United Kingdom

The trade deal between the UK and Australia should be subject to a vote in the House of Commons and Holyrood, Nicola Sturgeon has said. Scotland’s first minister has repeatedly raised concerns over the deal, which she says will hurt Scottish farmers and food producers as cheaper imports undercut them. The agreement was announced following […]

The environment secretary is reportedly one of the cabinet ministers who could be demoted by Boris Johnson in the next reshuffle. George Eustice is said to be among those “due for the chop” after a disagreement over the post-Brexit trade deal with Australia, with the minister expressing concerns over the impact on farmers. MPs have heard […]

Boris Johnson is a “massive supporter” of health secretary Matt Hancock despite criticising him as “f**king hopeless” in messages revealed by Dominic Cummings, a minister has claimed. Financial secretary to the Treasury Jesse Norman said the prime minister is “firmly behind” Hancock following the extraordinary revelation of private WhatsApps from his former chief aide. No […]

When Brexit redefined the UK’s place in the world, migrants were left out in the cold. But, disabled migrants fell through the cracks entirely.  “Can you spell your last name?” they ask. I’m used to it by now. In France, it’s an easy question: I just answer “Castres, like the city.” But there’s no Castres […]

The Liberal Democrats have claimed the Chesham and Amersham by-election is “neck and neck” as voters go to the polls in a by-election for the historically Conservative safe seat. The constituency in Buckinghamshire has been held by the Tories since its creation in 1974, but the Liberal Democrats have insisted it could “go down to […]

Boris Johnson’s faults and failings are blindingly obvious, but the media don’t seem interested in that story It was a great question. “When the history books are written, will Boris Johnson still get away with it?” It was asked by a woman in the Q and A when I spoke at the Wimbledon Book Festival, […]

A reader points out how Brexit red tape is impacting Amazon order This is the amazing journey of a tiny cheap item of a pair of Creative Earbuds ordered from Amazon UK costing just £6.99 and the time this small package took as it travelled from Rome, Italy to Oxford UK. I have ordered these […]

Ian Blackford has kicked off parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s post-Brexit trade deal with Australia by asking the prime minister multiple questions on the subject at PMQs. The leader of the SNP used his questions to ask for more “details of the disastrous trade deal with Australia”. He said these details were “busy being celebrated in Canberra, but […]

The trade deal with Australia will act as a “stepping stone” to a wider trans-Pacific accord, Liz Truss said as she rejected farmers’ concerns about the agreement. The international trade secretary said the UK is looking at parts of the world where growth is expected in future as she defended the deal, which is forecast […]

Boris Johnson described health secretary Matt Hancock as “hopeless” early in the coronavirus pandemic, according to a message published by former aide Dominic Cummings. Cummings, who has blamed Hancock for failings during the Covid response, published a screenshot apparently showing a WhatsApp exchange between himself and the prime minister. On March 3 last year, the […]

Andrew Neil has launched a new channel, GB News. Now, comedian Mitch Benn is starting his own network for middle-aged, straight, balding white men… MB NEWS IS HERE! Hello, good evening/morning/afternoon and welcome to the exciting launch of my very own news channel, MB NEWS! Yes, like 52% of the GREAT BRITISH PUBLIC (give or […]

Boris Johnson has said that a path through the “thicket of burdensome and restrictive regulation” must be cleared to fulfil the potentials of Brexit. A report from Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform (TIGRR) led by Iain Duncan Smith has described Brexit as a “one-off opportunity” to reduce red tape and set out a new […]

Boris Johnson faces the prospect of a Tory rebellion when MPs are asked to approve the extension of coronavirus restrictions in England until July 19. The House of Commons will vote on Wednesday evening on the four-week delay to the end of lockdown measures, aimed at buying more time for the vaccine programme. Labour has […]

Boris Johnson’s government risks another tragedy like the hate-fuelled killings of Jo Cox or Stephen Lawrence by stoking a “culture war”, a former race adviser has said. Samuel Kasumu, in his first interview since quitting as the prime minister’s most senior black adviser, said some Conservatives believe the path to victory includes exploiting division. “There […]

Calls to immediately scrap the amber travel list and move the countries to the banned red list have been rejected by the government. MPs voted 363 to 256, a majority of 107, to defeat a Labour motion that called for action to create a “clear, simply understood and proper” hotel quarantine scheme at the UK […]

