News

Original reporting and the latest political headlines from across the UK.

Our Articles

Mainstream Headlines

Filtering by:Source: The Guardian Politics×Clear all

3135 headlines found — Page 73 of 262

The Guardian Politics1 Jul 2026

When the right promotes heat-stress denial, ask yourself this: whose children’s lives is it willing to risk? | George Monbiot

The class politics of extreme heat are very real and very dangerous – but that doesn’t stop the billionaire press from peddling its agenda Every time you think the idiocy has hit rock bottom, it discovers a new level. It turns out there’s an even deeper hole you can dig for yourself than climate-science denial: heat-stress denial. Across the billionaire press last week, columnists and leader writers minimised the health impacts of the heatwave, particularly in schools. Expect more of this next w

PoliticsEducationEnvironment
The Guardian Politics1 Jul 2026

‘Complicated and expensive’: Burnham is right about the risks of nationalisation | Nils Pratley

Track record of Welsh Water shows public ownership is not the answer to all the woes in the utilities sector Good news for Andy Burnham: one of the original 10 water privatisations from the Thatcher-era has returned to public ownership already. Thanks to a complicated turn-of-the-century corporate saga, Welsh Water, serving 3 million people, converted to not-for-profit status in 2001. It has no shareholders. Financial surpluses go “straight back into keeping bills down and looking after your wat

The Guardian Politics1 Jul 2026

Academy school leaders in England face pay cap to curb ‘banker-style’ salaries

Nearly 100 academy chief executives earn more than £200,000 a year, and at least one more than £500,000 The era of academy school leaders in England receiving “banker-style salaries” and hefty annual increases may soon be over, with the government to introduce limits on executive pay. Nearly 100 academy chief executives earn more than £200,000 a year, with pay in academy trusts equating to anything from less than £5 a pupil to more than £150. Only a quarter of the high-earners were women. Conti

The Guardian Politics1 Jul 2026

The Burnham blueprint, as told by one of its architects – podcast

Andy Burnham has set out his economic plans for Britain. Neal Lawson, from the Burnham-aligned group Mainstream, explains the thinking behind it Helen Pidd has been one of Andy Burnham’s constituents for almost a decade now. She says she has seen Greater Manchester thrive on his watch. Now he wants to do for the rest of the country what he has done for her region. On Monday Burnham stood up in the People’s History Museum in Manchester and delivered his economic manifesto. Barring some 11th hour

Economy
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Northern Rail Project risks repeating costly HS2 failures, MPs warn

The £45bn scheme to link cities across north of England with new or upgraded lines has no convincing or properly costed plan, committee says Building Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) risks repeating the failures of HS2 with “no convincing plan” to deliver it within a £45bn budget, an influential committee of MPs has warned. The government announced in January its commitment and funding for the NPR project to connect cities across the north, consisting of new or upgraded lines between Liverpool, Ma

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

More than half of asylum seekers rejected under tightened laws will remain in UK

Home Office assessment shows new limits on human rights route based on family ties could result in another 11,700 claims turned down More than half of the people whose asylum and visa claims will be rejected under tightened human rights laws will continue to live in the UK, according to the Home Office’s own assessment. Documents released on Tuesday show that plans to set new limits on article 8 of the European convention on human rights are expected to result in another 11,700 people having the

Immigration
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Burnham left with £4.7bn bill for Starmer’s new defence investment plan

Ally of PM-in-waiting says four-year boost for the armed forces is an ‘unexploded bomb’ Britain has finally grasped the nettle on defence, but tough choices lie ahead Andy Burnham will have to find an extra £4.7bn for defence in his first budget, after Keir Starmer announced a £298bn defence investment plan (Dip) without having fully identified how it will be funded. Sources close to the Makerfield MP said he would not try to renegotiate the Dip after the outgoing prime minister announced its

EconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Britain has finally grasped the nettle on defence, but tough choices lie ahead

The new PM must balance the security budget and other urgent spending priorities, with little room for manoeuvre Keir Starmer’s defence investment plan leaves behind spending problems that his successor will not be able to avoid. Military budgets will be well short of the UK’s Nato commitments by the end of the decade, and European allies and a combustible White House are likely to notice. Continue reading...

EconomyDefenceReform
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

The Guardian view on the defence investment plan: the UK needs security, not dependency on a wayward US | Editorial

Sir Keir Starmer cuts civilian investment while deepening reliance on American power. That doesn’t feel like national renewal Since Brexit, Daphne du Maurier’s final novel, Rule Britannia, has been seen as a prescient warning about the UK cutting itself adrift from Europe. After joining and then leaving the EU’s predecessor, the Common Market, in a referendum, Du Maurier imagined the UK facing such economic instability that its prime minister submits to a US takeover. Britain is occupied by US f

PoliticsEconomyDefence
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Ella Baron on Keir Starmer and new funding for drones – cartoon

Continue reading...

The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Starmer and Reeves launch delayed defence plan with a sense of resigned relief

New defence secretary goes along with £1.5bn addition to spending plan that led to his predecessor’s resignation and Starmer’s in turn Starmer warns Burnham not to borrow to fund defence as he reveals £15bn plan There was an air of melancholy as the defence investment plan (Dip) was announced at Malloy Aeronautics in Maidenhead. A sense that the main figures were fading out of history even as the legacy was being written, as if the event were sepia-tinted. The Dip was supposed to be Keir Starm

Defence
The Guardian Politics30 Jun 2026

Is the new defence plan enough to keep us safe? – The Latest

The prime minister has unveiled his long-delayed defence investment plan, promising an extra £15bn in defence spending over the next four years. The funding, which will be spent on drones, nuclear projects and RAF fighter jets, has been made available through cuts to energy, transport and housing projects. Keir Starmer urged his likely successor, the Labour MP Andy Burnham, not to borrow more money to pay for it. Lucy Hough speaks to Guardian policy editor Kiran Stacey – watch on YouTube Contin

DefenceHousing