Category Archives: Politics

Trump tariffs cause fastest slump in British factory export orders in five years

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Decline in output and new orders in April allied with rising uncertainty is prompting layoffs, survey finds

Britain’s factories suffered a slump in export orders last month as Donald Trump’s globally unsettling tariff regime sent overseas demand for UK goods tumbling at the fastest pace in five years.

Manufacturers reported rising economic and trade uncertainties in April as some tariffs took effect and other threatened border taxes loomed, forcing them to lay off workers for a sixth consecutive month.

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Local elections: voters head to the polls across England – UK politics live

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Labour face first electoral test since general election with more than 1,600 council seats up for grabs

One of the signs that Bluesky is functioning as a decent alternative to Elon Musk’s X is the fact that it has become a decent source for #dogsatpollingstations. Here are some of the nicer pictures I have seen there this morning.

The Metropolitan police has confirmed that counter-terrorism police are investigating footage that appears to show Irish language rap band Kneecap calling for politicians to be killed, and shouting “up Hamas, up Hezbollah”.

On April 22, we were made aware of an online video believed to be from a music event in London in November 2024. Following this, we were made aware of a further video, believed to be from another music event in London in November 2023.

Both videos were referred to the Counter Terrorism Internet Referral Unit for assessment by specialist officers, who have determined there are grounds for further investigation into potential offences linked to both videos.

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Starmer and Blair poles apart, an open goal at PMQs. Did KemiKaze score? | John Crace

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Of course she didn’t. Gifted on climate policy, she used all six of her questions to call for another child abuse inquiry

On days like these, Keir Starmer might come to believe there is a God after all. Fair to say the prime minister has been under the cosh recently. His popularity ratings tanking as people continue to feel fed up that nothing still appears to be working as it should. The local elections on Thursday are unlikely to provide any joy for Labour with Reform ahead in several polls. Even the election of Mark Carney has been a mixed blessing. A reminder that some politicians get rewarded for taking a tough line on Agent Orange. The Lib Dems have declared themselves honorary Canadians.

To cap it all, Tony Blair had just published a report on climate policy that even his best friends might consider to have been “unhelpful”. Tony is a former politician who is unable to go gently into the dark night. Eighteen years after stepping down as prime minister, he still yearns for relevance.

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Blair’s net zero intervention invites scrutiny of his institute’s donors

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Labour insider rebukes ‘tech bros’ within Tony Blair Institute as critics question past work with petrostates

In little more than 1,600 words voicing his scepticism over net zero policies, Tony Blair this week propelled himself and his increasingly powerful institute back into the national debate.

In the past eight years, the former prime minister has built a global empire employing more than 900 people across more than 40 countries, providing policy advice to monarchs, presidents and prime ministers.

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Downing Street forces Tony Blair to row back from net zero strategy criticism

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Labour politicians warn former PM had boosted Tory and Reform climate sceptics on the eve of local elections

Tony Blair has been forced by Downing Street to row back from his criticism of the government’s net zero strategy after furious Labour politicians warned he had given a boost to Tory and Reform sceptics on the eve of the local elections.

Climate experts also accused the former prime minister of granting political cover to fossil fuel interests and weakening momentum behind the UK’s legally binding target to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

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Lammy confirms UK and France in talks over Palestine recognition

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Two permanent members of UN security council could make move at conference in June on two-state solution

The UK is in discussion with France and Saudi Arabia over the recognition of a Palestinian state at a June conference convened by the two countries on keeping alive the political path to a two-state solution in the Middle East, the UK foreign secretary has said.

David Lammy’s comments mark the first time the UK has acknowledged that a discussion with France about a recognition process around the conference is under way.

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Labour not protecting people, economy and homes from climate crisis, watchdog says

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Plans to protect UK from extreme weather are inadequate, Climate Change Committee says in scathing assessment

Labour is putting people, the economy and the environment in increasing peril by failing to act on the effects of the climate crisis, the UK’s climate watchdog has said.

