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

855 headlines found — Page 50 of 72

The Guardian Politics9 Apr 2026

UK spending on foreign aid hits lowest level since 2008

Government allocated 0.43% of national income to aid in 2025, with total spend down £1bn on previous year The UK government’s spending on foreign aid has hit its lowest level in nearly two decades, figures show, as humanitarian experts warn the cuts are costing lives. Provisional data shows the government allocated 0.43% of national income to official development assistance (ODA) in 2025, a decrease from 0.5% in 2024 and matching the level in 2008. Continue reading...

Defence
The Guardian Politics9 Apr 2026

UK navy foiled Russian submarines surveying undersea cables, defence minister says

John Healey says warship and aircraft forced Russia to abandon activity in North Sea in month-long operation A British warship and aircraft tracked and monitored Russian submarines attempting to survey vital undersea infrastructure in the North Atlantic, ensuring they abandoned their mission, the defence secretary, John Healey, has announced. Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Healey said the UK operation lasted more than a month and saw a Royal Navy warship and P8 marine patrol airc

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics9 Apr 2026

It shouldn’t take a war for Britain to wake up to the need for food security | Tim Lang

Everyone has a part to play in reducing our reliance on imported foods, but ministers must provide incentives Tim Lang is professor emeritus of food policy at the Centre for Food Policy, City St George’s, University of London The British state has form on food security. It ignores it until there’s a crisis – and then it’s forced to do rapidly what could have been done better, if only food had been taken more seriously in the first place. We’re revisiting this truth today as the food system’s o

DefenceEducation
The Guardian Politics9 Apr 2026

‘They will not get my vote this year’: Birmingham focus group shows shift from Labour support

Previous Labour voters in Yardley discuss issues including cost of living, public services and the Iran war Almost two years into Keir Starmer’s government, the polls suggest that many swing voters, including some of those who voted Labour, are unimpressed with how the country is being run. In the constituency of Birmingham Yardley, a focus group of eight previous Labour voters last week found support was now splintering in different directions, with one person considering going to Reform and se

EconomyDefenceHousing
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

Ministers unveil ‘right to try’ plan to help disabled people find work

Threat of losing benefits will be lifted but campaigners say more help needed to tackle hostile workplaces The government has unveiled its plan to allow disabled people to try work without fear of losing their benefits, but campaigners warn the policy does not go far enough to tackle hostile workplaces. Legislation laid before parliament on Thursday will mean that people who start work or volunteering no longer automatically face a benefit reassessment, a prospect disabled people said was holdi

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

US ignoring evidence Russia is helping Iran because it trusts Putin, says Zelenskyy

Ukraine’s president tells podcast he has tried to draw White House’s attention to collaboration between Moscow and Tehran over strikes on US bases How the Ukraine and Iran wars are starting to overlap The US has ignored compelling evidence that Russia has been helping Iran to target US bases in the Middle East because it “trusts” Vladimir Putin, according to the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Speaking in an interview with Alastair Campbell on The Rest is Politics podcast, Zelenskyy

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

Scottish Labour pledges £30m to top up artists’ income to a living wage

Anas Sarwar says scheme would be part of overhaul of arts funding in Scotland Labour has pledged to spend £30m on giving Scottish artists and musicians a living wage, mirroring a similar scheme in Ireland guaranteeing artists a basic income. Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, said the scheme would be part of a deeper shake-up of cultural funding in Scotland by integrating arts and culture into the Scottish government’s economic strategies if his party won power in next month’s Holyrood ele

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

Londoners may regret protest votes for Reform or Greens in local elections, says Sadiq Khan

Exclusive: Capital’s mayor warns people not to use next month’s elections as a referendum on Labour’s progress UK politics live – latest updates Sadiq Khan has said he can understand why some former Labour voters are “flirting” with other parties in the run-up to May’s elections, but said that they may regret seeing a Green or Reform-led council in their areas. Speaking to the Guardian at a youth centre, where he was announcing new funding for facilities for young people, the London mayor also

PoliticsDefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

What has conflict in Iran revealed about the UK’s geopolitical standing and military readiness?

Whatever happens next as US and Iran agree to a temporary ceasefire, some important lessons have been learned Middle East crisis – live updates The world breathed a sigh of relief in the early hours of Wednesday morning as the US and Iran agreed to an 11th hour two-week ceasefire, after diplomatic intervention from Iran. Hours after Donald Trump had threatened widespread bombing of Iran’s power plants and bridges, warning that “a whole civilisation will die tonight”, both countries agreed to a

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

‘We’d all be in the destruction zone!’ Can anything stop today’s nuclear free-for-all?

The Lib Dems’ Sue Miller has spent most of her life trying to reduce the risk of nuclear war. And it’s not going well. Why are so few people talking about non-proliferation, let alone disarmament? Almost the mildest remark that Sue Miller makes about nuclear weapons is also the scariest: “The last people to take a big interest in any of this were Gordon Brown and Margaret Beckett.” Those people seem such a long way away – Brown, of course, still campaigns valiantly against poverty, and Beckett i

Defence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders – UK politics live

PM to meet partners in region to discuss effort to ‘support and sustain ceasefire’ and reopening the strait of Hormuz Sarah Jones, the policing minister, has been giving interviews. She has been talking about Keir Starmer’s visit to the Gulf, but hasn’t said anything that really adds to the (rather limited) information about the visit put out by Downing Street. Jones told Times Radio: [Starmer] is going to the Gulf for a number of reasons. Firstly you will have seen last week with the foreign se

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics8 Apr 2026

UK opening new oil and gas fields would imperil global climate goals, experts say

Senior climate figures warn North Sea drilling would encourage fossil fuel exploitation by developing countries Opening new oil and gas fields in the North Sea would “send a shock wave around the world”, imperilling international climate targets, undermining the UK’s climate leadership and encouraging developing countries to exploit their own fossil fuel reserves, experts have warned. The UK government is under stiff pressure from the oil industry, the Conservatives, Nigel Farage’s Reform UK par

DefenceEnvironmentReform