British Politics

Peers will make a fresh attempt to block cheap US food imports such as chlorinated chicken and hormone-fed beef if Boris Johnson refuses to make concessions to Tory rebels. The House of Lords is currently debating stricter laws to govern food production after Brexit. However, critics – including several Tory rebels – fear that the […]

A Commons committee has called for more “transparency” in the appointment of the next BBC and Ofcom chairs after the government faced accusations of “interfering” in the process. Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, a vocal BBC critic, is said to be Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate for the Ofcom chairman role, while ex-Daily Telegraph editor Charles […]

Television doctor Dr Hilary Jones has criticised Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson, after he was pictured not wearing a face mask in a shop. Johnson has since apologised for his actions, claiming he wasn’t “100% up to speed” with the latest government guidelines. But face coverings have been compulsory in shops and on public transport […]

Boris Johnson is shying away from suggestions his father and Jeremy Corbyn should be fined for breaking coronavirus restrictions. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said that enforcement of the new regulations were up to the police, not ministers. The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, was pictured entering a shop on Tuesday without a face mask meanwhile […]

As the UK prepares for a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic it appears once again divided. The unity seen during the first lockdown has been lost, explains TIMOTHY OLIVER. The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic transformed the UK political scene in the blink of an eye. At the start of 2020, the national […]

James O’Brien has asked Brexiteers whether they regret voting for Brexit now the UK faced legal proceedings from the EU. The LBC presenter pointed to a letter from the UK’s chief Brexit negotiator David Frost to car manufacturers as proof many of his warnings about the economic impacts of Brexit were in fact true. MORE: ‘Project Fear’ was […]

Whatever else might be said about Sasha Swire’s memoirs, they hardly instil confidence in the political classes. This may well be why Rupert Murdoch was willing to splash out no less than £250,000 to serialise them in the Times and Sunday Times. “It’s a jaw-dropping amount of money for a book in these straitened times, […]

The Labour leader’s first conference speech was light on detail, but in an earlier presentation clear contours of his vision could be made out, says FLORENCE SUTCLIFFE-BRAITHWAITE. Earlier this month, Keir Starmer addressed the Trades Union Congress annual conference for the first time as Labour Party leader. Just over a year earlier, as shadow Brexit […]

Wave machines designed to push refugee dinghies back across the Channel are among a range of measures to have been considered by officials in Priti Patel’s Home Office department. The department has been looking at ways to disrupt refugees attempting to enter the UK by crossing from the French coast in small boats. The Financial […]

Nigel Farage has been called a “traitor” after issuing a tweeting defending the EU’s threat to sue Downing Street over breaking the Brexit withdrawal agreement. The Brexit Party leader caused controversy on Thursday when he appeared to suggest the EU was in its rights to take Britain to court after it approved laws explicitly overriding the Withdrawal […]

Arron Banks’ Leave.EU organisation has been forced to apologise to a Labour MP for calling her a “grooming gang apologist”. The unofficial Brexit campaign continue to have a high profile on social media, with the advisers behind the campaign more recently turning their attention to New Zealand politics. But before they turned their attention elsewhere, […]

Equalities minister Liz Truss has refused to criticise the president of the United States when he refused to condemn white supremacists in the first 2020 US election debate. During the debate on Wednesday evening, the president was asked by moderator Chris Wallace whether he was now willing to forthrightly condemn white supremacists and militia groups who […]

Tory ministers past and present have defended Boris Johnson’s father for not wearing a face mask in public and say he should not be fined. Environment minister George Eustice and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said penalties, which range from £200 to £10,000 for failing to follow government advice on new Covid measures, should only be reserved for […]

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has apologised after reportedly breaking coronavirus restrictions. Corbyn was pictured with his wife, Laura Alvarez, at a party of nine people, which breached the rules that state only six people can meet indoors or outside. The photograph was published in The Sun, a newspaper which also published an apology from […]

The government has refused to rule out using remote islands to process asylum seekers despite saying the plan was too costly. Home secretary Priti Patel reportedly scrapped plans to build an offshore migrant processing centre on the Atlantic islands of Ascension and St Helena after a review found it would be too expensive and logistically […]

Matt Hancock has promised to work more closely with MPs on new coronavirus restrictions. The health secretary told the Commons on Wednesday: “Today I can confirm to the House (of Commons) that for significant national measures with effect in the whole of England or UK-wide we will consult parliament, wherever possible we will hold votes […]

