Boris Johnson

A Labour MP has delivered a scathing attack on Boris Johnson for suggesting that crashing out of the EU would be a “wonderful” outcome for Britain. David Lammy, the shadow justice secretary, accused Johnson of attempting to deliver a type of Brexit no-one wanted. MORE: Boris Johnson under renewed pressure as new polling finds two-thirds of Brits […]

Irish prime minister Micheal Martin has said that “Britain needs Europe, and Europe needs Britain”. In a criticism of Boris Johnson’s handling of Brexit talks, he said the Taioseach was critical of Boris Johnson’s threat to deploy Royal Navy vessels to patrol the seas around Britain if there is no deal. “All of that type of […]

Veteran Tory MP Sir Roger Gale said Boris Johnson should quit as prime minister if he fails to secure a trade deal with the European Union. Sir Roger, who was one of only two Tory MPs to vote against the UK Internal Market Bill, said an acceptable deal would see “imaginative ideas” regarding trade and […]

Boris Johnson has come under renewed pressure to strike an EU trade deal after fresh polling showed two-thirds of Britons preferred an Brexit agreement over no-deal. The survey, conducted by YouGov, shows Britons overwhelmingly support ending the Brexit transition period, which finishes on December 31, with a trade agreement. Some 66pc of people polled said they supported leaving with a […]

A video of Boris Johnson at the last election claiming nobody would be talking about Brexit in 2020 because he will have done his trade deal has gone viral as the UK’s departure from the European Union still dominates headlines. Brexit has overtaken the coronavirus as the top story on news headlines, with the UK […]

Boris Johnson has been reminded of comments around a Brexit trade deal with the EU in which he claimed that “100% of issues” relating to a trade agreement had been resolved already. During another visit to a car factory days before the general election, the prime minister was questioned about the likeliness of a trade agreement […]

Ed Miliband has dismantled Andrew Marr’s defence of Boris Johnson’s ‘oven-ready’ Brexit pledge that was made during the general election campaign. Referring to a clip of Johnson at Nissan days before the vote, he said that Marr’s claim this only related to the Withdrawal Agreement was “nonsense”. He explained: “He went to Nissan in Sunderland – very […]

Sunday’s deadline for Brexit talks has been scrapped, with Boris Johnson agreeing with European Union chiefs to continue negotiations over a trade deal beyond the weekend.  The prime minister spoke to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen to extend the deadline for negotiations to continue. In a joint statement they agreed to “go the extra mile” […]

SAM FOWLES took on Boris Johnson’s government over the prorogation of parliament in 2019 – now he warns of a new battle against the repealing of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act. The Royal Prerogative harks back “to the clanking of mediaeval chains of the ghosts of the past”. So said the great judge Lord Roskill, […]

An EU official has confirmed that the bloc rejected a request from Boris Johnson to allow him to involve German chancellor Angela Merkel and French president Emmanuel Macron in Brexit negotiations.  The senior official said the request for a three-way call on Monday was rejected because negotiations were intended to go through the European Commission and not […]

Boris Johnson has warned there is a “strong possibility” the UK will fail to broker a trade agreement with the EU as he told the nation to prepare for no-deal at the end of the Brexit transition period. The prime minister said the current proposals would keep the nation “kind of locked in the EU’s […]

EU leaders have made a last-minute change of plan to this evening’s dinner raising hopes of a new trade deal between the UK and the bloc. It means that first on the agenda in tonight’s dinner between UK and EU officials is discussions around a post-Brexit trade deal. The news was confirmed by Sky News Europe […]

Former Tory chancellor Ken Clarke has said that Brexit will put the country back by 50 years and a no-deal scenario will have worse economic effects than Covid-19. Speaking on the World at One on BBC Radio 4, Clarke said that he accepts the UK is leaving the EU and that his comments were not […]

The prime minister’s audience with the Queen has been postponed this week to allow him to focus on the post-Brexit trade deal talks. Boris Johnson usually telephones the monarch each Wednesday evening to update her on government matters, but there was no record of the audience in the Court Circular. Buckingham Palace said the Queen […]

A Conservative MP has clashed with a BBC presenter after she brought up a comment by the prime minister suggesting that chances a no-deal Brexit were “absolutely zero”. North Hertfordshire MP Bim Afolami accused Jo Coburn, who hosts Politics Live, of getting her facts wrong in relation to Boris Johnson’s remark. Johnson had said during last year’s […]

A former treasurer of the Conservative Party has taken his seat in the House of Lords. Michael Spencer, who is chairman of the right-leaning think tank the Centre for Policy Studies, was nominated to the unelected house by Boris Johnson. The 65-year-old Oxford graduate was among the intake of new peers to the upper house, […]

