News and Opinion

As Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson of dodging the question or giving dodgy answers, the PM’s temper flared There’s a clue in the name Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition as to its role, but it appears lost on Boris Johnson. It could be, as this column has suggested previously, because he was never said no […]

Low-income voters were behind Boris Johnson’s election landslide in 2019, a new report has found. A study of voting behaviours during last year’s poll found that Johnson established a 15-point lead over his Labour rival among people on low incomes.
 It also found that the Tories were more popular with minimum wage earners than they […]

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest data for the number of deaths surrounding coronavirus, showing the UK has passed another grim milestone. Tuesday’s figures from the ONS show there were 59,252 excess deaths in England and Wales between March 21 and June 12 2020. Data published last week by the National […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of misleading parliament over claims that no country has a functioning track-and-trace app, with one Labour MP calling his comments ‘rubbish’. Johnson made the statement while announcing the easing of lockdown measures in England, which included the relaxing of the two metre social distance rule. Taking questions from the leader […]

Wera Hobhouse has bowed out of the Liberal Democrat leadership election – throwing her support behind Layla Moran to become the next leader. In an announcement, the MP explained to supporters why she had decided to pull out of the race. She explained: ‘There is nothing more lonely or frustrating than feeling unheard. That is […]

The government will no longer be holding daily Downing Street press conferences. Earlier this month the government claimed Johnson would now ‘take charge’ of the pandemic response, with the prime minister expected to make at least one weekly appearance in front of journalists. But after the prime minister announced a new easing of lockdown in […]

US authorities have launched an investigation into Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage, who recently broke coronavirus quarantine guidelines to attend a Donald Trump campaign rally in Oklahoma. Chair of the Homeland Security committee Bennie G Thompson wrote to the US department requesting it investigate the Brexiteer’s latest trip to the US. Since coronavirus broke out, […]

Piers Morgan tried to stop co-host Susanna Reid reading out a government statement on its position on student nurses on Good Morning Britain (GMB) after ministers refused to appear on-air. Government ministers have boycotted the programme for over 56 days after complaining they were bullied during interviews with star presenter Piers Morgan. In the saga’s […]

The co-leader of the Greens in the European Parliament has told MEPs that Dominic Cummings is ‘calling the shots’ over Brexit in the UK. Philippe Lamberts told reporters in Brussels that he did not believe the UK would sign up to a deal with the EU because of Dominic Cummings’ influence. The MEP, who is […]

Health minister Matt Hancock has been urged to sign the UK up to an EU initiative which would fast-track a possible coronavirus vaccine. The European Union has launched a new scheme to work with six possible coronavirus manufacturers, allowing member states to pool resource and work together to buy sufficient supplies, should a solution become […]

The government has been heavily defeated in the Lords over demands to put environmental sustainability at the heart of post-Brexit fishing policy. Peers backed a cross-party amendment to the Fisheries Bill aimed at making this the prime objective to prevent over-fishing and damage to the marine environment. The government’s bill enables the UK to become […]

People in England think that the governments in Wales and Scotland have done a better job of handling the coronavirus pandemic than Boris Johnson’s government. A new poll from YouGov found that just 41% think Boris Johnson’s administration dealt with the pandemic very well or fairly well, with 53% saying it had done a bad […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson has announced he is scrapping the two metre social distancing rule as part of an easing of lockdown restrictions, saying there is no ‘current risk’ of a second coronavirus peak. Johnson told the Commons that people should still remain two metres apart ‘where it is possible’ but that a ‘one-metre plus’ […]

Labour activist MARTYN SLOMAN on the Labour Together review of the 2019 general election – and why Brexit will be a bigger test for Keir Starmer’s leadership. Immediately after the calamitous 2019 election defeat a group of Labour Party activists gathered round Ed Miliband and undertook an analysis of the result; the group had been […]

A Conservative MP has apologised in the House of Commons after failing to register his business directorships as interests. Marcus Fysh, Tory MP for Yeovil, was found by the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards, Kathryn Stone, to have made three breaches of the Code of Conduct. The Commons Standards Committee later intervened after Fysh did not […]

The fallout from a no-deal Brexit is a bigger threat to UK food supplies than the coronavirus, academics have claimed. Experts from Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) have advised that the price of every day goods could skyrocket if the UK fails to clench a trade deal with the EU by the end of this year. […]

