Political news

• Farage faces renewed watchdog probe after Clacton by-election victory

  14-08-2026 15:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The investigation into a £5m gift received by Farage reopens, as he returns as the MP for Clacton.
  
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• Tory peer’s free speech group urged Vance to lobby UK government

  20-08-2026 20:59 via ft.com
  Free Speech Union called on vice-president to focus on censorship at time of Starmer visit to US last year
  
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• Zack Polanski remade the Greens — but at the risk of a backlash

  20-08-2026 11:01 via ft.com
  Controversial election of Eleanora Folan to governing council points to party’s electoral vulnerability
  
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• Working in Starmer’s Number 10 was ‘unbearable’, says Sue Gray

  20-08-2026 09:10 via ft.com
  Former chief of staff to previous PM describes onslaught of negative briefings and says Starmer ‘lacked vision’
  
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• Working in Keir Starmer’s No 10 ‘unbearable’, says Sue Gray

  20-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Former chief of staff tells of fears her conversations were being recorded and leaked to media by colleaguesKeir Starmer’s former chief of staff has lifted the lid on how “unbearable” it was working in No 10, revealing she feared her conversations were being recorded by colleagues seeking to leak her remarks to the media.Sue Gray, who was the most powerful adviser in Downing Street before her resignation in 2024, was highly critical of the working environment under Starmer, say
  
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• Farage using Christianity ‘to stir anti-Muslim feeling’, says Rowan Williams

  20-08-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Former archbishop of Canterbury also has ‘awkward questions’ for activist Tommy Robinson on his claimed faithA former archbishop of Canterbury has accused Nigel Farage of misusing the UK’s Christianity “to channel anti-Muslim feeling” and said he also had “some awkward questions” for the far-right activist Tommy Robinson.Dr Rowan Williams, who was the archbishop of Canterbury for 10 years until 2012, said there was an “inevitable scepticism these d
  
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• From bone-dry to soaked to the bone, welcome to the age of climate whiplash | Aditya Chakrabortty

  20-08-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  This punishingly hot and dry summer will probably be followed by another wet winter. But it’s nothing compared with what Britain will endure in years to comeThis summer could be the hottest, driest and deadliest in English history. Successive heatwaves have so far claimed almost 3,000 lives. Nearly three-quarters of England and all of Wales is in drought, while key reservoirs are parched. Across this brown and stickily unpleasant land, from Grimsby down to St Ives, hosepipe bans are in for
  
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• UK internet age checks have boosted rogue adult sites, says Pornhub

  20-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Country’s most-visited porn website lobbies MPs for changes to flagship Online Safety Act
  
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• The growing cost to the UK of the nuclear deterrent

  20-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Senior military figures warn budget squeeze comes as the military is also under pressure to re-arm for conventional war
  
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• Internet age checks have boosted rogue adult sites, says Pornhub

  20-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  UK’s biggest porn website lobbies MPs for changes to flagship Online Safety Act
  
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• Drill Andy drill? Burnham’s North Sea dilemma – podcast

  20-08-2026 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Helena Horton on why the government may decide to allow more oil and gas drilling in the North SeaThe government is considering whether to allow new oil and gas drilling at two sites in the North Sea, a move environmental activists warn will accelerate climate chaos. Helen Pidd speaks to reporter Helena Horton about the government’s dilemma – and what it tells us about Andy Burnham’s approach to the green energy transition Continue reading...
  
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• Taxpayers to fund clear-up of illegal dumps in West Yorkshire, Surrey and Kent

  19-08-2026 23:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Andy Burnham promises drive to tackle toxic waste, raise fines and use AI-powered drones to detect illegal activityIllegal dumps in West Yorkshire, Surrey and Kent will be cleared up using taxpayer money, Andy Burnham has announced, as the prime minister promises a new drive to tackle toxic waste.Ministers have identified dumps in Bradford, Runnymede and the Isle of Sheppey, which collectively contain about 22,000 tonnes of illegal waste, to be cleared in the next phase of the government’s
  
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• UK Green activist who celebrated Iran’s ‘resistance’ elected to party council

  19-08-2026 22:25 via ft.com
  Eleanora Folan had praised Tehran’s ‘courageous fight against the imperialist dogs’
  
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• Green activist who celebrated Iran’s ‘resistance’ elected to party council

  19-08-2026 22:25 via ft.com
  Eleanora Folan had praised Tehran’s ‘courageous fight against the imperialist dogs’
  
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• Can Andy Burnham rewire the ‘Treasury brain’ to boost growth?

  19-08-2026 20:46 via theguardian.com
  PM wants to reduce department’s stranglehold on public purse and bring long-term thinking to economic policyAndy Burnham is far from the first prime minister to dream of taming the power of the mighty Treasury.Boris Johnson all but forced the resignation of Sajid Javid by handpicking his team; Margaret Thatcher favoured her economic adviser Alan Walters over Nigel Lawson, prompting the latter’s furious resignation; and Tony Blair and Gordon Brown’s power struggle was the stuff
  
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• Compulsory GCSE resits in England harm teenagers’ mental wellbeing, study finds

  19-08-2026 20:34 via theguardian.com
  UCL researchers warn repeated exam attempts may dent students’ confidence and raise risk of dropping outForcing teenagers who fail GCSEs into multiple resits has a negative impact on their mental health, according to research to be published as pupils receive their grades on Thursday.The study by academics at University College London (UCL) compared the mental wellbeing of students in England, Wales and Northern Ireland who failed to reach a grade 4 or equivalent in maths or English GCSEs
  
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• What has Burnham promised since he became PM, and when will it happen?

