Boris Johnson

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL compares the recent resignation of the Dutch cabinet with the lack of scrutiny and accountability of our own leaders. It is now almost a quarter of a century since I jumped the journalistic fence into frontline political combat. By the time another quarter of a century is done, assuming I survive that long, […]

Downing Street has insisted Boris Johnson’s exchanges at Prime Minister’s Questions fit the criteria of ‘kind and civil’ politics which the PM had called for days before. Johnson’s press secretary Allegra Stratton was asked if nicknaming Keir Starmer “Captain Hindsight” was rude or unpleasant, something she denied. Stratton said it was a way of making […]

Boris Johnson has declared “there’s nothing wrong with being woke”. The prime minister was asked if he considered Biden to be woke – defined as being alert to societal injustices – after Labour’s Lisa Nandy praised Joe Biden as a “woke guy” who is a possible model for electoral success for the Labour Party. “I can’t […]

Downing Street has rebuked Theresa May over an accusation that Boris Johnson has abandoned Britain’s position of “global moral leadership”. May used a Daily Mail article saying that while the UK was well placed to play a decisive role in shaping a more co-operative world, she suggested it had not been helped by her successor’s actions. Number […]

The SNP’s leader in the Commons has questioned Boris Johnson over his ability to be a “moral” leader following remarks by Theresa May. Blackford also asked Johnson if he would overturn cuts to Britain’s foreign aid budget during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  “This morning the former prime minister accused the current prime minister of abandoning moral […]

Labour MP Ben Bradshaw has called out the prime minister over his false promises made over Brexit. Speaking at the latest session of Prime Minister’s Questions, Bradshaw asked Johnson: “When the prime minister told the fishermen in the South West that they would not face new export barriers or unnecessary form filling. And when he […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson is keen to relax England’s lockdown in time for Easter, reports claim. Johnson is said to be making “top secret” plans for an Easter relaxation of rules, which could – at least – allow families to mix outside again. Lockdown regulations are currently set to end on March 31 – just […]

Boris Johnson has said he will work ‘hand in hand’ with Joe Biden after he takes office. The government hopes Biden’s inauguration as US president will mark the start of a new political era following the turbulence of Donald Trump’s administration. The UK’s ambassador to the US, Dame Karen Pierce, said there was “a lot […]

The inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th president of the United States marks the opening of a new chapter in the Anglo-American relationship – raising fresh questions as to whether it remains as “special” as it once was. For Boris Johnson the pressure is on to establish good working relations with the new occupant […]

Boris Johnson has narrowly avoided feat over a vote on a bid to outlaw post-Brexit trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. The prime minister’s working majority of 87 dwindled to just 11 as MPs voted to reverse an amendment to the Trade Bill made by the House of Lords by 319 votes to […]

Theresa May has launched a fresh onslaught on Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, in an article for the Daily Mail newspaper. The former prime minister warned Johnson’s threat to override Britain’s treaty obligations in the Brexit divorce settlement risked signalling a “retreat” from the UK’s global commitments. In the article that marks the inauguration of Joe […]

The former head of the UK’s civil service has claimed that Boris Johnson will be “relieved” to see the back of Donald Trump as US president. Lord Sedwill, who served as cabinet secretary from 2018 to 2020, wrote in the Daily Mail that another term for Trump “would not have been to the benefit of […]

Boris Johnson’s official schedule includes time for him to “power nap” during the day, a Downing Street insider has claimed. Times Radio reported an anonymous source as saying that it “would not be entirely uncommon in the diary for him to shut the door and have a kip for half an hour or so,” before […]

Boris Johnson has blamed seafood exporters for a collapse in sales after Brexit, claiming they were “not filling in the right forms”. Johnson also said the UK would control “all the fish” in its coastal waters in years to come. And he linked the crisis – caused by a mountain of new red tape imposed […]

Boris Johnson has demanded politicians be more “civil and kind” to each after debates surround the provision of free school meals sparked public reprisals against MPs. The prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said the debate around free school meals had made life “very unpleasant” for Conservative MPs. This comes as the prime minister accused Labour supporters of using a […]

Greens MP Caroline Lucas has accused the Tories of being the “nasty party” after it told backbenchers to abstain from a vote to keep a £20 top-up to Universal Credit. Lucas accused the government of being “perfectly happy” for the price of the pandemic to be paid for by “some of the poorest people who are least able to […]

