon to change ‘unsustainable’ direction of UK debt, OBR warns

Forecaster says curtailing rising costs such as health and pensions ‘are today’s challenge, not just tomorrow’s’ Business live – latest updates Policymakers must act to prevent public debt rising unsustainably in coming decades as the population ages and defence spending rises, the government’s independent economic forecaster has said. In a fresh illustration of the challenges facing the prime minister in waiting, Andy Burnham, the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said that without gover

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics7 Jul 2026

Ex-Nato chief behind defence review says Starmer’s military spending plan is too little, too late

George Robertson warns defence investment plan fails to meet scale of challenge facing the UK The former Nato chief who led the government’s defence review has criticised the prime minister’s plan to pay for it, calling the defence investment plan (Dip) insufficient and overly delayed. George Robertson, the former Nato general secretary, told MPs on Tuesday that the Dip had damaged confidence in the defence industry and among Britain’s allies who are gathering in Ankara this week for the Nato su

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics6 Jul 2026

Starmer to rally European allies at Nato summit amid concerns over US stance

Outgoing PM will stress British commitment to defence spending at meeting in Ankara to counter Trump rebukes Keir Starmer will seek to work with European allies to shore up support for Nato at its summit in Ankara on Tuesday amid concerns that Donald Trump could further destabilise the military alliance with threats over defence spending. Downing Street said the prime minister and other international leaders would be focused on “building a stronger and more European Nato” as they attempt to addr

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics6 Jul 2026

The Guardian view on apprenticeships: young people need help getting started at work | Editorial

Existing staff are taking too much of a fund intended for new recruits. Ministers must take charge of redirecting it For the roughly 64% of young people who do not go to university, apprenticeships are vital gateways to the world of work. The way that funding has flowed away from them and towards older workers in recent years was flagged as a problem in the interim report from Alan Milburn’s review on young people and work in May. Mr Milburn’s recommendations are still some months off. Apprentic

DefenceEducationReformHousing