Political news

• U.S. Republicans start framework for Obamacare replacement

  13-01-2017 23:47
  By Susan Cornwell and Caroline Humer WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Urged on by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, Republican lawmakers rushing to scrap Obamacare said this week they hoped to make some changes intended to stabilise the insurance market while they work at repealing and replacing the law. The beginnings of a framework outlining what a post-Obamacare world could look like came in the same week that Congress approved a resolution instructing key committees of both the House of Representativ
  
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• British energy bills to fall as price cap cut by 7%

  25-02-2026 08:34
  Typical households will pay £1,641 per year, down from £1,758 after energy-efficiency scheme scrapped
  
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• UK military spending set to account for smaller share of GDP in 2027-28

  25-02-2026 06:00
  Changes are in stark contrast with rearmament push by European allies in face of growing geopolitical tensions
  
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• NHS in England to be set targets on getting people back to work

  25-02-2026 06:00
  Ministers also planning to link patient data to benefit claims and employment statistics
  
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• On the ground in the byelection that could end Starmer – podcast

  25-02-2026 04:00 via theguardian.com
  Reform and the Greens both insist they can win the Greater Manchester seat of Gorton and Denton from Labour – and if they do, it could be another nail in the prime minister’s coffin. Helen Pidd reports on how the candidates and voters are feelingA byelection is usually called when something bad has happened. In Gorton and Denton it is because Andrew Gwynne, the former Labour MP for the Greater Manchester constituency, became embroiled in an embarrassing WhatsApp scandal. Gwynne was s
  
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• Channel Tunnel freight trains to restart after London depot deal

  25-02-2026 01:01
  Network Rail will take control of Barking site that could replace the equivalent of more than 100,000 lorries from UK roads
  
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• British dual nationals risk imminent refusal of travel to UK, Home Office affirms

  25-02-2026 00:12 via theguardian.com
  Government ignores pleas for a grace period before new rules come into force on WednesdayBritish citizens with a second nationality risk being blocked from entering the UK from Wednesday, the Home Office has confirmed.The government has decided to ignore pleas from families, the3millioncampaign group, the Liberal Democrats and the former Conservative cabinet minister David Davis for a grace period to allow British dual nationals to adapt to the new rules they face. Continue reading...
  
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• Mandelson complains arrest followed ‘baseless suggestion’ he was about to flee the country – UK politics as it happened

  24-02-2026 21:40 via theguardian.com
  Former US ambassador issues statement via lawyers saying his priority is to cooperate with police and clear his nameKeir Starmer is taking part in a coalition of the willing video call to discuss Ukraine. There is a live feed of his public contribution here.Kemi Badenoch is holding a press conference now. She is appearing with the relatives of children who she says have died as a result of social media – either because they took their own lives, or because it led to them being attacked. Sh
  
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• Send plan for England gets cautious welcome amid workload concerns

  24-02-2026 20:59 via theguardian.com
  Education leaders and MPs say government needs to be careful about mental health impact on leaders and teachers in already overstretched sectorTeachers and schools face “a huge ask” implementing the government’s special needs proposals affecting hundreds of thousands of children, according to education leaders and MPs who otherwise gave the plans a cautious welcome.Under the plans unveiled by Bridget Phillipson, mainstream schools in England will assess pupils with special need
  
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• Ministers urged to impose temporary ban on crypto political donations

  24-02-2026 20:48 via theguardian.com
  National security committee warns UK elections dangerously expoed to foreign money until tougher safeguards are in placePolitical donations in cryptocurrency should be subject to an urgent temporary ban to stop foreign interference in British elections, the chair of the national security committee has said.Matt Western, who leads the committee of MPs and peers, said a moratorium was needed until the risks of donations in cryptocurrency have been dealt with – including adequate checks on th
  
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• Reform UK promises to scrap flagship Labour worker and renters’ protections

  24-02-2026 20:35 via theguardian.com
  Richard Tice echoes Donald Trump with pledge of ‘great repeal act’ and ‘tight quotas and significant tariffs’Unions and renters’ groups have criticised Reform UK after the party’s business spokesperson, Richard Tice, pledged to introduce a “great repeal act” that would abolish Labour legislation on workers’ rights and protection for tenants.In his first speech since being appointed by Nigel Farage to a portfolio covering business, trade and e
  
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• The Guardian view on temporary accommodation bills: short-term fixes must be backed up by housebuilding | Editorial

  24-02-2026 20:06 via theguardian.com
  Liverpool council’s success in negotiating with landlords is a model of how to save to invest in housingLocal authorities are experiencing some of the highest temporary accommodation bills on record. Councils in England spent £2.8bn last year on homeless accommodation – a 25% increase on the year before and a 100% increase since 2020.How did the bill get so high? The government’s redistribution of social housing stock from public to private hands is largely to blame. Inst
  
