United Kingdom

A union representing senior public servants has been given the go-ahead to bring a High Court challenge against the government. The FDA union launched judicial review proceedings in February over the prime minister’s decision to disregard the findings of his adviser on ministerial standards last year. Sir Alex Allan left his advisory role in Downing […]

Boris Johnson has told his cabinet to prepare for cuts as part of an ‘efficiency review’. Ministers were told that the “savings and efficiency review” will take place later in the year as the chancellor looks to make savings following the pandemic. A statement from Downing Street said: “The prime minister highlighted that departments are being asked […]

Six in 10 people in Britain regard Boris Johnson as “untrustworthy”, new polling has revealed. In an Ipsos MORI survey commissioned by the Evening Standard, only 35% of voters said they trusted the prime minister, compared to 59% who did not. The findings will increase alarm in Tory circles after weeks of leaks and allegations about sleaze. The […]

A cabinet minister has downplayed concerns over the refurbishment of Boris Johnson’s official residency by Tory Party donors, declaring the public was not interested in “some wallpaper or sofas”. Work and pensions minister Therese Coffey also said “the right declarations will be made” in due course showing the prime minister is personally paying for the £200,000 refurbishment. Questions have […]

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s fresh jail term is a signal that Iran will detain her until the UK resolves a long-running debt dispute with Tehran, her husband has said. Richard Ratcliffe said he fears his wife is facing an “open-ended detention” after she was sentenced to an additional year’s imprisonment and a further year-long ban on leaving […]

The leaders of six Westminster opposition parties will meet with Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to discuss holding a debate on Boris Johnson’s “inaccuracies” in parliament. The Liberal Democrats, Greens, SNP, Plaid Cymru, SDLP and Alliance Party will attend the talks with Sir Lindsay. Labour has said it will not back the call for a debate […]

Allegations of bullying by home secretary Priti Patel will reach the High Court after a union representing senior public servants challenged Boris Johnson’s refusal to sack the minister. The FDA union launched judicial review proceedings in February over the prime minister’s decision to disregard the findings of his adviser on ministerial standards last year. Sir […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of telling aides he would rather let coronavirus “rip” than impose a second lockdown. It was claimed he argued during a government debate in September that lockdowns were “mad” as he raised concerns about the economic harm they cause. Downing Street described the claims in the Times as “gross distortions” of […]

Number 10 has refused to deny that Boris Johnson personally briefed editors of pro-Tory newspapers over a number of leaks against him. The Telegraph, Sun, and Times last week all claimed that Dominic Cummings was to blame for “systematic leaking” of the prime minister’s texts with James Dyson and Saudi prince Mohammed Bin Salman. The […]

Boris Johnson did not try to block the investigation into who leaked the decision to impose the second lockdown, the top civil servant has suggested, as he said a culprit is yet to be identified. Simon Case declined to comment on Monday on whether the prime minister’s former chief aide Dominic Cummings had been cleared […]

The Tories have suffered a slump in public support as allegations of sleaze and cronyism continue to mount, a new poll suggests. The results come as voters across the UK head to the polls in less than 10 days. Ipsos MORI found the prime minister’s party on 40%, down from 45% in March, with Labour on 37%, down from […]

Downing Street has said the idea of a European Super League was not discussed when the prime minister was introduced to Manchester United executive vice chairman Ed Woodward days before the announcement. Reports suggest Boris Johnson may have given the impression he would back the proposal just four days before its launch following a meeting […]

Boris Johnson has claimed it is “total rubbish” that he allegedly made a remark suggesting they should let “the bodies pile high” over coronavirus rather than have a third lockdown. He also claimed that the public was “not interested” in what was reported in the newspapers over the matter. Talking to reporters, he said: “What I […]

Downing Street has said it is too busy dealing with the pandemic to launch a public inquiry into its handling of the crisis. In a letter seen by The Guardian to lawyers representing bereaved families, the government said “an inquiry now is not appropriate” because “the very people who would need to give evidence to an […]

Jason Solomons looks at how Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman helped take The Father from French fringe play to the Oscars It started life as a one-set play in a fringe theatre in Paris. Nine years later, The Father is now, as they say, a major motion picture and a very strong contender for this […]

A group of former political and religious leaders have urged the prime minister to “step up” to tackle recent violence in Northern Ireland. Police came under sustained and violent attack on both sides of a Belfast peace wall earlier this month following successive nights of violence. Loyalists staged protests at the so-called border in the […]

