3 h. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s asylum plans: ministers cannot out

Shabana Mahmood’s asylum overhaul burdens an overstretched system and hands political advantage to her opponentsIn government, politicians often mistake gestures for progress. It is disappointing to see Shabana Mahmood succumb to that temptation. The home secretary’s flurry of proposals are designed to signal purpose, but constitute a wishlist of demands that her department can’t deliver. Currently, those fleeing persecution are given a five-year right to stay in the country and can apply for settled status after that. Ms Mahmood wants refugees to stay in the country initially only for a 30-month period, and then review their status to see whether they will be allowed to remain in the country for another 30 months. After two decades in Britain, they could apply to stay here permanently.Denmark is held up as the model. A decade ago a centre-left government there was under pressure, with a surging populist right and immigration dominating voters’ concerns. Danish Social Democrats clai...

Politics

3 h. ago The Guardian view on Germany under Merz: Europe’s powerhouse is still struggling | Editorial

Donald Trump’s trade wars and Chinese competition constitute formidable headwinds. But old economic orthodoxies are not the answerLast March, following angst-ridden months as Europe came to terms with Donald Trump’s return to the White House, financial markets in Paris, Milan and Berlin were gripped by a surge of optimism. The cause was a historic deal brokered by Friedrich Merz, then Germany’s chancellor-elect, which loosened constitutional spending constraints in the EU’s powerhouse nation. Here at last, it was hoped, was the fiscal kickstart required to end a prolonged period of economic stagnation, and mitigate geopolitical headwinds blowing from the US and China.Six months into Mr Merz’s premiership, the angst is back and there are the first murmurings of rebellion. The chancellor’s plan included “whatever it takes” levels of defence spending, designed to prepare Germany for a changed era in which the US was no longer a dependable ally, and a huge €500bn investment in infr...

Politics

28 h. ago The Guardian view on a new nuclear age: great powers should not restock a house of dynamite | Editorial

Donald Trump’s remarks on resuming nuclear testing have highlighted the risks. Proliferation must not be considered inevitableWhen Eisaku Satō, a former prime minister of Japan, received the Nobel peace prize in 1974 after committing his country to not making nuclear bombs, owning them or allowing them on its territory, he assured the audience: “I have no doubt that this policy will be pursued by all future governments.”Yet last week, Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s new prime minister, declined to say whether the country that understands the cost of nuclear war better than any other would stand by its commitment – reflecting the bleak broader outlook. Eighty years after the US dropped Little Boy on Hiroshima, incinerating tens of thousands of people, and almost 40 after Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan seriously discussed nuclear abolition in Reykjavik, the spectre looms once more. Last month, Donald Trump ordered the US military to match other countries’ nuclear weapons testing. Continu...

Events

28 h. ago The Guardian view on Europe’s firewall against the far right: in growing need of repair | Editorial

The fragility of France’s cordon sanitaire against Le Pen is part of a worrying wider pattern, as centrist parties seek to revive their fortunesEarlier this autumn, Giorgia Meloni laid out the strategic path to a new era of nationalist populism across Europe. Addressing a gathering of the French far-right party Identité-Libertés, which is led by Marine Le Pen’s niece, Marion Maréchal, Italy’s prime minister underlined the need to work towards “the unity of the right and the centre-right” adding “I hope that one day this can also happen in France  but that will depend on you.”Ms Meloni knows of what she speaks. Her Brothers of Italy party, which has a lineage going back to postwar neofascist movements, became hegemonic under her leadership by mounting a reverse takeover of the Italian right. Less than a decade ago, it scored a marginal 4% in a general election. Currently, it stands at 31% in the polls. Forza Italia, the centre-right party founded by Silvio Berlusc...

