Labour should seize the opportunity to make the case for alternative ways of funding social careThe Conservative government is reported to be considering an increase of up to 1.25p in the pound in National Insurance Contributions from 26 million people…
One out of 125 embassy guards promised help to leave Afghanistan made it to UK
Exclusive: Foreign Office said guards would be given right to come to Britain, but evacuation attempt failedJust one of the team of 125 British embassy guards who were promised help to leave Afghanistan by the Foreign Office has made it to the UK.Faiz …
Raising national insurance to fund social care is fraught with political risk
Analysis: both employers and employees pay NI but the burden weighs heaviest again on younger workersAfter months of havering, the government is poised to make two big announcements in the coming weeks. Both break manifesto pledges, both are fraught wi…
A tale of two towns: Rochdale and Braintree expose UK’s uneven asylum system
Relatively wealthy Braintree has supported just one asylum seeker in recent months while deprived Rochdale hosted 734Labour councils house eight times as many asylum seekers as Tory areas, analysis findsSituated in the heart of rural Essex, Braintree o…
UK has no coherent plan for Afghan refugee crisis, says ex-Whitehall chief
Mark Sedwill also attacks west’s withdrawal as a ‘bad policy, badly implemented’Britain and its allies have no coherent plan to deal with the huge refugee crisis expected to follow the Taliban’s takeover of Afghanistan, a former cabinet secretary has w…
Priti Patel orders review into effects of nitrous oxide
Possession could be criminalised as home secretary vows to ‘take tough action’ on use of laughing gasPossession of nitrous oxide, one of the most popular drugs among 16- to 24-year-olds, could be criminalised after the home secretary ordered experts to…
The Guardian view on ‘levelling up’ schools: a slogan without substance | Editorial
Labour should have a policy to deal with rich people seceding from the rest of society by buying social privilegeGordon Brown gave substance to the slogan of “levelling up”. In 2006, he said that his “long-term aim” was to fund state school pupils at t…
UK defence secretary suggests US is no longer a superpower
Ben Wallace also contrasts his department’s handling of Afghanistan crisis with Foreign Office responseBen Wallace, Britain’s defence secretary, suggested the US could no longer be considered a superpower in an interview where he also contrasted his de…
Dominic Raab hits back at defence secretary’s Afghanistan remarks
Labour calls for an end to ‘unseemly infighting at the top of government’ after response to Ben WallaceDominic Raab has hit back at his cabinet colleague Ben Wallace’s assertion that he knew the “game was up” in Afghanistan by July, escalating the tens…
Generation Covid has been hit hard. Thank goodness they’re not resentful – yet | Polly Toynbee
Jobs, wages, housing: young people are paying a price. We have to address this or risk their anger boiling overThe pandemic’s next effect might be a wave of political conflict. A rising tide of anger among young people at what they have willingly sacri…