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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

DefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Starmer chairs Cobra meeting after strikes by US and Israel on Iran

Prime minister leads emergency committee to decide on UK’s response to latest fighting in Middle East US-Israeli attack on Iran – live updates US and Israel strikes on Iran: what we know so far Keir Starmer is chairing a meeting of the UK government’s Cobra emergency committee as Britain decides how to respond to the US-Israeli bombing of Iran, and Tehran’s retaliation against bases in the Gulf. The UK did not participate in the first wave of strikes early on Saturday but had deployed RAF Typ

Defence
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Keir Starmer’s response to the Gorton and Denton debacle should be a government that truly, finally, reflects him | Tom Baldwin

In the past he has been urged to follow strategies that don’t really match his core beliefs. That’s changing, as it must, because he knows the clock is ticking Tom Baldwin is the author of Keir Starmer, The Biography In a crowded and overheated bar towards the end of the evening a few months ago, I received some strange parenting advice from one of those “Labour strategist” types. We were discussing – maybe arguing – over the government’s position on Gaza. Eventually I asked if he could provid

DefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics28 Feb 2026

Labour anxiety and accusations after big shift in Muslim vote to Greens

PM criticises ‘sectarian politics’ in byelection but party may fear Greens’ nascent leftwing political machine The Green party’s success at winning Muslim votes in Gorton and Denton has sent tremors through Westminster, prompting recriminations and accusations from opposition parties, who sense another major realignment in British politics. Experts say Hannah Spencer’s unexpectedly wide margin of victory was delivered in part by a significant shift of Muslim voters from Labour to the Greens. Co

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Shabana Mahmood vows to stick with hardline migration policies after byelection defeat

Home secretary will defy ‘plain wrong’ calls from unions and leftwing MPs that she is alienating Muslim voters Shabana Mahmood will press on with hardline immigration policies despite calls for a reversal from unions and left-leaning Labour MPs after the Green party’s byelection victory. Senior Labour sources insisted that the home secretary would continue to roll out changes to asylum policy, dismissing as “plain wrong” claims that it would further alienate Muslim voters. Continue reading...

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The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Green party’s Gorton and Denton win is wake-up call Labour needed to hear

Labour billed it as ‘two-horse race’ with Reform UK, but Greens’ media campaign, and Hannah Spencer’s authenticity, won the day From the outset of the Gorton and Denton byelection, Labour strategists were desperate to say the party was on course to win, but the party’s trouncing at the hands of the Greens has made this look laughable in hindsight. Hollie Ridley, Labour’s general secretary, sent a note to No 10 at the end of January saying it was “clearly a two-horse race” with Reform UK, and onl

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

The Guardian view on Gorton and Denton: a warning shot across Labour’s bows | Editorial

Hannah Spencer’s win was more than protest. It signalled that Labour’s moral language and coalition are up for grabs in its safest terrain The Greens have every reason to celebrate their victory in the Gorton and Denton byelection. From a standing start in a Manchester constituency, Zack Polanski’s team tripled his party’s vote to capture a seat that had effectively voted Labour in every election but one since 1906 – the year Labour was born. Labour coming third behind Reform UK is not routine m

PoliticsDefenceEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics27 Feb 2026

Labour MPs demand Starmer change direction after humiliating byelection loss

The Green candidate, Hannah Spencer, overturned a 13,000 Labour majority to win the Gorton and Denton seat Keir Starmer is facing an ultimatum from his own party to change direction or see a leadership challenge within months after the Greens humiliated Labour with a historic byelection victory in Gorton and Denton. Overturning a 13,000 Labour majority from the general election, Hannah Spencer, a local plumber and Green councillor, became the party’s fifth MP on Friday. Reform UK’s Matt Goodwin

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