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230 headlines found — Page 2 of 20

The Guardian Politics10 Jun 2026

Nothing says stupidity like Reform's obsession with destroying British jobs | George Monbiot

The net zero economy is booming, so claims that prosperity depends on oil and gas are bunkum – unless you’re a Reform backer with fossil fuel interests, of course Really? You want to destroy a million jobs? Vote Reform UK for mass unemployment: is that your pitch? Hammer these questions home whenever you meet a supporter of the party. Or, for that matter, a Conservative, as their party now takes an almost identical line. The figures are stark. They were compiled not by Just Stop Oil or the Green

EconomyEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics9 Jun 2026

Is Keir Starmer trying to build a legacy or just getting on with the job?

As the Makerfield byelection and a potential leadership challenge loom, there is a sense the PM is looking to create impacts that last As the weeks ticked down to her departure from Downing Street in 2019, Theresa May had a plan. Not only did she want to put a net zero target into law, but she wanted the UK to be the first major economy to do so. And that meant beating the French. “It required the machinery of government to move more quickly than the French parliament,” a No 10 official from the

PoliticsEconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics7 Jun 2026

Labour doesn't seem to like Send schools for kids like mine – but here's what we'll lose if these precious places are forgotten | John Harris

An autism school in Wiltshire exemplifies what’s so different about education in a tailored environment, and the outcomes for children speak for themselves In the old Wiltshire milltown of Calne, there is an autism specialist school called the Springfields Academy. About 250 children and young people between the age of four and 19 go there. Class sizes are no larger than 12. In each room, every child has their own dedicated table. There are no end of seating options, described by the headteacher

EducationEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics5 Jun 2026

It’s a washout: fighters pull their punches in Question Time’s Makerfield match-off

Andy Burnham takes round one of the big byelection bout while Reform’s Rob Kenyon takes aim at himself Seconds out … Round one. In the left corner we have the middleweight King of the North … Andy Burnham. In the far-right corner we have the total lightweight … Rob “The Plumber” Kenyon. On the undercard, we have three nonentities we can barely bring ourselves to mention. Mike “The Tory” Winstanley, Sarah “The Green” Wakefield and Jake “The Lib Dem” Austin. And if you think these three are dopey,

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics3 Jun 2026

Britain is in a doom loop: people mistrust democracy and politicians. I say a hope loop is possible too | Polly Curtis

There are ways to address the lack of faith. And unless Starmer, Burnham or Streeting do that, the issue of who is PM is moot What happens next? Will Andy Burnham win the Makerfield byelection? Will Keir Starmer fight on? Will Wes Streeting run? After that, can Reform win the next general election? Is the Green bounce real? The politics-as-sports predictions rumble on. One newspaper editor texted me the other day asking who would be prime minister come Christmas, apparently because I was on his

PoliticsEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics30 May 2026

Green leaders warn party it must listen to Reform voters’ concerns to tackle inequality

Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas say party must seek to understand why disenfranchised electorate were attracted to Nigel Farage’s party The current and former leaders of the Green party have warned that the party should listen to the concerns of Reform UK voters in order to tackle inequality. Zack Polanski and Caroline Lucas said on Saturday that the Greens needed to understand why voters affected by the cost of living crisis were attracted to Nigel Farage’s party. Continue reading...

EconomyDefenceEnvironmentReformHousing
The Guardian Politics29 May 2026

Why are our homes and cities all so hot? – podcast

In the week when the hottest May days were recorded, environment editor Fiona Harvey examines a new Climate Change Committee report on how the UK can better withstand extreme heat Temperatures across the UK and Europe this week have shattered May heat records. As the environment editor Fiona Harvey points out: we might expect heatwaves in July and August – but 30C in spring? Fiona talks to Nosheen Iqbal about a report from the Climate Change Committee warning that the UK is unprepared for extrem

DefenceEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

The Guardian view on energy shocks: winter is coming – and Labour needs a plan | Editorial

Clean power remains essential. But until it arrives, Britain must stop LNG made scarce by the Iran war setting gas and electricity prices The US-Israel war on Iran will drive household energy costs in Britain to their highest level in two years over the summer. This has given fresh impetus to calls for the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, to change course. The cabinet minister is vulnerable because he promised cheaper bills if Britain embraced his clean, green power plan. Critics, including Labou

PoliticsDefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

The Campaign Diary of Robert Kenyon Aged 41 and Three-Quarters (as imagined by John Crace)

What’s Carol Vorderman moaning about? All I said was how fit she was online … must be going through the menopause Another sweltering sub-Saharan summer’s day in late spring. If this is global warming, I say: “Bring it on.” I go outside to the van, turn on the engine and leave it running. This is the kind of day you want to burn as many fossil fuels as possible. Back indoors, I turn on the radio where Tony Blair is talking. There’s a politician who talks sense. Bollocks to net zero. That’s what

DefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

Blair’s fossil fuel ideas ‘bizarre’ in face of energy and climate crises, experts say

Energy specialists say abandoning net zero and increasing oil and gas drilling would cause more instability for Britons Abandoning net zero and drilling for more oil and gas in the North Sea would be a massive setback for the UK and would not help the economy, leading experts have said in response to claims by the former prime minister Tony Blair. “This is a bizarre intervention to make during the worst May heatwave on record and when the Iran crisis is providing yet more evidence of the enormou

EconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

Ministers in talks over shelving carbon tax on fertiliser to curb food inflation

Exclusive: Package of measures discussed with farmers, including pause on duty due to come into effect next year Ministers are in discussions about suspending a carbon tax on fertilisers, due to come into effect early next year, in an effort to curb food inflation. The move would be part of a package of measures, including the suspension of import tariffs on a range of foods including bread, biscuits and bananas. Continue reading...

EconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

Why the Green party must run in every seat – including Makerfield – and ignore Labour demands to stand aside | Ben Smoke

Only the Greens can actually counter Reform UK – Labour is out of touch and partly responsible for the hard right’s rise The Green party of England and Wales has announced Sarah Wakefield as its candidate for the upcoming Makerfield byelection. The constituency is split between Greater Manchester and Wigan, and the latter’s council saw a surge in support for Reform in the latest local elections, with the party taking 24 of the 25 seats up for grabs. The showdown between Labour’s Andy Burnham, th

PoliticsEnvironmentReform