40 h. ago Voices: This is the last chance for Labour and the Tories to stay relevant

Editorial: The British public has voted for change three times and been disappointed. If Starmer’s government doesn’t turn things around and if the Conservatives don’t regain some ground, Nigel Farage will be the beneficiary

Politics

40 h. ago This is the last chance for Labour and the Tories to stay relevant

Editorial: The British public has voted for change three times and been disappointed. If Starmer’s government doesn’t turn things around and if the Conservatives don’t regain some ground, Nigel Farage will be the beneficiary

Politics

58 h. ago MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: If ever we needed an effective opposition to rout Labour, it's now

Is there no limit to the price Britain must pay for having given Keir Starmer's Labour Party a chance a year ago?

Politics

61 h. ago As Sir Rod Stewart prepares to play Glasto, the veteran rocker says the country is 'fed up' with Labour and the Tories and should 'give Nigel Farage a chance'

When Sir Rod Stewart steps on to Glastonbury's Pyramid Stage tomorrow afternoon, fans may ponder his plea to 'give Farage a chance'.

Events

4 d. ago Another tragic fact about this disastrous welfare bill: it proves Labour hasn’t learned and doesn’t listen | Polly Toynbee

From cabinet members to the British public, there is an outcry about these benefits cuts. Why is the government always so poor at reading the room?This disaster bill won’t pass on Tuesday. The dangerous obduracy of the prime minister and chancellor confirms precisely what Labour MPs say: they haven’t listened, they aren’t listening and the fear is they won’t learn to listen. Even if the bill squeezed through with some softening, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Why take such a risk for so little? U-turns are better than crashes, but best not left to the last nanosecond.Senior ministers, some of whom have already spoken up in cabinet, will put their feet down firmly to insist on radical alteration, or better still that it’s withdrawn and rethought to avoid what they call “this catastrophe”. If niceties of parliamentary practice escape some, understand how extraordinary this rebellion is. Read their “reasoned amendment” with its crushing reasons why.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist ...

Events

4 d. ago Another tragic fact about this disastrous welfare bill: it proves Labour hasn’t learned and doesn’t truly listen | Polly Toynbee

From cabinet members to the British public, there is an outcry about these benefits cuts. Why is the government always so poor at reading the room?This disaster bill won’t pass on Tuesday. The dangerous obduracy of the prime minister and chancellor confirms precisely what Labour MPs say: they haven’t listened, they aren’t listening and the fear is they won’t learn to listen. Even if the bill squeezed through with some softening, it will be a pyrrhic victory. Why take such a risk for so little? U-turns are better than crashes, but best not left to the last nanosecond.Senior ministers, some of whom have already spoken up in cabinet, will put their feet down firmly to insist on radical alteration, or better still that it’s withdrawn and rethought to avoid what they call “this catastrophe”. If niceties of parliamentary practice escape some, understand how extraordinary this rebellion is. Read their “reasoned amendment” with its crushing reasons why.Polly Toynbee is a Guardian columnist ...

Events

5 d. ago Keir Starmer defends Labour's tax hikes and employment rights red tape as business chiefs warn burden must NOT be increased again

Keir Starmer admitted the government had 'asked a lot' of firms as he addressed the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London .

Events

1 week 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

1 week 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 Now it's Labour's turn to face the music when global events turn sour: ALEX BRUMMER

Yesterday's claim by Chancellor Rachel Reeves that Labour's number one mission is to 'put more money in the pockets of working people' does not stand up to scrutiny.

Politics

1 week ago Rachel Reeves's policies will see UK economy 'muddle through' for next two years, CBI warns

It marks the latest downbeat verdict on Ms Reeves's performance as Chancellor - and undermines Keir Starmer's claim that Labour has 'fixed the foundations of the economy'.

Events

1 week ago Rachel Reeves's policies will see UK economy just 'muddle through' for the next two years, industry group warns

It marks the latest downbeat verdict on Ms Reeves's performance as Chancellor - and undermines Keir Starmer's claim that Labour has 'fixed the foundations of the economy'.

Events

2 w. ago MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: Equality laws? More like a licence to bash the middle classes

It is still less than a year since millions of voters decided that they would give Labour a chance. Many voted for Sir Keir Starmer's (pictured) party.

Politics

2 w. ago Voices: Rachel Reeves has bet all our money on Wes Streeting saving the NHS

With the cost of living and immigration being too severely impacted by outside factors, backing the NHS was the right choice – and delivering results on health is Labour’s best chance of winning the next election, writes John Rentoul

Economics

2 w. ago Reeves slaps down Sadiq Khan for saying Met Police will have to impose cuts after spending review

London mayor Sir Sadiq warns the capital will have fewer officers in a rare ‘red on red’ clash with the Labour chancellor

Events

2 w. ago Reeves pours cold water on Nato demands for more defence spending making clear it WON'T go over 2.5% of GDP before 2029 and hinting 3% will be the limit in the next Parliament

Chancellor Rachel Reeves stressed that Labour had only committed to hitting 2.5 per cent of GDP in the current Parliament.

Politics

2 w. ago Rachel Reeves seized her moment – whatever the future brings, Labour’s economic course is now set | Martin Kettle

The chancellor is no mere technocrat: her spending review revealed a visceral commitment to social and economic mobilityThe consensus has long been that the 2025 spending review would be a defining moment for Keir Starmer’s government. For once, the consensus proved spot-on. The government’s main priorities were set out on Wednesday in a blizzard of Commons announcements from Rachel Reeves, some economically substantive, others more for show. The upshot is that the shape of the British state, as Labour intends it, is now decided until the eve of the next election.There are further crossroads still to come, some of them major, as the years covered by the review unroll. Taxes are likely to rise, probably as soon as the autumn budget, to pay for Reeves’s big ticket boosts on Wednesday for defence, health and housing. Council tax could rise too, with possibly dramatic results. The review’s emphasis on capital spending means current spending could be squeezed again, perhaps heralding pay...

Economics

2 w. ago A reckless splurge we (and our children) will be paying off for years: Voters brace for tax hikes as Rachel Reeves embarks on unprecedented spending spree

In a return to Labour's tax-and-spend approach, the Chancellor set out plans to 'invest' a staggering £4 trillion to fund 'the renewal of Britain'.

Economics

2 w. ago Reeves ‘failed’ to back English councils in spending review, MPs warn

Woking MP Will Forster called on the Chancellor to ‘justify’ a ‘lack of investment’ into local government.

Events

2 w. ago The Guardian view on Labour’s spending review: the chancellor tightened belts and loosened seams | Editorial

The government offers capital investment and fiscal prudence but real-terms department cuts and grand promises could strain political credibilityBrexit’s ghost haunts a Labour spending review intended to lay the foundations for a second term. Its headlines echo the twin themes of the referendum campaign: control immigration, fund the NHS. The chancellor, Rachel Reeves, said she would end the use of hotels for asylum seekers “in this parliament” saving £1bn a year, while NHS spending will rise by 3% a year. Ms Reeves framed it as a politics of security and compassion. Yet it reads as Brexit’s populist promises, filtered through Westminster orthodoxy.The risk is that this is all slogan and very little solution. The asylum savings are speculative, and the annual increase in NHS budgets is below its historical average. There are also real-terms cuts or essentially flat budgets for key departments such as transport, education and local government. The Home Office faces cuts deeper than a...

Politics