A new television drama is to focus on Boris Johnson’s first year in Downing Street, with particular focus on his handling of the pandemic, his own experience with Covid-19, and the birth of his son Wilfred. The drama, to be produced by Freemantle, will focus on the private lives of the prime minister and his […]

Comedian and TV presenter Rufus Hound has used an appearance on ITV’s Dancing on Ice to shame the government over its handling the free school meals fiasco. Hound, a contestant on the show, joked that the only thing crazier than appearing on the programme was a government that refused to feed hungry children during the holidays. […]

Sir Keir Starmer has called Boris Johnson “pathetic” for ordering Conservative MPs to abstain from a vote on extending a £20 weekly rise in Universal Credit, and said that “in their heart of hearts” Tories would back Labour’s move. The prime minister was working to lessen the scale of a potential revolt from his within […]

The Tories are expected to abstain in two key votes on the government’s support for families – which includes scrapping a £1,000 a year cut in Universal Credit and the extension of free school meals – with Boris Johnson claiming the party is “playing politics” with the vote. Johnson will come under intense pressure to […]

Boris Johnson has been told by a senior Tory backbencher that his leadership will be “on the table” if the government does not ease Covid restrictions. Steve Baker of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group has written to members urging them to put pressure on the Tory chief whip over the issue. Baker, who played a […]

Amber Rudd has said Boris Johnson has a “sort of language which he’s quite rightly nervous using in front of women” as the ex-home secretary hit out at the “boys’ club” atmosphere in the Commons. Rudd also accused the prime minister of going “backwards” on promoting women. The former cabinet minister said she quit Johnson’s […]

Ian Dunt says this is the most severe and unforgivable example of government failure that we have seen in our lifetime. The UK Covid death toll now stands at more than 80,000 people. By the time it is over, it’ll almost certainly hit 100,000. Every afternoon, the same terrible bell tolls announcing the number of […]

Former Commons speaker JOHN BERCOW on the US president, the British politicians who indulged him, and the Trumpian tactics which have spread to the UK. The chorus of execration of the Capitol rioters, and president Trump’s evil incitement of them, has been loud, eloquent and justified. Global media outlets have simply reflected the overwhelming sense […]

New Brexit red tape causing friction at Britain’s borders are an “obvious and inevitable” part of leaving the EU and are here to stay, former chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said. Barnier said businesses could expect to overcome “glitches, problems, and breakdowns” caused by new paperwork in the weeks and months ahead but warned that other […]

It’s the 1246-page document that changed the lives of millions at the stroke of 11pm on New Year’s Eve – but has Boris Johnson read it? The prime minister’s spokesperson was earlier repeatedly unable to confirm whether Johnson had read every word of the treaty setting out the UK’s new trading relationship with the EU. […]

A man has got a tattoo of Boris Johnson’s face on his stomach in order to raise money for a woman to receive life-saving cancer treatment. Kenny Wilding, 41, from Kidderminster, said he got the tattoo to raise money for a family friend who was diagnosed with stage four rectal cancer in January 2019. Megan Smith […]

Last week, editor-at-large Alastair Campbell kicked off a debate as to what more Remainers could have done to stop Brexit. Here, writers, politicians and campaigners have their say. Mary Honeyball Former Labour MEPWe pro-Europeans must show humility. We lost. Leave won. Many Leave voters were on low incomes, over 50 and male. They viewed the EU […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed fish captured after the Brexit deal came into effect were “British and happier for it”. Rees-Mogg suggested Scottish fishermen should be happy that Britain “got our fish back”, even though many faced financial difficulties caused by stock rotting at British ports due to Brexit-related hold-ups. Responding to the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard’s question on compensating those […]

Home secretary Priti Patel appeared to spark more confusion with an appearance on This Morning alongside Philip Schofield and Holly Willoughby. The minister appeared confused about coronavirus rules once more as she stressed the importance of exercising alone. The guidance makes clear that in England someone is allowed to exercise outdoors with one other person from […]

The UK’s vaccination programme started well. But JAMES BALL detects some wearily and worryingly familiar signs of over-promising and under-delivering. No-one ever imagined the UK would end up in a third national coronavirus lockdown, let alone that thanks to systematic government failure it would end up with the NHS in an even more parlous position even […]

Don’t assume it couldn’t happen here, warns ALASTAIR CAMPBELL. There was something almost comical about the way Boris Johnson and his media sycophants sought to distance him and his cabinet from their previous ‘upsucking’ to Donald Trump. Whether Johnson backing Trump for a Nobel peace prize; Dominic Raab even quite recently refusing to criticise Trump’s […]