British Politics

Campaigners have staged a protest outside Matt Hancock’s health department urging the government to put the coronavirus test and trace system into public hands. The We Own It campaign group said its research showed that the public did not agree with the use of private firms, pointing out they have so far failed to get […]

Public health experts have warned Boris Johnson against pursing herd immunity or mimicking Sweden coronavirus response. Independent SAGE – an independent group of scientists who provide advice to the government – has warned Britain is in a “dangerous place”. The committee released a report in which it advised against the strategy of herd immunity or […]

Downing Street has denied that there is a rift between prime minister Boris Johnson and his chancellor Rishi Sunak, after Johnson stayed away for his big economic speech in the Commons. A spokesperson said Johnson fully supported the package and denied he treated the police visit as being more important than the chancellor’s announcement. “Obviously […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has been mocked for continuing to claim “tests are available” rather than acknowledge that the public are struggling to get them. Patel appeared on BBC Breakfast to answer questions about the fact people in some of the worst areas for coronavirus have been unable to get the kits to decipher whether […]

The latest Conservative attack lines over Brexit have backfired, after it tried to accuse Labour of taking the side of “the EU” in parliament by voting against Boris Johnson’s bill. Moments after the Internal Market Bill passed its second reading – designed to override the Withdrawal Agreement bill and international law – the Tories claimed […]

Downing Street has issued a warning to peers not to try to block controversial legislation overriding key elements of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement. A No 10 spokesman said ministers believed the Salisbury Convention – which states the House of Lords should not vote down legislation to implement government manifesto commitments – should apply to the […]

A Tory MP – who previously claimed they had ‘got Brexit done’ – was ridiculed when she tweeted again to say she had voted again to get it done.Dehenna Davison, the representative for Bishop Auckland, sent the tweet after the Internal Market Bill passed – which could override key aspects of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal.The […]

Dominic Cummings has been pictured with an archive letter from one of the leading figures of the US missile and space programmes as he entered Downing Street. The document, from former US air force general Bernard Schriever, appears to rail against the “blizzard of legislation” around defence procurement and accused the system of “inhibiting technological […]

STEVE ANGLESEY looks at the Brexiteers of the Week – including Kirstene Hair, who has become an adviser for the Scottish Tories, despite finding the EU referendum too “difficult”. KIRSTENE HAIRPeople are crying “foul” at football referee turned Scottish Tory leader Douglas Ross’ big new signing, an adviser who will help him reach swift decisions […]

Liz Truss has bowed to public pressure and released meetings she had with an influential pro-Brexit think tank which were removed from the public register. Labour accused the trade secretary of performing a “shambolic” U-turn and claimed Truss had been caught trying to bypass rules to stop the “secret lobbying” of ministers. In August, Truss […]

The DUP’s chief whip in Westminster has labelled MPs who voted against or abstained from Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill “agents of the European Union”. Sammy Wilson, a fervent Eurosceptic who supports the Brexit pressure group Leave Means Leave, said he failed to understand why MPs would choose to vote against the prime minister’s internal market […]

A second coronavirus testing site has “disappeared overnight” to make way for a post-Brexit lorry park. The Tipner drive-through centre in Portsmouth, which is owned by Deloitte, was due to become a lorry site on October 5, but was moved to Southampton Airport ahead of schedule and without warning. Portsmouth City Council’s cabinet member for […]

I wonder what clever slogan the ‘genius superforecaster’ in Downing Street is going to come up with as the UK hits a tipping point over the pandemic?“Get Covid Done” sounds like the best. It’s short and snappy and it’s something we can all believe in. What is brilliant about this slogan is it taps into the […]

David Cameron is adding a luxurious heated swimming pool to his £1.5 million family home in the Cotswolds. The former prime minister, an architect of modern-day Tory austerity, has reportedly applied for planning permission for a 45 by 13 foot outdoor pool. West Oxfordshire District Council officials are yet to approve the build, after a complaints from a […]

There was a lot to applaud in Keir Starmer’s virtual conference speech and I understand why he says Labour will no longer “bang on about Europe”. Yet on Brexit, as with other aspects of policy, the party must do far more than keep schtum and hope that the Tories continue to make unforced errors all […]

A Brexiteer MP has complained the UK is “like East Germany under the Stasi” after being spotted on London’s Underground without a face mask. DUP Brexit spokesperson Sammy Wilson was pictured travelling on the London Underground without a mask days after the government increased fines for failing to wear a mask on public transport to £200. Asked […]

