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165 headlines found — Page 5 of 14

The Guardian Politics29 Apr 2026

AstraZeneca makes surprise U-turn with £300m pharma investment

Drugmaker had stalled large-scale UK projects but has now pledged investment at two sites, announced by Keir Starmer Britain’s biggest drugmaker AstraZeneca has said it will invest £300m in the UK in a surprise U-turn after pausing large-scale projects last year. The drugmaker had pulled back projects in Britain after becoming disillusioned with the business environment, including the availability of new medicines on the NHS and drug pricing. Continue reading...

EnvironmentHealthcare
The Guardian Politics27 Apr 2026

Hannah Spencer riles fellow MPs with attack on parliament’s drinking culture

Green party byelection winner says ‘you can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes’ UK politics live – latest updates When Hannah Spencer spoke of her shock that in Westminster “you can smell the alcohol when people are in between votes”, she may not have expected such a lively response. The Green party MP, who won the Gorton and Denton byelection in February, made the comments in an interview with the Joe website, saying she was “really uneasy” about the drinking culture in parlia

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics27 Apr 2026

Swinney will call vote on referendum powers after Scottish elections

Top aide says SNP leader will seek approval to press for independence even if he fails to win majority on 7 May John Swinney will call a vote seeking independence powers on the first day of the next Scottish parliament even if he fails to win an overall majority, his aides have said. The Scottish National Party leader’s senior adviser indicated that if necessary, he would rely on support from the pro-independence Scottish Greens to win that vote in order to demand the UK government gives Holyroo

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics27 Apr 2026

What the parties promise Welsh voters on the NHS, schools, childcare and tax

Labour, Plaid Cymru, Reform, the Greens, the Tories and the Lib Dems set out competing plans but offer little detail on how they would pay for them The parties most likely to win the Senedd election next month offer radically different futures for Wales, but all six are facing criticism for not being “upfront” in their manifestos about the fiscal challenges the next Welsh government will face. Labour, Plaid Cymru, Reform UK, the Green party, the Conservative party, and the Liberal Democrats are

PoliticsEconomyEducationEnvironmentReformHousingHealthcare
The Guardian Politics26 Apr 2026

UK departments at odds over energy demands of AI datacentres

Discrepancy in forecasts raises questions over government planning for net zero One vision of the UK’s future involves a decarbonised economy powered by clean, renewable energy. Another involves making the UK an AI superpower. The government departments responsible for these two visions do not appear to have agreed on their numbers. Continue reading...

EconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics25 Apr 2026

‘They deserve to lose’: Labour at risk of ‘red wall’ collapsing in May elections

Voters in Barnsley, Sunderland and Wakefield express frustration with party amid strong Reform UK challenge When millions of voters across Great Britain go to the polls on 7 May, the result will have a profound impact on the future of Keir Starmer’s government. In Wales and Scotland, nationalist parties are expected to be in charge for the first time simultaneously, joining Sinn Féin in Northern Ireland. In London and the cities, the Greens are on the charge. Continue reading...

PoliticsEnvironmentReform
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Zack Polanski calls for ‘nuance’ when discussing antisemitism in rebuke of PM

Green party leader accuses Keir Starmer of ‘silly games’ in accusing his party of playing down hate crimes Zack Polanski has called on politicians to treat antisemitism with “consideration, care and nuance” as he accused Keir Starmer of trying to play political games with the issue. The Green leader’s comments come after the prime minister accused him of playing down recent antisemitic incidents. Polanski’s party is facing increasing scrutiny for recent comments by some candidates and members.

PoliticsEnvironmentCrime
The Guardian Politics24 Apr 2026

Officials hugely underestimated impact of AI datacentres on UK carbon emissions

Revised figures increase fears about how the energy-intensive sites could worsen the climate emergency The UK government vastly underestimated the climate impact of artificial intelligence, it has emerged, after officials raised their estimate of carbon emissions from the technology by a factor of more than 100. According to new data quietly published this week, energy use by AI datacentres in the UK could cause the emission of up to 123m tonnes of carbon dioxide (MtCO₂) – about as much as gene

Environment
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 Politics22 Apr 2026

The Guardian view on blaming the civil service: the predictable refuge of failing governments | Editorial

Whitehall has its flaws, but reform can only be successful in a climate of trust, not fear The announcement of Peter Mandelson’s appointment as US ambassador ensures that 20 December 2024 will be recorded as a fateful day in Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership. Less remarked on, but relevant in hindsight, is a speech that the prime minister made earlier that month to launch a “plan for change”. Sir Keir set out ambitions to improve public services and lamented caution in the civil service. Whitehall,

Environment
The Guardian Politics22 Apr 2026

Jennie Formby, Labour’s former general secretary, says she has joined Greens

Exclusive: Formby, an ally of Jeremy Corbyn who quit role in 2020, says Labour is now ‘in hock to corporate sponsors’ UK politics live – latest updates A former Labour general secretary has defected to the Green party, in the latest sign that allies of Jeremy Corbyn are moving in large numbers to Zack Polanski’s party. Jennie Formby, who managed the Labour party from 2018 to 2020, told the Guardian she had signed up as a Green party member and intended to campaign for it before May’s local ele

PoliticsEnvironment
The Guardian Politics22 Apr 2026

The security report the UK government doesn’t want you to see – podcast

Fiona Harvey tells Nosheen Iqbal why the climate crisis is a threat to national security “Last October, I and other journalists got quite excited because we thought that we were going to be attending a great event at the Natural History Museum,” the Guardian’s environment editor Fiona Harvey tells Nosheen Iqbal. “We had been told that there was a major report being launched at this event. And this report was going to come not just from where you’d expect – from the government’s environment depar

Environment