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• Reeves aims to reassure business with ‘boring’ Spring Statement

  24-02-2026 20:00
  UK chancellor will argue that her plan is starting to bear fruit
  
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• Government policies have fuelled youth unemployment, Bank of England says

  24-02-2026 19:53
  Increases to minimum wage rates and payroll tax ‘have had a particular effect on young people’, chief economist says
  
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• Mandelson's lawyers deny he was planning to flee abroad

  24-02-2026 19:36
  Statement comes after former cabinet minister arrested on suspicion of misconduct in public office
  
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• Northern Ireland faces funding crunch despite latest UK bailout

  24-02-2026 18:33
  Precarious finances highlighted as most parties reject draft multiyear budget plan
  
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• Reform UK plans to use £500bn of council pension assets to invest in British businesses

  24-02-2026 18:31
  Deputy leader hails ‘huge opportunity’ to create sovereign wealth fund, but experts give sceptical response
  
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• Reform UK councillor shared Facebook post saying Labour MP ‘should be shot’

  24-02-2026 18:12 via theguardian.com
  Natalie Fleet MP says politicians should not expect ‘death threats as standard’, as Lancashire councillor apologisesA Labour MP has said politicians should not expect to face “death threats as standard” after a Reform UK councillor shared a Facebook post which said she “should be shot”.The picture of Natalie Fleet, who has spoken previously about being groomed and raped as a teenager, was accompanied by a fake quote misattributed to her, which read: “I v
  
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• Do the British left’s hopes lie with the Greens, Labour or even Your Party? The answer could be all three

  24-02-2026 17:00 via theguardian.com
  No single organisation can deliver the change that socialists want. As Nigel Farage has shown, politics has to be ruthlessly tacticalFor the long-marginalised British left, parliamentary byelections aren’t usually cause for much excitement. But Gorton and Denton is different. Polls, bookmakers and tactical-voting websites name the Greens as the close-run favourites, and thousands of activists have been knocking on doors for “Hannah the plumber”, a popular local councillor and p
  
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• MPs back release of files about hiring of former prince as UK trade envoy

  24-02-2026 16:15
  Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor denounced in House of Commons as ‘rude, arrogant and entitled’ man
  
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• Government backs release of documents around hiring of former prince Andrew as trade envoy

  24-02-2026 16:15
  Lib Dems use parliamentary device to push for release of files relating to his appointment in 2001
  
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• Criminal cases set to rise until 2030 despite abolition of jury trials

  24-02-2026 15:35
  Justice secretary David Lammy defends proposals to shake up court system in England and Wales
  
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• Criminal cases in England set to rise until 2030 despite abolition of jury trials

  24-02-2026 15:35
  Justice secretary David Lammy defends proposals to shake up court system
  
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• Court backlogs won’t fall to pre-Covid levels for a decade despite axing juries

  24-02-2026 15:35
  Justice secretary David Lammy defends proposals to shake up court system
  
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• Reform UK plans to use £500bn assets of council pensions to invest in British businesses

  24-02-2026 15:23
  Deputy leader hails ‘huge opportunity’ to create sovereign wealth fund, but experts give sceptical response
  
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• Russian ‘illicit oil traders’ exposed by email blunder placed under UK sanctions

  24-02-2026 13:25
  Apparent network of energy companies’ vast reach revealed by FT
  
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• Labour fights for its soul in Manchester

  24-02-2026 10:30
  Party’s historic power in Gorton and Denton will not stop towns of ‘underpromised ambition’ from demanding change
  
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• Lib Dems push for full disclosure around hiring of former prince Andrew as trade envoy

  24-02-2026 09:58
  Party will use parliamentary device to push for release of files relating to his appointment in 2001
  
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• Mandelson’s downfall is one of fastest ever seen in British public life

  24-02-2026 09:20 via theguardian.com
  Links to Jeffrey Epstein have taken political operator from a vaunted position in British diplomacy to arrest in under six monthsJust six months ago Peter Mandelson seemed unassailable as the UK’s ambassador to the US, one of the most vaunted positions in British diplomacy. As our man in Washington, Mandelson appeared to have used his skill for schmoozing, learned over years as a cabinet minister and a European commissioner, to secure a good relationship with the tricky Trump administratio
  
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• Neighbour does not hate neighbour in Gorton and Denton. That’s why Labour will beat Reform | Angeliki Stogia

  24-02-2026 09:00 via theguardian.com
  We see Thursday’s byelection as a straight fight between us and Farage’s poisonous politics. I think people will vote for each other – and for hopeAngeliki Stogia is the Labour candidate in Gorton and DentonManchester has always been a place shaped by solidarity, by the belief that what you contribute matters more than where you come from, and by a quiet but unshakeable pride in looking out for one another. Some people are born here, others are drawn here, but, after more than
  
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