Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson faces a large-scale backlash from Conservative backbenchers after placing 99% of England into tier two or three lockdown measures. Tory MP Steve Baker described the measures as “authoritarian”, while others demanded the publication of a cost-benefit analysis of the restrictions. The government placed more than 23 million people into tier three restrictions on Thursday, […]

Boris Johnson has appointed a former Treasury official as his Downing Street chief of staff. Dan Rosenfield will begin working in No 10 next month before he formally takes over from acting chief of staff, Lord Udny-Lister, in the new year, Downing Street said. The move comes after a row over a proposal to appoint […]

It’s clear Boris Johnson’s brazen approach will cost us all warns Michael White. The mighty Oxford English Dictionary has just celebrated the extraordinary nature of 2020 by issuing an unprecedented number of ‘words of the year’ – starting obviously with coronavirus and lockdown. Me, I was less ambitious in looking for words of the week. […]

Boris Johnson’s response to the Priti Patel bullying scandal has laid bare the weaknesses in the way Westminster is run, says JAMES BALL. As a country, those of us in the UK may have to accept we are somewhat slow on the uptake. Perhaps nowhere is this more evident than when it comes to our […]

A German MEP has claimed that Britain’s ‘messy’ negotiating tactics are to blame for last-minute Brexit talks. Long-serving German politician Bernd Lange said Brexit negotiations would not have come down to the wire had British officials actually been properly prepared. Speaking on Bloomberg, Lange said: “There were a lot of months, starting in February, where there […]

A Tory peer has resigned from her ministerial post in protest against a cut to the government’s foreign aid budget. Baroness Liz Sugg tendered her resignation as junior minister for sustainable development shortly after the chancellor announced a temporary reduction of the UK’s foreign aid budget to 0.5% on Wednesday. In her resignation letter to prime minister […]

Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson’s government of a “clean sweep” of ministerial code breaches, as he urged the prime minister to stop “wasting” taxpayers’ cash. The Labour leader highlighted Johnson’s foreword to the code last year in which he insisted there must be no bullying, no harassment, no leaking, no misuse of taxpayer money and […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has interrupted Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind Boris Johnson of his duty to answer queries. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly pause PMQs this week after to remind the prime minister that it was his responsibility to answer questions, and not pose them. The rebuke came as Johnson pressed Sir Keir Starmer […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned that returning to a three-tiered system without fixing England’s test and trace system is “risky”. Responding to Boris Johnson’s statement on the loosening of lockdown restriction to come into effect on December 2, Sir Keir said: “The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, the question today is […]

Boris Johnson is set to intervene in Brexit talks this week in a final push to clinch a trade deal with the EU. The prime minister is said to be preparing for a call with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, in a last-minute attempt to secure a Brexit deal. Brussels […]

Campaigners have launched legal proceedings against the government claiming it handed out top jobs in the coronavirus pandemic to “cronies” without proper competition. The Good Law Project and race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust said they had filed for judicial review at the High Court claiming that prime minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary […]

Boris Johnson is facing a fresh revolt from his own backbenches after the government was expected to detail a new tougher three-tier system for England when its national lockdown ends on December 2. Johnson will detail the strengthened tiered system in a statement to the House of Commons, where he will appear virtually from Downing Street […]

Boris Johnson has been swiftly condemned after failing to dismiss Priti Patel over allegations of bullying staff were proven to be true. Politicians and public figures have come out to criticise the prime minister over failing to dismiss Patel after it was proven she had broken the ministerial code of conduct in her treatment of staff. […]

Boris Johnson will face an “enormous” backbench rebellion from his own party if he does not end lockdown in December, a Conservative MP has claimed. Brexiteer Steve Baker, who has founded the Covid Recovery Group, said he had told whips they would vote against a third lockdown in the Commons. He told the Telegraph: “I think the […]

Labour has demanded that a report into allegations of bullying from Priti Patel should be published in full amid reports Boris Johnson will ‘fudge’ the outcome by issuing a written warning. The Financial Times said that the probe would be concluded “imminently” but that Johnson would only issue Patel with a written warning, rather than dismissing […]

Not much to talk about this week, eh! After a tumultuous week in Downing Street, even by Johnson standards, all attention must now be focussed on whether or not widely-tipped Arthur Pendragon will get the key post of chief of staff. Or will the PM’s fiancée, Queen Guinevere, and spin medic, Morgana Stratton, use their […]