UKIP’s new leader has claimed Westminster should be ‘shaking in their boots’ after claiming his party is ‘back in business’. Freddy Vachha, in an animated speech made in front of Sir Winston Churchill’s statue in Parliament Square, said Westminster politicians should be ‘quaking’ after he vowed to revive the anti-European Union party’s fortunes. He is […]

An overwhelming majority of Britons think that Boris Johnson should take a pay-cut to show solidarity with workers worst affected by the coronavirus. In polling commissioned by the MailOnline, 75% of respondents believe the prime minister should follow London mayor Sadiq Khan’s example and reduce his pay and the salary of senior ministers by 10%. […]

Boris Johnson faces a Tory rebellion after more than 50 of his own MPs said they would vote against government legislation to relax Sunday trading laws. Downing Street is preparing to overhaul Sunday trading restrictions to allow shops to remain open all day in a bid to boost footfall as the coronavirus lockdown eases. The […]

A Spanish minister has said there is ‘slight’ concern from some in his country about UK coronavirus rates as Spain opens its borders to British tourists again. Manuel Muniz, of Spain’s foreign ministry, said UK tourists will need to undergo a temperature check, a visible check and fill in a health form. Asked if some […]

Pope Francis has accused politicians of hypocrisy during the coronavirus pandemic, calling it an opportunity to rethink how governments approach poverty. The pontiff said the Covid-19 outbreak has exposed divisions in society and that there is a need for less consumption and more help for the poor. In an interview he contributed to a BBC […]

A Tory MP and former planning minister is under investigation by parliament after failing to declare links to a luxury hotel development in his constituency. Sir Bob Neill failed to inform parliament that he was paid for his involvement in promoting a luxury hotel scheme in Bromley Kent, the Telegraph reports. Neill wrote to the […]

A journalist – and ‘lifelong’ Tory voter – appeared to accuse a Brexiteer radio presenter of racism after he defended Boris Johnson against claims that he is a ‘modern-day Enoch Powell’. Former Daily Telegraph political columnist Peter Oborne, a critic of Boris Johnson, accused LBC host Iain Dale of defending racist language used by the […]

A former Tory minister has claimed that his party is ‘knackered’ from government, just six months after Boris Johnson and the Tories won the general election. Tim Loughton, MP for East Worthing and Shoreham, blamed Boris Johnson’s rush to return to work after contracting coronavirus, as well as the overall pandemic, for that feeling. He […]

A Tory MP has been trolled by pro-EU Twitter users after he claimed that the break-up of the union would ‘destabilise our whole nation’. Tom Tugendhat, now a supporter of the Tory government’s Brexit proposals, made the comments after polling showed increased support for Scottish independence. He said that the end of the union would […]

A health minister has been accused of making student nurses ‘feel worthless’ after she wrote to one claiming they are ‘not deemed to be providing a service’. Helen Whately, the Conservative MP for Faversham and the government’s care minister, was responding to a letter calling for additional financial support for student nurses after the NHS […]

The reproductive rate of the coronavirus disease in Germany has jumped from 1.79 on Saturday to 2.88 on Sunday, but experts are not predicting a nationwide increase in cases. The R number on Thursday was 0.86, but had jumped from 1.79 on Saturday to 2.88 on Sunday, according to daily statistics from the Robert Koch […]

Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Oklahoma was hit by a lower-than-expected attendance because of teenagers on TikTok and fans of Korean pop music, it has been claimed. The US president, who is looking to secure a second term in November’s election, held his first major campaign event since Covid-19 shut down much of the country […]

Boris Johnson is set to outline the plans to parliament for pubs, restaurants, hotels and hairdressers to reopen in England from July 4, and a likely loosening of the distance rule to aid the restart to the economy. Johnson and his most senior ministers will meet on Monday discuss the next steps for the lockdown […]

Boris Johnson has counteracted claims he takes long power naps during the day since contracting coronavirus to claim he is being kept busy at home during lockdown. The prime minister and Carrie Symonds welcomed their son Wilfred at the end of April – and he is said to be spending a lot of time changing […]

Disgraced former defence secretary Liam Fox – also sacked by Boris Johnson as trade secretary – is being lined up as Britain’s preferred candidate to lead the World Trade Organisation. The Times reports Fox leads the nominations to take the post with Tory backbenchers after he remained loyal to Johnson despite losing his post under […]

Matt Hancock has said England is ‘clearly on track’ to further ease the coronavirus lockdown, with the hope pubs, restaurants and hairdressers could reopen as early as July 4. The health secretary promised the next steps would be set out this week, along with any alteration to the two-metre social distancing guidance. Hancock told Sky’s […]