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It's all there: more apprenticeships, more rights for workers and renters – and most of all, a focus on children. What a shame Labour wavers about saying soWarning. This column contains good news, when it is an (un)truth widely acknowledged that only grim stories attract public attention. News must be something someone somewhere doesn't want printed, says the old maxim. Well, battalions of interests want to suppress good news: the overwhelmingly Tory or Reform UK press and antisocial media sites don't want any stories to surface that might do credit to a Labour government.Among this deluge of disinformation and malevolence, when asked, a sour and disengaged electorate struggles to think of anything good this government has done. True, the prime minister and his cabinet are partly to blame for failing to tell their story, paint their picture, draw us a map of where they are going and why. They too often do good by stealth, afraid of what the right and business might say if they dare trumpet the strong...

While the country's capital is loosening regulations, the Catalan city is strengthening social housing. Their outcomes will affect all our futuresIn Spain, two cities face the same crisis, but are responding in fundamentally different ways. Over the past decade, the cost of housing in Madrid and Barcelona has soared – with rents rising by about 60% and sale prices by 90% – leaving young people, working families and retired people struggling to stay in their homes or even find one.Yet, while one city is betting everything on construction and giving free rein to big investors, the other is cautiously trying to steer the housing market towards the public good, despite political and institutional constraints.Jaime Palomera is a researcher on housing and inequality, author of The Hijacking of Housing, and co-founder of the Barcelona Urban Research Institute (IDRA) and the Tenants' Union Continue reading......

Wes Streeting's wish for deeper trade relations to help fight against Farage is shared by growing number of MPsWhen Keir Starmer stood on the Labour conference stage in 2018 and defied Jeremy Corbyn to call for a second Brexit referendum with remain as an option, it put him in pole position to become the next Labour leader.Starmer must now feel a sense of deja vu watching Wes Streeting, the most out-and-out pretender for the leadership, follow a similar playbook. In an interview over the weekend, the health secretary strayed from the official government line to call for “a deeper trading relationship” with the EU. Continue reading......

Labour urged to accelerate reset with Brussels as many exporters struggling to trade in the EU after Brexit dealKeir Starmer's government has been told a closer EU trade deal is a “strategic necessity” for companies in Britain as growing numbers of exporters find it tougher to do business under the UK's post-Brexit agreement.Calling on Labour to accelerate its reset with Brussels, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the UK's existing trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) was failing to help them grow their sales in the EU. Continue reading......

Fake job adverts and promises of quick money are drawing thousands into type of money launderingCriminals are increasingly recruiting young people on social media to become “money mules”, with official figures showing that cases are rising sharply.“Money muling” is a type of money laundering in which criminals move stolen or fraudulent money via an intermediary, who receives it in their bank account before transferring it to another, obtaining a commission along the way. Continue reading......

3 March update aims to give 'stability and certainty' after criticism over leaks before November budgetRachel Reeves has set a date of 3 March for an early spring statement, as Labour attempts to draw a line under a year of tax speculation blamed by business leaders for damaging Britain's economy.Announcing a date to prioritise “stability and certainty”, the Treasury said the chancellor had asked the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to prepare forecasts for the economy and public finances. Continue reading......

WBD had urged shareholders to reject $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount, which is controlled by the Ellisons, following $82.7bn Netflix deal The tech billionaire Larry Ellison has agreed to provide a personal guarantee of more than $40bn for Paramount Skydance's fight to gain control of Warner Bros Discovery, amid an extraordinary corporate battle over the entertainment giant.WBD urged shareholders to reject a $108.4bn hostile takeover bid from Paramount – which is controlled by the Ellisons – last week, having agreed to sell its storied movie studios, HBO cable network and streaming service to Netflix in a $82.7bn deal earlier this month. Continue reading......

CMA rejects retailers' claims on operating costs, saying weak competition is not passing on lower wholesale pricesDrivers hitting the roads over the Christmas holidays are being overcharged for petrol and diesel, the UK's consumer watchdog has said, dismissing forecourt operators' excuse for charging more at the pump.Fuel retailers have said they are unable to lower pump prices to keep pace with falling global oil markets because they need to make up for higher non-fuel “operating” costs, such as wages and energy. Continue reading......

The idea of a customs union has gained traction, but agreeing a deal would be far from straightforward Almost a decade on from the Brexit vote, the verdict is clear. Britain's immediate doomsday economic scenario might not have come to pass. But after years of political paralysis – and with the eventual introduction of tougher trade barriers in 2020 – trade, investment and growth in living standards have all suffered.Just as it was on the morning after the 2016 referendum, the big fight is about what the government should do in response. Continue reading......

The bookshop chain said the bestselling author will 'no longer be appearing' at a Dundee event after HarperCollins announced it won't publish new titles by himDavid Walliams has been dropped from the Waterstones Children's book festival following allegations of inappropriate behaviour. The decision comes days after his publisher, HarperCollins, cut ties with the author. Walliams has denied the allegations.Walliams was set to appear at the Dundee leg of the festival on February 7. He has now been removed from the list of speakers on the festival's website. A spokesperson for Waterstones told the Guardian: “HarperCollins have confirmed that David Walliams will no longer be appearing at our festival in Dundee.” Continue reading......