A Labour MP has been rebuked by the speaker in the House of Commons after claiming Boris Johnson’s “foulmouthed-edness has caught up with him”. Labour MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi raised previous comments by the prime minister to point out that his remarks are likely to have made chances of a deal with the president-elect Joe […]

Support for the EU in Britain is at a record high, a survey into Covid-19 responses across Europe has found. Positive opinions about the bloc in Britain has increased by six points over the last year to 60% of the population – the highest number recorded for the country by researchers. The Pew Research Center study of […]

Led By Donkeys has urged Boris Johnson to meet with the bereaved families of Covid-19 victims in its latest clip beamed onto the Houses of Parliament. The anti-Brexit campaign group have piled pressure on Johnson to make good on his promise to meet the families of people who have died from coronavirus. Johnson is yet to follow […]

The Lord Chancellor has said “activist lawyers” have helped undermine the legal profession’s reputation and accused some of playing up their political leanings on social media to tout for work. Robert Buckland refused to reprimand Boris Johnson and Priti Patel for referring to those aiding asylum and refugee seekers as “lefty lawyers” at the Conservative Party […]

Nearly 60% of Welsh people believe Westminster should cede more powers to the Senedd, new polling has found. In a survey carried out by YouGov on behalf of YesCymru, the campaign for Welsh independence, 59% of respondents who had a view said they would support a “devo-max” option in a referendum. The “devo-max” option would see […]

Boris Johnson’s Brexit bill has been heavily defeated again in a House of Lords. Peers voted 367 to 209 for a cross-party amendment that would prevent Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland for being “bypassed” once the UK’s Brexit transition period ended on December 31. The result is deemed one of the biggest Lords defeats in history. […]

A Labour MP has clashed with a Tory minister after saying Boris Johnson had a “pattern of behaviour” wasting taxpayers’ funds. Shadow housing and communities minister Steve Reed said the prime minister had a track record of spending public funds on projects that were either scrapped or seen as inefficient. Reed also said the Tory party […]

Despite the government demanding those in self-isolation remain at home, Downing Street has admitted Boris Johnson was neither in his office nor his home to film a virtual session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).  The prime minister was told by Test and Trace to isolate on Sunday evening and, despite testing negative for Covid-19, will […]

Boris Johnson has said he is “very proud” of the government’s efforts to buy up urgently needed kit during the coronavirus outbreak after the public spending watchdog criticised the way normal standards of transparency were set aside. At prime minister’s questions, Labour leader highlighted the National Audit Office report criticising the government’s handling of the […]

Speaker Lindsay Hoyle has been praised for cutting Boris Johnson’s long waffling answer off mid-sentence. Johnson was embarking on a rant about the Scottish National Party at Prime Minister’s Questions after Iain Blackford claimed that the Tory leader’s comments about devolution were “not just flippant remarks”. He said: “His attack on devolution wasn’t just a slip of the […]

Sir Keir Starmer has taken a dig at Boris Johnson and questioned the loyalty of the Tory backbench during a heated session of Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). Sir Keir said 32 backbench MPs had broken ranks to oppose the prime minister and many more had been questioning his authority. Responding to a swipe over Labour’s support the NHS Test […]

Boris Johnson has been told by Labour leader Keir Starmer that the biggest threat to the future of the United Kingdom is every time he “opens his mouth”. At Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) Starmer challenged Johnson his remarks when he said Scottish devolution was “a disaster”. Sir Keir Starmer said: “Devolution in Scotland, Wales and […]

Boris Johnson and his former senior adviser Dominic Cummings are set to appear in a special edition of the Beano. BeanOLD, produced for older readers reflecting on the year 2020, will be a pull-out inside the regular Beano and will see Dennis the Menace’s parents look back on Zoom quizzes, home-schooling, delayed Bond films and […]

The country’s biggest civil servants’ union said there were “serious doubts” about No 10’s coronavirus safety measures after it emerged Boris Johnson and 10 MPs were forced to self-isolate after a meeting. Johnson and six other MPs were forced to quarantine on Monday after being told they had come into contact with an infected Tory backbencher. Nottinghamshire MP Lee Anderson developed Covid-19 […]

The former head of the civil service has suggested an investigation commissioned eight months ago into allegations of bullying by home secretary Priti Patel is yet to conclude because the prime minister is yet to “make a decision” on it. Lord Sedwill told MPs that a review into what happened in the Home Office was […]

He might have gone, but Dominic Cummings has left a poisonous legacy which will cause untold harm to the UK, says JAMES BALL. Pity poor Dominic Cummings, who entered Number 10 last year believing he could transform a nation, and exited last week having accomplished little more than a series of blundering encounters with the media […]