Events

4 d. ago The Guardian view on Trump and Epstein: the truth about Maga and its conspiracy theories | Editorial

The disclosure of emails from the paedophile financier has fuelled calls for the full release of FBI files on his caseIt is 20 years since Florida police first investigated the financier Jeffrey Epstein for the sexual abuse of underage girls; six years since he killed himself in prison following his arrest on federal sex-trafficking charges; and more than a year since Donald Trump said that he would have “no problem” with releasing the FBI files on the offender.As the Democratic politician Ro Khanna noted, releasing the files “was core to Trump’s promise It was his central theme that the American corrupt elite had betrayed forgotten Americans”. The question is not only what Epstein’s associates did, but also what they knew and what they did not do. It is not only about their own behaviour, but about any knowledge or suspicion of his crimes, and willingness to overlook them.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a respo...

Politics

4 d. ago The Guardian view on 10 Downing Street: not up to the job | Editorial

The Labour leadership briefing furore highlights failures at the centre of government. Keir Starmer needs to raise his gameSir Keir Starmer went to north Wales on Thursday to announce the building of a new nuclear power station. This is a significant policy event, with local and national implications. However, the prime minister did not spend much time in Wales promoting solutions to UK energy needs. Instead, he spent it trying to draw a line under the Labour leadership briefing row, telling reporters that No 10 had not, in fact, briefed against the health secretary’s ambitions earlier this week.As such, Sir Keir’s day was a microcosm of what his prime ministership has now become more generally. On the one hand, he wants his government to be doing, and to be seen to be doing, important things. On the other hand, he is unable to achieve this because of the way he – and to an extent the country more generally – now does politics and government.Do you have an opinion on the issues...

Politics

5 d. ago Viggosdottir strikes late to cap Bayern comeback as Arsenal slump to WCL loss

Arsenal needed a performance and a result against a European powerhouse, their form in theWomen’s Super League letting them down, but Renée Slegers’s side relinquished their 2-0 advantage and all three points to Bayern Munich far too easily, plunging their Champions League defence into tricky waters.Last season, a battling comeback from 2-1 down to a 3-2 victory over Bayern in their final group game avenged their opening 5-2 loss to the Bavarian side and kickstarted their phenomenal run to the final. It marked a turning point in their season, demonstrating a mental toughness that carried them to a second Champions League title. Their collapse here showed they are yet to recapture the spirit that ensured success in May. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago Arsenal take ‘big hit’ as Viggósdóttir caps WCL comeback for Bayern late on

Arsenal needed a performance and a result against a European powerhouse, their form in the Women’s Super League letting them down, but Renée Slegers’s side collapsed, relinquishing a 2-0 advantage and all three points to Bayern Munich far too easily to plunge their Champions League defence into tricky waters.Slegers called the defeat a “big hit”. “We’re not happy, it’s not good enough, we can’t concede three goals so late in a game against Bayern when we have a 2-0 lead,” she said. Continue reading...

Events

5 d. ago The Guardian view on Labour leadership speculation: a symptom of failure to define a governing purpose | Editorial

Downing Street briefings to flush out potential rivals have needlessly damaged the prime minister and raised the stakes around the budgetIt is extraordinary that Labour MPs are contemplating replacing their leader within 18 months of winning a landslide general election victory, a moment supposed to inaugurate years of stability and renewal. It is downright bizarre that the origin of a sudden surge in speculation about Sir Keir Starmer’s future is briefings by loyalists based in Downing Street.The prime minister’s allies must have imagined they were serving his interests by flushing potential rivals – Wes Streeting, the health secretary, being the most prominent – out of the shadows. Forcing someone’s hand before it is ready to strike is a familiar move in the playbook of factional politics.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please cli...

Politics

5 d. ago The Guardian view on special Trump treatment for Hungary: roll on the next election | Editorial

As polls suggest that Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian rule is under threat, Brussels can only wait and hopeDuring the US presidential election campaign of 2016, Viktor Orbán was the only European Union leader to back Donald Trump. Which was hardly surprising. Whether in relation to the the normalisation of great replacement theory, or the bullying and harassment of the media, Mr Orbán more or less wrote the playbook for the Maga movement. The former White House strategist Steve Bannon has eulogised Hungary’s prime minister as the “Trump before Trump”.Last week, ahead of crucial Hungarian elections in less than six months’ time, the US president returned some political favours. As Mr Orbán seeks a fifth consecutive term presiding over a nation which he boasts of having turned into an illiberal democracy, his Fidesz party trails in the polls. As well as a few signed Maga baseball caps, an Orbán visit to Washington yielded considerably more valuable pre-election gifts. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago Haftbefehl shows that Germany loves art born from alienation – just not the people who create it

