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Polly Toynbee

Polly Toynbee

The Guardian

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The blistering speech that tells me Britain’s social care deadlock can finally be broken

The blistering speech that tells me Britain’s social care deadlock can finally be broken

No government in my lifetime has been dealt a worse hand than Keir Starmer’s. Austerity-broken public services, an empty Treasury, a jittery bond...

latest 8

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

In a world of lies, we need the BBC more than ever. This week could be our last chance to save it

In a world of lies, we need the BBC more than ever. This week could be our last chance to save it

The BBC may have a over one and a half years before its charter expires in December 2027, but the public consultation on its renewal closes next week....

06.03.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Want to stop Farage with your vote? At the moment you can’t – and Starmer must fix that

Want to stop Farage with your vote? At the moment you can’t – and Starmer must fix that

At home and abroad, Labour and its leader are under siege. Though the Gorton and Denton result is history now, the repercussions roil his party and...

04.03.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

What does the Greens’ victory in Gorton and Denton mean for the future of British politics? Our panel responds

What does the Greens’ victory in Gorton and Denton mean for the future of British politics? Our panel responds

Relief – but another unforced error from Starmer A mighty sigh of relief sweeps across the country. Above all else, what mattered was the emphatic...

27.02.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Yes, Britain needs more babies – but Reform’s nasty plans for women won’t help

Babies are beautiful. I always want to smile at them in the street, perhaps because they are a rarer and more precious sight in this ageing country or...

26.02.2026 9

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

I have seen the scale of the mountain Labour has to climb in Gorton and Denton – but also the way it can do it

The great gulf between left and right yawns deeper and wider. One way or another, the Gorton and Denton byelection this week will reveal this profound...

24.02.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

I see two things in Gorton and Denton: palpable frustration and the need for wise voting to stop Reform

You don’t have to be in Gorton and Denton for long to know that next week’s byelection really matters. If Labour wins in what has been an over-50%...

20.02.2026 200

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Is No 10 seeking its own destruction? Why else would it botch its council plans and hand a victory to Farage?

What were they thinking? Labour inherited the worst of everything, including prisons beyond breaking point, court backlogs as bad as NHS waiting...

18.02.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Giving votes to 16-year-olds would be a win for Labour – and our country

13.02.2026 1000

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Public faith in politics is now in the gutter. Here’s how Labour should drag it out

10.02.2026 40

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The Guardian view on student loans: a graduate levy by stealth is no way to fund the NHS

08.02.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The Guardian view on the scramble for critical minerals: while powers vie for access, labourers die

08.02.2026 9

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Morgan McSweeney’s fall offers a new beginning. Starmer and his cabinet had better grab it

08.02.2026 8

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

It’s tragic that a decent PM will be brought down by Mandelson’s sleaze – but it’s a matter of when, not if

06.02.2026 20

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Labour’s new welfare changes are practical and compassionate – so why not loudly say so?

29.01.2026 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Here’s the lesson of the Andy Burnham saga: Labour needs a new leader – fast

26.01.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

If the assisted dying bill is killed off by the Lords, let that be the end for this unelected chamber

22.01.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Robert Jenrick boasts that Reform is for the workers, but it’s a class war trap – and Labour shouldn’t fall for it

19.01.2026 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

I went to A&E with a broken wrist and caught a dose of ‘I’ve been lucky’ syndrome

17.01.2026 20

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Labour could oust Starmer, he could elegantly step aside – but without a plan, it will all be for nothing

30.12.2025 20

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Let me tell you the good things the government has done in 2025 – because it certainly won’t

22.12.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Finally, Labour is finding its nerve and getting Britain’s bad Brexit deal undone

19.12.2025 50

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

‘Improve the NHS fast or people will fall for the charlatans’ – so says a departing trust head. We’d do well to listen

16.12.2025 70

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Donald Trump wants a Europe in chaos – a sure sign for Britain to shore up its democracy

12.12.2025 80

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Come with me to Jacob Rees-Mogg’s house. The Brexiters are rattled – and it shows

09.12.2025 100

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Labour has a groundbreaking plan for child poverty. Finally, this government has found its mission

05.12.2025 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

It’s under fire from left and right – but Labour’s workers’ rights bill is a huge achievement

02.12.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Has Rachel Reeves made the right calls in this budget? Our panel responds

26.11.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The shameful attacks on the Covid inquiry prove it: the right is lost in anti-science delusion

25.11.2025 8

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Labour MPs face a serious dilemma on asylum seekers – but this is not the way out of it

21.11.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Now is not the time for a Labour leadership election

18.11.2025 5

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

This week’s doctors’ strike is another test of Wes Streeting’s mettle. He is right not to buckle

13.11.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

If you care about the BBC, stand up and defend it: this could be the beginning of the end

10.11.2025 8

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The right wants to destroy our fragile faith in the NHS – don’t let that happen

07.11.2025 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

It’s the Nigel Farage chameleon show – flashy, ever-changing pledges, but only one real policy: xenophobia

03.11.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The crescendo of pre-budget lobbying has rarely been so loud. Rachel Reeves must tune it out

31.10.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Yes, Keir Starmer is Britain’s most unpopular PM ever. That could liberate him

28.10.2025 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

What kind of country puts its pensioners ahead of children in poverty?

24.10.2025 6

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Ed Miliband’s new green jobs will bring Britain hope. I dare Reform to denounce them

21.10.2025 9

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Trump’s anti-truth crusade is not just an attack on facts – it’s an unravelling of the Enlightenment

17.10.2025 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Rachel Reeves, just tell voters why taxes must go up – and then do it

14.10.2025 5

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

English democracy relies on local councillors. So why are so many facing the axe?

10.10.2025 7

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

I didn’t think I’d ever say this: let’s hope the Tory party can be saved

07.10.2025 5

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Dear computer boffins please stop trying to fix problems I don’t have

03.10.2025 5

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

If you liked Brexit, you’re going to love what the Conservatives want next

03.10.2025 6

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

I’ve seen despair at the Labour conference, but Starmer’s battle for Britain’s soul is one he can still win

29.09.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

To revive Labour, Starmer should go to conference with this pledge: we will clean politics of sleaze

26.09.2025 9

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

The hard right are claiming the cross – and true Christians should not allow it

23.09.2025 10

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Who should be Labour’s deputy leader? Whoever can tell a good Labour story – and take the fight to Reform

19.09.2025 8

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee

Who benefits if NHS drug prices soar? Donald Trump and big pharma. Just one more way he’s menacing Britain

16.09.2025 5

The Guardian

Polly Toynbee