  19-08-2026 20:30 via theguardian.com
  From cutting household bills to moving power out of Westminster, how will the measures announced unfold?Andy Burnham has floated a number of policies, ideas and ambitions for his government since becoming prime minister, from shifting power out of Westminster, bringing services under public control and addressing the rising cost of living. But many of his promises are not actually firm commitments, so what has he pledged, how much will it cost and when should the public expect change? Continue r
  
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• The Guardian view on the Ebola outbreak in the DRC: a case study in why international aid matters | Editorial

  19-08-2026 19:59 via theguardian.com
  The Trump administration’s ‘America first’ approach has contributed to the scale of the crisis now unfolding in one of the world’s poorest countriesFor months health experts have warned that the scale of the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) could surpass the one that swept west Africa in 2014-16. This week, the authorities in the DRC announced that a grim milestone has already been passed: at least 2,325 people have died from the virus, making
  
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• All power to the UK competition watchdog’s war on ‘drip pricing’

  19-08-2026 19:39 via theguardian.com
  Competition and Markets Authority on message with PM’s planned purge of hidden fees and add-on chargesTrainline, Virgin Atlantic and Red Driving School face investigationThe Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is on-message with Andy Burnham’s declaration of war on the small – and sometimes not-so-small – hassles and expenses of everyday consumer life created by companies’ underhand and misleading pricing tactics. Trainline, Virgin Atlantic and Red Driving Schoo
  
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• Andy Burnham calls on wider society to help end rough sleeping by Christmas

  19-08-2026 19:25 via theguardian.com
  PM says public money alone won’t solve problem but ‘we did it in the pandemic, we can do it again’‘Burnham’s writing cheques, this one might bounce’: homeless people doubt PM’s planAndy Burnham has said government money alone may not be enough to get rough sleepers off the streets by Christmas, as experts called for more of a plan to deal with the problems that cause homelessness.Speaking on a visit to the north-east of England, the prime minister said h
  
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• ‘Burnham’s writing cheques, this one might bounce’: homeless people doubt PM’s plan

  19-08-2026 18:55 via theguardian.com
  Rough sleepers and charities say they have heard similar political declarations before but seen little successAndy Burnham calls on wider society to help end rough sleeping by ChristmasAs Andy Burnham set out his plan to end rough sleeping on Tuesday night, volunteers from homelessness charity Under One Sky were offering hot drinks, sandwiches, socks, underwear and soap to dozens of rough sleepers around Tottenham Court Road in central London.Among those sleeping on the streets, the prime minist
  
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• Reform politicians are such a joke, they deserve a slot on the Edinburgh fringe | John Crace

  19-08-2026 17:28 via theguardian.com
  Nige’s gift, Dicky’s love of global heating and so much more – what fun it is watching the party implodeYou would need to have a heart of stone not to fall about laughing. There was a time not so long ago when Reform could give a passable impression of a vaguely functional political party. One that knew its audience and had learned how to get its message across through the media. Admittedly this was largely because the party was a one-man band with all its MPs accepting that th
  
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• Rising inflation underlines scale of Andy Burnham’s cost of living challenge

  19-08-2026 14:27 via theguardian.com
  PM’s plan to shield households from more pressure risks being overwhelmed by wider price risesUK inflation rises to 2.9%Business live – latest updatesJuly’s increase in inflation, to 2.9%, is likely to be the first of several, underlining the challenge facing Andy Burnham in shielding consumers from a fresh cost of living squeeze this autumn.Rising energy bills, as an increase in Ofgem’s quarterly price cap came into force, were the main driver of the jump in inflation, f
  
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• British free speech group hit by unease over Maga links

  19-08-2026 13:35 via ft.com
  Former employees say Toby Young’s non-profit FSU has aligned with Trump administration despite claims to be non-partisan
  
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• Feuding Reform fuels Tory party’s faith in a comeback

  19-08-2026 10:30 via ft.com
  Suspension of influential Conservative defector Tim Montgomerie curbs momentum and reduces prospect of a pact with rivals
  
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• Why Britain needs a Messi budget

  19-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  The playing style of the great Argentine footballer demonstrates that less can be more
  
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• ‘Manchesterism’ must honour the city’s global outlook

  19-08-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Understanding Burnham’s term as a shorthand for inward-looking, transactional politics is misguided
  
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• London’s clean air zone linked to improvement in children’s lung health

  19-08-2026 00:30 via ft.com
  Study compared lung size and function of 1,600 six- to nine-year-olds with a matched group in Luton
  
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• I won’t abandon anyone to sleep rough on our streets. That’s my £442m promise | Andy Burnham

  18-08-2026 23:30 via theguardian.com
  Today we begin our drive to get everyone in for Christmas. And it will be for local communities up and down the land to decide how best to do itBurnham launches ‘national drive’ to get rough sleepers off streets by ChristmasI’ve always thought you can tell something about a country by what it learns to walk past. And, somewhere along the way, we’ve got used to seeing people sleeping rough on our streets.We see people bedded down in doorways and sat outside stations, carry
  
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• Burnham launches pandemic-style drive to cut rough sleeping

  18-08-2026 23:30 via ft.com
  UK prime minister vows to ‘get people out the cold’ in run-up to Christmas, in echo of policy he supported in Manchester
  
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