Move made after first phase of anti-subsidy investigation widely seen as retaliation for bloc's EV tariffsChina will impose provisional duties of up to 42.7% on certain dairy products imported from the EU from Tuesday after concluding the first phase of an anti-subsidy investigation widely seen as retaliation for the bloc's electric vehicle tariffs.The tariffs will range from 21.9% to 42.7% – although most companies will pay about 30% – and target products such as milk and cheeses including protected origin brands such as French Roquefort and Italian Gorgonzola. Continue reading......

Guardian analysis of 20 major companies in UK and US shows mentions of Pride on social media have fallen substantially in past two yearsThe UK's biggest businesses are rolling back their public support for Pride celebrations, Guardian analysis suggests, prompting warnings that “clear signals” were needed in the face of growing global LGBTQ+ hostility.Analysis of social media posts by the country's biggest companies found mentions of Pride had plummeted by 92% since 2023, mirroring a trend seen in large American firms. Continue reading......

Firms agree deals with Beijing-based Baidu to take self-driving cabs to UK capitalChinese robotaxis are due to be on the streets of London next year after the US ride-hailing companies Lyft and Uber announced tie-ups with Beijing-based Baidu to deploy its self-driving technology.Lyft is the third firm to announce plans to introduce self-driving taxis to the UK capital next year, following Uber and Waymo, the main operator of robotaxis in the US. Continue reading......

ONS finds households' savings ratio has dropped to lowest rate for more than a year across third quarterUK consumers saved less money during the third quarter of the year as higher taxes squeezed disposable incomes.The households' saving ratio – which estimates the percentage of disposable income Britons save rather than spend – dropped 0.7 percentage points to 9.5%, the Office for National Statistics said. That is the lowest rate for more than a year. Continue reading......

Journalists find Swiss government rejected company over fears US intelligence might gain access to sensitive dataUK MPs have raised concerns about the government's contracts with Palantir after an investigation published in Switzerland highlighted allegations about the suitability and security of its products.The investigation by the Zurich-based research collective WAV and the Swiss online magazine Republik details Palantir's efforts, over the course of seven years, to sell its products to Swiss federal agencies. Continue reading......

Exclusive: executives at body that trained chef Jamie Oliver awarded pay rises and bonuses after sale to private firm – as hundreds of jobs may be offshoredA pair of City & Guilds executives have each been awarded million-pound bonuses and sizeable salary increases after the skills charity's business was acquired by an international company in October, the Guardian understands.The payments – which are understood to include a £1.7m award for the chief executive, Kirstie Donnelly, and £1.2m to the finance director, Abid Ismail – have emerged at a sensitive time for the training and qualifications business, as it navigates its first few months in the private sector. Continue reading......

Thousands of farms set to go bankrupt as grain farmers in particular hit by trade disruptions caused by price hikesDonald Trump, having promised to “NEVER LET OUR FARMERS DOWN”, appeared to come through for them this month when he unveiled a $12bn aid package. Industry leaders say thousands of farms will still go bust this year.While the US president has vowed to increase domestic farm production, and even claimed this formed a “big part” of his plan to lower grocery prices for Americans, many US farmers are grappling with mounting financial issues – compounded by Trump's agenda. Continue reading......

Danish foreign minister 'deeply angered' by move to send special envoy to territory Trump has threatened to annexDenmark has said it will summon the US ambassador after Donald Trump announced he had appointed a special envoy to Greenland, the Danish autonomous territory he has threatened to annex.“I am deeply angered by the appointment and the statement, which I find totally unacceptable,” the Danish foreign minister, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, told Denmark's TV2 in an interview, adding that the foreign ministry would call in the US ambassador in the coming days “to get an explanation”. Continue reading......

Whiskey brand, owned by Japanese drinks group Suntory, to close main distillery amid tariff uncertaintyThe maker of Jim Beam bourbon whiskey will halt production at its main site in Kentucky for all of 2026.The company said in a statement it would close its distillery in Clermont, Kentucky, until it took the “opportunity to invest in site enhancements”. Continue reading......

This year has brought us many brilliant video games – but as wealth continues to concentrate, and games are used to exert economic and political influence, we need to keep an eye on the top playersI love playing video games, but what interests me most as a journalist are the ways in which games intersect with real life. One of the joys of spending 20 years on this beat has been meeting hundreds of people whose lives have been meaningfully enhanced by games, and as their cultural influence has grown, these stories have become more and more plentiful.There is another side to this, however. A couple of decades ago, video games were mostly either ignored or vilified by governments and mainstream culture, leading to an underdog mentality that has persisted even as games have become a nearly $200bn industry. As their popularity has grown, so have their political and cultural relevance. And the ways in which games intersect with real life are now coloured by the economic and political realities of our times. C...