A pub boss has called on Matt Hancock to apologise after implying the hospitality industry were in part to blame for the latest surge in coronavirus cases. Oakman Inns chief executive Peter Borg-Neal said pubs had “sweated blood” to get their venues Covid-compliant by July 4 and that suggestions they were breading grounds for the virus were […]

Business minister Alok Sharma became the latest government minister to clash with Question Time presenter Fiona Bruce over the government’s test and trace system. Bruce asked the minister about a new study which found that only 18% of those developing coronavirus symptoms between May and August had fully self-isolated, with just 11% of those who […]

A Tory former minister has called for Liz Truss to resign from her women and equalities minister role. Truss was criticised after she ruled out changes for people to be able to self-identify their gender and change their birth certificates without a medical diagnosis. The Gender Recognition Act currently requires transgender people to go through a lengthy […]

Michael Gove has claimed Scottish independence would be “worse’ than the worst-case Brexit. The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster made the comments during a Commons debate on the UK’s departure from the EU, as he outlined the “reasonable worst case scenarios”. SNP MP Pete Wishart criticised the government’s handling of Brexit and said Scotland […]

Rishi Sunak has defended his Eat Out To Help Out scheme after suggestions it could have contributed to the increase in the spread of Coronavirus. The chancellor said  he felt it would be “simplistic” to connect any one thing to the rise in cases, which has prompted new restrictions aimed at preventing a second national […]

In his book on Winston Churchill, Boris Johnson wrote that “one man can make all the difference”. This biographer still had faith in the “great man” theory of history. In his admiration for a charismatic and controversial figure, Johnson seemed to be hinting, or perhaps thinking, that another latter-day controversialist might also make a pretty […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s claim that the Coronavirus crisis is “on all of us” has been met with criticism. Sunak made the remarks while announcing his winter economy plan which aims to support jobs and the economy during the pandemic. He told the commons earlier: “The government has done much to mitigate the effects of the […]

A civil rights campaigner has delivered a stunning rebuke to Ann Widdecombe’s reason for leaving the National Trust. The former Thatcherite minister decided to cancel her membership because of the “sorts of woke games” she claimed National Trust was playing. Flummoxed at the body for publicising Winston Churchill’s opposition to an independent India, she said: […]

Attorney general Suella Braverman has branded Labour “unpatriotic” for opposing the Internal Market Bill which will break international law. Braverman said Labour’s stance on the bill, which the government admitted broke the law in “a very limited and specific way” was “anything but patriotic”. Labour’s stance on the bill matches that of all living former […]

Attorney general Suella Braverman has defended the controversial internal market bill which will give the government the power to breach the withdrawal agreement after being accused of putting “Brexit fanaticism” ahead of the rule of law. The government’s top legal adviser has faced calls to resign as she told MPs it is “entirely proper, entirely constitutional […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock has denied there is a conflict of interest in Sir Patrick Vallance holding £600,000 worth of shares in vaccine manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). Hancock said he found out from a newspaper about the UK chief scientific adviser’s shares in a drug company contracted to develop a coronavirus vaccine for the Government. The […]

Piers Morgan has predicted that Boris Johnson will resign as prime minister. Speaking on Good Morning Britain, the presenter said he “wouldn’t be surprised” if the prime minister made the decision to resign. Morgan noted that many publications who were in support of Johnson as prime minister had now turned. Piers Morgan predicts Boris Johnson […]

Nigel Farage has been called out over a tweet slamming Boris Johnson’s government as “the worst ever”. Farage lambasted Downing Street on plans to create a “border” in Kent after Brexit. Speaking with The Times‘ Patrick Maguire, the Brexit Party leader said: “Not only an internal border with Northern Ireland but now Kent too. “Is this […]

Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has found student support for Labour has risen during Keir Starmer’s leadership. The new YouthSight data on voting intentions found that Labour was the most popular party among students, with 62% saying they would vote for the party. Labour’s student backers have risen considerably under Starmer, after […]

Viewers have squirmed and cringed at Matt Hancock discussing how new coronavirus restrictions affect people’s sex life. The health minister was asked by Sky News’ Kay Burley how long the government had planned to stop people having “casual sex”. Burley was pointing out the restrictions allow “established couples” to meet up but bans those who […]

The government has criticised the BBC for allowing Keir Starmer a “right of reply” broadcast on prime time television. The leader of the opposition was allowed to speak to the nation a day after Boris Johnson’s address was broadcast on all of the major television channels. Under BBC guidelines it is standard for the Labour […]