Politics — Pete

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 4 min read

Getting Ziggy with it: David Bowie’s alter egos inspire dance show that will transform his songs

Subject to Change: A Dance for David Bowie will explore how the musician ‘practised a form of artistic reincarnation’, says choreographer Marcos Morau ‘Let’s dance,” sang David Bowie in 1983, commanding: “Put on your red shoes and dance the blues.” That call is to be answered – with footwear TBC – by an international dance production featuring new choral arrangements of songs from throughout his career. Subject to Change: A Dance for David Bowie will be staged at Sadler’s Wells in London in autumn 2028 after a world premiere in Luxembourg. It will visit Tokyo in 2029. The show will explore how Bowie “practised a form of artistic reincarnation” according to Spanish choreographer Marcos Morau who is taking inspiration from the superstar’s transformations into personas such as Aladdin Sane and the Thin White Duke. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 3 min read

Healey to reject calls to raise capital gains tax in budget

Cabinet colleagues have previously called for an increase but chancellor feels it might ultimately cost the Treasury John Healey will not raise capital gains tax in next week’s budget, despite previous calls to do so from cabinet colleagues including Louise Haigh and Wes Streeting. The chancellor has decided that any increase might ultimately cost the Treasury if wealthy individuals defer the sale of assets or move them out of the country, according to Treasury sources. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Politics Oct 20 · 5 min read

What’s the future for the Green Party? Should it be socialism? | Joe Todd

The party must aspire to be more than a Labour pressure group. It should offer a vision for radical reform – and ways to implement it It’s a strange time to be a Green. We have just held our largest conference ever, but it was overshadowed by a controversial motion that was attacked by the media as racist. Then, when we lost a byelection in a Camden seat that is so Labour it has estates named after Blair-era ministers, the headlines called for Zack Polanski to resign. It does, however, mark the end of phase one for Polanski’s Greens. Polanski burst on to the political scene in 2025 and ate up attention, enjoying an easy monopoly on hope while Labour was sucked into the black hole of Starmerism. Labour has since escaped, with Andy Burnham giving social democracy with Mancunian characteristics a half-hearted go. But Burnham’s honeymoon already seems to be ending. John Healey’s budget of “ difficult decisions ” and “fiscal responsibility” is likely to disappoint everyone but the financial markets, and a winter energy bill crisis driven by a possible El Niño deep freeze is just one of many problems he’ll soon have to face. Joe Todd is a senior fellow at the Autonomy Institute and co-host of the Life of the Party podcast Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 7 min read

She was harassed for crude remarks about Modi at a Cockroach protest. Now she can’t leave home

After a protest clip went viral, a teenager’s life was torn apart by threats that sent her and her family into hiding. Plus, a book on citizen journalism Before 24 July, a person I will call R was preoccupied with the ordinary routines of teenage life: experimenting with makeup, grumbling over mathematics homework and hanging out with friends at a tea stall. That month, as the fever of student protests spread across the country, the 15-year-old watched on her phone as young people poured into Jantar Mantar, the designated protest site in Delhi, demanding education reform. She went too. But an 11-second video clip from the protest site, in which she made crude and profane remarks about the prime minister, Narendra Modi, upended her life. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Politics Oct 20 · 1 min read

Surprise drop in UK unemployment to 4.7%

ONS data shows rate down from 4.9% but number of job vacancies continues to shrink Business live – news updates Unemployment in the UK fell unexpectedly in the three months to August, to 4.7% from 4.9%. The Office for National Statistics figures, which provide a backdrop to the budget on 28 October, also showed that the number of payrolled employees rose by 13,000 between August and September, to 30.3m. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 6 min read

A young life ‘dominated by gambling’: Victorian coroner delivers stinging findings on death of 22-year-old

Online betting was the ‘direct and paramount’ cause behind Kyle Hudson’s decision to take his own life, inquest finds Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Kyle Hudson was “a young man brimming with promise”, with a loving and supportive partner, family and friends, and prospects. “It was a near ideal picture – except for the grip that online sports betting had upon him,” the Victorian coroner Paul Lawrie said on Tuesday. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 4 min read

‘Lack of curiosity’ about family’s religious beliefs was ‘missed opportunity’ to save eight-year-old, inquest hears

Coroner says she’s considering adopting recommendations from Victoria’s cults inquiry as investigation into Elizabeth Struh’s death continues Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast The coroner investigating the death of Elizabeth Struhs is considering adopting recommendations from Victoria’s cults inquiry, warning a “lack of curiosity” about her family’s religious beliefs was a “missed opportunity”. Elizabeth, an eight-year-old, died on 7 January 2022 of diabetic ketoacidosis after her father ceased providing insulin to treat type 1 diabetes. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Politics Oct 20 · 4 min read

Who exactly will be affected by the UK review of benefits for young people?

Around one in eight 16- to 24-year-olds are ‘Neet’ – and Alan Milburn is hinting that the overhaul of their support may be controversial With nearly 1 million young people not in education, employment or training (a cohort known as “Neets”), the government and its advisers have signalled that welfare benefits may be cut to fund more job support for them. What may change and who will be affected? Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 3 min read

Alberta voters reject plan for referendum to leave Canada, CBC projects

Projection delivers a victory for prime minister Mark Carney and supporters of Canadian unity Voters in Canada’s Alberta have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to begin a process toward independence, the national broadcaster CBC has projected, delivering a victory for prime minister Mark Carney and supporters of Canadian unity. With more than 1 million votes counted early Tuesday, about 76% supported remaining in Canada, compared with 23% who backed beginning a process that could lead to separation. About a third of ballots had been counted. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 7 min read

Tuesday briefing: Can Andy Burnham beat Britain’s headphone dodgers?

