Coronavirus

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. […]

A transport boss has called the government’s handling of Brexit border proceedings a “complete shambles”. The chief executive of the Road Haulage Association (RHA) Richard Burnett said the software needed to facilitate the transport of goods to and from the EU was not ready, Sky News has reported. In a letter seen by the outlet, Burnett […]

House of Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has delivered a blistering attack on the government after it bypassed the chamber to publish information on England’s new tiered-lockdown system. Sir Lindsay was facilitating a round of questions on this week’s business statement when allowed Labour’s Valerie Vaz to interrupt with an urgent point of order. She said: “This is a […]

The company of a former neighbour of Matt Hancock’s has won a multi-million-pound contract to supply medical equipment to Covid testing centres despite having no previous experience. Alex Bourne, who ran a pub close to Hancock’s former constituency in Suffolk, said he offered his company’s services to the health secretary in a WhatsApp message. Hinpack, Bourne’s company, was […]

Former international development secretary Andrew Mitchell has criticised Rishi Sunak’s cut in Britain’s foreign aid budget, arguing the move makes the UK “less safe and less prosperous”. Mitchell, who served in David Cameron’s cabinet between 2010 and 2012, said the chancellor’s decision to cut foreign aid was a “shameful mistake” that would hurt Britain’s world […]

Brexiteer Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) has been criticised for suggesting it was “far better” for politicians to be “straight and honest” with the public. The former work and pensions secretary said it was right for Rishi Sunak to be “honest” with the public about spending cuts brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Appearing of Good Morning […]

A public spending watchdog has found that the government spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for pandemic-battling personal protective equipment (PPE) due to an “inadequate” stockpile and a surge in global demand. Procurement chiefs at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) faced inflated prices for safety kit, paying 1,300% more for some items […]

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned that a no-deal Brexit would cause more economic harm to the UK than the effects of Covid-19. Bailey said a failure to agree to a Brexit deal before the end of the transition period would wreak havoc on cross-border trade and damage the chances of a future economic partnership […]

The “Festival of Brexit” is set to receive £29 million in funding amid backlash the money could have been spent on free school lunches. Britain’s “Festival of Brexit” – known formally as Festival UK 2022 –  is on track to receive a lump sum of funding in this Wednesday’s spending review. Festival officials have said £120 million – […]

A Brexiteer MP has been ridiculed over tweets he made about Project Fear and the fall in car sales across Britain. John Redwood has become the centre of a Twitter trend after suggesting that plummeting car sales in the UK had nothing to do with Brexit. Redwood’s comment comes amid speculation that Nissan’s Sunderland car plant […]

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 […]

An MP has sent a series of damning tweets condemning a Daily Mail coronavirus graph which questioned official death figures in the UK. Neil O’Brien, the Conservative Party MP for Harborough, has delivered a scathing attack on the Daily Mail, accusing it of using questionable data sources. In a long Twitter thread, O’Brien accused the paper of using a graph […]

A Brexiteer has sparked outrage after claiming Boris Johnson’s lockdown measures were an infringement of European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) laws. Steve Baker has raised eyebrows after claiming the prime minister’s lockdown measures breached ECHR regulations – the very laws he voted to repeal in 2016. Baker, a fervent Brexiteer and former chair of parliamentary anti-EU group the […]

Matt Hancock has refused to rule out receiving a pay rise after being asked 10 times during an interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). The health secretary said it was “tempting” to rule out a wage rise but said he would wait for the findings of an independent body on MPs’ pay before making any commitment. Hancock’s […]

A Tory MP has come under fire after calling for an economic assessment of lockdown measures despite previously dismissing similar analysis on Brexit. Steve Baker has urged the government to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of new Covid restrictions despite having previously called analysis by civil servants as “always wrong”. The government has signalled that England will return […]

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 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 […]

Boris Johnson’s efforts to buy essential kits for the coronavirus outbreak has been likened to panic buyers trying to get their hands on loo rolls. Former military top brass Lord West of Spithead claimed he understood such behaviour could be excused for those who were “ill-informed and not well educated”, but it was not acceptable for a […]

Despite the EU originally setting a deadline for this week, both sides have agreed to suspend talks after another positive case of coronavirus amongst the negotiation teams. Brussels diplomat Michel Barnier announced that high-level talks between the EU and UK would be paused with just 42 days until the Brexit transition period ends. He tweeted: “One […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has compared the awarding of billions of pounds worth of Covid-19 contracts without proper process to “calling a plumber out at 2am”. Rees-Mogg attempted to dismiss calls for a debate on a National Audit Office report into government spending on coronavirus contracts. A report published by the independent parliamentary body found up to £10 […]

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 […]

Brexiteer Julia Hartley-Brewer has been accused of calling on people to break the coronavirus rules at Christmas, after suggesting those that celebrated other religious events had contributed to a rise in cases. The talkRADIO presenter previously claimed that “families getting together for Eid in an area with a large Muslim population” was a “key part of reasoning” […]

Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg has been urged to make virtual participation in parliament available to all MPs as soon as possible. The government has been criticised in recent weeks for its reluctance to bring back hybrid proceedings for the House of Commons, as per the first coronavirus lockdown in the spring when MPs could participate […]

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 […]

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 […]

Piers Morgan and Alok Sharma have clashed over the UK government’s preparedness for the coronavirus pandemic in a fiery interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). Morgan seized an opportunity to question the business minister over the UK’s Covid death toll, which is one of the highest in Europe. “If we were well prepared why do we […]

Piers Morgan has criticised government decisions to award controversial contracts over Covid-19 which has left the taxpayer “reaping the ruin financially”. Morgan was interviewing business secretary Alok Sharma on Good Morning Britain after it was revealed that £21 million was awarded to a Spanish businessman to act as a “go-between” in a contract which worked with Chinese manufacturers […]

A senior MP has slammed the“fast track VIP lane” which allowed people in the Westminster bubble to recommend companies to receive “special treatment” by government if they were supplying masks, gloves, aprons and other PPE during the pandemic. Meg Hillier, chairwoman of the Commons spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee, said she was “appalled” by the […]

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 UK has scrambled to buy US firm’s Moderna jab after early data showed it was almost 95% effective in protecting against Covid-19. Britain chose not to buy the vaccine because it did not believe the company would do a deal “with anyone outside the US”, and had concerns about a lack of dependable European […]

The foreign aid budget could reportedly be cut temporarily after the UK’s public finances took a hit dealing with the coronavirus pandemic, despite foreign secretary Dominic Raab insisting the government was “absolutely” committed to the 0.7% target. The Times reported plans had been drawn up to pare back the commitment to spend at least 0.7% of […]

Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson has insisted that Number 10 observes social-distancing rules, despite all attendees of a recent meeting between the prime minister and MPs having to self-isolate. They said: “Social distancing was observed at the meeting. It is also the case that Number 10 is a Covid-secure workplace. “We take every possible step to […]