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

853 headlines found — Page 7 of 72

The Guardian Politics29 Jul 2026

AI tool will lead to more child refugees being treated as adults, charity warns

‘Racist bias’ overestimating ages in Home Office’s facial-recognition software will lead to solo children being housed with adults, says Human Rights Network Flawed and racialised models that underpin the AI-powered age-detection systems to be introduced by the British government will endanger children, rights groups and children’s charities have warned. Urging ministers to reverse plans to introduce facial age-estimation technology to screen migrants, critics have warned that black children arr

ImmigrationDefence
The Guardian Politics29 Jul 2026

‘Farage’s got to come clean or clear off’: what voters on Clacton beach think about their MP – and the country

Nigel Farage’s constituency takes in genteel resorts and one of England’s poorest villages. With a snap byelection approaching, what do the residents want from the Reform UK leader – or the bin who’s challenging him? ‘If it’s the Tin Man, then I suppose I’ll vote for Nigel,” says a Clacton resident, a retiree on a slow stroll towards the seafront, when I ask whom she will vote for in the forthcoming byelection. “I would sooner have Farage than the Tin Man!” As political slogans go, it is as good

PoliticsDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics28 Jul 2026

UK faces ‘very difficult trade-offs’ in budget because of Iran war, say analysts

Leading thinktank says higher oil prices and inflation will give Andy Burnham a ‘challenging inheritance’ Andy Burnham has been warned by a leading thinktank of “very difficult trade-offs in the next autumn budget” if the Iran war keeps oil prices and inflation high. The National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR) said the new prime minister faced a “challenging inheritance” and his plans to revamp public services would meet severe pressure from persistently higher prices. Contin

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics28 Jul 2026

Captain Chris ‘Hunter-Killer’ Philp takes on French navy single-handed

Shots fired in the Channel are all in a day’s work for the intrepid shadow home secretary C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre. Captain Chris ‘Hunter-Killer’ Philp had been on patrol since first light in the English Channel. While the rest of the country was still asleep, the Philpster was scanning the horizon for rubber dinghies full of illegal immigrants. Something he had never done in his previous life as immigration minister. Back then he had sought to rehouse new arrivals in hotels

ImmigrationDefence
The Guardian Politics28 Jul 2026

Tories’ Philp accuses French navy of firing shots near him in Channel incident

Chris Philp says patrol vessel may have been trying to stop him highlighting the small boats crisis UK politics live – latest updates A Conservative MP has claimed a French warship fired warning shots near a boat he was on in the Channel in an attempt to stop him covering the small boats crisis. Chris Philp, who is his party’s home affairs spokesperson, was being interviewed by the BBC a couple of miles off Boulogne on Tuesday when the warship Flamant passed by. As it did so, a French navy off

PoliticsDefenceRestoreRemigration
The Guardian Politics28 Jul 2026

Barclays increases bonus pool by nearly 30% as calls grow for UK bank tax

TUC leader says lender’s ‘bonanza’ quarterly profits of £3.3bn mean it ‘can easily afford to pay more tax’ Business live – latest updates Barclays has increased its banker bonus pool by nearly 30% after a rise in second-quarter profits that has fuelled calls for a tax raid on UK lenders to help fund Andy Burnham’s spending plans. Fresh corporate filings released on Tuesday showed the bank put £1.3bn towards its bonus pool for the first half of the year. That figure, which includes annual and d

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

Burnham’s Ukraine gambit is a symbolic start for PM who wants to look inward

New prime minister wants to focus at home, but his first week already suggests the world has other plans It took just seven days in office for Andy Burnham to meet his first world leader. As he welcomed Volodymyr Zelenskyy to a naval base in Portsmouth on Monday, the new prime minister told the Ukrainian president it was “no accident” he was his first international visitor since entering No 10. “It is intended to send a very clear message,” Burnham told him. “We are with Ukraine 100%, I am perso

Defence
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

Social care reform in England: how could we pay to fix a ‘broken system’?

Many across the political spectrum agree the system needs fixing – but there is no consensus on how to fund reform The prime minister, Andy Burnham, has said the adult social care system in England is broken and needs fixing. This is a view commonly shared by policymakers across the political spectrum, though there are sharper differences on how to pay for reform to what is widely seen as an outdated, fragile system held together by “sticking plasters and glue” and propped up by an army of unpai

PoliticsDefence
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

Home Office blocking evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza

Refugee family reunions in limbo, despite Foreign Office saying it is ready get people out of war-torn territory The Home Office is blocking the evacuation of dozens of women and children from Gaza, despite the Foreign Office saying it is ready to get people out of the war-torn region. Last September, the Home Office announced it was suspending refugee family reunion applications and that new, more restrictive rules would be announced in the spring. So far there has been no announcement and the

Defence
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

Tories and Reform UK tell Burnham they will fight any plan to reform adult social care involving tax rises – UK politics live

Defence secretary Wes Streeting says the country will see a prime minister that ‘runs towards big and difficult issues’ Good morning. Yesterday Wes Streeting, the defence secretary, told Sky News that, while Andy Burnham spent his first week as PM focusing on cost of living issues, this week the public would see “a prime minister that runs towards big and difficult issues rather than runs away from [them]”. Those challenges include reforming social care and, as Peter Walker reports, Burnham has

PoliticsEconomyDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

A TV and cinema calamity could be disastrous for what you watch and what you know. Act now to stop that | Alan Cumming, Benedict Cumberbatch and Benedict Wong

The Paramount-Warner Bros merger is being fought in the US and UK. Britain’s culture secretary knows the risks and can intervene. She should Though it has yet to become front-page news in the UK, you should know about the proposed Paramount-Warner Bros merger. It threatens to inflict immense harm on the British public. As actors and public figures who have spent our careers in the arts in Britain – working with British crews, on British stages and sets – we have a responsibility to the public wh

Defence
The Guardian Politics27 Jul 2026

Reform UK levy on employing overseas staff ‘would harm NHS and social care’

Exclusive: Experts say policy could also cause shortages of school teachers and drive some universities to bankruptcy Reform UK’s plan to make employers pay an annual levy for overseas staff would harm the NHS and social care, cause a shortage of schoolteachers, and could push some universities into bankruptcy, experts have warned. Nigel Farage’s party has pledged a “migrant worker surcharge”, which would involve a higher rate of employer national insurance as well as a separate annual charge. I

DefenceEducationReformHealthcare