6 h. ago Badenoch urges Prime Minister to visit fishermen affected by EU trade deal

The Conservative leader visited Bridlington in East Yorkshire on Friday and met fishermen from the town.

Politics

7 h. ago The Guardian view on billionaire Britain: tax wealth fairly or face democratic unravelling | Editorial

Without bold reform which makes the rich pull their weight, rising inequality risks eroding public trust and fracturing social stabilityBritain for the last decade has experienced a bleak paradox: rising child poverty alongside a dramatic increase in billionaire wealth. This inequality has been tolerated partly because greed has been rehabilitated as virtue. The Billionaire Britain report, published this week by the Equality Trust, reveals what many instinctively feel but few in parliament will admit: the UK economy has become a machine for the upward redistribution of wealth.Using Sunday Times Rich List data, the report found that the 50 wealthiest UK families now own more than the poorest half of the population combined. Their opulence is no accident. It’s largely built on the labour and consumption of those 34 million other Britons. The gains of society are being hoarded by those least in need. There’s a lexicon that sells it all as “entrepreneurial spirit” and bus...

Economics

7 h. ago The Guardian view on the BBC World Service: a boon to the UK, as well as audiences elsewhere | Editorial

Britain would benefit from pledging more sustained and committed support in this age of disinformation and global turmoilTwo years ago, BBC Arabic radio left the airwaves after decades. Soon afterwards, Russia’s Sputnik service began broadcasting on the frequency left vacant in Lebanon. That detail illuminates a larger picture. China, Russia and others see global-facing media as central to their global ambitions and are investing accordingly – pumping out propaganda to muddle or drown out objective, independently minded journalism. These outlets are state-controlled as well as state-owned.Meanwhile, conspiracy theories and disinformation proliferate online, attacks on press freedom intensify and the Trump administration is dismantling media organisations including Voice of America and Radio Free Asia (RFA), which have been essential sources of information for audiences under repressive regimes. Official Chinese media were gleeful at what RFA’s president, Bay Fang, cal...

Events

10 h. ago Ukraine’s Zelenskyy confirms major prisoner swap with Russia – Europe live

The first stage of a major prison swap between Ukraine and Russia has taken place in Turkey, with 390 people released todayFor more coverage of Trump’s tariffs threats – which also include a warning that Apple must pay a 25% tariff unless it manufactures its iPhones in the US – follow our business live blog here:US president Donald Trump has just called the EU “very difficult to deal with,” lamenting the bloc’s “powerful Trade Barriers, Monetary Manipulations, unfair and unjustified lawsuits against American Companies, and more” (original capitalisation!).“Our discussions with them are going nowhere! Therefore, I am recommending a straight 50% Tariff on the European Union, starting on June 1, 2025. Continue reading...

Events

10 h. ago In Ukraine, I saw Trump’s ‘peace deal’ wouldn’t just trade away land – but lives, memories and homes | Timothy Garton Ash

Ukrainians I met in Kyiv and Lviv were grimly realistic about the end of the war. We should follow their exampleThe next time a breathless news anchor talks about the prospect of a war-ending “deal”, with Ukraine “ceding land for peace”, I want to sit them down with Adeline. In Lviv last week, Adeline showed me on her phone map her lost home in Russian-occupied Nova Kakhovka, just across the Dnipro River from the Ukrainian-liberated territory around Kherson. Look, she said, with tears welling up in her eyes, here on this satellite snapshot you can see the ecological disaster that followed Russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam in 2023. And here’s the place where she dreamed of setting up a small art gallery. “Why should I give up on my home?” she cried. Why indeed.The territory occupied by Russia is the size of Portugal and Slovenia combined. It’s difficult to get accurate figures, but perhaps some 5 million people live there, while at least another 2 million refugees from those t...

Politics

11 h. ago UK should get rid of ‘unsightly windmills’ and drill for North Sea oil – Trump

The US President was writing about the effects of the trade deal with the UK on his social media platform.

Politics

15 h. ago Starmer and Swinney meet with both still working out the relationship 'reset'

The Council of Nations and Regions will meet in London on Friday

Politics

29 h. ago Violent Israeli settlers under UK sanctions join illegal West Bank outpost

Exclusive: Neria Ben Pazi and Zohar Sabah witnessed visiting base set up to drive Palestinians from homes• Middle East crisis live – latest updatesTwo violent Israeli settlers on whom sanctions were imposed by the UK government this week have joined a campaign to drive Palestinians from their homes in the West Bank village of Mughayyir al-Deir.Neria Ben Pazi’s organisation, Neria’s Farm, had sanctions imposed by London on Tuesday, as the UK suspended negotiations on a new free-trade deal with Israel over its refusal to allow aid into Gaza and cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians. Continue reading...

Politics

31 h. ago The Guardian view on the US and South Africa: Trump looks to his base and partners look elsewhere | Editorial

The president’s cynical ambush of Cyril Ramaphosa was not about American interests but racial grievancesThe most telling moment of Donald Trump’s meeting with Cyril Ramaphosa was not the cynical screening of footage promoting false claims of “white genocide” in South Africa. It was when a reporter asked the US president what he wanted his counterpart to do about it. Mr Trump replied: “I don’t know.”Leaders enter the Oval Office uneasily, especially since the kicking administered to Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The South African president came armed with gratitude, two golf stars, a billionaire and compliments on the decor – and kept a cool head and a straight face as he was ambushed. Mr Ramaphosa later described it as “robust engagement”. But, in truth, it was a clash of two worlds rather than an interaction.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, ...

