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1222 headlines found — Page 68 of 102

The Guardian Politics18 Apr 2026

Pressure grows on Starmer over Mandelson vetting despite ousting of Foreign Office official – UK politics live

PM said he was ‘staggered’ not to have been told that Peter Mandelson had failed his security vetting before becoming ambassador to the US Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s live coverage of UK politics on Saturday 18 April. Keir Starmer is facing “judgment day” according to senior government figures over the failure in Peter Mandelson’s vetting process. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics18 Apr 2026

The impossible promise: are we witnessing the return of fascism?

Some of today’s far right is openly violent and undemocratic – and even in its less extreme forms, far-right populism is a profound threat. But that doesn’t mean it is just a re-run of history Politics, before it is about anything else, is about emotion. We all base our judgments about the world – the state of the country we live in, for instance, and what we’d like to do about it – on a mix of rational calculation and instinct. But for these judgments to be shaped into a political programme who

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Keir Starmer faces ‘judgment day’ as Mandelson vetting debacle grows

As revelations mount and accusations fly, prime minister prepares for MPs’ anger and Olly Robbins’ testimony early next week Keir Starmer’s claim he was “staggered” not to have been told of Peter Mandelson’s vetting failure has provoked incredulity across Westminster and accusations that he sacked a senior civil servant to save his premiership. Senior government figures said the prime minister faced “judgment day” next week when Olly Robbins, who is understood to be furious at being forced to qu

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Digested week: Hungary’s election result is rare good news in a depressing and surreal world | John Crace

Not least because JD Vance’s show of support for Viktor Orbán appears to have had opposite of desired effect So much of the news is depressing these days. The wars in Iran, Lebanon and Ukraine. The cost of living crisis. At times it feels as if the world has tipped into the surreal. Donald Trump posting photos of himself on his Truth Social account as the Risen Christ. A step too far even for Nigel Farage. And the US president picking a fight with the pope. Leo is a terrible man, apparently, for

PoliticsEconomyDefenceReformHousing
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

India fails to pass bill to boost women’s representation after delimitation row

Opposition accuses Narendra Modi government of using quotas as cover for redrawing electoral map The Indian government has failed to pass a bill to increase female representation in parliament after being accused of using the plan as a guise to redraw the country’s electoral map. It was the first time in 12 years in power that a constitutional amendment proposed by Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) government was not passed by parliament. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

After the latest Mandelson revelations, Starmer needs to get a good lawyer. Wasn’t he supposed to be one? | Jonathan Freedland

If only the PM had been the process-obsessed technocrat he was once painted as, this disaster wouldn’t have happened – and he wouldn’t be on the brink Keir Starmer is dull and managerial, they said. He’s a process-obsessed technocrat, they said. He is, his opponents argued long before Starmer won a landslide election victory nearly two years ago, a bad choice for prime minister – indeed, unsuited to politics itself – because he is not so much a leader as a lawyer, animated less by ideology tha

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Olly Robbins and Mandelson’s vetting: what did he do, why – and who knew?

The prime minister says ministers were left in the dark, but friends of the former top civil servant suggest it was a case of politicians looking the other way UK politics live – latest updates Fiddling with his reading glasses, the then cabinet secretary, Sir Chris Wormald – sitting alongside the most senior civil servant in the Foreign Office, Sir Olly Robbins – suddenly appeared a little tense. The bonhomie evident in earlier answers had quite disappeared. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Five unanswered questions: Keir Starmer’s Mandelson debacle

How did the PM’s chosen US ambassador fail security vetting, what exactly did he know, and what next? Downing Street has tried to do a lot of explaining, as has Keir Starmer himself. But there are still plenty of things we do not know about how Peter Mandelson failed security vetting, and what the prime minister did or did not know about it. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

‘Almost like a Bond villain’: why Labour MPs expect Starmer to cling on as PM

While the Labour leader is deeply unpopular, several factors – including the Iran war – seem to be delaying his exit UK politics live – latest updates It still feels improbable that the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, will face a formal challenge even if, as assumed, his Labour party performs disastrously in next month’s local elections. But for many of his MPs, the latest revelations about Peter Mandelson have emphasised that the question is simply one of when, not if. “It does seems incredi

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Peter Mandelson’s failed security vetting: a timeline of the controversy

Starmer’s disastrous decision to make New Labour veteran the US ambassador has led to months of political outcry Keir Starmer is facing calls to resign after the Guardian revealed that Peter Mandelson failed the developed vetting process over his appointment as US ambassador – but was able to take up the post after the Foreign Office overruled the recommendation. Here is the timeline of Mandelson’s controversial appointment and the fallout it has caused. Continue reading...

Politics
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

Birmingham is awash with local election candidates – but will result be a ‘coalition of chaos’?

Some fear a fragmented field of hopefuls from Labour, the Conservatives, Greens, Reform and Independents could leave city ungovernable Paul Tilsley was 23 when he was first elected for the Liberal party in Birmingham’s 1968 council elections. At the time, the UK had an unpopular Labour government facing an economic crisis, tensions around immigration and US pressure to back military action abroad. Such a backdrop may seem familiar, but this May, the all-out local elections in Birmingham could no

PoliticsEconomyImmigrationDefenceEnvironment
The Guardian Politics17 Apr 2026

More than half of Britons support rejoining EU 10 years on from Brexit vote

But Labour’s ‘halfway house’ approach risks losing support from progressives and ‘red wall’ voters, experts say UK politics live – latest updates Support for rejoining the EU rather than simply rejoining the single market is growing among British voters, with more than 80% of Labour, Liberal Democrat and Green party supporters favouring this option, research mapping voter attitudes 10 years after the Brexit referendum shows. But Labour’s “muted” approach means it now risks losing support among

PoliticsEnvironment