Political news

• Local knowledge

  05-05-2017 20:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  What do the local election results mean for the outcome of June's general election?
  
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• Labour movement ‘on the line’ because of Starmer’s mistakes, says union boss – UK politics live

  28-01-2026 15:33 via theguardian.com
  Starmer’s ‘control freakery’ could end up leading Nigel Farage into No 10, Unison boss Andrea Egan saysBadenoch is now taking questions.Asked if she agreed with Reform UK that Britain is broken, Badneoch said she believed that it can be fixed.I was not elected to reheat the party with 1990s policies, and I was not elected to dismantle the party so that Nigel Farage can finally have a go.I was elected by Conservative party members to renew and rebuild. That is exactly what I am
  
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• Ofsted finds no political bias at Bristol school criticised for cancelling MP’s visit

  28-01-2026 15:09 via theguardian.com
  Snap inspection of Brunel academy took place after it withdrew invitation to pro-Israel Labour MP Damien EganA snap inspection of a Bristol secondary school criticised for postponing a visit by an MP who is a member of a group that advocates for Israel has found “no evidence of partisan political views”.Ofsted inspectors arrived at Bristol Brunel academy earlier this month after reports that its leaders had called off a visit by Damien Egan, the Labour MP for Bristol North East, afte
  
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• Centrist ideas no longer wanted in Conservative party, says Kemi Badenoch

  28-01-2026 14:53 via theguardian.com
  Party leader tells MPs that one-nation Tories doubting her rightward direction ‘need to get out of the way’UK politics live – latest updatesCentrist ideas are no longer wanted in the Conservative party, Kemi Badenoch has said, arguing that one nation-type Tories or others who have qualms about her rightward direction for the party “need to get out of the way”.Making a speech in Westminster intended to set out her vision for the party after a spate of recent defectio
  
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• England planning proposals fail to mention safety of women and girls, say critics

  28-01-2026 14:00 via theguardian.com
  Draft proposals likely to ‘embed risk and inequality’, campaigners and urban planners sayGovernment proposals to overhaul England’s planning system fail to mention women or girls and ignore official recommendations to keep women safe made after the death of Sarah Everard, experts have told the Guardian.Draft planning proposals – published two days before the government’s strategy to tackle violence against women and girls (VAWG) – are likely to “embed ri
  
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• Labour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streets, study finds

  28-01-2026 13:52 via theguardian.com
  Decay of town centres a top issue among voters, especially Reform UK supporters, and is fuelling resentment against WestminsterHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeThe struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10Labour will be “washed away in a tide of discontent” at the next general election unless it tackles the decline of Britain’s high streets, a study has warned, as Guardian analysis lays bare the changin
  
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• Starmer and Badenoch blast Reform UK’s by-election candidate

  28-01-2026 13:42
  Prime minister launches attack on Matt Goodwin ahead of high-stakes vote next month
  
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• UK cuts subsidies to ‘overcompensated’ renewable power groups

  28-01-2026 13:10
  Scheme will be linked to CPI rather than the higher RPI inflation measure and is expected to save £270mn a year
  
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• Starmer insists he will take ‘pragmatic’ approach during Beijing trip

  28-01-2026 13:03
  Four-day visit to China overshadowed by concerns about human rights and spy threats
  
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• ‘You’d be ashamed to bring someone here’: The struggling billionaire-owned high street that shows Reform’s road to No 10

  28-01-2026 11:02 via theguardian.com
  Newton Aycliffe was meant to be a model town for a fairer postwar Britain. But unaffordable rents on a high street amounting to 0.12% of its property tycoon owner’s holdings have made it a symbol of decline – and a warning for LabourHow has your local high street changed since 2019? Check your postcodeLabour risks election wipeout unless it improves Britain’s high streetsUnder blue skies and bunting, the whole of County Durham seemed to turn out for the young Queen Elizabeth II
  
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• Starmer vows to raise issues ‘that need to be raised’ with Xi amid push to free Jimmy Lai

  28-01-2026 10:59 via theguardian.com
  PM may also discuss fate of Uyghurs with Chinese leader on trip aimed at improving economic relations‘Very low bar’: Starmer faces slim pickings in ChinaKeir Starmer has said he will “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s president, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in Beijing for the first trip to the country by a UK leader in eight years.The prime minister has come under pressure from rights groups to try to secure the release of Jimmy Lai,
  
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• Keir Starmer insists he will take ‘pragmatic’ approach during Beijing trip

  28-01-2026 10:44
  Four-day visit to China overshadowed by concerns about human rights and spy threats
  
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• The case for Labour’s policing overhaul — and the big risks

  28-01-2026 10:30
  Breaking down the good, the bad and the unclear in the government’s new white paper
  
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• Starmer says Reform pursuing politics of ‘toxic division’ after Matt Goodwin unveiled as byelection candidate

  28-01-2026 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Prime minister says Reform seeking to ‘tear people apart’ after Gorton and Denton candidate questions whether all UK-born people are BritishKeir Starmer has accused the Reform UK candidate in the Greater Manchester byelection of pursuing the politics of “toxic division” after he refused to disown his claim that UK-born people from minority ethnic backgrounds are not necessarily British.The prime minister suggested that Matthew Goodwin, a hard-right activist, would try to
  
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• Starmer blasts ‘toxic’ politics of Reform UK’s by-election candidate