In today’s newsletter: The prime minister’s campaign against noisy passengers has struck a chord with commuters. Whether anyone hears him remains to be seen. Good morning. Me again, back from the October school holiday (a week in glorious Wales, thanks for asking) and ready to hear your commuter woes. For our prime minister, it’s “one of the most annoying things on public transport”: maybe you’re trying to work, or read, or you’ve finally got your kid to sleep, when someone starts blasting sound from their phone at full volume. France | The prime minister has said he has asked regional authorities to impose partial curfews in some cities after the government admitted police had “lost control” in several places during violent weekend protests around the country. UK politics | Andy Burnham has told officials to rip up their plans for how to fix Thames Water and present him with more radical options for what to do with the stricken company. Yemen | At least 53 people have been killed in a Houthi ballistic missile attack on a training camp for Yemeni government forces in the largest single loss of life since the country’s civil war reignited in September. Israel | Israeli police have detained 10 people in a rare raid against settlers, after a weekend of extreme violence in the occupied West Bank including an attack on US photojournalist Heidi Levine. Reform | Nigel Farage undermined his own claims that a £5m gift was for security when he referred to the money as a reward for Brexit, according to one of his closest aides. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 4 min read

Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi seen in rare photos after receiving gift from King Charles

Critics said images of detained former leader were a stunt by the military to end country’s diplomatic isolation Myanmar has delivered presents from Britain’s King Charles to Aung San Suu Kyi , releasing rare photos of the imprisoned former leader in what critics said was a stunt by the country’s military to end diplomatic isolation. A presidential spokesperson said on social media that home ministry officials handed over two gardening books on soil, “along with one sealed envelope and a sealed diplomatic pouch”, from King Charles, who is known to have an interest in planting and the environment. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Politics Oct 20 · 4 min read

Don’t be fooled. The AI that was supposed to save us time is doing just the opposite | Gaby Hinsliff

The government says it can transform the state with AI, but it is no match for the resulting stream of machine-generated slop. And we all pay the cost Another morning, another avalanche of emails. Even after a guilty cull, my inbox is sitting at well over 7,000, but lately I’ve started subscribing to the Quentin Crisp theory of housework: why bother, when after four years or so you stop noticing the accumulating dust? Empty inboxes just fill up again anyway. In theory, email was supposed to save hours of meetings, phone calls and standing over photocopiers. Instead, we just spend hours deleting stuff people wouldn’t have bothered telling us if it had meant picking up the phone, but which they can now spam to their entire database at the click of a button. The glorious ease and convenience of being able to reach the world in seconds came, we now know, with the inconvenience of them being able to reach you right back. Gaby Hinsliff is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 3 min read

Royal Exchange boss unveils new plays two years after damaging censorship row

Selina Cartmell announces season including Stockport-set version of Phaedra myth by Simon Stephens A theatre boss has promised to channel the “pioneering spirit of Manchester” and be “brave and fearless” as she unveiled a new season of work, two years after a deeply damaging censorship row. Selina Cartmell, the artistic director of the Royal Exchange in Manchester , revealed details of 2027-28 productions that include a retelling of the Munich air disaster and a modern Stockport-set version of the ancient Greek myth Phaedra. Continue reading...

The Guardian — Politics Oct 20 · 3 min read

New Bradford railway station will ‘transform travel across the north’

Transport hub will offer through trains between Leeds and Manchester with ‘turn-up-and-go’ service A new railway station will be built in Bradford to “transform how people travel across the north”, the government has announced. The station will be at the heart of the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) scheme , built on the current Bradford Interchange site but allowing through trains between Leeds and Manchester. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 4 min read

Public support for founding principles of NHS is falling across UK population

Rise in economic hardship and changes in attitudes towards migration could explain drop in support, experts say Public support for the NHS’s founding principles – that it is free to use, available to everyone and tax-funded – has fallen over the last five years, research has shown. Backing for all three pillars dropped between 2021 and 2025 across the UK population, except for a small rise in millennials’ support for the NHS being funded from taxation. Continue reading...

The Guardian — World Oct 20 · 3 min read

Mother of alleged Alan Jones victim ‘absolutely trusted’ the radio host, court told

Witness breaks down in tears, tells court ‘I was scared’ after son declines to report alleged kissing and touching by broadcaster The mother of the youngest alleged victim of Alan Jones has told a Sydney court she “trusted” the 2GB broadcaster and was “comfortable” her teenager was going to spend a weekend at his Fitzroy Falls property. The young man, known as complainant A, has testified that when he was 17 he was alone at the southern highlands farm when Jones allegedly kissed him, put his tongue inside his mouth and touched him on the bottom. “I felt violated and I felt gross,” he told the court earlier. Continue reading...

The Guardian — US News Oct 20 · 7 min read

In ruby-red Kansas, Trump contemplates the possibility of a Democratic win in the state

The president came out in support of Senator Roger Marshall, who is facing and unexpectedly strong challenge from Democrat Adam Hamilton The fact that Donald Trump was here at all said more about a looming electoral disaster facing his Republican party next month than anything contained in his dark and discursive 98-minute stump speech. On Monday, amid raucous chants of “USA! USA!”, the president held his first campaign rally in Kansas for eight years. No Democrat has won a US Senate seat in this ruby-red state since 1932, the year Herbert Hoover was president, Amelia Earhart was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic and the Nazis became the biggest party in the German Reichstag. Continue reading...

GovTrack — Health Nov 1