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The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

Burnham too influenced by ‘vested interests’ to offer change, Polanski says

Exclusive: Green party launches pushback against idea that next PM will have more left-leaning agenda than Starmer UK politics live – latest updates Andy Burnham is “too in hock to vested interests” to offer real change, Zack Polanski has said as the Greens launched a pushback against the incoming prime minister, portraying him as cautious and weak on such areas as wealth taxes, Gaza and rent controls. Under Polanski’s leadership the Green party in England and Wales has more than tripled its m

PoliticsEconomyEnvironmentHousing
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

How green is Andy Burnham? Britain’s next PM faces tough climate decisions

Heatwaves, high energy prices, calls for reindustrialisation and North Sea drilling are all high on the to-do list UK politics live – latest updates Wildfires cast a pall of smoke this week over Greater Manchester, whose former mayor Andy Burnham stands on the threshold of No 10. Amid three UK heatwaves so far this year, which have killed thousands of people in England and Wales, damaged harvests and left children crying in classrooms, the new prime minister’s plans for the climate crisis rema

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

Mahmood v Miliband: who will Burnham choose for chancellor? – podcast

Andy Burnham will become prime minister of the UK on Monday. But he has yet to reveal any cabinet picks, and rumours suggest he still hasn’t chosen a chancellor. What do we actually know about his plans for governing? Pippa Crerar and Kiran Stacey chat about the new PM’s options and the likely issues on the top of his in-tray You can read Dan Boffey’s profile of Andy Burnham here Please keep sending your comments and questions to Pippa and Kiran at politicsweeklyuk@theguardian.com You can watch

Politics
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

Offer teenagers a meningitis B vaccine on NHS, advisers tell UK government

JCVI says children should have one or two doses of menB vaccine at age 15, depending on if they had one as a baby Teenagers should be offered a vaccine on the NHS to protect against deadly meningitis B (menB), government advisers have recommended. The move by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), which needs approval from the government, means young people should get a jab around the age of 15, with catch-up programmes for those who would otherwise miss out. Continue readi

Healthcare
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

UK government drops plan to stop paying coastguard volunteers

Move raises questions over position of the head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency UK politics live – latest updates Ministers have U-turned on plans to strip volunteer coastguard officers of their hourly pay after coming in for intense criticism over the plan. The announcement, made by the maritime minister in parliament on Thursday, was described as a huge win for coastguards many of whom had said they would reduce their hours or leave the service altogether if the government had pushed a

Politics
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

If you have been listening to Suella Braverman and think Britain has gone bonkers, let me explain | Nels Abbey

The idea that former colonies should pay reparations makes perfect sense through the lens of the new right. But have they got the telescope the right way round? Dearest World, Britain, that small yet once highly influential nation that once proudly ruled over much of you, that “gifted” you the English language as well as William Shakespeare and Mark Morrison, that kindly bestowed upon you industrialisation as well as industrialised slavery, the proud nation that won two world wars and created fo

Defence
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

Starmer nationalises British Steel and visits Ukraine on last full day as Labour leader – UK politics live

Outgoing PM moves to cements his legacy before his replacement by Andy Burnham as party leader tomorrow Good morning. Conventional wisdom has it that, once a PM announces they are going to stand down, all their power vanishes faster than water down a clear plughole. Broadly that’s correct. But in the last week or so Keir Starmer seems to have been acting with a decisiveness that eluded him for most of his time in office: finalising the defence investment plan; delivering the long-awaited apology

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

British Steel is taken into public ownership to save UK supply

Scunthorpe factory is expropriated from China’s Jingye and ministers will ask a valuer to assess compensation British Steel has formally been taken into public ownership 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs. Keir Starmer on Thursday said that it was in the national interest for the government to take over the factory from its Chinese owner, Jingye, in one of the last significant actions overseen by him as prim

The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

Burnham must learn from Starmer’s mistakes: Labour was elected to transform the economy, not just stabilise it | Jonathan Portes

Devolution, tax, the EU and immigration: these are all opportunities for growth if Burnham abandons the excessive caution of the past few years The economic inheritance Andy Burnham will receive from Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves is not, in any meaningful way, a crisis. That is worth saying, because the comparison is not with some imagined social-democratic Eden. It is with the Britain Labour inherited after austerity, Brexit, the inflation shock and the Truss episode – a country in which econo

EconomyImmigration
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

UK economy grew by 0.1% in May despite impact of Iran war

Rise in GDP follows a 0.1% decline in April, figures from the Office for National Statistics show The UK economy grew by 0.1% in May, despite the impact of the Iran war on energy costs, official figures show. The Office for National Statistics said GDP rose, following a 0.1% decline in April. The figures were in line with a 0.1% rise in May that economists had forecast. Continue reading...

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

British girl, 15, stranded in Rome for six weeks due to new passport rules

The dual national, who missed six weeks of school, is latest of several children affected by recent Home Office policy A British girl was prevented from returning to her school in the UK for six weeks after a trip to see her grandmother in Italy because of the Home Office’s new rule requiring dual British nationals to have a British passport to get back into the country. The 15-year-old, who was stranded in Rome in April, is just the latest of a number of children and young adults hit by a new L

The Guardian Politics16 Jul 2026

From Cambridge ‘imposter’ to New Labour star: Andy Burnham’s winding path to power

In the first of a two-part profile, Daniel Boffey traces the incoming PM’s early forays into politics and his rise to prominence – ultimately leading to him leaving London for Manchester Andy Burnham had emerged victorious, but niggling doubts remained about his mandate. It was the summer of 1987 and the 17-year-old had represented Labour in a school hustings as Margaret Thatcher and Neil Kinnock were battling it out in that year’s general election. “Andy was standing against another guy, a real

Politics