A hit Netflix documentary about Germany’s favourite rapper demonstrates how popular the aesthetics of migrant life are – just as politicians debate how to remove it from inner citiesIf you want to understand the state of Germany in these last weeks of 2025, grasping the meaning of two entries in the German dictionary are essential: stadtbild and haftbefehl.The first term technically means “cityscape”. But since chancellor Friedrich Merz gave a speech in the state of Brandenburg on 14 October, it has taken on a new political meaning. “We have come far with migration,” he said, “but of course we still have this problem in our stadtbild.” Continue reading...

Politics

6 d. ago This BBC crisis is about more than one stupid error – to be saved, it must be reformed

Editorial: The state broadcaster has been struggling for years with its coverage of the most sensitive subjects, and bold changes must be made if it is to be rescued from its own worst instincts

Events

6 d. ago The Guardian view on Fifa’s new ‘peace prize’: Gianni Infantino should concentrate on the day job | Editorial

The president of world football’s governing body should abandon geopolitical networking and address criticisms over World Cup ticketing To general bemusement, Gianni Infantino, the president of world football’s governing body, Fifa, was pictured congratulating Donald Trump last month at the Gaza peace summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, having been personally invited by the US president. Mr Infantino did not hold back in lauding the president’s peace-making prowess, commenting: “Now we can really write some new pages. Pages of togetherness, of peace, in a region which really, really needs it.”News that Fifa is to launch its own annual peace prize, with the inaugural award to take place in Washington next month, would therefore seem to point to only one outcome. To use a metaphor from another sport, it surely looks like a slam dunk for the man Fifa’s president describes as a “winner” and “close friend”. As Mr Infantino told an American business forum on the day he announce...

Politics

7 d. ago The Guardian view on the BBC under siege: Britain must defend its own truth | Editorial

With Donald Trump circling and Labour ministers wavering, defending the corporation’s independence is now a test of national willThe chair of the BBC, Samir Shah, struck a defensive tone in his interview to explain the mess the broadcaster has found itself in. The impression was of an organisation under siege rather than one confidently self-correcting. Mr Shah will be busy. He must find a new director general after Tim Davie resigned. Gone too is the CEO of news, Deborah Turness. Both resigned after an exhausting rightwing campaign which cried bias at every turn and was energised by an absurd transatlantic attempt to paint the BBC as part of a global liberal conspiracy.A giant like the BBC will make mistakes. The failure is not owning them fast enough and moving on. The corporation remains one of Britain’s few genuinely national institutions – and ministers say it is a “light on the hill” for people here and abroad. The BBC is the most trusted source of news in ...

Politics

8 d. ago The Guardian view on the assault of Mexico’s Claudia Sheinbaum: when a president is groped, no woman can feel safe | Editorial

A shocking incident should become an opportunity to address broader problems of misogyny What does the experience of women at the top tell us about the rest? Those most vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault and abuse are, unsurprisingly, those who have less power or are treated with less respect: undocumented migrants; women in precarious employment; women with disabilities; LGBTQ women; young women and girls.Paradoxically, that helps to explain why the assault of Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, has drawn such outrage domestically and internationally. A drunken man tried to kiss her neck and grabbed her chest as she spoke to citizens in the capital’s streets. It is the proof, captured on camera, that no woman is safe. You can be the most powerful person in the land and a man will still feel entitled to grope you, in front of the world, because you are a woman. When you object, some will complain that you are taking it too seriously, or that it is all made up. As Ms Sheinba...

