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The Guardian Politics14 Mar 2026

Foreign secretary Yvette Cooper: ‘Making decisions based on what the US do or say doesn’t feel like sensible foreign policy’

Firing Peter Mandelson, convening with Marco Rubio – then handling the fallout of conflict in the Middle East… it’s been a busy time for the secretary of state, and our writer has had a ringside seat Before Yvette Cooper joins me in a plush side room at the Foreign Office, an aide comes in and draws the heavy curtains. Outside is Horse Guards Parade. I can see a strip of Downing Street, a patch of the No 10 garden, daffodils in bloom. I say that it’s a shame to block the light on such a beautifu

Politics
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

UK petrol retailers claim ‘inflammatory language’ of ministers led to staff abuse

Trade body to attend Reeves meeting hours after saying it was pulling out over suggestions of ‘price gouging’ • Watchdog puts UK fuel retailers ‘on notice’ over profiteering from Iran war • Business live – latest updates • UK politics live – latest updates The trade body for the UK’s petrol station industry has fuelled a row with the government after claiming that the “inflammatory language” used by ministers to describe rising pump prices may have incited abuse against forecourt staff. The Petr

PoliticsDefenceReformCrime
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

Survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes will not have UK benefits cut

Campaigners welcome Keir Starmer’s backing of ‘Philomena’s law’ to protect payments for those who accept compensation Survivors of Ireland’s mother and baby homes can continue to receive benefits in the UK after Downing Street agreed to protect payments. Keir Starmer bowed to pressure from campaigners to back a bill known as Philomena’s law, which would ringfence survivors’ benefits if they accepted compensation from Dublin. Continue reading...

PoliticsHousing
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

British politics is hooked on flashy fake numbers – and the AI investment debacle proves it | Jonathan Portes

A claim that the UK is attracting billions of pounds in AI investment has been debunked. That’s no surprise when our establishment runs on dubious ‘good news’ One trillion dollars. That’s the amount of financial aid Gordon Brown triumphantly announced at the 2009 London G20 summit. (I contributed my own two cents here.) Except it wasn’t exactly real: the number was a mixture of already promised apples and aspirational future oranges. So it should hardly be a surprise that when ministers proclaim

Politics
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

Reeves vows to ‘crack down’ on energy and fuel bosses exploiting Britons through ‘rip-off’ prices – UK politics live

The chancellor is set to meet with energy bosses over concerns that companies are profiteering from oil and gas prices Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of UK politics. Chancellor Rachel Reeves has asked the competition watchdog, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), to “crack down” on “rip off” fuel prices as she prepares to meet energy bosses amid concerns companies are profiteering off the US and Israel’s war with Iran. The Conservative party continue to accuse the governme

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

So long, hereditary peers – but the Lords is still full of absurd anachronisms | Polly Toynbee

Two-thirds of voters want an elected second chamber. The government needs a radical legacy: it should use its rare majority for this Goodbye (almost) to the hereditary peers, voted out on Tuesday night. But they didn’t go without a vicious tooth-and-nail fight. Labour should be making much more noise about how the Tories blackmailed and threatened to the very last to hold on to the hereditary peerage (almost all Tories), despite 66% of voters wanting a democratically elected second chamber. Tori

Politics
The Guardian Politics13 Mar 2026

BBC World Service funding freeze risks ‘opening door to hostile states’, MPs say

Cross-party committee says service is ‘jewel in crown of UK’s soft power’ but is diminished by poor governance Ministers risk “opening the door to propaganda from hostile states” and diminishing international trust in the BBC World Service by allowing its funding to be frozen at a crucial time, parliament’s spending watchdog has said. The cross-party public accounts committee (PAC) said it was deeply troubled by the fact the service was still unclear about its funding just weeks before its curre

Politics
The Guardian Politics12 Mar 2026

New Green MP calls for tolerance and inclusivity in first Commons speech

Former plumber Hannah Spencer, who won Gorton and Denton byelection, also says more MPs from manual working backgrounds are needed Hannah Spencer, the Green MP who won last month’s Gorton and Denton byelection, has used her first speech in the Commons to call for tolerance and inclusivity, and to argue for more people from manual working backgrounds to be elected to parliament. Saying she wanted to “make hope normal again”, Spencer used a speech in a debate about International Women’s Day to say

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics12 Mar 2026

Threats against female MPs having ‘chilling effect’ on women in public life, minister says

Security minister Dan Jarvis has announced new security measures ahead of May’s local elections Threats against female MPs are having a “chilling effect” on talented women thinking of going into public life but deciding not to, security minister Dan Jarvis has said. Warning that there was an “unprecedented” volume of threats against elected representatives – including assaults, vandalism, stalking and a “blizzard of online abuse” – Jarvis announced new security measures ahead of the local electi

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics12 Mar 2026

Why the hell did Starmer pick Mandelson? The latest mug on the media round had no idea | John Crace

Nick Thomas-Symonds unravelled under barrage of questions – as PM instead bored some mothers and babies in Belfast You could smell the fear among senior ministers on Wednesday night. No one wanted to be “that person”. The mug who would be sent out on the Thursday morning media round to answer the inevitable barrage of questions about Peter Mandelson. The equivalent to a two-hour-long walk of shame, and one entirely of the prime minister’s making. The Cabinet Office minister, Nick Thomas-Symonds,

Politics
The Guardian Politics12 Mar 2026

No 10 rejects claims it covered up Starmer’s role in Mandelson appointment

Downing Street denies former minister’s vetting and approval was rushed through after release of documents by government UK politics live – latest updates Downing Street has rejected accusations it covered up Keir Starmer’s role in appointing Peter Mandelson as the UK ambassador to Washington, after documents detailing the process showed no formal input from the prime minister. A day after 147 pages of documents were released by the government, No 10 also denied that the approval and vetting o

Politics
The Guardian Politics12 Mar 2026

Several Labour MPs in talks with Greens about defecting to the party, sources say

Exclusive: none of the MPs are yet near point of crossing the floor and want guarantees they would be reselected for their seat at next election UK politics live – latest updates Several Labour MPs are in talks about defecting to the Greens, but are seeking guarantees they would be backed electorally by their new party, the Guardian has been told. Zack Polanski, the leader of the Greens in England and Wales, has said publicly that he has chatted to Labour MPs about the idea of switching sides,

PoliticsEnvironment