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John Harris

John Harris

The Guardian

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What are datacentres doing to the places we love? In Slough, I found a bleak answer

What are datacentres doing to the places we love? In Slough, I found a bleak answer

Amid headlines about the UK’s drought, Europe’s wildfires and impossible global temperatures, it was 28C when I arrived in Slough last Monday. I...

09.08.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

The Andy Burnham I’ve met over the past 20 years gives me hope for British politics

My contribution to this summer’s modest avalanche of Andy Burnham stories extends to only two. One is about Glastonbury, and the time that he and...

19.07.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Nigel Farage is just one strand in the tangle of rightwing politicians and crypto investors

This coming Tuesday, the government’s representation of the people bill comes back to the House of Commons for its third reading. It bundles up a...

12.07.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

I’m rich – defend me, be happy for me, says Farage to poor voters in Clacton. They are just his collateral damage

Most people who closely follow British politics probably know the basics about Jaywick, an enclave of Clacton, on the Essex coast. A sprawling tangle...

07.07.2026 10

The Guardian

John Harris

I’ve seen what the death of major industry did to Britain. Without a good revival plan, Burnham cannot succeed

In the autumn of 2005, Tony Blair gave one of his most unhinged and fascinating speeches as prime minister. “I hear people say we have to stop and...

05.07.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Labour should ‘be kind’, a Makerfield voter told me. So how about stopping the relentless closures of precious day centres?

Wellington House is in north Brighton, and known to the people who frequent it as Welly. It has the austere look of an old Victorian school, but what...

28.06.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Keir Starmer’s fatal flaw? The blankness on to which voters projected their years of frustration

On a bone-chillingly cold morning in January, it felt as if I had suddenly found at least part of the reason for Keir Starmer’s chronic...

22.06.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

I saw all Reform’s weaknesses on display in Makerfield – Farage should be worried

The day before the voters of Makerfield chose their new MP, I stood with my camera-wielding colleague John Domokos on the main road through the...

19.06.2026 10

The Guardian

John Harris

‘Labour had their chance – they flopped.’ Two days in Makerfield show me the scale of Burnham’s task

Keir Starmer teeters. The defence secretary exits, and thereby seems to confirm the prime minister’s demise. Andy Burnham scents a final, belated...

14.06.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Cars burn in Belfast, bricks fly in Southampton – and the ubiquitous cry of ‘civil war’ goes up again

It was the summer of 2024 when it all decisively started, with the horrific murders in Southport, countrywide violence and Elon Musk’s observation...

10.06.2026 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Labour doesn’t seem to like Send schools for kids like mine – but here’s what we’ll lose if these precious places are forgotten

In the old Wiltshire milltown of Calne, there is an autism specialist school called the Springfields Academy. About 250 children and young people...

07.06.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

The right is desperate for a solution to falling birthrates. Who’s going to tell them that the answer is immigration?

A growing mountain of reports highlights one of the US’s most fascinating features: the fact that people in red states seem to breed far more than...

31.05.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Andy Burnham’s Manchester has a defining spirit – and Britain could do with a lot more of it

Among the underrated later work of those revered sons of Manchester the Smiths, there is a completely jaw-dropping song simply titled London. Full of...

22.05.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Labour is stubborn in defeat because it knows this: we face the belated end of the political 20th century

In the wake of Labour’s third-place showing at last Thursday’s Gorton and Denton byelection, Keir Starmer could have responded with a mixture of...

01.03.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Labour’s Send revolution is a bold, high-stakes experiment – but is it Reform-proof?

Whether the change is down to the shifting of the Overton window or the demise of basic decency, one awful feature of the current national...

23.02.2026 40

The Guardian

John Harris

I fear that Labour’s special needs revolution will instead be a catastrophic letdown

Where is this government heading, and who is now in charge? Keir Starmer looks even weaker than he did a week ago, uncoupled from the aides who wrote...

15.02.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Politicians ‘don’t live how we live’, voters tell me. Morgan McSweeney’s resignation won’t change their minds

08.02.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

In Gorton and Denton, I found a long-festering sense of fury that Labour has no idea how to tackle

01.02.2026 60

The Guardian

John Harris

In Somerset, I found glorious proof that the UK can build great council houses. So what is holding us back?

25.01.2026 100

The Guardian

John Harris

No amount of defections will change the fact that Reform and the Tories are singing the same tunes

18.01.2026 30

The Guardian

John Harris

The UK’s high streets have reached a tipping point – and Reform will reap the benefits

11.01.2026 50

The Guardian

John Harris

In 2026, remember this: Britain is much better than it was in so many ways. Don’t swallow the right’s lies

04.01.2026 90

The Guardian

John Harris

Flamboyant, furious and full of hope: CMAT is the sound of 2025

21.12.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

This year, I have seen a glimmer of hope: people are ditching a life led on screens for the real thing

14.12.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

The right’s callous overdiagnosis bandwagon is rolling. Wes Streeting should not be on it

07.12.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

The ‘squeezed middle’ is back – and this time it could be Labour’s undoing

30.11.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

With a million young people locked out of work, the UK’s hidden jobs crisis is only growing

23.11.2025 50

The Guardian

John Harris

Flooded and forgotten: the UK’s waters are rising and we’re being kept in the dark

16.11.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

Welcome to 21st-century politics: a bitter revolt against power that will consume Labour and the Tories

09.11.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

A waiting list of thousands, and just five new homes for social rent: this city shows the depth of Britain’s housing crisis

19.10.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

Britain’s youth clubs have been quietly decimated. What’s most revealing is that few seem to care

12.10.2025 60

The Guardian

John Harris

The best gig I ever saw cost £4. Spiralling concert prices are a cultural disaster

08.10.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

On a trip to Kent, I saw how politics is being shaped by the west’s growing hostility to outsiders

28.09.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

After last week, UK ministers should know this: a huge rebellion is coming – we will fight for our children’s rights

21.09.2025 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Labour is in a mess. Is there anything Starmer can do to turn things around? Our panel responds – part one

18.09.2025 20

The Guardian

John Harris

Robinson and Farage’s ‘civil war’ narrative is warping voters’ minds. How is any government supposed to counter it?

14.09.2025 50

The Guardian

John Harris

Angela Rayner’s exit proves it. Unless Starmer is able to meet this moment, Reform is on the path to power

07.09.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Flags as symbols of prejudice, not pride – and a distinct air of menace. Welcome to England 2025

24.08.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

Outdoor workers risk their lives during heatwaves. How many will die before politicians finally act?

18.08.2025 30

The Guardian

John Harris

Rightwingers warn of another blaze of summer riots in Britain – but they’re the ones striking the match

10.08.2025 50

The Guardian

John Harris

Again and again, we are shocked by the treatment of learning-disabled people. Yet we never learn from the past

20.07.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

At Glastonbury, I saw what England’s silent majority really looks like. Why aren’t politicians listening?

13.07.2025 50

The Guardian

John Harris

After disability benefits, is Labour really about to target the educational rights of special needs children?

07.07.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

Look at Labour’s cruel attitude towards disability benefits, then tell me Keir Starmer cares about ‘human dignity’

22.06.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

British politics is in a loop and it’s Farage’s vision that’s stuck on repeat

15.06.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

The cruel government trick that drives voters to Reform: calling new homes ‘affordable’

08.06.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

Passed over, targeted, fined – but is the magnificence of family carers finally being recognised?

25.05.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris

A Labour lost in the weeds can’t rebuild this country. Starmer must regain his nerve

18.05.2025 40

The Guardian

John Harris