Politics

55 h. ago The Guardian view on Russia sanctions: a brittle economy is Putin’s weakness | Editorial

Ukraine’s allies must dial up sanctions to expose the fragility of the Kremlin’s strategy for perpetual warDonald Trump’s pledge to end the war in Ukraine on the first day of his second term as US president was a sign of his unsuitability as a peace broker. A clearer sign was his apparent sympathy with Vladimir Putin. Mr Trump’s tone regarding the Russian president has cooled somewhat on the discovery that the conflict cannot be frozen by White House diktat. There are hints of recognition that the peace process is failing because the Kremlin is cynically playing for time. Sadly, any such insight hasn’t evolved into outrage at the criminal aggression that started the war in the first place.Accounts of a telephone call between the two leaders earlier this week indicate no increase in American pressure on Russia. Mr Trump’s impatience with the whole issue seems likelier to result in him walking away. Mr Putin relishes that prospect.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in this ar...

Politics

55 h. ago The Guardian view on social cohesion: too many of us are still ‘bowling alone’ | Editorial

Three decades on from Robert Putnam’s account of fraying social ties in the US, new research in Britain identifies similar dangersThirty years after writing Bowling Alone, the famous essay in which he diagnosed a dangerous crisis of social cohesion in the United States, Robert Putnam has a right to feel vindicated. In a lecture this spring, Prof Putnam, now 84, warned his audience that, amid levels of polarisation and distrust higher than at any time since the civil war, the US was “in danger of going to hell in a handcart”.Britain is still, thankfully, a long way from the poisonous toxicity of Trump-era America, notwithstanding the ominous rise of Reform and Nigel Farage. But research published this week by the More in Common polling group paints a worrying portrait of communities in which there is a widespread sense of social disconnection, high levels of distrust among the young and a felt loss of shared spaces and rituals.Do you have an opinion on the issues raised in ...

Politics

62 h. ago UK politics live: Rayner ‘urged Reeves’ to raise taxes on wealthy pensioners in secret memo

The chancellor has been adamant she will not turn to tax rises to fund the government’s policies

Economics

64 h. ago UK politics live: Reeves defends ‘necessary’ winter fuel payment cuts amid speculation over U

Senior government figures are in talks about whether to U-turn on the chancellor’s winter fuel cuts within weeks

Politics

3 d. ago UK politics live: Starmer vows EU deal will end ‘huge’ passport queues and Farage misses Brexit reset debate

Sir Keir Starmer pledged that his trade deal with the EU would ‘cut the price of the weekly shop’ and provide stability for the fishing industry

Politics

3 d. ago UK suspends trade talks with Israel and attacks ‘repellent’ extremism

Foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemns blocking of aid trucks and calls by Israeli ministers to ‘purify Gaza’Middle East crisis – live updatesUK-Israeli relations have plunged to their worst state for decades after the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, suspended negotiations over a new free trade deal, saying Israel’s cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians were repellent, monstrous and extremist.He also said wider talks about a future bilateral strategic roadmap with Israel were being reviewed. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on the calls to save Gaza: Palestinians need deeds, not words | Editorial

Israel faces growing international condemnation. But more is required to restore aid and bring a ceasefireThe UN humanitarian chief Tom Fletcher fears that thousands of babies are at imminent risk of death in Gaza unless aid reaches them. Benjamin Netanyahu fears that foreign politicians could see too many pictures of Palestinian children like these.Two months after all supplies were cut off, the Israeli government denies the obvious truth: that Gaza is on the brink of famine. But on Monday night the prime minister announced that “minimal” aid deliveries would restart, saying his country’s “greatest friends in the world” had told him that they could not “accept images of mass hunger”. His entirely cynical response saw a handful of trucks permitted to cross; reportedly, 100 a day will now be allowed – grotesquely inadequate given the vast scale of need. Reaching the most vulnerable will be perilous and difficult anyway amid Israel’s intensified offensive. Mr Netanyahu vowed that Isra...

Politics

3 d. ago The Guardian view on protecting the Amazon: forest defenders must have support | Editorial

Dom Phillips’ posthumously published book is an urgent reminder of why this unique landscape matters so muchIt doesn’t start for six months, but the build-up to the UN’s annual climate conference is already well under way in Brazil. Hosting the tens of thousands of delegates who make the trip is a big undertaking for any city. But the decision to host Cop30 in Belém, at the mouth of the Amazon river, has multiplied the complications.After three consecutive Cops in autocratic nations, the stated aim of Cop30’s chair, André Aranha Corrêa do Lago, is to make this year’s event a showcase for civil society, including the Indigenous groups and forest defenders who play such a vital role in conservation. But the lack of affordable accommodation and other infrastructure, as well as the distance that must be travelled to reach the Amazon port, mean this commendable ideal will be hard to realise. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago UK suspends trade talks with Israel and attacks ‘repellant’ extremism

Foreign secretary, David Lammy, condemns blocking of aid trucks and calls by Israeli ministers to ‘purify Gaza’Middle East crisis – live updatesUK-Israeli relations have plunged to their worst state for decades after the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, suspended negotiations over a new free trade deal, saying Israel’s cabinet ministers’ calls to “purify Gaza” by expelling Palestinians were repellant, monstrous and extremist.He also said wider talks about a future bilateral strategic roadmap with Israel were also being reviewed. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago UK politics live: Starmer vows EU deal will end ‘huge’ passport queues in defence of ‘win

Sir Keir Starmer pledged that his trade deal with the EU would ‘cut the price of the weekly shop’ and provide stability for the fishing industry

Politics

3 d. ago Wrong to call EU UK 'Brexit reset' trade deal a 'surrender', SNP's Stephen Flynn says

The Prime Minister updated MPs on the details of the EU UK ‘reset’ deal on Tuesday

Economics