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The Guardian Politics24 Mar 2026

Ministers rebuff trade body’s call to boost North Sea oil and gas production

Government emphasises need to ‘get off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel markets’ in response to Offshore Energies UK The UK government has dismissed a warning from an energy trade body that failing to produce more homegrown North Sea oil and gas will leave the UK increasingly reliant on imports at a time of rising global instability. The industry group, Offshore Energies UK, has said the UK “urgently” needs a greater supply of domestically produced energy or consumers will be left “more exposed

Defence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

Starmer’s liaison committee jaunt was largely soporific – just as he’d wanted | John Crace

Every PM hopes to emerge having said nothing that makes the news, and with Iran centre-stage Keir played a blinder What a difference a week makes. At last week’s prime minister’s questions, Keir Starmer tried to persuade us that he knew less than he did. His memory was so bad that he could barely remember who Peter Mandelson was, let alone why he had appointed him as ambassador to the US. Fast forward to Monday’s appearance before the liaison committee, the supergroup of select committee chairs,

Defence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

Ministers tell HS2 to consider slower train speeds to cut costs

Company will assess whether drop to 186mph from 224mph will save money and help bring forward launch Ministers have told High Speed Two to consider running its trains at lower speeds, in an attempt to rein in the spiralling budget and begin operations as soon as possible. HS2 Ltd will assess whether limiting the speed to 186mph (300km/h) instead of 224mph could save money – potentially billions of pounds – and bring the railway into being earlier in the 2030s. Continue reading...

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

British destroyer HMS Dragon arrives in eastern Mediterranean

Ship arrives three weeks after Iranian-made drone hit British base of RAF Akrotiri on Cyprus Middle East crisis – live updates HMS Dragon has arrived in the eastern Mediterranean, three weeks after an Iranian-made drone hit the British base of RAF Akrotiri, the defence secretary has said. The Type 45 destroyer will begin “operational integration into Cyprus’s defence” from Monday night, John Healey told MPs. Continue reading...

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

Six students challenge Home Office visa ban on four countries

Sudanese and Afghan students with offers to study in UK say government’s ‘emergency brake’ is discriminatory The women banned from studying in Britain Six students from Sudan and Afghanistan have accused the home secretary of racial discrimination and launched legal action to try to overturn a ban on them taking up university places in the UK. The students – five from Sudan and one from Afghanistan – have undergraduate degrees in medicine and science-based subjects and received offers from uni

ImmigrationDefenceEducation
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

A war and maybe an unprecedented depression: it’s Trump’s mania, but now all of us will pay the price | Polly Toynbee

It had been possible to observe this presidency in abstract terms, but no more. The consequences of the Iran attack will affect our lives and our politics Nothing has changed. Yet. But we stand on the edge of inevitable economic cataclysm, such as not seen in our lifetimes. It’s an odd, hold-your-breath moment, waiting for what the International Energy Agency (IEA) says is now certain to happen: an energy crisis so critical it will be the equivalent of the two oil crises in 1973 and 1979 and Rus

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

Is Iran really able to strike London, and is the UK prepared for an attack?

After Tehran targeted the UK-US base on Diego Garcia, Israel’s military said European capitals were also at risk Middle East crisis – live updates The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) claimed at the weekend that Iran had weapons able to travel about 4,000km (2,500 miles), posing an immediate threat to European cities including London. The comments came after it emerged Iran had targeted the joint UK–US military base on Diego Garcia in the Chagos Islands. Continue reading...

Defence
The Guardian Politics23 Mar 2026

Starmer says ‘every lever’ will be explored to ease rising costs of living from Iran conflict

PM will chair Cobra meeting with key ministers and Bank of England on Monday, as experts warn of economic shock UK politics live – latest updates Middle East crisis – live updates Keir Starmer has promised to look at using “every lever that’s available to the government” to help with the cost of living impacts of the US-Israel war against Iran, ahead of an emergency meeting with senior ministers later on Monday. The prime minister is to chair a meeting of the Cobra committee on Monday afterno

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics22 Mar 2026

James Cleverly disagrees with Nick Timothy about Islamic public prayer ceremony

Shadow justice secretary had called Trafalgar Square event an ‘act of domination’ James Cleverly has said he disagrees with his Conservative frontbench colleague Nick Timothy that public Muslim prayers are an act of domination, as another senior Tory called for the party to respect the right to worship. Kemi Badenoch has defended Timothy, the shadow justice secretary, after he posted images of mass prayer at a Ramadan event on Monday evening in Trafalgar Square, calling it “an act of domination”

DefenceReform
The Guardian Politics22 Mar 2026

Starmer adviser urges ministers to look at profits cap for energy and petrol firms

PM’s ‘cost of living champion’ calls for consideration of temporary measure to prevent profiteering from Iran war The government’s top cost of living adviser has called on ministers to explore a temporary cap on the profits of energy and petrol companies to prevent them from cashing in excessively on the war in the Middle East. Richard Walker – a Labour peer, the chair of Iceland supermarkets and the prime minister’s “cost of living champion” – said he had asked the government to examine limitin

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics22 Mar 2026

Iran not believed to have capability or intent to bomb Britain, says UK minister

Steve Reed says ‘UK is not going to be dragged into this war’ after Israeli warnings that Iranian missiles could hit Europe Middle East crisis live – latest updates Iran is not believed to have the capability or intent to hit the UK with its missiles, a cabinet minister has said, after Tehran aimed two at the UK-US airbase on Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. One missile failed to reach the island, while another was shot down by a US warship, according to reports. It was the longest-range atta

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics22 Mar 2026

How tacking centre left will help Labour win the next election | Andy Beckett

Tribalism and political ambiguity worked with a less fragmented electorate. The party must reconnect with its base – and be open to work with other progressives Led by a probably doomed prime minister, presiding over a struggling economy, exposed by an ongoing scandal, besieged by populist insurgents to its right and left, ambushed by a war that will bring higher inflation and public debt, and predicted to win just 75 seats at the next general election, according to the website Electoral Calcul

PoliticsEconomyDefenceReform