An overwhelming majority of Brexit voters back closer ties with Europe on “mutually beneficial” areas such as trade, new polling has revealed. Some 60% of Leave voters said it was important the UK cooperate with Brussels to tackle climate change and deal with threats from Russia and China. The large-scale poll of over 3,000 adults conducted […]

The SNP is demanding that Boris Johnson should resign if reports he said he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” than have a third English lockdown are true. Ian Blackford, the SNP’s Westminster leader, said Johnson had a “duty to resign” and called for the PM to address the reports in parliament and […]

Labour leader Keir Starmer has been encouraged to support making changes to the Brexit deal agreed with the EU to develop a closer working relationship with member states. A report published by the left-wing pro-EU group Another Europe Is Possible strongly supports the case for active engagement with the EU to improve the deal. Starmer […]

The UK’s most senior civil servant is expected to indicate he has not cleared Boris Johnson’s former adviser Dominic Cummings over the so-called “chatty rat” leak of plans for a second lockdown. Simon Case, the cabinet secretary, is expected to say his inquiry into the leak last autumn is still “live” when he appears before the […]

Labour is demanding Boris Johnson explain whether he signalled his backing for the ill-fated European Super League. The plan by the so-called Big Six Premier League clubs for a breakaway competition dramatically unravelled within just 48 hours after it was vehemently condemned by fans and government ministers – including Johnson – alike. However, the Sunday […]

Downing Street has denied an allegation that Boris Johnson said he would rather see “bodies pile high in their thousands” rather than order a third lockdown. It was reported that the prime minister made the remark after he ordered the second lockdown at the end of October. Johnson was said to have “raged” after agreeing […]

The “stench of sleaze” around the Conservative UK government is “becoming quite overpowering”, Nicola Sturgeon has said. The Scottish first minister called for an inquiry into allegations of “contracts for cronies, donations for decorating and text messages for tax breaks”, saying: “It is time for the Tories to put all their dealings into the public […]

Boris Johnson has denied he tried to block an official leak inquiry following a series of incendiary allegations by his former top adviser Dominic Cummings. In a furious outburst, Cummings accused the PM of seeking to halt the investigation into the leak of plans for a second lockdown after he was warned a close friend of […]

Four ponies detained at Belfast Port for almost five weeks due to errors in post-Brexit paperwork have been released to their new owners. Their arrival at the family farm near Ballygowan, Co Down, came after a judge ordered their release this week. The animals, which had been bought from a seller in Wales, had been […]

Dominic Cummings told Boris Johnson plans to have donors “secretly pay” to revamp his official Downing Street flat were “unethical, foolish” and “possibly illegal”, the ex-Number 10 aide said. The prime minister stopped speaking to his top adviser about the issue last year, Cummings said. He said he had refused to help Johnson organise payments […]

Downing Street has outlined details of Boris Johnson’s communications with billionaire James Dyson, but stopped short of publishing their messages amid a lobbying row. The prime minister insisted there is nothing “sleazy” about their discussions, but the summary published by No 10 falls short of what many had expected. The publication outlines how the entrepreneur was […]

Dominic Cummings has denied being the source of a BBC story on Boris Johnson’s text communications with businessman James Dyson. In a blog post that claims that Johnson and his office has fallen “so far below the standards of competence and integrity the country deserves”, he denied leaking the messages.  The prime minister’s former aide […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called for an investigation into renovation work on Boris Johnson’s official flat. The Electoral Commission says it is trying to establish whether money being funneled into the project needs to be considered as political donations. There have been ongoing reports about the cost of the refurbishments to the Downing Street flat, […]

Boris Johnson has insisted there is nothing “sleazy” about his messages with James Dyson as he prepared to publish the communications in an attempt to cool a lobbying row. The prime minister said the texts exchanged with the billionaire would be published later on Friday, as Downing Street declined to dismiss suggestions they had been […]

The Scottish Tories have attempted to distance themselves from the lobbying row engulfing the Westminster party. Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross said concerns raised over communications between senior UK government officials and business leaders “cannot be allowed to continue”. Ross said he believes governments should operate in “the most transparent and open way”. He added: “The […]

The UK is no longer a glowing example of tackling climate change - our carbon footprint is growing following Brexit