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The Guardian Politics2 Mar 2026

Most senior council officers in England say building work hit by delays

Funding uncertainty is main concern, despite Labour’s pledge to revitalise construction, survey shows Almost two-thirds of senior council officers have said they are seeing construction projects delayed, despite the key role of local authorities in creating the wave of new housing and infrastructure promised by Labour. Before Rachel Reeves’s spring forecast on Tuesday, a survey of senior council officers showed that 40% do not think the local authority they work for is well placed to follow thro

Housing
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Hundreds of UK teenagers to pilot social media bans and restrictions

Trials to form part of three-month consultation on Keir Starmer’s plans to tackle negative effects of smartphone use Hundreds of teenagers will be enlisted to trial social media bans in the coming months with overnight digital curfews and daily screen time limits also tested as part of Keir Starmer’s plan to crack down on the negative effects of smartphone use. The trials will be part of a three-month consultation launched this week that could lead to an outright ban on social media for under-16

The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

UK to allow US to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iran

Keir Starmer says decision is due to Iran’s approach becoming more reckless and putting British lives at risk The UK has agreed to let the US use British military bases to attack Iranian missile sites, Keir Starmer has said. The UK has so far not been involved in the US-Israeli strikes on Iran, but in a recorded statement on Sunday evening, the prime minister said that Iran’s approach was becoming more reckless and putting British lives at risk, leading to the decision to allow the US to use UK

Defence
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum

Home secretary announces 30-month protection limit, with refugees required to leave if their home countries are later judged safe ‘That resentment is real’: Mahmood’s Denmark visit aims to hammer home tough line on immigration Shabana Mahmood has ripped up the government’s asylum rules so that from Monday every refugee will be told that their status is temporary and will last just 30 months. In a move that has concerned a refugee charity, the home secretary said that claimants whose countrie

Immigration
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

‘That resentment is real’: Mahmood’s Denmark visit aims to hammer home tough line on immigration

On tour of returns centre, home secretary says ‘legitimate grievances’ have to be acknowledged as part of ‘responsible’ politics Refugee status to be temporary as Shabana Mahmood rips up rules on UK asylum The UK home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and Danish immigration officials strode through the bleak and chilly Sjælsmark returns centre, a former military barracks used to house men and women who have no right to remain in the country. Followed by photographers, reporters and civil servants, M

PoliticsImmigrationDefence
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

OBR a backseat driver with out-of-date maps, thinktanks tell Rachel Reeves

Chancellor urged to reform Office for Budget Responsibility to open way to more public investment Rachel Reeves must reform the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to open the way to more public investment, an alliance of thinktanks has argued ahead of the chancellor’s spring forecast on Tuesday. With Keir Starmer’s government under intense pressure after Labour’s defeat by the Greens in Thursday’s Gorton and Denton byelection, the thinktanks called on Reeves to review the watchdog’s remit.

PoliticsEconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Foreign Office starts planning evacution of thousands of Britons in Middle East

About 76,000 nationals thought to be in the region as tensions rise after US-Israeli attacks on Iranian regime US-Israeli war on Iran: latest updates The Foreign Office is drawing up plans to evacuate tens of thousands of British citizens if war in the Middle East escalates, with many travellers currently stranded in Dubai. The government does not know how many British nationals are resident, on holiday or otherwise travelling across the Gulf, but it said 76,000 have so far registered their

DefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Starmer faces greater quandary over ‘special relationship’ after Iran attack

PM is in diplomatically precarious position of declining to endorse US strikes while also refusing to condemn them US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates It was perhaps naive for No 10 ever to position Keir Starmer as a “Donald Trump whisperer” capable of persuading the unpredictable US president to step back from reckless decisions. The “special relationship” has been under severe strain in recent months over the UK’s decision to give up sovereignty of the Chagos Islands, and the refusal of E

Defence
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Labour Together ‘making clean break’ after former director resigns as minister

Thinktank’s board distances itself from Josh Simons’ decision in 2023 to hire lobbying firm to investigate journalists A Labour thinkthank that helped Keir Starmer win No 10 has said it is making a “clean break” from the past after its former director, Josh Simons, resigned as a minister over a report falsely linking journalists to a “pro-Kremlin” network. The board of Labour Together distanced itself from Simons’ decision in 2023 to hire a lobbying firm to investigate Sunday Times, Guardian and

The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Datacentre developers face calls to disclose effect on UK’s net emissions

Campaign groups write to technology secretary amid concerns that sites could double overall electricity demand Datacentre developers are facing pressure to reveal whether their projects will increase the UK’s net greenhouse gas emissions, amid concerns the sites could double national electricity demand. Campaign groups have written to the UK technology secretary, Liz Kendall, warning that the energy required by new AI infrastructure poses a “serious threat to efforts to decarbonise the electrici

DefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Green party membership in UK passes 200,000 after byelection victory

Party leader Zack Polanski says surge in numbers ‘proves that the future of progressive politics belongs to the Greens’ The Green party said its membership has passed 200,000 this weekend in the wake of its victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection overturning a huge Labour majority. The party’s membership has tripled since September last year, when it was about 68,000, after the announcement of Zack Polanski as its new leader. Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Keir Starmer abandoned net zero to court Reform voters. He failed

After byelection defeat and with right-leaning advisers gone, will PM return to his instincts and embrace Labour ‘DNA’ on climate? Less than a year ago, Keir Starmer stood in front of an audience of senior officials and business leaders from 60 countries in London to declare climate action was “in the DNA of my government”. Vowing to go “all out” for net zero and to “accelerate” while others were slowing down, the Lancaster House speech was his strongest intervention yet on the issue. “We’re pay

PoliticsEnvironmentCrime