The Guardian Politics

The UK has its first Catholic PM – but don’t expect a US-style religious culture war to follow

Trump administration has clashed with Vatican on social issues but Burnham’s faith is shaped by different principles With the appointment of Britain’s first lifelong Roman Catholic prime minister, the faith is now in a prominent political position on both sides of the Atlantic.But while Donald Trump’s administration, in particular the vice-president, JD Vance – a Catholic convert – has placed Catholicism at the heart of its culture wars and repeatedly clashed with the Vatican over the US’s hardl

politics  1h ago

The Guardian Politics

‘Nobody was there for us’: mother urges Andy Burnham to reopen case of daughter killed in Texas

Lucy Harrison, 23, was shot in 2025 with her father’s gun. He was never arrested and a grand jury chose not to indict himLucy Harrison felt that 2024 was her best year yet. The 23-year-old had graduated from university with first class honours, landed her dream job and bought her first house with her boyfriend.She was a “big girl adult” now, Lucy would say. She shed tears of joy seeing her idol, Taylor Swift, at Wembley on the Eras tour that summer. Life could hardly get any better. “All the har

politics  2h ago

The Guardian Politics

Warning: Australian politicians are importing the British right’s visions of doom | Jack Jacobs

Having met Nigel Farage, Rupert Lowe and Tommy Robinson, Pauline Hanson is deploying their rhetoric in a country with a very different history of immigrationIn a 1950 essay, the critic AA Phillips wrote of a “cultural cringe” in which insecure Australians looked to Britain for instruction. Today, some Australians are championing far-right British actors and importing their visions of doom to Australia.In June, the former Australian Liberal prime minister Tony Abbott spoke at the Alliance for Res

politics  3h ago

The Guardian Politics

The UK’s first TikTok PM? Andy Burnham channels Zohran Mamdani as he hits social media

From Mo Farah to Bus Aunty, new prime minister makes good on promise to ‘do things differently’ when it comes to communicationThey say a week is a long time in politics, but handily for followers of Andy Burnham on social media, you can get daily updates of what the new PM has been up to on his timeline.Before Burnham stepped inside No 10 this week he promised to “do things differently” in British politics. If his feed is anything to go by, he’s already way ahead of his predecessor. Continue rea

politics  7h ago

The Guardian Politics

I grew up near Andy Burnham. This is what shaped our new PM

In the Warrington suburb of Culcheth, people are hopeful about what one of their own can achieve as the first northern PM in half a centuryThe Cherry Tree pub is an unassuming local. On a busy road in the Cheshire village of Culcheth, it is a chain-run pub where four shots cost £8, every burger comes with a soft drink, and sport is shown all day on the big screens. It is also a favourite of Andy Burnham, the new prime minister.Many of the drinkers have a story about – arguably – Culcheth’s most

politics  7h ago

The Guardian Politics

The Guardian view on Andy Burnham’s first week: polished politics allow an upbeat start | Editorial

With a flurry of cost-of-living measures and a day in Number 10 North, the new prime minister has hit the right early notesAppropriately enough, Andy Burnham ended a week of political signalling and first impressions back in Manchester on Friday. At the offices of the new No 10 North – where the prime minister hopes to work at least one day a week – regional mayors sat alongside ministers in an example of Burnhamism at work. It was an early statement of intent, ahead of what Mr Burnham

politics  19h ago

The Guardian Politics

Martin Rowson on Andy Burnham’s first week as prime minister – cartoon

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politics  19h ago

The Guardian Politics

Scoff at cheaper bus fares and No 10 North if you like, but Andy Burnham knows what he’s doing | Jonathan Freedland

Retail politics while taking power out of London: if this works, Burnham’s premiership could be seriously transformationalOne of Andy Burnham’s first policy moves brought back a sharp memory. On Wednesday, he announced that single bus fares across England would be capped at £2, starting from January. It was part of a series of small, practical measures designed, said the new prime minister, to offer a little “breathing space” to a hard-pressed public, but this was the one that registered with me

politics  20h ago

BBC Politics

Green-led council 'won't assist immigration raids'

Lewisham has become the first council in the UK to refuse to assist Home Office immigration raids.

politics  20h ago

BBC Politics

Faisal Islam: The UK's Trump trade deal no longer looks world-beating

While the US tariffs imposed on the UK are effectively unchanged, other countries now have a better deal.

politics  22h ago

BBC Politics

Andy Burnham's first week pledges - how much do they add up to?