MPs have written to Liz Truss demanding parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s post-Brexit trade deal with Australia. A series of MPs, representing all four nations, have written to the international trade secretary amid concerns that the deal could negatively affect the country’s farmers and put them out of business. In the letter, which was coordinated […]

Boris Johnson is set for showdown talks with the Commons speaker following stinging criticism of the government’s handling of the road map delay announcement. Hoyle initially accused Downing Steet of “running roughshod” over MPs by opting to release details of the unlocking delay to July 19 via a press conference at 6pm on Monday rather […]

The Kominsky Method is surprisingly thoughtful in the way it grapples with the fundamental fragility of friendship and getting old – if you can ignore the unnecessary swipes against the young When I first watched The Kominsky Method I did so with the full expectation that it would melt into the indistinguishable coterie of bland, almost […]

Lindsay Hoyle, speaker of the house, has rebuked Boris Johnson’s decision to hold a televised news conference about changes to the Covid roadmap timetable without informing MPs in the House of Commons first. Hoyle angrily called the actions “totally unacceptable” and accused the government of “running roughshod” over MPs. The prime minister held a press conference at […]

Michael Gove has described international trade secretary Liz Truss as a “tough” and “shrewd” negotiator who will be looking to deliver “what’s best for Britain” with post-Brexit deals with other countries. The former environment secretary was said to have been at loggerheads with Truss over a trade deal with Australia, fearing the impact it could have […]

Farmers in Kent and Fife say their soft fruit crops may go unpicked because of a lack of seasonal workers from the EU post-Brexit It has been a gloomy week on the sunlit uplands of sovereign Britain – not only in Cornwall, where a just-married couple’s party was ruined when the guests complained about the […]

The UK may have set a precedent with Australia which could create “negotiating difficulties” for future trade agreements, an expert has said.

Prime minister Boris Johnson is to unveil details of the UK’s first trade deal negotiated from scratch post-Brexit. He will welcome his Australian counterpart, Scott Morrison, to Downing Street on Tuesday after the two countries agreed on the broad terms of the pact. The deal is reported to have been sealed by the two premiers […]

A marketing invention of the publishing industry or a genuine opportunity to broaden horizons? CHARLIE CONNELLY on the phenomenon of beach books Now that the sun’s been out for longer than 20 minutes it won’t be long before we’re bombarded with recommendations for this year’s holiday reading. As ever these will take two forms: a […]

Priti Patel has said she does not support England’s footballers taking the knee in protest against racial injustice, labelling the act “gesture politics”. The home secretary did not condemn football fans who had booed players for taking the knee, calling it a “choice for them” after Gareth Southgate’s side faced jeers from a minority of […]

A Tory MP will make a public apology in the House of Commons for bullying parliamentary committee staff as he struggled with IT issues. Daniel Kawczynski acted in a “threatening and intimidating manner” towards the complainants after he was unable to join a committee hearing due to technical problems. A disciplinary report said the Shrewsbury […]

Boris Johnson is facing legal action over his award of a peerage to a wealthy Tory backer against the advice of the official House of Lords watchdog. Electoral Commission records show Peter Cruddas, a former Conservative Party treasurer, gave the Tories a further £500,000 just three days after taking up his seat in the upper […]

US president Joe Biden urged Boris Johnson to ensure the Northern Ireland peace process is protected in his bitter row with Brussels over post-Brexit trading arrangements, the White House has disclosed. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden – who has spoken of his pride in his Irish roots – had held a “candid discussion” […]

WILL SELF on a painstakingly assembled scale model of a long-gone Teesside neighbourhood Top hats and cloth caps off for Steve Waller, who has spent the past nine years working fulltime on a scale model of the historic St Hilda’s neighbourhood of Middlesbrough. Waller, 61, began working on the model after he slipped a disc […]

The story of two places, and two women, linked by fate and separated by a body of water. Calais has always had a special place in British culture. We owned it from 1347 until 1558 after all, even if now it’s mainly known for booze cruises, Channel swims and the first trip abroad for so […]

PETER TRUDGILL on the language of the Isle of Man, and its rearguard action against the linguistic homogenisation of the British Isles If you have ever been to Ellan Vannin – the Isle of Man – you will know that from the shores of that beautiful island it is possible to see Ireland, Scotland, England and, […]

Almost five years on from the fateful vote, historian JAMES HAWES explains why the decision to leave the EU was the result of a Tory civil war – triggered by John Major’s 1992 victory – for eternal control of southern England Karl Marx believed that history was all about a succession of class struggles. He was, […]