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1708 headlines found — Page 17 of 143

The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

Bus fare cap coming from aid budget will hit world’s poorest, Burnham told

Funding proposal for cost of living policy ‘throws global south countries under the bus’, says ActionAid UK director Burnham announces bus fares to be capped at £2 UK politics live – latest updates The world’s most vulnerable people will be put at risk by Andy Burnham’s decision to use the aid budget to pay for cheaper bus fares in England, charities have said. The prime minister announced on Wednesday that he would reduce the fare cap from £3 per journey to £2 for next year, funded mainly by

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

Andy Burnham announces review of prisoner early release scheme

PM says he wants to be sure everything concerning controversial policy has been looked at before it goes ahead UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham has said he will review the government’s controversial prisoner early release scheme with the justice secretary. The scheme, under which thousands of prisoners are to serve shorter sentences after new laws were passed to address a prison overcrowding crisis, is due to begin in September. Continue reading...

PoliticsReformCrime
The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

Streeting and Mahmood accused of making ‘cheap jokes’ about prisoner early release scheme

Victims of crime say it’s ‘no laughing matter’ after ministers caught on hot mic ‘ribbing’ about scheme UK politics live – latest updates Victims of crime have accused ministers of making “cheap jokes” about releasing prisoners early after Wes Streeting and Shabana Mahmood apologised after being caught on camera “ribbing” about the scheme. In a video, the new justice secretary, Alex Norris, can be seen walking towards Mahmood and Streeting, the new defence secretary, who can be heard calling N

PoliticsDefenceReformCrime
The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

Transport secretary ‘100% sure’ new cap on bus fares in England is fully funded – UK politics live

Earlier this week, Burnham’s new government faced questions about how the removal of VAT on electricity bills would be funded Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Andy Burnham’s new government is facing fresh questions on how it will fund its new policies aimed at easing the cost of living, after the prime minister announced a £2 cap on single bus fares this morning. Continue reading...

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

How could Britain look under proportional representation? See the results for your area

These visualisations from exclusive polling modelling show how the UK parliament could change under different voting systems New analysis produced exclusively for the Guardian reveals how different voting systems would return wildly different seat totals in the UK parliament based on current polling. While the current first past the post (FPTP) system could leave Reform UK just 30 seats short of a majority based on recent polls, the modelling shows how proportional systems would be likely to giv

PoliticsReformHousing
The Guardian Politics22 Jul 2026

Andy Burnham is playing the long game in an age of short attention spans | Rafael Behr

It is hard to make the case for a 10-year plan in our political culture of constant campaigning frenzy – but the new PM will try It all sounded feasible but improbable. A few days after Labour’s disastrous performance in local and devolved elections in May, one of Andy Burnham’s allies confidently forecast for me the sequence of events that would convey the then mayor of Greater Manchester to No 10. A friendly MP would surrender a parliamentary seat. Keir Starmer would be persuaded to resign. O

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

From defence uplift to national care service, Andy Burnham faces question of funding

As new prime minister briefs cabinet on ‘cost of living government’, critics ask where money will come from UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham is under mounting pressure to explain how he will pay for his policy pledges as he implored his new cabinet to examine “all possible ways” to tackle the cost of living crisis. On his first full day in power, the prime minister faced questions about how he would fund the removal of VAT from electricity bills and also an expected uplift in def

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

The Guardian view on social care reform: Andy Burnham is right – this issue must be gripped | Editorial

Ending the pattern of broken pledges and ditched proposals could help to rebuild trust in politics Andy Burnham chose not to make social care the centrepiece of his first speech as prime minister. Instead, rough sleeping was named as his top priority upon entering 10 Downing Street. Given that earlier attempts at overhauling social care have flopped, he was wise not to over-promise on day one. Louise Casey, who is leading the independent commission on the issue, says that “an honest conversatio

Politics
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

Fiscal hawk or big spender – what kind of chancellor will John Healey be?

The diligent, popular, unexpected pick for the Treasury has been given a straitjacket – and the job of funding the PM’s policy promises UK politics live – latest updates On the frequent occasions that John Healey would travel abroad as defence secretary, he was so determined to keep working he would get the crew to tether a desk to the inside of his military aircraft so he could read his papers. His diligence is one reason why Andy Burnham, the new prime minister, made Healey his unexpected pi

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

Starmer allies see ‘hint of retribution’ in Burnham reshuffle

Former PM’s supporters question pledge to end factional infighting after more than half his cabinet removed or demoted Keir Starmer’s allies have questioned Andy Burnham’s pledge to end factional infighting after he removed or demoted more than half of the outgoing prime minister’s cabinet in his first reshuffle. “This was a deeply factional cabinet reshuffle,” one said. “The idea it was anything else is ridiculous.” Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

Burnham has forced greater clarity at Thames Water. Now he must choose

Bondholders are suddenly showing flexibility after 18 wasted months at ailing utility company Thames Water investors offer ‘golden share’ in bid to head off nationalisation What a difference a credible political threat of special administration at Thames Water can make. Suddenly, the bondholders are volunteering all manner of new ideas in their attempt to take over the ailing utility. Would you like the state to have a “golden share”, Mr Burnham? Here is a menu of “supervisory structures” that

Politics
The Guardian Politics21 Jul 2026

Healey as chancellor? Streeting as defence secretary? This isn’t a cabinet to change the UK like Burnham promised | Owen Jones

Putting Ed Miliband in charge of the Treasury would have signalled a genuine new era. Instead, the new PM has played it safe Andy Burnham has promised to bring “four decades of neoliberalism” to an end. The first serious test of that pledge was always going to be the cabinet he appointed. The red flags are impossible to ignore. Ending neoliberalism would mean putting privatised services back into public hands, unleashing public investment and using the power of the state to reshape the economy.

PoliticsEconomyDefence