6 h. ago ‘Reform all the way’: on the road in Doncaster – Politics Weekly UK

Before this week’s local elections, John Harris is on the road in Doncaster – which could prove to be a canary in the coalmine for the government. Labour has been in power here for decades but this time Nigel Farage’s Reform UK fancies its chances. So why are people turning away from Labour? Why are they so disillusioned with politics in general? And what would a Reform-run city actually be like?Please support The Guardian at http://theguardian.com/politicspod The full list of candidates for Doncaster mayor are:David Bettney, Social Democratic party Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Jeremy Vine looks back: ‘What will I do after Radio 2? I don’t know. Die?’

The broadcaster on radioactive tomatoes, his suburban upbringing and still being a showoffBorn in 1965 in Epsom, Surrey, Jeremy Vine is a journalist and broadcaster. Vine’s media career began at the Coventry Evening Telegraph before he landed a job at the BBC in 1987, where he has worked in a number of roles including as a political reporter, Africa correspondent and Newsnight presenter. As well as his weekday programme on BBC Radio 2, he presents a self-titled weekday morning show on Channel 5. His new novel, Murder on Line One, is out now.My dear old mum would have pulled this costume together. If you dress a boy as a soldier, he will almost certainly crawl around the floor like a sniper, which I did. Shortly after this was taken, I decided to launch a large log over my shoulder as if it were a bazooka. The back of it hit my head on the way past. I did myself a bit of mischief that day. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Vicious interpersonal conflicts among Hegseth staff cloud leak investigation

Senior officials unsure who to believe after aides fired and chief of staff quits amid look into Panama canal media leakDefense secretary Pete Hegseth’s orbit has become consumed by a contentious leak investigation that those inside the Pentagon believe is behind the firing of three senior aides last week, according to five people involved in the situation.The secretary’s office has been marked for weeks by ugly internal politics between chief of staff Joe Kasper, who left the department on Thursday, and the three ousted aides, including senior adviser Dan Caldwell, deputy chief Darin Selnick and chief to the deputy defense secretary Colin Carroll. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Ukraine has exposed Trump’s true identity: as a vandal, an autocrat, a gangster and a fool | Jonathan Freedland

This presidency places authoritarian ambition above all – and now the people of Ukraine are paying the priceTo see the true face of Donald Trump, look no further than Ukraine. Laid bare in his handling of that issue are not only his myriad weaknesses, but also the danger he poses to his own country and the wider world – to say nothing of the battered people of Ukraine itself.Don’t be fooled by the mild, vaguely theatrical rebuke Trump issued to Vladimir Putin on Thursday after Moscow unleashed a deadly wave of drone strikes on Kyiv, killing 12 and injuring dozens: “Vladimir, STOP!” Pay attention instead to the fact that, in the nearly 100 days since Trump took office, the US has essentially switched sides in the battle between Putin’s Russia and democratic Ukraine, backing the invaders against the invaded.Jonathan Freedland is a Guardian columnist and the host of the Politics Weekly America podcast100 days of Trump’s presidency, with Jonathan Freedland and guests. On 30 April, join ...

Politics

6 d. ago Will rising child poverty be Labour’s legacy? – Politics Weekly UK

The government began to roll out its free breakfast club scheme this week as part of plans to help struggling families. But with predictions that child poverty could increase by the end of this parliament, how serious is Labour about tackling the problem? John Harris hears from a headteacher, and speaks to our political editor, Pippa Crerar Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago Jordan shuts local branch of Muslim Brotherhood after arrests

Ban comes week after 16 members were arrested, accused of threatening national securityJordan has said it is shutting down the local branch of the Muslim Brotherhood and banning membership of the Islamist political group.The ban came a week after Jordan said it had arrested 16 members of the Muslim Brotherhood accused of threatening national security by training militants, making explosives and plotting to strike targets in Jordan with rockets and drones. Continue reading...

Events

7 d. ago The left is rising, and the far right is reeling. Will I finally see the Finland I dreamed of? | Mike Watson

My adopted home has been a dark place of late. But in last week’s local elections, voters turned against cruel politics – and raised hopes of a more progressive futureThe Finns say “spring comes in swinging” – when winter gives way to spring, and green shoots meet the final flurries of snow, often well into April. In Finnish politics, too, some hope is beginning to emerge after a long, dark winter.In municipal, regional and mayoral elections held across the country last week, rightwing populist parties were roundly defeated, while parties on the left gained ground. In particular, the far-right Finns party saw its vote share collapse, from 20% in the general election of 2023 to as low as 7.6% now. This leaves the coalition government of which it forms a part severely weakened and the centre-left Social Democratic party (SDP) with the biggest vote share nationwide (23%). When the Finns party leader, Riikka Purra, admitted defeat on results night, she complained that a punainen aalto, ...