Flooding, droughts and heatwaves are all increasing in severity due to climate breakdown, but current plans to protect people, land and infrastructure against extreme weather have been judged inadequate in a scathing assessment of the UK’s preparedness.

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Labour’s pledge to hire 6,500 extra teachers in England will be a ‘challenge’, report says

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Secondary school pupil numbers also likely to outpace government’s recruitment goals, watchdog warns

A key government pledge to appoint 6,500 extra teachers in England by the end of this parliament will be difficult to achieve and is likely to fall short of demand, the UK’s public spending watchdog has warned.

The education secretary Bridget Phillipson’s promise to recruit thousands of extra teachers in state schools, which has been funded by adding VAT to private school fees, forms one of the cornerstones of the government’s education policy.

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Fly-tippers’ vehicles to be crushed in bid to save England from ‘avalanche of rubbish’

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The scheme, part of policy blitz for local elections, will encourage councils and police forces to work together

Councils will be encouraged to work with police forces to seize and crush vehicles used by fly-tippers, in the latest phase of a government policy blitz before Thursday’s local elections.

Under a scheme being led by the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), new legislation will impose jail sentences of up to five years for people who illicitly transport waste in England.

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Phasing out fossil fuels ‘doomed to fail’, says Tony Blair as he calls for rethink of net zero policy – UK politics live

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‘Any strategy based on either phasing out fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is a strategy doomed to fail,’ says former PM

Severin Carrell is the Guardian’s Scotland editor.

Keir Starmer is not expected to campaign in the Hamilton byelection, a critical contest for Scottish Labour which takes place in early June, Anas Sarwar has confirmed.

I wouldn’t expect Keir to be campaigning in the byelection. That’s not to say he won’t, but I’m not expecting Kier to campaign in the byelection.

I’ll be on the stump campaigning for a Labour win. I’m the candidate for first minister next year. I’m the one that wants to remove the SNP from government.

Next year, we’ve got to demonstrate to people that for all Nigel Farage might want to come here with his easy answers and create a bit of a circus, the reality is a vote for Reform only helps the SNP. If you want to get rid of the SNP, only Scottish Labour can beat them.

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Climate plan based on phasing out fossil fuels doomed to fail, says Tony Blair

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Former PM claims net zero policies losing public support and says there should be greater focus on carbon capture

Tony Blair has warned that any strategy based on phasing out fossil fuels in the short term or limiting consumption is doomed to fail.

Calling for a reset of action on climate change, the former prime minister suggested the UK government should focus less on renewables and more on technological solutions such as carbon capture.

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Jo Cox family says Kneecap offering ‘half an apology’ over alleged call to kill MPs

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Husband of murdered Labour MP says Belfast rappers’ talk of being unfairly targeted undermines their statement

Brendan Cox, the husband of the murdered MP Jo Cox, has said the Irish rap trio Kneecap have offered only “half an apology”, after criticism of comments in which they appear to call for politicians to be killed.

Kneecap apologised to Jo Cox’s family and that of the MP David Amess, who was also murdered, in the face of mounting criticism, including from Downing Street and Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader.

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Fears for health of Alaa Abd el-Fattah and mother as hunger strikes take toll

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Activist jailed in Egypt receives medical treatment and family worry his mother Laila Soueif is ‘dying in slow motion’

The family of the imprisoned British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah say they fear for his health along with that of his mother, Laila Soueif, as both continued their hunger strikes to demand his freedom.

Relatives of Soueif said they were worried she was “dying in slow motion” after eight months on full or partial hunger strike. “What are we supposed to do, just sit around and wait to die?” said Soueif.

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UK offers EU strategic partnership to boost trade and security

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Officials draft declaration to help tackle ‘fluctuations’ in world economy

The UK is offering the EU a “new strategic partnership” aimed at bolstering trade and presenting a united European front when Donald Trump is threatening to upend decades of transatlantic alignment.