Boris Johnson has acknowledged that some of the coronavirus restrictions around the United Kingdom appeared illogical, but rules out preventing English people currently in lockdown from travelling to Wales while restrictions are in place. The prime minister was facing calls to prevent people from locked-down areas of England travelling to Wales after first minister Mark […]

Labour activist MARTYN SLOMAN on Keir Starmer’s first party conference speech as leader. As a seasoned and highly professional politician, Keir Starmer will have recognised that not being able to hold the traditional Labour Party Conference had many advantages.  True, it denied him the images of cheering supporters transmitted as the first item on the evening […]

A chemical expert from one of the major manufacturers has said chemicals readily available in the UK will “disappear” after Brexit. Neil Hollis, of the chemical giant BASF, told a Commons committee on the impact of Brexit upon UK industry that government plans to pull out of the EU chemical database, known as REACH, and create […]

Who’s at fault for the public failing to understand the increasingly complex and contradictory local lockdown rules coming into place across much of England? Is it Dominic Cummings and his coterie of weirdos and misfits, sketching them out on the back of an envelope from his NASA command in Whitehall, patting themselves on the back for how […]

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has told Boris Johnson to stop “yapping, bumbling, mumbling” to avoid giving answers at Prime Minister’s Questions. Blackford asked the prime minister about the Internal Market Bill, which could override the Brexit deal that had been agreed earlier this year. “Why does he think the people of Scotland have […]

Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Boris Johnson for not understanding his own coronavirus restrictions during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), as the prime minister called for more support from the Labour leader. On Tuesday, the prime minister contradicted government advice and told people in the North East they could continue to socialise in groups of six […]

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has blocked a rebel amendment from backbench Tory MPs which could have defeated the government over coronavirus laws. Around 50 MPs signed an amendment by Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential Tory backbench 1922 committee, demanding a vote on new coronavirus restrictions that would curb the “liberties” of Britons. Ringleaders claimed […]

Britain has backtracked on the issue of fishing rights in UK waters in a last minute attempt to salvage Brexit trade talks. The UK offered the EU a three-year transition period for its fishing fleets to leave British seas beginning from 2021. The idea of a phase-out has been discussed before but details of how […]

A chef has been praised for his subtle dig towards Boris Johnson during a BBC News interview on new coronavirus restrictions in the North East of England. Max Gott, head of the Bistro Forty Six, remained professional about the prime minister while appearing on the rolling news channel – but viewers realised he had still […]

Priti Patel has asked officials to explore sending migrants to an isolated island more than 4,000 miles away from Britain for processing. The home secretary allegedly ordered her own staff to look into transferring asylum seekers who arrive in the UK to a centre on the south Atlantic islet of Ascension Island , the FT reports. The […]

A new poll has found that almost half of Tory party members believe Islam is a “threat to the British way of life”. Hope Not Hate revealed the figures as part of its submission to the ‘Conservative Party Inquiry on all forms of racism including Islamophobia’, and reveals the extent of anti-Muslim sentiment amongst the […]

Piers Morgan has called Boris Johnson a “drongo” and a “bumbling fool” as he reacted to the prime minister’s confusion over the latest Covid-19 restriction rules. The Good Morning Britain presenter said Johnson was the “captain of the Titanic taking us down” as he renewed calls for him to go. He told viewers: “He not […]

Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill has cleared its final Commons hurdle – with Tory critics choosing to abstain. Former prime minister Theresa May and two ex-attorney generals, Geoffrey Cox and Jeremy Wright, were among 21 Conservatives who did not vote for the UK Internal Market Bill at third reading on Tuesday evening. While some, including […]

Boris Johnson will be joined by his medical and scientific advisors later for a coronavirus press conference – his 21st time since the pandemic started. The prime minister will be flanked by chief medical officer for England professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. It is not clear if anything particularly significant […]

Business secretary Alok Sharma has accused the media of engaging in a “gotcha” style of journalism when it comes to quizzing ministers about the latest regional and national coronavirus regulations. It comes after Boris Johnson and a junior minister could not properly explain what the latest restrictions are for the north east of England. Speaking […]

Council leaders have said government restrictions in the North East lack clarity. Boris Johnson issued an apology after he failed to clarify precisely what the new restrictions would mean for around two million people in Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham. Gateshead council leader Martin Gannon said, although he was […]