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The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

No, Minister: the week Keir Starmer had his own Sir Humphrey moment

Olly Robbins gave MPs a classic civil servant’s performance – and there are lessons from history about how ministers should respond The Whitehall satire, Yes, Minister, was said to be Margaret Thatcher’s favourite TV show due to its proximity to reality, as the programme’s loquacious top civil servant, Sir Humphrey, might have put it. The programme had a familiar groove: there would be a problem in response to which the mandarin would artfully deploy the most astonishing sophistry to avoid blame

Politics
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

UK position on Falklands will not change, No 10 says after leaked Pentagon memo

Internal email proposes US should reassess support for UK claim to islands because of lack of support for Iran war The UK’s position on the Falklands is resolute and unchanging, Downing Street has insisted, after a leaked Pentagon internal email proposed the US should reassess its support for Britain’s claim to the islands because of a lack of support over Iran. Keir Starmer’s spokesperson did not push back against the likely veracity of the email but insisted that the UK’s defence and security

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Scholars, writers and artists defy ban on Palestine Action in letter to judges

Exclusive: Prominent figures risk arrest with message of support for proscribed group before next week’s appeal hearing UK politics live – latest updates Sally Rooney, Greta Thunberg, and Brian Eno have written to the court of appeal in support of Palestine Action before next week’s hearing to determine the lawfulness of the ban on the direct action protest group. Continue reading...

PoliticsCrime
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Ousting Starmer over Mandelson would be madness – yet it’s open season in Westminster | Simon Jenkins

Defenestration has become the modus operandi in politics, instead of MPs working through the real issues of the day Does the United Kingdom really need a new prime minister? In particular, does it need Wes Streeting, Angela Rayner or Ed Miliband, reportedly lining up to replace Sir Keir Starmer? The answer is surely no, not now and not after whatever the May elections may indicate. A change of government not even two years in office cannot be in the national interest. Yet Britain’s political com

Politics
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

McSweeney denies bullying civil servants into appointing Mandelson

Starmer’s former chief of staff says he does not recognise media’s portrayal of him before evidence hearing with MPs UK politics live – latest updates Morgan McSweeney has denied claims he bullied civil servants into appointing Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the UK, before an evidence hearing with MPs next week. Keir Starmer’s former chief of staff resigned in February over his role in the hiring of Mandelson, but the move failed to end the crisis over the peer’s appointment. On Thursday,

Politics
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Britain should seek to rejoin EU, says civil servant who led Brexit department

Philip Rycroft says promises on issues from economics to immigration have not lived up to expectations Britain should start talking about rejoining the EU, according to a former senior civil servant who ran the Brexit department. Philip Rycroft, who was permanent secretary of the Department for Exiting the EU, said the “argument was there to be won” about going back into Europe, adding that a “clear-headed appraisal of what is in the country’s best interests” was needed. However, he said rejoini

EconomyImmigration
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

US justice department blocking Met police investigation into Mandelson, reports say – UK politics live

The department of justice has refused to hand over key evidence from the Jeffrey Epstein files and could delay Scotland Yard’s criminal inquiry. Good morning. The UK criminal investigation into Peter Mandelson has reportedly ground to a halt after the US justice department refused to hand over evidence contained in the Epstein files. The documents relate to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, which Scotland Yard believes could hold key evidence related to Mandelson, who served as bu

PoliticsReformCrime
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Reform UK asks steel bosses to draft ‘alternative strategy’ for industry

Rival to government plans would scrap net zero policies, as party aims to woo sector after decades of job losses Reform UK has asked steel bosses to draw up an “alternative steel strategy” to rival recent government plans, stoking industry fears over a charm offensive by Nigel Farage’s party as it eyes gains in former Labour heartlands. Richard Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, met a group of bosses shortly before Labour announced new steel tariffs in March and commissioned them to draft a competing

DefenceEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Rightwing populism is littered with broken promises. Its opponents need to make those failures count | Andy Beckett

As Trump lurches from tariffs to wars and Farage makes unrealistic pledges about immigration, their impunity needs to end Rightwing populists always promise they will get things done when they get into power. Immigration will be halted. Government waste will be eradicated. Traditional values will be revived. National decline will be halted. National greatness will be restored. Relations with the outside world will be redrawn. Great tasks that, for decades, have been beyond the capability and wil

ImmigrationDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

‘It’s Andy or bust’: could Burnham’s return to parliament save Starmer?

Labour MPs are reportedly urging colleagues to demand Burnham’s return in order to position him as Starmer’s eventual successor If Keir Starmer is looking for a saviour to keep him in No 10 after the May elections and the scandal of the Mandelson saga, there is an unlikely figure in the north-west who might help him – temporarily. It has been the week where the prime minister seemed at his most isolated. But Labour MPs told the Guardian they were urging colleagues not to depose Starmer next mont

Politics
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

‘This election is all to play for’: Can the Scottish Labour leader defy political gravity in May?

Anas Sarwar speaks to the Guardian about why he thinks the polls are wrong and how he hopes to end the SNP’s near 20-year dominance at Holyrood Anas Sarwar says he is certain he can pull off one of the greatest escape acts of modern British politics. It is 14 days until the Holyrood election, and the polls consistently show Scottish Labour is in a battle simply to come second, never mind win. Those polls are wrong, Sarwar says, and in two weeks plans to prove it. Claiming to be “more than happy”

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Two men made mistakes over Mandelson – only one has lost his job. That should haunt Starmer | Gaby Hinsliff

As the bodies pile up and he continues to blame everyone but himself, respect for the prime minister is draining steadily away A good leader never asks their people to do something they wouldn’t do themselves. Hold others to the highest standards, by all means, but only if you have equally high expectations of yourself: otherwise you may command obedience in politics but never respect, and over time even that grudging compliance may come laced with contempt. And so it is, less than two years

Politics