A draft declaration being drawn up by London and Brussels ahead of a UK-EU summit on 19 May points to a “common understanding” on a number of shared interests.

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Starmer claims voters being ‘conned’ by Tories and Reform UK as parties are planning a coalition – as it happened

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PM says supporters of both groups are being misled and a tie-up would be a ‘disaster’ for Britain. This live blog is closed

Downing Street has described the alleged comments by the band Kneecap in the ‘kill MP’ footage (see 12.10pm) as “completely unacceptable”.

At the morning lobby briefing, the PM’s spokesperson described the comments as “completely unacceptable”.

We do not think individuals expressing those views should be receiving government funding.

That’s up to the group, but clearly the PM rejects the views expressed … does not shy away from condemning them.

I don’t want to see strike action, I don’t think anybody wants to see strike action.

And certainly here we are in a healthcare environment with all the staff working really hard. The last thing they want to do is to go into dispute again.

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African diplomats urge UK government to back bill to speed up debt restructurings

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Exclusive: Countries are struggling to manage expensive loans, with much of debt transacted through London

Diplomats from eight southern and east African countries have signed a letter calling on the UK government to support a private member’s bill that aims to speed up debt restructurings, after economic crises meant countries were unable to pay back loans.

Poor countries’ economies have been hit by a series of global events in recent years, including the coronavirus pandemic, which reduced growth; the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which sent inflation soaring; and raised US interest rates, which have pushed up the cost of international loans to often unaffordable levels.

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Reform UK challenged to give details on donations after £2m mailshot campaign

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Exclusive: Liberal Democrats say voters need to know sources of funding for Nigel Farage’s party before local elections

The Liberal Democrats have publicly challenged Nigel Farage to give details of his party’s donations after calculating that Reform UK spent more than £2m on personalised letters to postal voters before the local elections.

In a letter to Farage, Daisy Cooper, the Lib Dem deputy leader, said people needed to know the source of the money before Thursday’s elections, given that Reform received only £281,000 in donations in the last set of publicly available figures, for the final quarter of 2024.

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Shabana Mahmood warned of risk to pregnant women in halting Sentencing Council guidelines

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Exclusive: Stopping pre-sentencing reports could put more pregnant people behind bars, groups tell justice minister

Shabana Mahmood risks putting more pregnant women behind bars through her bill to prevent new guidelines which highlighted the need for pre-sentencing reports based on “different personal characteristics” including age, sex and ethnicity, charities have warned.

The justice secretary introduced the bill as emergency legislation after the Sentencing Council’s guidelines provoked claims of a “two-tier” justice system, with Mahmood saying she “would not stand for differential treatment before the law like this”. The council suspended the guidance hours before it was due to take effect in response to the backlash.

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‘Tories are not listening’: Ed Davey sure Lib Dems can woo more disgruntled voters

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Leader hopes local elections in many traditionally Conservative areas will help party build on recent success

Days before the local elections, with Kemi Badenoch demanding apologies over gender identity and Nigel Farage complaining about mental illness diagnoses, Ed Davey was quietly getting on with what he perhaps does best: having fun.

In a converted shed near Stratford-upon-Avon, the Liberal Democrat leader was joking with photographers as he made chocolate truffles alongside Manuela Perteghella, his party’s MP for the formerly true-blue constituency.

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For political parties judging this year’s local election results it’s all about the baseline

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The polls will be first electoral test for Labour government, while Reform is standing candidates in almost every contest

It’s all about the bass – well at least the baseline. With all political parties likely to win in some places it can be hard to judge what a good night looks like for any party when it comes to local elections.

One way to judge this is to compare with how parties did the last time these contests took place: the baseline. For the seats up for election next week that was 2021 – though many of the places that voted then will not be doing so in 2025. Those elections included places where elections were held over from 2020 because of Covid restrictions; these seats returned to their normal schedule last year.

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