Political news

• The Guardian view on Tory splits: doctrinal differences | Editorial

  06-10-2017 20:02 via theguardian.com
  MPs in the Tory party have to realise that voters have grown up in a culturally permissive era and are not aroused by the holy anger of the rightBig as the blow was to Theresa May at the general election in June, worse has followed. Not only was the election an unnecessary fight for Mrs May to have picked, she has emerged a diminished figure. Her cabinet is united – but mainly in their desire to succeed her. On the day of Mrs May’s big speech at the Conservative party conference this
  
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• Labour’s own goals on jobs

  17-02-2026 19:34 via ft.com
  Raising payroll taxes and the minimum wage has hurt young workers
  
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• Farage insults female reporter as Braverman says Reform UK wants to scrap Equality Act – UK politics live

  17-02-2026 18:35 via theguardian.com
  Party leader tells FT journalist she should ‘write some silly story’ after press conference revealing roles for his top teamNigel Farage is speaking.He starts by saying that 4.6m voters will get the right to to vote in the local elections because of his party.I am writing a book on Nigel Farage for @headlinepg.No holds will be barred. Continue reading...
  
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• Nigel Farage assumes Anne Robinson role in political remake of The Weakest Link

  17-02-2026 18:23 via theguardian.com
  Reform UK leader snaps at reporters as he tries to maintain control over announcement of shadow cabinetUK politics live – latest updatesMeet the Fockers. The shadow cabinet from hell. Rejects, losers and deadbeats. A freak show. A tribute act.Reform have often been called a one-man band. The Nigel Farage party. So to counter this narrative, Nige took over Church House in Westminster and turned it into a tacky gameshow set. A remake of The Weakest Link. All to parade his new top team. The l
  
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• Ella Baron on Nigel Farage toasting Keir Starmer’s latest U-turn – cartoon

  17-02-2026 17:52 via theguardian.com
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• What do we know about Reform UK’s frontbench team of four?

  17-02-2026 17:30 via theguardian.com
  Here are the briefs – and some of the views – of Robert Jenrick, Suella Braverman, Richard Tice and Zia YusufNigel Farage has named the first four members of Reform UK’s frontbench team. Here are their briefs and what we know, so far, about their views. Continue reading...
  
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• The Labour Together scandal goes right to the heart of No 10 – Starmer has nowhere to hide | Peter Geoghegan

  17-02-2026 16:42 via theguardian.com
  He can sack who he wants to protect himself, but all roads currently lead back to the prime ministerIn late 2023, Labour Together was ascendant. Under Keir Starmer, the group’s anointed torchbearer, Labour had a double-digit lead in the polls. Morgan McSweeney, the man who built Labour Together, was preparing Starmer for government with great hopes of cleaning up politics. Now McSweeney is out of a job, Labour Together is mired in controversy and Starmer faces urgent questions about what h
  
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• Cheshire council leaders urged to resign after proposing new town without local support

  17-02-2026 16:33 via theguardian.com
  Opposition councillor says 20,000-home development in Adlington put forward with ‘no consultation, no scrutiny’A Cheshire council leader is being urged to resign after it emerged he had written a letter backing a new town of 20,000 homes for the area, which led to it being listed on the government’s list of proposed sites and has since sparked a huge backlash.Residents said they were blindsided when Adlington appeared on the government’s list of 12 proposed sites for new
  
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• Nigel Farage unveils Reform UK frontbench team and warns over dissent

  17-02-2026 15:31 via theguardian.com
  Leader says move should end claims of one-man band and shows party is ‘creating a machine for government’Nigel Farage has unveiled the first part of Reform UK’s frontbench team, saying it shows that the party is no longer reliant entirely on him – while also warning that he will not tolerate any dissent from his colleagues.Two of the four appointees are recent defectors from the Conservatives: Robert Jenrick, who takes on the Treasury brief, and Suella Braverman, whom Far
  
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• Jesse Jackson was ‘direct connection to great civil rights era’, says Diane Abbott

  17-02-2026 15:09 via theguardian.com
  MP leads UK tributes to African American campaigner, who has died aged 84Jesse Jackson, civil rights leader, dies aged 84Jesse Jackson tributes – latest updatesJesse Jackson was a “direct connection to the great era of civil rights”, Diane Abbott said, leading UK tributes to the African American campaigner.The Rev Jackson, whose death at the age of 84 was announced on Tuesday, was also intimately connected to the battle for racial equality in the UK, where he campaigned for dec
  
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• ‘Scandalous and unacceptable’: readers on the new UK entry rules for dual nationals

  17-02-2026 15:00 via theguardian.com
  Some say they may stop visiting or even renounce their British citizenship owing to stricter requirementsBritish dual nationals living abroad have told of their disgust, fury and distress over new UK border rules that mean they could risk being denied boarding on a flight, ferry or train.The new rules, which come into force on 25 February, have caught many by surprise and require British dual nationals to present a British passport or a “certificate of entitlement”, which costs &poun
  
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• Reform UK names Jenrick as ‘shadow chancellor’

  17-02-2026 13:14 via ft.com
  Nigel Farage unveils members of his top team as he sets out his pitch to voters
  
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• ‘Betrayed’: 21 Hartlepool councillors threaten to quit Labour over care budget

  17-02-2026 12:48 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Council in one of England’s poorest areas says it needs urgent help with ballooning children’s social care billKeir Starmer is facing a mass resignation of Labour councillors in one of England’s poorest areas over a “betrayal” of funding for children in care.Labour councillors in Hartlepool, County Durham, said they were “between despair and open revolt” over an “unfair” cash settlement that would leave them unable to balance the b
  
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• Who’s who in Reform UK’s top team

