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295 headlines found — Page 6 of 25

The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

Ministers in talks over shelving carbon tax on fertiliser to curb food inflation

Exclusive: Package of measures discussed with farmers, including pause on duty due to come into effect next year Ministers are in discussions about suspending a carbon tax on fertilisers, due to come into effect early next year, in an effort to curb food inflation. The move would be part of a package of measures, including the suspension of import tariffs on a range of foods including bread, biscuits and bananas. Continue reading...

EconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

UK risks £125bn hit a year from youth unemployment, landmark report says

Alan Milburn warns of ‘lost generation’ after number of young people not in work or education rises to more than 1m Britain risks a financial hit worth £125bn a year from a worsening crisis in youth worklessness after a rise in the number of young people not in employment or education to more than 1 million. In a landmark government-backed report, Alan Milburn warned Britain’s economy and the public finances were losing billions of pounds a year amid the growing risk of a “lost generation” of yo

EconomyDefenceEducation
The Guardian Politics28 May 2026

To reverse the ‘greenlash’, Europe’s Green parties should embrace Polanski’s boldness | Tarik Abou-Chadi

Be more strident and ambitious, take on economic inequality, and progressive voters will reward you as they have the UK’s Greens Tarik Abou-Chadi is a professor of European politics at the University of Oxford European Green parties have been through a phase of stagnation and crisis in recent years. Long gone seem the days of the “green wave” across Europe. Back in 2019, Green parties secured their best-ever result in the European parliament elections, with 74 seats. In the same year, Green pa

PoliticsEconomyDefenceEducationEnvironment
The Guardian Politics27 May 2026

Blair wants to leave our future to the markets. I believe democracy can still shape our lives for the better | Wes Streeting

The inequality caused by technological innovation is not a given. Labour can harness that change to serve society, not dominate it Tony Blair is right about one thing: we are living through a historic rupture. The old certainties of the 20th century are breaking apart under the pressure of technological revolution, geopolitical instability and economic insecurity. AI will transform how we work, learn and govern as profoundly as steam power or electricity reshaped the world before it. Britain nee

PoliticsEconomy
The Guardian Politics27 May 2026

Brexiters peddled ‘nationalistic pish’, said Reform UK’s Makerfield candidate

Robert Kenyon castigated Brexit as an economically self-harming project on rugby league forum in 2016 Reform UK’s candidate for the Makerfield byelection has castigated Brexit as an economically self-harming project promoted by politicians who “peddled the nationalistic pish”, raising more doubts about his commitment to Nigel Farage’s signature achievement. The comments by Robert Kenyon, unearthed on a defunct rugby league forum and first reported by the Telegraph, follow the emergence of anothe

PoliticsEconomyReform
The Guardian Politics27 May 2026

UK will get no special treatment from EU, European ministers say

There will be ‘no cherrypicking’ of policies, EU says, after Starmer says he hopes to negotiate single market for goods Europe live – latest updates The UK will get no special treatment in its future economic relationship with the EU, European ministers have said, in a further blow to Keir Starmer’s hopes of negotiating a single market for goods. The EU’s ministers for Europe, who met on Tuesday, said they wanted deeper cooperation with the UK, but this had to be in line with fundamental princ

Economy
The Guardian Politics27 May 2026

Tony Blair is strong on diagnosis, deluded on prescription: Britain’s ills can’t be fixed by him | Larry Elliott

The former PM’s essay rightly calls for a coherent economic plan, but then sets too much store by AI – and a worldview stuck in the past Tony Blair is right. Labour has made some big and avoidable mistakes since it came to power nearly two years ago. Keir Starmer had a strategy for winning the election but lacked a coherent plan for what his government would do next. Fair cop. Blair is also correct when he says that unless Britain tackles some long-term structural issues, it is in danger of bein

PoliticsEconomyHousing
The Guardian Politics26 May 2026

The Guardian view on Britain’s economy: to profit politically a recovery must be felt in people’s pockets | Editorial

The chancellor can point to growth and lower inflation, but weak job data, flat living standards and uncertain productivity are no reason to cheer In October 1991, the then chancellor Norman Lamont said he thought he saw some “green shoots” of recovery. He was ridiculed, as Britain was in the midst of a deep recession that it would not clamber out of until the following summer. Insouciant in the face of the scorn heaped upon him, Mr Lamont defended himself robustly, even long after the event – n

PoliticsEconomyEnvironment
The Guardian Politics25 May 2026

Here is Andy Burnham’s route to save Labour: a new manifesto, a new election and electoral reform | Polly Toynbee

Proportional representation can rescue Britain’s warped politics. It could stop Nigel Farage arriving at No 10 with less than 30% of the vote Here comes the prospect of redemption, a second chance for Labour to start over. A victory for Andy Burnham in the Makerfield byelection not only opens the door to No 10; a leadership contest also allows him and Wes Streeting to finally stretch their wings. Ideas currently firmly chained up in a Downing Street dungeon could be freed. Land value tax? Wealth

PoliticsEconomyDefenceReformHousing
The Guardian Politics25 May 2026

HMRC made us wait a year for £150,000 tax rebate

The tax office is quick to demand money owed and threatens fines, but is slow when giving refunds When my mother died, there was a four-year delay in achieving probate owing to financial complexities. During this time my father paid inheritance tax (IHT) on the advice of his solicitor, to prevent interest accruing. It turned out that the solicitor’s estimate of the amount was wildly out. Continue reading...

Economy
The Guardian Politics24 May 2026

Irish gangland figure fails in Dublin byelection bid for seat in parliament

Gerry ‘the monk’ Hutch comes fourth in contest won by Daniel Ennis of Social Democrats The Irish gangland figure Gerry “the monk” Hutch has failed in his bid for a parliamentary seat in a Dublin byelection. The 63-year-old came fourth in a contest won by Daniel Ennis of the Social Democrats, a victory for progressive politics after a campaign dominated by concerns over the cost of living and immigration. Continue reading...

PoliticsEconomyImmigration
The Guardian Politics24 May 2026

Squeals of horror over price caps – but how are we going to fix our broken food system?

Global events and the climate crisis have left Britain’s food system dangerously exposed and in desperate need of an overhaul The news that the Treasury was asking UK supermarkets to cap price rises on essential foods was greeted with predictable squeals of horror this week. Supermarkets were reportedly “furious”, while luminaries from the former head of the Institute for Fiscal Studies to the former chair of M&S could be found harrumphing about the evils of price controls. But this caterwauling

EconomyEnvironment