Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has claimed Brexit will provide a “huge opportunity” for Scotland – suggesting it will have a positive impact on the country. The prime minister made the comments following a speech by Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross, who spoke about the party’s “defeatism” over Scottish independence. The Moray MP said: “The case for separation is now being […]

A former Brexit Party MEP has suggested the Tory manifesto contained lies on Brexit – claiming there was not a “single accurate thing” in the section on leaving the EU. Ben Habib, an ex-Brexit Party politician who represented the seat of London in the European Parliament for six months before it was abolished in January this […]

Boris Johnson has joined the row over an SNP MP who made a “monumental” error of judgment by taking a train from London to Scotland when she knew she had tested positive for coronavirus. The prime minister was asked about Margaret Ferrier on BBC Scotland when he replied that it was vital that “everyone obeys the rules […]

Dominic Cummings is said to be so “obsessed” with migrant Channel crossings that he is pushing No 10 to consider the construction of offshore processing facilities, a Home Office official has claimed. The prime minister’s most senior adviser is reported to be worried about the impact of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel on the opinions […]

Tory backbenchers are plotting a new rebellion over coronavirus restrictions – this time over the 10pm curfew for pubs and restaurants. Rebels are reportedly looking to force a vote on the issue, the Telegraph reports, after MPs in Boris Johnson’s own party accused him of presiding over a “nanny state”. Steve Baker, one of the […]

At the height of the last pandemic to hit the UK – the 1987 AIDS crisis – the government released a terrifying ad. At its conclusion it showed a huge tombstone, upon which was engraved the message: “DON’T DIE OF IGNORANCE.” The campaign was deliberately engineered to be terrifying (one TV spot featured a volcano), […]

For her new book, DEBORAH MATTINSON has been talking to voters in Red Wall constituencies. Her research underlines how Brexit remains a totemic issue there. Voters in the Red Wall, in common with voters pretty much everywhere, tend not to follow politics very closely. I once ran a focus group live on TV where one […]

Did you notice Boris Johnson raising those careworn eyes towards the wider world horizon in the past few days? Not once but twice. First, to promise a generous £340 million UK contribution to the embattled World Health Organisation despite it being Public Enemy No 208 to his comrade-in-expediency, Tax Dodger Trump. Second, to pledge Britain […]

A Commons committee has called for more “transparency” in the appointment of the next BBC and Ofcom chairs after the government faced accusations of “interfering” in the process. Former Daily Mail editor Paul Dacre, a vocal BBC critic, is said to be Boris Johnson’s preferred candidate for the Ofcom chairman role, while ex-Daily Telegraph editor Charles […]

Television doctor Dr Hilary Jones has criticised Boris Johnson’s father, Stanley Johnson, after he was pictured not wearing a face mask in a shop. Johnson has since apologised for his actions, claiming he wasn’t “100% up to speed” with the latest government guidelines. But face coverings have been compulsory in shops and on public transport […]

Boris Johnson is shying away from suggestions his father and Jeremy Corbyn should be fined for breaking coronavirus restrictions. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said that enforcement of the new regulations were up to the police, not ministers. The prime minister’s father, Stanley Johnson, was pictured entering a shop on Tuesday without a face mask meanwhile […]

As the UK prepares for a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic it appears once again divided. The unity seen during the first lockdown has been lost, explains TIMOTHY OLIVER. The arrival of the coronavirus pandemic transformed the UK political scene in the blink of an eye. At the start of 2020, the national […]

Tory ministers past and present have defended Boris Johnson’s father for not wearing a face mask in public and say he should not be fined. Environment minister George Eustice and former health secretary Jeremy Hunt said penalties, which range from £200 to £10,000 for failing to follow government advice on new Covid measures, should only be reserved for […]

The government has refused to rule out using remote islands to process asylum seekers despite saying the plan was too costly. Home secretary Priti Patel reportedly scrapped plans to build an offshore migrant processing centre on the Atlantic islands of Ascension and St Helena after a review found it would be too expensive and logistically […]

Boris Johnson has acknowledged that some of the coronavirus restrictions around the United Kingdom appeared illogical, but rules out preventing English people currently in lockdown from travelling to Wales while restrictions are in place. The prime minister was facing calls to prevent people from locked-down areas of England travelling to Wales after first minister Mark […]

The SNP’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford has told Boris Johnson to stop “yapping, bumbling, mumbling” to avoid giving answers at Prime Minister’s Questions. Blackford asked the prime minister about the Internal Market Bill, which could override the Brexit deal that had been agreed earlier this year. “Why does he think the people of Scotland have […]

