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The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Labour is stubborn in defeat because it knows this: we face the belated end of the political 20th century | John Harris

In Gorton and Denton, I heard again and again that people wanted seismic political change – Labour and the Tories are no longer part of that conversation In the wake of Labour’s third-place showing at last Thursday’s Gorton and Denton byelection, Keir Starmer could have responded with a mixture of magnanimity, grit, and a clear appreciation of what had just happened. He might have congratulated the Green party’s new MP Hannah Spencer, and insisted that the themes of inequality and everyday strug

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Boring or bust: Reeves aims to project calm competence in spring budget

After 18 months of policy U-turns and political turmoil we are told not to expect any last-minute policy rabbits Politicians tend to hate being boring but Rachel Reeves will be delighted if Tuesday’s spring forecast is judged by voters and financial markets to be reassuringly dull. After Labour’s catastrophic Gorton and Denton byelection result, the chancellor’s future, along with that of the prime minister, is on the line, as backbench MPs fret about the party’s electoral prospects. Continue r

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Few will mourn leader of ‘evil’ regime Ali Khamenei, says UK defence secretary

John Healey says there is ‘real and rising threat’ from Iran as US and Israeli military action divides political opinion US-Israel war on Iran – latest updates The UK defence secretary has said few will mourn Iran’s supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, whose death was announced after US and Israeli airstrikes. John Healey, a senior cabinet minister, described the Iranian regime as “evil” and said it had menaced the west by sponsoring at least 20 terrorist plots to attack the UK as well as involvement

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Ex-minister adds to UK calls for ban on political donations in cryptocurrency

Exclusive: Labour’s Rushanara Ali plans to intervene in elections bill amid warnings of foreign interference A former Labour minister has added her voice to those of a growing list of experts and senior MPs calling for a ban on political donations in cryptocurrency as concerns grow over foreign interference in British elections. Rushanara Ali, the Labour MP who helped draft the elections bill when she was a minister in the communities department, called for the government to strengthen the legis

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Shabana Mahmood’s double down on immigration ‘disappointing’, says Alf Dubs

Labour peer, who was a child refugee, criticises home secretary’s response to Gorton and Denton byelection defeat The home secretary’s decision to double down on hardline immigration reforms in light of Labour’s byelection defeat to the Green party is “disappointing”, according to the Labour peer Alf Dubs. Lord Dubs, a child refugee who fled Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia on the Kindertransport in 1939, had previously accused Shabana Mahmood of “pulling up the drawbridge” on child migrants. Conti

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The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Labour must cease taking progressive voters for granted, says Sadiq Khan

London mayor criticises PM for calling Greens ‘extreme’ after Gorton and Denton loss, saying it is a ‘flawed strategy’ Sadiq Khan: ‘Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the byelection’s lesson’ The mayor of London has said the Gorton and Denton byelection has exposed a “far-reaching change and fracturing” in UK politics and Labour must ditch its “flawed strategy” of taking liberal progressives for granted. In what appears to be an attack on Keir Starmer, Sadi

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Mar 2026

Labour must stop channelling Reform and unite with progressives. That’s the lesson from Gorton and Denton | Sadiq Khan

The threat to the party in some parts of our country is now existential. But we can progress, as we have in London, by being bold and strong in our core beliefs Sadiq Khan is the mayor of London Attacking Greens is ‘flawed strategy’ There’s no sugar-coating what happened in the byelection in Gorton and Denton – it’s a terrible result for Labour, coming third in a seat we had held for nearly a century. People often exaggerate the significance of byelection results, but this one does speak to a

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Labour minister Josh Simons resigns after falsely linking journalists to ‘pro-Kremlin’ network

Makerfield MP has been under pressure over thinktank’s commissioning of PR firm to investigate reporters The Labour minister Josh Simons has resigned from the government after the Guardian revealed that he falsely linked reporters to a “pro-Kremlin” network in emails to GCHQ despite having claimed to be “surprised” and “furious” about a PR firm’s investigation into their journalism. Simons, who had been a Cabinet office minister, previously ran the thinktank Labour Together. He quit on Saturday,

Politics
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Burnham would ‘probably’ have won byelection, says Labour deputy leader

Lucy Powell calls for party to make more use of Greater Manchester mayor after Gorton and Denton defeat Andy Burnham would have won the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour’s deputy leader said as she called for the party to make more use of the Greater Manchester mayor. Labour fell to third in the previously rock-solid seat on Thursday, with the Greens winning a fifth seat in parliament and Reform UK coming second. Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Rhun ap Iorwerth: Plaid Cymru is ready to ‘lead the charge’ in Wales

Leader launches ‘roadmap’ of first 100 days in power to show party is ready to govern if it wins Senedd elections The leader of Plaid Cymru has described the prospect of leading the next government in Wales as “a heck of a task” but that he senses voters are increasingly driven by their Welsh identity and may be ready for Britain to be “redesigned”. Speaking to the Guardian as he published a glossy 60-page “roadmap” for his party’s first 100 days in government, if it takes power in May, Rhun ap

Politics
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

It’s been decreed: something must be done about student loans in England

The education secretary wants a fairer system and the Tories have leapt in with their own plan – but why now? For anyone who attended university in England in the last 15 or so years, the idea of student loans feeling like some sort of debt trap is hardly news. But three weeks ago, when the journalist Oli Dugmore discussed this on the BBC’s Question Time, it felt like a moment. It was less the size of the initial debt, he explained, than the way above-inflation interest rates meant the interest

EconomyEducation
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Decision to allow UK exports to Armenian firm under review over Russian links

Cygnet Texkimp was approved to export machines to Rydena, but ministers examining deal after Guardian highlighted founders’ links to Kremlin military supply chain Ministers are reviewing a decision to allow a British company to export hi-tech equipment to Armenia after the Guardian uncovered links to the Russian military supply chain. Cygnet Texkimp, based in Cheshire, was weeks away from exporting two machines that produce carbon fibre “prepreg”, a lightweight material that can be used in a ran

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