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578 headlines found — Page 2 of 49

The Guardian Politics18 Aug 2026

Labour urges Gambling Commission to investigate firms linked to Reform UK donors

Bridget Phillipson writes to watchdog asking it to look into claims Tether.bet and Fispay operated without a licence The Gambling Commission has been urged to investigate claims that companies linked to Reform UK donors and allies of Nigel Farage have been operating without a licence. The Labour party’s chair, Bridget Phillipson, has written to the watchdog asking it to look into Tether.bet, a Montenegro-based gambling company, and Fispay, a UK company owned by Reform’s data protection officer,

Reform
The Guardian Politics17 Aug 2026

Huge number of children would fall into poverty under Reform’s benefits plans, say campaigners

Party wants to cut £50bn from UK welfare bill but charity says proposals would cause ‘horrific levels of destitution’ Hundreds of thousands of children would be tipped into poverty and destitution under plans unveiled by Reform UK to slash £50bn a year from the UK benefits bill, campaigners have warned. The warnings came after Reform published plans to drastically reduce disability payments, ban non-UK citizens from claiming benefits and introduce compulsory 20 hours a week unpaid workfare for

DefenceReform
The Guardian Politics17 Aug 2026

Reform’s Tice says people should stop tackling climate crisis and ‘enjoy’ heat

Deputy leader says it is ‘arrogant’ to try to stop global heating, despite UK being left reeling by summer firewave Reform’s deputy leader has dismissed efforts to tackle climate breakdown as futile, as he urged British people to “enjoy” the warmth of the recent heatwaves. Richard Tice told a press conference on Monday he believed it was “arrogant” to try to stop the climate emergency and added that politicians should focus instead on adaptation efforts, while encouraging people to focus on upsi

DefenceEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics16 Aug 2026

Reform accused of targeting the most vulnerable with £50bn benefit cut

Robert Jenrick takes aim at disabled people and foreign nationals after saying UK guilty of ‘suicidal empathy’ Reform UK has been accused of excluding the most vulnerable from society and punishing non-Britons living in the UK as it prepared to outline £50bn of cuts to benefits for disabled people and foreign nationals. Robert Jenrick, Reform’s finance spokesperson, will detail the plans for £20bn of cuts to disability benefits overall, as well as another £21bn from stopping foreign nationals –

Reform
The Guardian Politics16 Aug 2026

Arron Banks hired private investigators to dig into Conservative party chair

Revelation comes after it was disclosed that Reform UK backer had paid for spying on prominent journalist The businessman and Reform UK backer Arron Banks commissioned a private intelligence firm to dig into the Conservative party chair, in addition to having paid for an investigation into a prominent journalist. Banks, a former Reform UK candidate and leave campaign donor, appeared to confirm on Sunday that he was behind an investigation into Kevin Hollinrake. Continue reading...

Reform
The Guardian Politics16 Aug 2026

Burnham urged to crack down on gig economy firms to protect 4m workers

Exclusive: Campaigners say millions are missing out on key rights including sick pay and protection against unfair dismissal Andy Burnham is being urged to protect 4 million gig economy workers by prosecuting companies that use widespread “bogus” self-employment practices to deny people their rights. As the prime minister fleshes out his agenda, the Fabian Society and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation have warned that millions of workers are missing out on key statutory rights including parental le

EconomyDefenceReformHousing
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

The Guardian view on Nigel Farage: Clacton cannot acquit him | Editorial

Reform won a contrived byelection, but scrutiny continues – while the party increasingly attacks the watchdogs and journalists asking awkward questions Nigel Farage didn’t attend the count of the byelection he forced upon Clacton. Instead, Reform UK’s leader celebrated his win with supporters at a “Farage Fest”, filmed by a friendly TV channel. For a politician who claims to speak for the people, it was telling that at his triumph he preferred an audience of believers. Mr Farage won because his

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

Martin Rowson on Nigel Farage and the Clacton byelection – cartoon

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PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

Donald Trump can’t beat Iran and Nigel Farage can only beat a bin. When it counts, these populists are just losers | Jonathan Freedland

The pattern in the US and Britain is clear. They serve up stunt after stunt to mask incompetence and the betrayal of all those who trusted them It’s a shame Nigel Farage ducked the announcement of his victory in the Clacton byelection, which confirmed his return as MP for the seat he had needlessly resigned from just a few weeks earlier. You’d have thought he would have loved it. It was the culmination of a stunt, an exercise in politics as performance. It was a display animated by – and seeking

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

Farage wins Clacton byelection, but was it worth it? – podcast

Nigel Farage has won the Clacton byelection he triggered by resigning from the seat because he wanted to allow voters to ‘stick two fingers up at the entire establishment’. The Reform UK leader’s political finances were under investigation at the time. That process has now resumed, posing the risk of another byelection if Farage is found to have broken the rules. Has his party emerged stronger or weaker as a result of the byelection? And what next for Reform UK and its leader? Alexandra Topping

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

‘Let’s see what he can do’: will Burnham bring Barnsley voters back to Labour?

Reform UK overturned the ‘red wall’ in May, but with questions over Farage’s finances and a new face in No 10, could Barnsley be a bellwether for changing Labour fortunes? Labour marked its worst performance in more than 50 years when voters went to the polls in Barnsley in May, but 100 days on from those seismic local elections, the political landscape has shifted drastically. Could the South Yorkshire town, where Reform UK reaped the benefits of dissatisfaction with Labour, prove to be a test

PoliticsReform
The Guardian Politics14 Aug 2026

‘Disgraceful’: what one photo from Clacton tells us about British politics in 2026

Byelection results have been interpreted positively by Farage and Binface, but one spoiled ballot tells its own story UK politics live – latest updates It ended, perhaps fittingly, on a rather baffling note. After 34 days of campaigning to regain the parliamentary seat of Clacton on England’s south coast, Nigel Farage, the leader of the Reform UK party, declined to turn up to the town’s leisure centre to hear himself declared the winner and MP. It was quite the thing. The last high-profile win

PoliticsReform