News and Opinion

Downing Street is pushing ahead with legislation that will override key aspects of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement signed by Westminster and all 27 EU member states. The government has published a draft version of the internal market bill which includes provision that would allow ministers to unilaterally interpret the Withdrawal Agreement. Clause 45 the draft […]

Boris Johnson was licking his lips at an opportunity to dub Keir Starmer a Remoaner at today’s PMQs. Trouble was, Starmer wasn’t playing According to a report in Sunday’s Observer, following last week’s PMQs – in which a foam-flecked Boris Johnson, struggling to defend the government’s handling of exam results, descended into a rant about […]

The speaker has urged SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford to withdraw a remark at Prime Minister’s Questions which called Boris Johnson a ‘charlatan’ and liar over his Brexit plans. Blackford originally led on attacks about the prime minister proposing to break international law to override the Withdrawal Agreement bill agreed in the House of Commons. […]

There is an 80% chance of ‘chaos in Kent’ when the Brexit transition period ends, a haulage industry leader has warned, as he claimed that ministers were in ‘denial’. Richard Burnett, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA), made the prediction due to concerns over several aspects of the UK’s preparations for the export […]

The chief executive of Ryanair has said he would not take any ‘advice or guidance’ about the coronavirus from Boris Johnson, calling the prime minister’s track-record ‘lamentable’ and ‘consistently wrong’. Michael O’Leary said the UK government had been ‘consistently late to the party and wrong on Covid’. Appearing on Sky News, O’Leary said: ‘Boris Johnson’s […]

Piers Morgan has hit out at Matt Hancock and government ministers for appearing to blame the public for a lack of coronavirus tests rather than taking responsibility. The Good Morning Britain host was appalled by comments from Hancock that the problems with testing was the fault of the public, who were supposedly turning up to […]

The former UK ambassador to Washington has said he thinks there is an ‘aspect of the way Donald Trump would have done it’ regarding Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit talks. Lord Kim Darroch referred to comments made by Johnson in 2018, in which he reportedly said there would be ‘all sorts of chaos’ at the […]

Matt Hancock has blamed the British public for a recent dearth of available coronavirus tests saying that people not showing symptoms were wrongfully getting tested. The health secretary insisted the government Test and Trace system was ‘excellent’ despite reports of people being asked to travel up to 650 miles for a swab. Appearing on Sky […]

Matt Hancock was back for round two with Kay Burley over the suitability of former Australian prime minister Tony Abbott for a key post-Brexit trade role with the government. Hancock had previously insisted that Abbott’s climate change denial, homophobia and misogyny should be ignored because he is an ‘expert on trade’. His comments were widely […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer is planning to hold press conferences in a bid to counter the expected start of the televised Downing Street briefings, the party has confirmed. The Daily Telegraph reported that televised question and answer sessions with the media will begin next month, when Number 10 is thought to want to begin […]

The organisers behind a new £120 million national event dubbed the ‘festival of Brexit Britain’ have said it can help bring the UK back together after the UK leaves the EU. The event – proposed by Theresa May back in 2018 – is expected to take place next year with the working title Festival UK […]

Matt Hancock has said he is ‘comfortable’ with the fact the UK is willing to break international law on the EU withdrawal agreement. The health secretary made the comments hours after he announced new social distancing restrictions. When asked by Times Radio if he was comfortable with a minister saying the UK was willing to […]

Tory Brexiteer Andrea Jenkyns has been accused of ‘playground bully’ tactics after responding to a story about her television interview with a ‘you lost get over it’ tirade. Jenkyns took aim at an article alleging she ‘erupted with fury after taking exception with Boris Johnson being branded ‘a liar”. The deputy chairwoman of the European […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called on Boris Johnson to give an ‘honest answer’ on the failures of the NHS Test and Trace system during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). In the second round of PMQs since summer recess, Sir Keir pressed Johnson to explain reports of people being told to travel miles away from their home […]

Keir Starmer has rejected suggestions he could support a second referendum on EU membership, despite Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal unravelling. The leader of the opposition was questioned by the media about Labour’s position on the European Union as Brexit returned to the headlines following Boris Johnson’s call to overrule the Withdrawal Agreement. Asked if Starmer […]

New polling has found that almost half of the British public do not believe Boris Johnson’s claim that the NHS will be ‘off the table’ in post-Brexit trade talks. According to the survey commissioned by campaign group We Own It, 47% of the public don’t believe Boris Johnson’s claims on the NHS and trade, up […]