BBC Verify has looked at how much Burnham's new spending commitments cost and how they will be paid for

politics  23h ago

BBC Politics

Chris Mason: What his first week in power tells us about Andy Burnham

The fledgling Burnham administration has been seeking to find its feet and make a decent first impression at the same time, the BBC's political editor Chris Mason explains.

politics  23h ago

The Guardian Politics

‘It’s generations of decline’: can Andy Burnham really end rough sleeping?

Outreach workers on the frontline of England’s homelessness crisis react to PM’s flagship policy pledgeUK politics live – latest updatesIt is close to midnight, as two outreach workers from Spear, a homelessness charity in south London, shine their torches around bushes on the edge of a Twickenham park.Suddenly they alight on an array of sleeping bags, airbeds, toilet rolls and plastic bags stuffed with belongings – a new rough sleeping encampment that has popped up in the last two days. Continu

politics  23h ago

The Guardian Politics

Digested week: History shrugs off Keir and makes room for brilliant Kerr

A low-key PM leaves the stage briskly, while a breathtaking athlete misses out on the attention he deserves And so it was over. You normally get a bit more notice when a prime minister is about to deliver their resignation speech outside No 10. The buildup. The sense of occasion. Keir Starmer did things differently. Continue reading...

politics  1d ago

The Guardian Politics

So many British people have it better than they think – it’s up to Burnham to make them see that | Polly Toynbee

A new survey suggests voters are becoming more cynical and pessimistic. A few goodwill gestures from No 10 won’t change all that – but it’s a startWho are we, the people Andy Burnham now governs? He inherits a miserable lot: grudging, angry pessimists, expecting the worst of all politicians, trusting no one to lead the country well, according to a long-running study. British folk feel the social contract is broken, they feel let down. Ignorant of basic facts, they are willfully misled by malevol

politics  1d ago

The Guardian Politics

Burnham is acting like he’s mayor of everywhere – that’s not devolving power to local communities | Simon Jenkins

The new PM’s localism agenda doesn’t stop the UK being one of the most centralised counties in Europe. Can you imagine Meloni in charge of social care or Macron discussing buses?Was this a joke? Andy Burnham claimed on coming to office to be a localist. Not for the new prime minister the hotspots of the capital, of posh Downing Street and Whitehall. His were the squares of Manchester and the pavements of Wigan. The centre was the enemy of local democracy.Yet his first week in office has been con

politics  1d ago

The Guardian Politics

The demographic makeup of Andy Burnham’s first cabinet – in charts

Women have half the seats at the top table for the first time, but Oxbridge maintains its gripAndy Burnham has appointed the first cabinet of his premiership. Much has been made of how key allies of his predecessor, Keir Starmer, have been demoted or sacked, but what is the demographic makeup of the new team of senior ministers, and how does it differ from other governments? Continue reading...

politics  1d ago

BBC Politics

Angela Rayner rules out rent controls in England

The housing secretary tells the BBC that the Renters Rights' Act is already having a significant impact on the market.

politics  1d ago

The Guardian Politics

My generation shouldn’t be scared of a care tax – we’re paying one already | Gaby Hinsliff

If Andy Burnham is minded to grasp the nettle, he will need to sell it to people like me. The right will call it a ‘death tax’ – why not a levy for ageing well?One of the last things Andy Burnham did before entering Downing Street was to go and see his father.Now living in a nursing home, Roy Burnham has Alzheimer’s and isn’t really aware of his son’s new job. But perhaps the prime minister wanted, in part, to try to explain why he might not be visiting so often in future.Gaby Hinsliff is a Guar

politics  1d ago

BBC Politics

UK complacent about war threat, warns BAE boss

The threat of attack has never been higher, the boss of Europe's biggest defence contractor has warned. Dr Charles Woodburn

politics  1d ago