The Guardian view on Labour’s gloomy politics: it is bad economics

Editorial: Keir Starmer wants to pin the blame for broken Britain on the shambolic Tories. But his party has yet to form its own, more hopeful narrative

The bedraggled Tories are useful foes, but Keir Starmer’s real enemy now is time

The public know there are no quick fixes to Britain’s problems, but without tangible change, patience will run out quickly, says the Guardian columnist Rafael Behr

Keir Starmer takes a political gamble with message of bad news

Past Labour PMs – Blair, Wilson, Attlee – have tended to arrive in power accentuating the positive

Scottish ministers largely to blame for spending crisis, says watchdog

Scottish Fiscal Commission says emergency cuts are a result of under-budgeting for public sector pay awards

Starmer hints at tax rises as he warns of ‘painful’ budget

Prime minister says it will take years to clean up from Tories after finding a £22bn black hole in public finances

Renewed calls for UK industrial strategy to bring in investment and fix Brexit damage

Billions risk being lost without joined-up policy on tech, robotics, renewables and training, says manufacturing body

Labour donor quits Treasury role amid ‘cronyism’ claims

Ian Corfield resigns as official to Rachel Reeves as ministers deny giving preferential treatment to funders

Unite calls for 1% wealth tax on super-rich to fund UK public sector pay rises

The demand from Britain’s second biggest union will test truce with Labour at next month’s TUC conference

It’s August 2024 – and our world is at a turning point. Here’s what we should do now

I see looming political and environmental threats – and too few willing to address them. Where is the urgency, asks former UK prime minister Gordon Brown

‘No blank cheques’: Rachel Reeves defends pay deals with unions

Chancellor rebuts Tory accusation she will be a soft touch and hints at tweak to debt rule to allow more borrowing

Reeves can point to ONS public finances report as cover for a harsh budget

October review is expected to be eye-wateringly severe, but chancellor will draw on official data to make her case

UK government borrowing hits higher than expected £3.1bn in July

Figures come amid row between Labour and Conservatives over true state of public finances

Rachel Reeves planning to raise taxes and cut spending in October budget

Chancellor insists she still has large black hole to fill despite stronger than expected growth in first half of 2024

Labour’s autumn budget must reverse ‘decade of decline’ in UK infrastructure

Economy held back by ailing transport network, with poor roads adding to logistics costs, say manufacturers

GDP growth is strong but it masks UK plc’s deep-seated structural problems

Rachel Reeves must show how the Tories failed to tackle longstanding productivity, investment and trade deficits and stress how Labour can