Politics

8 d. ago The Guardian view on Scottish land reform: vast estates remain feudal in scale | Editorial

Half of the country’s privately owned countryside is held by just 421 owners. New legislation suggests democrats still fear powerful interestsNo other European country has such a narrow base of proprietorship as Scotland. Half of all privately owned rural land is held by 421 people or entities. The roots of such disparities lie in the past. The 18th- and 19th-century Highland clearances emptied the glens and readied them for private takeover. On the continent, and eventually in England, the great estates were broken up by inheritance and land taxes. By comparison, Scotland is still feudal in scale.The passing of a land reform bill, its supporters say, will change that. But doubts remain. Its proponents say the legislation could allow the Scottish government to intervene in private land sales and require large estates to be broken up. At its heart is the so-called transfer test. This would see Scottish ministers notified before any land sale over 1,000 hectares. However, they lack an...

Politics

1 week ago The Guardian view on worsening extreme weather: the injustice of the climate crisis grows ever clearer | Editorial

The increasing ferocity and frequency of tropical storms imposes an unbearable burden on countries including JamaicaThe geographically uneven risks from increasingly extreme and dangerous weather grow ever starker. As Jamaica and other Caribbean countries clear up after Hurricane Melissa, and Typhoon Kalmaegi heads west after killing nearly 200 people in the Philippines and Vietnam, the case for more international support to countries facing the most destructive impacts from global heating has never been stronger.Last week’s five-day rainfall in Jamaica was made twice as likely by higher temperatures, according to initial findings from climate attribution studies. The current death toll across the Caribbean is at least 75. The economic and social costs are hard to quantify in a region that is still recovering from 2024’s Hurricane Beryl. Crucial infrastructure has been destroyed before the loans used to build it have even been paid off. Andrew Holness, Jamaica’s prime minister, esti...

Society

1 week ago The Guardian’s view on Gaza’s future: the ceasefire brought relief, but the world must not look away now | Editorial

Palestinians are being born amid the rubble. They need not only immediate relief but long-term justiceWhat future is there for Palestinians in Gaza? The announcement of the ceasefire brought profound relief, shaded by an equally deep sense of trepidation. Almost a month later, the picture looks bleaker. The Israeli offensive abated, Hamas has returned the surviving hostages and the remains of some of those who have died, and Israel has released some Palestinian detainees and the remains of others.But more than 200 Palestinians, including children, have reportedly died in strikes that Israel says are in response to Hamas attacks. Thousands of bodies are still believed to be trapped beneath the ruins ­– debris which, it is estimated, would take a fleet of more than a hundred lorries seven years to shift. Aid is flowing again, but remains wholly inadequate, with NGOs warning that Israel’s new registration system is obstructing delivery. Israeli demolitions continue in the half of Gaza ...

Events

1 week ago The Guardian view on Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York: the Democrats can build on an uplifting night | Editorial

A historic campaign that focused on the theme of affordability can offer wider lessons to a re-energised oppositionSince the re-election of Donald Trump last November, a demoralised Democratic party has struggled to reverse a palpable sense of downward momentum. At a grassroots level, amid plunging poll ratings, there has been a yearning for renewal and a more punchy, combative approach in opposition. Against that bleak backdrop, the remarkable election of Zohran Mamdani to the New York City mayoralty is a moment for progressives to savour.Mr Mamdani entered the mayoral race last October as a socialist outsider with almost zero name recognition. He won it with more than 50% of the vote after the highest turnout in more than half a century, and despite the best efforts of billionaires to bankroll his chief rival, the former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, to victory. That achievement makes him the youngest mayor of the US’s largest city for more than 100 years and the first Musl...

Politics

1 week ago The Guardian view on the Francis curriculum review: raising the right questions in a world with few certain answers | Editorial

In an age of increasingly capable machines, it makes sense for schools to value creativity and life skills as part of a well-rounded educationSocieties evolve and schools are under pressure to adapt, but some features of education policy are perennial. For example, modernisation will always be denounced as a dilution of standards. Inevitably, Conservatives have leapt on recommendations by an independent review, commissioned by the government, as proof that Bridget Phillipson, the education secretary, is “dumbing down” the curriculum.The basis of these charges is that the review, led by Becky Francis, professor of education at University College London, proposes reducing the burden of GCSE exams and scrapping the English baccalaureate – a cluster of subjects that, when taken together, constitute a metric of success recognised in school league tables. Conservatives are also unhappy about the notion that primary schoolchildren should learn about the climate crisis and be encouraged to ...

Politics