News

Original reporting and the latest political headlines from across the UK.

Our Articles

Mainstream Headlines

Filtering by:Tag: defence×Source: The Guardian Politics×Clear all

856 headlines found — Page 43 of 72

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

‘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

Trump says he will ‘probably put a big tariff on the UK’ if it doesn’t drop digital services tax

US president accuses UK of thinking it can ‘make an easy buck’ from US tech companies, weeks after warning that UK–US trade deal can be changed Donald Trump has threatened to impose tariffs on the UK if it does not drop its digital services tax on US social media firms. The digital services tax, introduced in 2020, imposes a 2% levy on the revenues of several major US tech companies. Continue reading...

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

UK prepared to deploy RAF Typhoons to keep strait of Hormuz open after Iran war

Proposal at heart of offer made during a 30-country two-day meeting jointly organised by France Middle East crisis – live updates Britain is prepared to deploy a squadron of RAF Typhoons based in Qatar to patrol over the strait of Hormuz as part of a multinational mission to keep open the strategic waterway once the Iran war comes to an end. The UK military also offered to deploy mine-hunting drones and specialist divers to help clear the strait mined by Iran – but no decision has been made on

Defence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

Foreign Office unit tracking Israel’s potential breaches of international law closed

Exclusive: Officials warn department will lose access to database of 26,000 verified cases by cutting funding The Foreign Office unit tracking potential breaches of international law by Israel in Gaza and more recently Lebanon has been closed because of cuts within the department, the Guardian can reveal. The decision to shut the international humanitarian law cell follows a review by Olly Robbins, the permanent secretary at the Foreign Office dismissed last week by the prime minister over the P

Defence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

UK braces for price rises driven by Iran war as economic confidence plummets

Consumer confidence hit its lowest level since October 2023 this month, with surveys showing the cost pressures companies are facing Confidence in the UK economy has fallen sharply amid the mounting economic fallout from the Iran war, surveys show, as businesses prepare to raise their prices and consumers brace for a fresh cost of living shock. Highlighting the knock-on effect of the Middle East crisis in Britain, several closely watched surveys of business activity and consumer confidence blame

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

Campaign launched to reunite young Britons with forgotten savings accounts

HMRC is contacting 21-year-olds as part of a new awareness drive around lost child trust funds, with an average balance of £2,200 Rather than demanding money, HMRC is giving it away for once with a new campaign to reunite thousands of young Britons with forgotten savings accounts typically containing £2,200. HM Revenue and Customs is contacting 21-year-olds as part of a new awareness drive around lost child trust funds (CTF) – the tax-free savings accounts set up for children born between Septem

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

UK to pay for French officers to deport asylum seekers from war-torn countries

Removal site in Dunkirk will hold people of 10 nationalities trying to reach UK in small boats under new deal with French UK politics live – latest updates The UK will pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world’s most oppressive and war-ravaged regimes under a new UK-France deal to try to reduce Channel crossings. In what is being billed as the first time the French government has agreed to target those heading to the UK in small boats, a remo

PoliticsImmigrationDefenceRestoreRemigration
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

Cat Little’s evidence to MPs is destined for civil service textbooks | John Crace

The Cabinet Office permanent secretary’s 100 minutes before the foreign affairs committee are required viewing UK politics live – latest updates Here we go again. Some of the public may have had enough of the Peter Mandelson scandal by now, and would rather the focus returned to things such as the Iran war and the cost of living crisis. But Westminster has barely started on Mandy. Can’t get enough of him. This one will run and run. You can almost hear the groans from No 10. By now it has final

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

Top Cabinet Office official to give evidence to MPs about Peter Mandelson’s vetting – UK politics live

Permanent secretary, Cat Little, to give evidence to foreign affairs committee as pressure increases on Keir Starmer The UK government budget came in below its annual borrowing target by £700m, official figures show – but the Iran war is likely to blow a hole in Rachel Reeves’s carefully calculated fiscal “headroom” over the coming months. Tom Knowles has the story. Good morning. As Kiran Stacey, Pippa Crerar and Jessica Elgot report in the Guardian’s splash, “Keir Starmer is looking increasing

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Apr 2026

Schools forced to cut back on support for Send pupils in England, poll finds

More than 70% have cut down in past year on teaching assistants, who play key role in helping children with Send Two-fifths of school leaders in England have been forced to cut back on support for children with special educational needs due to a financial crisis “more than a decade in the making”, according to a poll. Seven out of 10 (71%) leaders say they have cut down on teaching assistants (TAs) in the past year, while 49% have reduced support staff. The crisis could escalate as 81% warn of f

DefenceEducation