A French MEP has accused Boris Johnson over ‘underestimating the determination’ of the European Union during Brexit talks. Mireille Clapot claimed the prime minister had miscalculated the EU’s ability to negotiate and remain united, claiming he was paying the price by risking a no-deal Brexit. She told the BBC’s Newsnight: “Somebody said that strength comes from […]

Brexit trade talks could continue beyond the newly-agreed Sunday deadline, foreign secretary Dominic Raab has hinted. Raab was reticent to confirm Sunday’s deadline as a final cut-off, saying that “you can never say never” with EU negotiations. His comment came as Boris Johnson and EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen agreed to scrap Thursday’s deadline in favour of […]

Alastair Campbell on Boris Johnson’s ‘oven-ready’ Brexit pledge – and the ministers who have attempted to spin it. With the possible exception of my good friend Andrew Adonis, has there ever been a politician more misnamed than James Cleverly? Yet it is becoming ever more apparent that in the Johnson government, having a good brain, […]

Brexit negotiators have been given four days to reach an agreement following crunch talks between Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen. The prime minister and European Commission president agreed that a “firm decision” about the future of the negotiations should be made by Sunday. Discussions will continue between the UK and EU’s negotiating teams […]

Boris Johnson has arrived for last-ditch talks in Brussels with the European Commission’s top official aimed at breaking the deadlock in trade deal negotiations. The prime minister and Ursula von der Leyen will have dinner with their chief negotiators Michel Barnier and Lord Frost as they race against the clock to secure an agreement. Johnson […]

DONALD MACINTYRE on the squealing and dealing from Boris Johnson’s government over Brexit. We’ve been here before, of course. It was on March 13, 2003, that the cabinet were told “the message that must go out…[is] that we pin the blame on France for its isolated refusal to agree.” This was three days after Jacques […]

JAMES BALL on how the spell is broken for a one-trick phoney. Any man can tell you he can jump off the roof of a building, entirely naked and free of strings, parachutes, or similar, and levitate safely to the ground. An incredibly persuasive man, perhaps backed up by faked video evidence and more, might […]

A former EU diplomat has described Boris Johnson’s last-minute meeting in Brussels as ‘just for show’, claiming the prime minister was adamant about pursuing a no-deal Brexit. Sir Ivan Rogers, the former UK ambassador to the EU, said Johnson had intervened in Brexit talks too late to yield a positive result. Rogers said officials in Brussels believe […]

Boris Johnson has been told he has “no mandate” for a no-deal Brexit after a petition was handed in urging him to strike a deal with the EU. More than 100,000 people signed the petition organised by European Movement UK, a grass-roots campaign group focused on Britain’s relationship with Brussels. Signatories claimed that “a damaging No Deal […]

Boris Johnson has hinted Scotland could be offered a second independence referendum in the ‘future’ but warned that citizens would end up voting to stay in the union. The prime minister said the SNP’s “sheer incoherence” would see union supporters win a future referendum. Johnson’s response came after Glasgow MP David Linden had asked why polls have […]

Labour MP Chris Bryant has been rebuked by the House of Commons speaker after taking exception to apparent “disgraceful” behaviour while Boris Johnson spoke at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle called out the Labour former minister for alleged “heckling” in the middle of Johnson’s answer. It saw Bryant storm out of his seat at PMQs in […]

SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford has challenged Boris Johnson to explain why Scotland is “being shafted” by not having a Brexit arrangement in place similar to Northern Ireland. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, he said: “Yesterday, by this government’s own admission, it was confirmed that Northern Ireland is getting the best of both worlds – […]

Sir Keir Starmer has mocked Boris Johnson’s “Get Brexit Done” slogan while taking a dig at trade talks during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Sir Keir took the opportunity to question the prime minister on Brexit negotiations via teleconference after having been forced to self-isolate. He said: “12 months ago, he told the British people […]

Ireland’s deputy leader said he believes Boris Johnson would be willing to make concessions to get a post-Brexit trade deal, claiming his politics is closer to the “liberal” view he took as mayor of London. Leo Varadkar said the European Union and the UK have “more to gain and more to salvage” from an agreement […]

Boris Johnson has scrambled together a new unit in Downing Street to manage the government’s response to the “nightmare scenario” of a no-deal Brexit. The winter control and co-ordination cell, based in No 10, will report daily confidential briefings to the prime minister about emerging threats such as a surge in Covid-19 cases and extreme […]

Sir Keir Starmer will grill Boris Johnson from home as he takes part in Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) remotely while isolating after a member of his office staff contracted coronavirus. The Labour leader will appear on screens in the Commons, weeks after the first virtual PMQs took place while Johnson self-isolated. This time, the prime […]