Sir Keir Starmer has slammed Boris Johnson for not understanding his own coronavirus restrictions during this week’s Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), as the prime minister called for more support from the Labour leader. On Tuesday, the prime minister contradicted government advice and told people in the North East they could continue to socialise in groups of six […]

A chef has been praised for his subtle dig towards Boris Johnson during a BBC News interview on new coronavirus restrictions in the North East of England. Max Gott, head of the Bistro Forty Six, remained professional about the prime minister while appearing on the rolling news channel – but viewers realised he had still […]

Piers Morgan has called Boris Johnson a “drongo” and a “bumbling fool” as he reacted to the prime minister’s confusion over the latest Covid-19 restriction rules. The Good Morning Britain presenter said Johnson was the “captain of the Titanic taking us down” as he renewed calls for him to go. He told viewers: “He not […]

Boris Johnson’s controversial Brexit bill has cleared its final Commons hurdle – with Tory critics choosing to abstain. Former prime minister Theresa May and two ex-attorney generals, Geoffrey Cox and Jeremy Wright, were among 21 Conservatives who did not vote for the UK Internal Market Bill at third reading on Tuesday evening. While some, including […]

Boris Johnson will be joined by his medical and scientific advisors later for a coronavirus press conference – his 21st time since the pandemic started. The prime minister will be flanked by chief medical officer for England professor Chris Whitty and chief scientific adviser Sir Patrick Vallance. It is not clear if anything particularly significant […]

Council leaders have said government restrictions in the North East lack clarity. Boris Johnson issued an apology after he failed to clarify precisely what the new restrictions would mean for around two million people in Northumberland, Newcastle, Gateshead, North and South Tyneside, Sunderland and County Durham. Gateshead council leader Martin Gannon said, although he was […]

In a field outside the Suffolk village of Barton Mills, a ‘Boris 4 PM’ billboard left over from last December’s general election has finally been replaced. The new advert reads ‘Primevil: Screaming Won’t Help’. There can be no better illustration of how dreams have turned to dread for the prime minister and his inner circle. […]

Boris Johnson has told a reporter he is “fitter than a butcher’s dog” after being asked if was still suffering from the effects of Covid-19. Speaking at press conference in Exeter, the prime minister brushed aside concerns by MPs in his own party that he had still not fully recovered from his bout of coronavirus in […]

Boris Johnson has been forced to apologise after giving the wrong advice on coronavirus restrictions in the North East. Johnson was asked to explain the new rules when it came to pub beer gardens in response to questions after delivering a speech. Boris Johnson’s ‘clarification’ of rules for North East adds He said: “In the North […]

A former Tory minister has claimed that Boris Johnson “doesn’t really believe in Brexit” and that once he has achieved a deal he will be gone. George Walden, a former minister and Tory MP until 1997, said due to the pandemic the prime minister will deliver on his goal to “get Brexit done”, and that he will […]

Nothing focuses our attention on our national identity more that an existential threat to our homeland’s existence, such as warfare, radical constitutional change, or the effects of a lethal pandemic on national health and economic self-esteem; nothing, that is, except for baking competition held in a plastic marquee in the grounds of an English country […]

A Tory MP has likened Boris Johnson to King Theoden from The Lord of the Rings and accused him of being “under the spell” of his special adviser, Dominic Cummings. Former European Research Group chair Steve Baker said Johnson needed to be “woken up” from his “slumber” as he suggested his advisers like Cummings were in control […]

No 10 has rejected calls to ban the sale of alcohol in pubs, restaurants and supermarkets after 9pm. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the government’s 10pm curfew was “doing more harm than good” because people were holding house parties once pubs shut and risking a further spread of the virus. Speaking on BBC Radio […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle could stop Tory rebels voting on an amendment that would curb the government’s emergency powers. Sir Lindsay is refusing to allow MPs a vote on the amendment out of fear it would be breaking house procedures. Around 50 MPs have signed an amendment by Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential […]

More than 50% of Britons do not believe Boris Johnson will negotiate a good Brexit deal with the EU, a poll has revealed. A survey by Ipsos MORI found that 58% of the public think Britain will not receive a good Brexit deal, the Evening Standard has reported. Just 26% think the government is well-prepared […]

I have tended to avoid Dominic Cummings in my columns here. Mainly, because often the best way to deal with attention-seekers is to ignore them. Also, even at the subconscious level, perhaps I turn away from situations in which a right-hand man to a prime minister is getting too much media coverage for his own […]