33 h. ago Zohran Mamdani has struck a blow to the Democratic party's passivity | Moira Donegan

Democrats’ actions have not matched the passions of its energized voters. You can only antagonize your base for so longWe’re told that the Democratic party is at a crossroads, that leaders have lost their identity and their way. We’re told that they must spend millions discovering their own “Joe Rogan”, or espouse deregulation, or surrender the fight for the rights of targeted minorities. The Democrats, we’re told, are in a moment of soul searching, of trying to find out how they lost young men and the white working class. They’re still thinking, half a decade on, of how to undo the supposed damage of the 2020 summer, when protesters opposed to the extrajudicial killings of Black civilians shouted: “Defund the police.” The subtext of this handwringing, which has been incessant in the media and among party insiders since the November election, is that the party must move, yet again, to the right. It is presumed that they can’t attract voters otherwise.The apparent victory (still unof...

Politics

34 h. ago Falkirk council strip religious representatives of education voting rights

The council agreed that the three religious representatives could still take part in debates, but that the decision making powers should rest with elected members.

Politics

3 d. ago Voices: Why are Tories suddenly in favour of proportional representation?

For the first time ever, a clear majority of right-wing voters seem open to changing the voting system. What could it mean for the future of British politics, asks Tim Bale

Politics

8 d. ago MPs voting to legalise assisted dying is a momentous day for choice

The House of Commons decision to pass Kim Leadbeater’s Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) bill marks a historic step towards giving people the right to make fundamental decisions about their own lives – as well as how to end them

Events

8 d. ago Voices: My husband wanted to go to Dignitas: the new assisted dying bill wouldn’t have helped him

As the right-to-die legislation passes its final Commons hurdle, Mary Dejevsky explains how it falls far short of helping those who might have been pinning their hopes on it, namely people like her late partner with chronic progressive conditions such as Parkinson’s disease

Events

8 d. ago I hope this is the last piece I ever have to write about assisted dying | Polly Toynbee

Today’s vote is on a knife edge. MPs must take their chance to drive forward personal freedoms – and add to Labour’s legacyMPs, read this horror before you vote today. Here’s how some people are slowly dying, right now, in mortal agony untreatable by the best palliative care: “Some will retch at the stench of their own body rotting. Some will vomit their own faeces. Some will suffocate, slowly, inexorably, over several days.” An average of 17 people a day are dying these bad deaths, according to 2019 figures, as reported by palliative care professionals who see it happen.The Inescapable Truth, a report from Dignity in Dying, revealed what is usually kept hidden from us: the shocking last months for the unluckiest. It could happen to you or me. The assisted dying bill’s final Commons vote today is no abstract debate about slippery slopes or what God wants: to do nothing is to inflict torture on many.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnistIn the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contact...

Events

8 d. ago I hope this is the last piece I ever have to write in defence of assisted dying | Polly Toynbee

Today’s vote is on a knife edge. MPs must take their chance to drive forward personal freedoms – and add to Labour’s legacyMPs, read this horror before you vote today. Here’s how some people are slowly dying, right now, in mortal agony untreatable by the best palliative care: “Some will retch at the stench of their own body rotting. Some will vomit their own faeces. Some will suffocate, slowly, inexorably, over several days.” An average of 17 people a day are dying these bad deaths, according to 2019 figures, as reported by palliative care professionals who see it happen.The Inescapable Truth, a report from Dignity in Dying, revealed what is usually kept hidden from us: the shocking last months for the unluckiest. It could happen to you or me. The assisted dying bill’s final Commons vote today is no abstract debate about slippery slopes or what God wants: to do nothing is to inflict torture on many.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnistIn the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contact...

Events

1 week ago Abortion remains a criminal offence in the UK because of the left’s timidity. We must learn from that – and fast | Stella Creasy

Tuesday’s vote in parliament was a missed opportunity – and proof that progressives are allowing the right to shape the key debatesAround the world, the antis are joining forces. Whether anti-abortion, anti-transgender, anti-immigrant, anti-human rights or just anti anyone who doesn’t look like them, they are collaborating; amplifying one another and sharing their political and cultural successes. Their rhetoric now dominates our discussions, and increasingly our ballot boxes. In response, some argue caution or even capitulation – as if we can stop the public being dragged to the extremes if we speak in hushed tones or water down our ambitions for social justice. As we witness the consequences of this, it is time to speak up for those values that drive us to show that another future is possible.On Tuesday, parliament had the opportunity to set abortion in England and Wales on the same modern, regulated footing as it is in Northern Ireland: as a human right. Instead, a vote on this w...

Events

1 week ago MPs back bill to end criminal penalties for abortion in key vote

Parliament votes on biggest shake-up to reproductive rights in England and Wales in 60 yearsCasey says in the past government has talked relentlessly about the need for better data sharing between departments.But she says there is a need to consider making this mandatory.I was there when the tragedy of Soham happened. We knew at that point that if we had had better data sharing there’s a possibility that we might have saved those girls’ lives. There’s certaintly an absolute clarity that intelligence would have been much faster in either avoiding it or or actually finding that dreadful human being earlier.And we’ve known that forever onwards. And so I think there is also an issue that the Home Office can’t drag their feet on, looking at police intelligence systems, given we’ve living in the 21st century. Probably everbody in this room can connect within seconds. Yet we had Befordshire police finding a young boy that was being, in my mind trafficked to London. But the data intelligenc...

Politics

1 week ago MPs vote to decriminalise abortion in biggest change to reproductive rights in decades

Move opposed by senior politicians including the justice secretary Shabana Mahmood, who branded it ‘extreme’

Politics

1 week ago British women are being jailed under archaic abortion laws. MPs can act to end that this week | Frances Ryan

Women will really have the right to choose if politicians vote to revoke this Victorian-era legislation Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Have your say: Did Rachel Reeves get her Spending Review right? Vote in our poll

Chancellor Rachel Reeves laid out her highly-anticipated Spending Review today in the House of Commons, where she vowed to 'renew Britain' - and we want to hear your thoughts

Politics

3 w. ago In charts: can Kemi Badenoch stop Tory voters fleeing to Reform UK?

Conservative leader will harden her immigration stance, but her party is no longer trusted by voters on the right

Politics

3 w. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s investment plans: sugaring the bitter pill of austerity | Editorial

The chancellor is right to be planning for the long term, but voters won’t be patient if change isn’t felt soonInequality between British regions is not a new problem and Rachel Reeves is not the first chancellor to want to close the gap. In 2014, George Osborne promised a “northern powerhouse” to rival the dominance of London and the south-east. He pledged devolution and investment in infrastructure to connect northern cities, to unlock productivity and growth.Since then, Britain’s economy has suffered multiple shocks, some external (the pandemic, inflation stoked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), others self-inflicted (Brexit, Liz Truss’s mini-budget). Each time, the damage was more severe in places already falling behind. Boris Johnson claimed levelling up as his defining purpose. Rishi Sunak let the ambition slide. Now it is being revived by a Labour chancellor. In a speech announcing transport investments on Wednesday, Ms Reeves promised a “renewal of Britain”, with prosperity ...

Politics

3 w. ago Abortion rights activists say 'decriminalisation isn't enough' ahead of Westminster vote

As MPs gather to debate an e-petition calling for the decriminalisation of abortion on June 2, abortion rights campaigners explain why decriminalisation isn't enough to protect women

Politics