  28-01-2026 08:00
  Prime minister launches attack on Matt Goodwin ahead of high-stakes poll next month
  
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• From the Burnham row to the China visit, avoiding hard choices is the Starmer doctrine | Rafael Behr

  28-01-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Whether at home or abroad, the pattern of ducking difficult arguments and calling it pragmatism is the sameThere comes a point in a prime minister’s career when foreign travel offers respite from domestic trouble. Even when relations with the host country are tricky, as Britain’s are with China, the dignifying protocols of statecraft make a beleaguered politician feel valued.Next comes the phase where missions overseas feel dangerous because plotters can organise more openly against
  
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• The rise of the ‘National Health State’

  28-01-2026 06:00
  As patients and residents struggle to access deteriorating public services in England, NHS trusts are stepping in
  
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• UK’s deadline for paying IHT on pensions poses ‘huge problem’, peers warn

  28-01-2026 01:01
  Government should extend time to pay from six to 12 months, says Lords committee
  
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• UK energy company urges Starmer to ‘embrace’ Chinese technology

  27-01-2026 23:30
  Octopus chief adds to debate over critical sector as PM embarks on first trip to Beijing by a British leader since 2018
  
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• Octopus Energy urges Starmer to ‘embrace’ Chinese technology

  27-01-2026 23:30
  Executive adds to debate over critical sector as PM embarks on first trip to Beijing by a British leader since 2018
  
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• Ella Baron on Suella Braverman’s defection to Reform – cartoon

  27-01-2026 20:00 via theguardian.com
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• The Guardian view on deepening poverty in the UK: a catastrophic Tory legacy has cut millions adrift | Editorial

  27-01-2026 19:52 via theguardian.com
  A new Joseph Rowntree report underlines the corrosive impact of years of anti-welfare rhetoric. A reframing of the debate is urgently neededThe Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s latest report on poverty in the UK, published this week, should be read first and foremost as an indictment of all Conservative governments between 2010 and 2024. During almost a decade and a half of Tory rule, the JRF estimates that no progress at all was made in reducing overall levels of relative hardship. No surpris
  
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• The Guardian view on reforming the police: Labour’s sprawling plan comes with risks attached | Editorial

  27-01-2026 19:50 via theguardian.com
  Checks and balances will be needed under the home secretary’s new vision of policing, with its ‘British FBI’The police, said the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, in the House of Commons on Monday, is “the last great unreformed public service”. Her white paper aims to redraw the policing map of England (though policing is devolved, the other nations will feel the effects). If she succeeds, the current patchwork will be replaced by a multi-tier system. The 43 existing
  
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• With Burnham blocked, Labour’s attention turns back to Angela Rayner

  27-01-2026 19:37 via theguardian.com
  Keir Starmer’s former number two will be a focus of the renewed speculation about party’s future leadershipThe political world abhors a vacuum of intrigue and gossip. The scuppering of Andy Burnham’s return to Westminster has therefore brought renewed attention to other potential successors to Keir Starmer. That is in turn likely to involve renewed scrutiny of Angela Rayner.Starmer’s former number two and housing secretary has been quietly loyal since she resigned as a mi
  
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• U-turn on pubs has not solved the government’s mess on business rates | Nils Pratley

  27-01-2026 18:59 via theguardian.com
  The package being offered is not insignificant but the hospitality sector is still in troubleWill the chancellor’s inevitable U-turn on business rates for pubs be enough to quieten the developing riot behind the taps? Possibly, a bit. After two months of damaging headlines, Rachel Reeves has granted pubs a 15% discount on bills, worth £1,650 on average in the next tax year, then a two-year freeze in real terms, with the promise of a change in methodology in time for the next revaluat
  
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• Reform’s Matt Goodwin is sure he’s the right man for Gorton and Denton. He just doesn’t know why… | John Crace

  27-01-2026 18:34 via theguardian.com
  Introduced by an unsupervised Lee Anderson, the byelection candidate was out of his depth immediatelyAn idiot’s guide to running a byelection campaign. First, know your constituency boundaries. Sometimes easier said than done. On Tuesday morning, Lee Anderson was to be found doing a photo op for the Gorton and Denton byelection by posing outside the Stanley hotel. Which just happens to be in Angela Rayner’s constituency. Shame that someone pointed out Anderson’s mistake. He cou
  
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• Former Labour MP charged with sexual assault

  27-01-2026 18:28
  Conor McGinn has been charged over an alleged incident in 2022
  
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• Criminal justice reforms will undermine trust in the system

  27-01-2026 18:16
  Scrapping jury trials fails to address the overwhelming pile-up of court cases
  
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• The UK government didn't want you to see this report on ecosystem collapse. I'm not surprised | George Monbiot

  27-01-2026 17:52 via theguardian.com
  It took an FOI request to bring this national security assessment to light. For ‘doomsayers’ like us, it is the ultimate vindicationI know it’s almost impossible to turn your eyes away from the Trump show, but that’s the point. His antics, ever-grosser and more preposterous, are designed to keep him in our minds, to crowd out other issues. His insatiable craving for attention is a global-threat multiplier. You can’t help wondering whether there’s anything he w
  
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• Top UK universities increase their reliance on China for overseas recruitment

  27-01-2026 15:25
  Latest data shows that two in five overseas students at Russell Group institutions last year were from China
  
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