Politics

1 week ago Huge schools change this week to save parents £450 is 'something the Tories would never do'

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told the Mirror the Tories' only idea is giving private schools their tax breaks back - on the eve of free breakfast clubs opening at schools across England

Economics

1 week ago Unite blasts MPs and MSPs for 'political point scoring' over Grangemouth since Scunthorpe takeover

Unite said in a letter to MSPs that it has seen "a truly appalling show of political self interest" over the past couple of weeks.

Politics

2 w. ago Having as many babies as possible is not the only way to show you love humanity | Zoe Williams

Elon Musk is obsessed with falling birth rates, as is the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán. Why would leftwingers want to buy into their ‘pronatalist’ agenda?‘Perpetuating humanity should be a cross-politics consensus,” read an article in the Atlantic last week, “but the left was mostly absent at a recent pronatalism conference.” It’s such a simple proposition – everyone loves babies and wants the species to perpetuate, right? – but pronatalism has provoked a ferocious battle on the American left. Should they be trying to engage meaningfully at a preposterous far-right conference? Or should the left stop self-flagellating and start organising?But what is pronatalism – and is it really borderline fascist? I don’t want to think about slippery, bad-faith, rightwing claptrap any more than you do, but in an era in which US politics can sneeze and the world catches encephalitis, we do, regrettably, have to think about bad-faith everything, all the time. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Liberal staffers plant ‘stop the steal’ pins at Canadian conservative conference

Operatives placed buttons at CSFN trying to link Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre with Donald TrumpCampaigners with Canada’s Liberal party had some very American-esque politicking over the weekend, when Liberal operatives were found to have planted “stop the steal” buttons at a conservative conference to link the Conservative party to Donald Trump.Two Liberal party staffers infiltrated last week’s Canada Strong and Free Network Conference (CSFN) in Ottawa at which they strategically placed provocative buttons designed to create the false impression that Conservative supporters of party leader Pierre Poilievre were embracing Trump-style rhetoric, highlighting internal party divisions. Continue reading...

Economics

2 w. ago What does China really think about Trump? They know about humiliation and won’t take it from him

Economically, the trade war may be bad news for Xi Jingping, but ideologically and politically it is a giftLast week, Mao Ning, head of China’s foreign ministry information department, posted a blurry black-and-white clip of a moment in history. In 1953, Chairman Mao made a defiant speech of resistance to what he called US aggression in Korea.Kim Il-sung, the North Korean leader and founder of the Kim dynasty, now in its third generation, had invaded US-backed South Korea. When Kim’s attempt to unite Korea by force appeared to be failing, China threw nearly 3 million “volunteers” into the war and succeeded in fighting to the stalemate that has prevailed ever since. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Bernie Sanders rally in LA draws thousands to protest Trump: ‘We can’t just let this happen’

US Vermont senator’s tour with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortes has been drawing record-breaking crowds since FebruaryThe Vermont senator Bernie Sanders drew a record-breaking crowd at his rally in Los Angeles on Saturday, which included musical acts from Joan Baez and Neil Young, who encouraged the crowd to “take America back”.Sanders’s Fighting Oligarchy: Where We Go from Here tour has been drawing massive crowds. Aided by the progressive New York representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the team set the record in Tempe, Arizona, for biggest-ever political rally in that state three weeks ago. In Denver, Colorado, more than 34,000 people showed up – a career-high crowd for the 83-year-old Sanders. Saturday in Los Angeles saw another record: at least 36,000 people packed a downtown park. Continue reading...

Politics

3 w. ago Stephen A. Smith now says he’s ‘serious’ and ‘leaving all doors open’ on presidential run

‘Time to stop messing around. Life is great. Especially at ESPN/Disney. Hate the thought of being a politician. But sick of this mess,’ Stephen A. Smith tweeted this week

Politics

3 w. ago 'Musk is a bully who uses his wealth as a weapon to enforce an authoritarian agenda'

Elon Musk is set to step away from his political role in the coming weeks, White House insiders have told as his company, Tesla, faces plummeting sales and tanking share prices

Events

3 w. ago ‘More will come to us now’: what does Le Pen verdict mean for far

Despite mixed views across France over RN leader since conviction, people are still joining her party in supportNear a roast chicken stand at a rural market, Jocelyn Dessigny was giving out leaflets bearing a photograph of the French far-right leader Marine Le Pen and the words “Save democracy!”“It is a political attack,” he said of Le Pen’s criminal conviction this week. Continue reading...

Politics