  17-02-2026 12:44 via ft.com
  Senior jobs for Jenrick, Braverman, Yusuf and Tice as Farage hopes to convince voters that his party is ready for power
  
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• UK shelves £110m frictionless post-Brexit trade border project

  17-02-2026 12:04 via theguardian.com
  Programme launched by last Tory government was worked on by Deloitte and IBM but was paused in 2024Business live – latest updatesThe UK government has shelved a project to simplify trade border processes post-Brexit after spending £110m on a contract with Deloitte and IBM for it, according to reports.The last Conservative government promised in 2020 to create the “world’s most effective border” by 2025 as part of its plan for a new trade system after Britain left th
  
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• What’s the state of this Starmer-led nation? Speak to angry voters in Gorton and Denton and it all becomes clear | Owen Jones

  17-02-2026 11:03 via theguardian.com
  I had so many conversations with people fed up with all the chaos, deceit and U-turns. Politics must respond to this disenchantmentYou can feel Labour’s electoral coalition fraying in the cold, rain-soaked streets of south-east Manchester. With nine days to go now until the historic byelection in Gorton and Denton, one thing unites these otherwise diverse communities: a visceral contempt for the prime minister.Mention Keir Starmer’s name and people laugh: not with affection but disbe
  
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• Reform UK to name Jenrick as ‘shadow chancellor’

  17-02-2026 11:01 via ft.com
  Nigel Farage to unveil several members of his top team on Tuesday
  
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• The limits of age-based policymaking

  17-02-2026 10:30 via ft.com
  Focusing on the rights of children has merit, but it also avoids politically harder decisions about adults
  
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• Labour take note: the politics of home cannot be ceded to the nativist right | Julian Coman

  17-02-2026 07:00 via theguardian.com
  Reform’s version of patriotism is opportunistic and bogus, but it is swaying voters. Labour must look to its roots to find a replyIn the mid-1980s, a remarkable German television series became appointment viewing in my house each Thursday evening. Heimat, an epic portrait of the life and times of a fictional Rhineland village, tracked the inhabitants of Schabbach as they navigated the tumultuous 20th century. Across the course of 15 hours, Edgar Reitz’s drama conveyed a romantic, alm
  
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• UK quietly shelves £110mn frictionless post-Brexit trade border project

  17-02-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Halt to programme that had used Deloitte and IBM as contractors draws criticism from experts
  
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• Can Reeves solve the Bank of England’s inflation problem? 

  17-02-2026 06:00 via ft.com
  Rate-setters split on long-term impact of Budget measures aimed at cutting cost of living
  
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• Starmer cancels plans to delay 30 local council elections in England

  16-02-2026 21:49 via ft.com
  Latest government U-turn comes after Reform UK launched legal action over proposal
  
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• Why Starmer’s latest U-turn over local elections could be a gift for Reform

  16-02-2026 20:01 via theguardian.com
  Ditching plans to delay votes in 30 English councils gives Nigel Farage chance to capitalise on Labour unpopularityStarmer abandons plans to delay local elections in England in latest U-turnKeir Starmer was challenged on Monday morning over the list of U-turns he has made since entering government less than two years ago, including on cuts to winter fuel payments, cuts to disability benefits and hikes in inheritance tax for farmers.“I am a pragmatist. I am a common-sense merchant,” h
  
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• Starmer says Britain needs to ‘go faster’ on defence spending

  16-02-2026 19:41 via ft.com
  Prime minister is said to be examining how to bring forward plans to spend 3% of UK GDP on military
  
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• Keir Starmer says Britain needs to ‘go faster’ on defence spending

  16-02-2026 19:41 via ft.com
  Prime minister is said to be examining how to bring forward plans to spend 3 per cent of UK GDP on military
  
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• Ben Jennings on online safety – cartoon

  16-02-2026 19:12 via theguardian.com
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• Student debt is a generational injustice. Why are we squeezing graduates harder than the super-rich? | Gaby Hinsliff

  16-02-2026 18:38 via theguardian.com
  Reform of this stealth tax is long overdue – and with it, a shake-up of the whole university systemNever go to war with Martin Lewis. The one iron law of politics is that the financial guru who built moneysavingexpert.com has a quasi-godlike status in Britain, the man millions trust with their cash in a way they would never trust any politician. If he takes up a cause, he usually wins. So when Lewis joined the revolt against recent changes to the student loan system, urging young graduates
  
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• Starmer’s options in funding a further defence spending rise would be limited

  16-02-2026 18:21 via theguardian.com
  Competing domestic priorities, Treasury borrowing limits and already nervous lenders are among the many obstaclesKeir Starmer has few options if he wants to increase annual defence spending by up to £14bn before the end of this parliament.In last summer’s spending review, the government set out plans to increase defence spending from 2.3% of national income, or gross domestic product (GDP), in 2024-25 – about £66bn, to 2.6% in 2028-29. Continue reading...
  
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• A simple guide to the May elections in England, Scotland and Wales

  16-02-2026 18:09 via bbc.com
  Millions will vote in parliamentary elections in Scotland and Wales, and local elections in England.
  
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• Nothing says the ‘special relationship’ is over like this picture of Donald Trump and Liz Truss | Zoe Williams

  16-02-2026 17:53 via theguardian.com
  It’s awkward, nobody seems to know what is going on, and the president’s thumb is at half-mast. It’s almost a metaphor for diplomatic relations between the US and the UKWhen Liz Truss tweeted a photo of herself standing next to Donald Trump, she captioned it “right about everything”. All that effort, all that security clearance and long-haul travel and whatnot, to reach the pinnacle of proximity to your spiritual leader, and that’s the best she could come up w
  
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