41 h. ago Give credit where it’s due: Labour is finally doing things its supporters actually want | Gaby Hinsliff

From tackling child poverty to being honest about Brexit, the party seems to have recognised the growing electoral threat to its leftWhat does it take for a small child not to recognise their own name? I’ve been thinking about that for days, since reading the Local Government Association’s recent report on a growing crisis in early childhood. We’ve known for a while about children starting school still in nappies, or speaking in Americanisms absorbed from hours stuck in front of YouTube, or even struggling to sit upright because they’ve spent too long slumped over an iPad to develop core muscles. So sadly, it’s not surprising to read of early-years workers telling the LGA they see more and more pre-schoolers who can barely speak, play with others or contain their rage when things don’t go their way. But it was the practitioner who noted that some children “don’t seem to respond to their name” who got to me. You have to wonder how often that child hears a loving adult trying to get t...

Politics

58 h. ago Electric car sales record smallest growth in two years as Rachel Reeves' pay

The deceleration in appetite for new battery cars was triggered by reports emerging ahead of the Budget last month.

Economics

63 h. ago New electric car market suffers smallest growth since December 2023

The overall new car market fell by 1.6% last month, with 151,154 new cars registered.

Politics

6 d. ago ‘We need to speak collectively’: can parliament solve the problem of ‘deprivation bingo’ in the UK’s seaside towns?

Labour knows it needs to win over the ‘sea wall’ cohort of coastal voters in the next election. But as anger over inequality grows, time is running outIt is a lovely sunny autumn day in Ramsgate on Britain’s Kent coast, and quintessential seaside chippy Peter’s Fish Factory is doing a roaring lunchtime trade. Across the road, at the entrance to the town’s pier, local MP and chair of the newly reformed coastal parliamentary Labour party (PLP), Polly Billington, is having her photo taken.In between shots she shows us the community art project that adorns the fence along the entrance to the pier. It is made up of pictures, drawn primarily by local children and young people, of the 65 little ships that set sail earlier this year from Ramsgate to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the Dunkirk evacuation. Continue reading...

Politics

9 d. ago Obamas celebrate Thanksgiving with rare family photo after Michelle sparked Ozempic weight

In a joint post on Thursday, former President Barack Obama, 64, and former First Lady Michelle Obama, 61, posed alongside their two daughters, Malia, 27, and Sasha, 24.

Culture

1 week ago ‘It’s gone from shameful to chic’: How Gen Z is reframing divorce — and embracing prenups

Statistically, young Americans are waiting a lot longer to get married. But for the members of Generation Z who are tying the knot in their early twenties, Ellie Muir finds that their views on divorce are vastly different from their parents’ generation

Politics

1 week ago Secrets of Michelle Obama's 'glow up': The end of 'polished restraint', those Ozempic weight loss rumours, and why her wardrobe is now full of lace and leather

The former US President's wife, 61, has been sporting a toned physique, and with it - a youthful new wardrobe that she has recently spoken about at length, in her fashion memoir.

Politics

1 week ago Michelle Obama sparks Ozempic weight loss rumors after flaunting slender frame in new photoshoot

The former First Lady, 61, showed off her slimmer look in a recent social media post, with speculation swirling around her figure.

Politics

1 week ago The push for more AI might leave you in the dark and cold this winter during extreme weather: report

Electricity demand is growing faster than the resources being added to the grid, according to the report

Politics

2 w. ago Bill Maher slams Michelle Obama's 'bad attitude' over claim Americans are too sexist to elect female president

The comedian disagreed with the former first lady, saying America could be ready for a woman in the White House - it just has to be the right one.

Politics

2 w. ago ‘I thought the grownups were back in charge!’: John Crace on how Labour shattered his expectations

After 14 years of Tory rule, the Guardian’s parliamentary sketch writer thought he had seen it all. Westminster would surely tick along nicely once Keir Starmer’s party took over. How wrong he was ...I feel I should probably start with an apology. A few days after the 2024 general election, I wrote that it felt as if the grownups were back in charge. It wasn’t as if I was carried away by the vision of Keir Starmer or the charisma of Rachel Reeves. More that I felt we had regained a basic level of competence. That politics would become business as usual rather than the breathless psychodrama of the past 10 years. You could go to bed at night relatively confident that the country would be more or less recognisable when you woke up. There would be no more mad people doing mad things as we raced through five or six news cycles in the course of a couple of hours.And part of me was a little concerned. Because what is good for economic stability and social justice isn’t necessarily good fo...

Politics

2 w. ago Malia Obama looks chic in denim dungaree dress as she steps out with friend after mom Michelle's on

The 27-year-old daughter of former president Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle was spotted meeting a friend for lunch in Los Angeles on Sunday.

Politics

2 w. ago Michelle Obama claims black women have to straighten their hair to 'follow white people's standards'

The former First Lady, 61, claimed that black women are 'trapped' by the pressures to keep their hair straight and 'can't swim' or 'go to the gym' because of it.

Politics

2 w. ago Michelle Obama says US ‘not ready for a woman’ to be president: ‘Don’t even look at me about running’

Younger men threw their support behind Donald Trump in 2024 after favoring Biden in 2020

Politics

2 w. ago Michelle Obama says Americans have 'a lot of growing up to do' before electing woman president

The former first lady said during her book tour that Americans, particularly men, are not ready for a female president. Her comments come a year after Kamala Harris lost to Donald Trump.

Politics

3 w. ago Starmer was never meant to be Labour’s prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

3 w. ago Starmer’s backers never meant him to be prime minister – his leadership was doomed from the start | Neal Lawson

His alliance with the party’s anti-Corbyn faction was a shotgun marriage that totally lacked vision. Now Labour is paying the priceWes Streeting was always meant to be their Labour prime minister. The plan, hatched by a tiny clique of rightwing faction fighters, was this: find a candidate on whom they could fake a continuation Corbynism project to win the leadership. Then kick the ladder away from the people who backed them and the promises they made. At the next general election, given the scale of the Tory majority after 2019, get Labour back in the ring with more MPs and then hand over to Streeting. The real grownups would then be in charge and the subsequent election would be secured.But no one reckoned with Covid, Tory turmoil and the collapse of the SNP. Suddenly Keir Starmer wasn’t going to just lead Labour to a better defeat and a springboard for victory next time. Against the odds, he was going to win. Just as Jeremy Corbyn was Labour’s accidental leader in 2015, Starmer wa...

Politics

3 w. ago Why Donald Trump’s strategy to defeat his nemesis may be a sinister one

America’s cost-of-living crisis is shaping up to be a serious problem for Donald Trump as the battle for the Mid-term elections begins and concerns grow about the Republicans’ possible tactics

Politics

3 w. ago Michelle Obama reveals her struggles as the first Black First Lady... and challenges Barack 'didn't understand'

Obama, 61, appeared on a new limited series, titled IMO: The Look, where she spoke about her hair journey as a Black woman and how her time in the White House impacted that.

Politics

3 w. ago Michelle Obama's greatest fear is being seen as her true self. Well, let's cut the bottomless victimhood and race

Fresh off her latest complaint that she can't stand the way her husband chews his food, Michelle Obama is back with more!

Politics