Keir Starmer has hit out at Boris Johnson for using the latest Brexit argument as a distraction and has urged him to get back to focusing on the pandemic. The Labour leader has urged Boris Johnson not to ‘reopen old wounds’ and to get a trade deal with the EU. He called on Johnson to […]

A Vote Leave supporter who stands to lose his business after Brexit has said he does not regret voting the way he did. John Hardman said his reasons for voting to leave the EU had not changed in four years and was disappointed Brexit trade talks were still continuing. Speaking on BBC, he told presenter […]

Britain has been likened to a ‘rogue state’ after threatening to tear up the Withdrawal Agreement by a veteran diplomat. Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, who served as British ambassador to Washington and Brussels, launched the scathing attack over suggestions the prime minister wants to row back on parts of the agreement relating to Northern Ireland. […]

A Eurosceptic Tory MP has called on Boris Johnson to scrap the Withdrawal Agreement (WA) if the UK fails to reach a Brexit trade deal with the EU. ERG member Bernard Jenkin said he only voted for the WA because the prime minister claimed he would ditch it if no deal was reached by the […]

A minister has admitted the government plans to break international law with its plans to override the Withdrawal Agreement for Brexit. Brandon Lewis, the UK’s Northern Ireland minister, acknowledged that Boris Johnson’s proposal ‘does break international law in a very specific and limited way.’ The minister was responding to a question from Tory MP Bob […]

A Brexiteer MP has erupted with fury after a Labour MP branded Boris Johnson a liar over his volt-face over his ‘fantastic’ Brexit deal. When deputy chairwoman of the European Research Group Andrea Jenkyns was asked if the prime minister is reneging on his commitments he signed up to with the Withdrawal Agreement, she appeared […]

The chief of the UK’s legal department has quit in protest against Boris Johnson’s plans to overwrite parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol. Sir Jonathan Jones is the sixth Whitehall official to resign this year amid growing tensions between Downing Street and the civil service, the FT has revealed. Two insiders with knowledge of the […]

Boris Johnson is reportedly set to tell the EU that his Brexit deal – something he once branded ‘fantastic’ – is ‘contradictory’ and does not make sense. The prime minister is now arguing that the Withdrawal Agreement is legally ambiguous and would leave Northern Ireland isolated from the rest of the UK, something he says […]

The DUP has insisted the party is not divided on the Northern Ireland protocol after leader Arlene Foster appeared to contradict a senior MP. Scrutiny of the DUP’s stance has intensified as speculation continues over the Government’s apparent desire to use domestic legislation to override elements of the contentious protocol. On Monday night the DUP […]

Some 308 Tory MPs voted down recommendations from the Grenfell Inquiry which would have forced flat owners and managers to share fire safety and evacuation details with residents. Labour has described the vote to sideline proposals made by the first stage of an inquiry into the Grenfell Tower fire which killed 72 residents a ‘shameful […]

A former Tory minister and Vote Leave campaigner has claimed that it would be ‘utterly horrendous’ to have a Brexit extension. Andrea Leadsom refuted said it would be much better for the UK to leave the European Union regardless of the outcome, despite complications over a possible Brexit deal, the coronavirus outbreak, and the economic […]

Boris Johnson is trying to strike a deal with the Irish government that would effectively undermine aspects of the Withdrawal Agreement. Britain has asked for the Irish government’s help in urging the European Commission to relax customs checks on British goods entering Northern Ireland, RTÉ News reports. In return, Downing Street has offered to fast […]

Health minister Nadine Dorries appears to have attempted to rewrite history by claiming that it had been suggested Covid-19 could be over by Christmas. Dorries took exception with journalist Steve Hawkes’ tweet which ridiculed the government for stating that the public were ‘too relaxed’ about the coronavirus. He tweeted: ‘They were told to shop, take […]

Twitter has been urged to ban controversial right-wing blogger David Vance over a string of racist remarks, after his latest tweets to Marcus Rashford about the African-Caribbean community. Vance is accused of trolling prominent black political activists with a flurry of offensive remarks, including Marcus Rashford, Labour MP David Lammy, and Remain campaigner Femi Oluwole. […]

A Tory minister has announced he is stepping down from government due to ‘personal reasons’. Simon Clarke, the minister for regional growth and local government, said his decision was due to ‘purely personal reasons’. The MP announced his decision in a letter to the prime minister at lunchtime, before posting the document as a statement […]

Britain has been warned it will not achieve a post-Brexit trade deal with America if it reneges on its commitments to Northern Ireland. Senior congressman Brendan Boyle said a breakdown in talks between Brussels and London would result in the collapse of negotiations with Washington too. The Democrat is a member of the key congressional […]