Downing Street

Labour’s shadow education minister has called on Tory peer James Wharton to resign his party’s whip after being appointed chair of the universities watchdog. Kate Green said Wharton’s appointment to the Office for Students (OfS) was the latest in a “growing catalogue of cronyism” committed by the government. The Tory peer was confirmed as chair on Tuesday afternoon, despite the Commons […]

Current and former editors of Britain’s newspapers have joined forces to call for an investigation into the government’s handling of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests. In an open letter, they asked for a probe into a Cabinet Office unit named the Clearing House after it was alleged to have profiled journalists and blocked FOI requests. No […]

Forcing an employee to have a coronavirus vaccine in order to keep their job would be “discriminatory”, Downing Street has said. Some care home staff are reportedly refusing to have a Covid jab – with some providers said to be considering not hiring staff who have refused the vaccination on non-medical grounds. And Charlie Mullins, […]

Number 10’s adviser on ethnic minorities considered resigning over fears the Conservative Party was pursuing a “politics steeped in division”. Samuel Kasumu reportedly retracted his resignation letter – in which he said tensions in government were at times “unbearable” – on Thursday after talks with vaccines minister Nadhim Zahawi. The BBC said he wrote: “I […]

Ministers have been accused of being too slow to act after it was disclosed new coronavirus quarantine hotels will not come into force until mid-February. The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said that, from February 15, travellers returning to the UK from “red list” countries will have to quarantine in a government-approved facility […]

Tory lockdown-sceptics have expressed worry that the government is shifting the goalposts on reopening society as they called for complete removal of restrictions by the end of May. The prime minister told a Downing Street briefing that the level of coronavirus infections in the country was still “forbiddingly high” and that it was too soon […]

A Brexiteer official will take over the duty of advising Boris Johnson on the state of the union after his former aide quit. Oliver Lewis will take over a “beefed-up union unit” which advises Johnson on ways to counter calls for Scottish independence after Luke Graham quit following a furious dispute with Downing Street, the FT […]

Boris Johnson still believes Brexit is “done”, despite the government’s call for a two-year extension of the grace periods in the Northern Ireland Protocol. The prime minister’s official spokesman said “there are some issues that we need to resolve as part of the protocol” and “we will continue to work to address those issues” with […]

No 10 has begun distancing itself from a government minister who attacked a reporter for asking a question. Equalities minister Kemi Badenoch has come under mounting criticism after publishing the private correspondence she had with HuffPost UK reporter Nadine White about her absence from a government coronavirus advert targeted at the BAME community. Badenoch accused […]

Downing Street has denied that government scientific advisers called for the closure of UK borders to prevent the spread of new coronavirus variants ‘weeks ago’. The discovery of the South Africa strain of coronavirus has prompted a series of travel bans, with people arriving into England from anywhere outside the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands […]

The first inaugural meeting between the UK’s new diplomatic team in Brussels and senior EU officials since Brexit has been “postponed” in response to a spat over the bloc’s diplomatic status. Lindsay Croisdale-Appleby, formally appointed this month to represent the UK in Brussels, was due to meet the chief aide to the European council president, Charles Michel, […]

The Home Office has launched a voluntary repatriation scheme for EU nationals living in the UK. The Guardian has learned EU citizens are being offered financial incentives to leave the UK, months before the deadline to apply for settled status. Since January 1, EU citizens have been added to the government scheme which promises to pay […]

Sky has brought the rights to a television drama about Boris Johnson’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic and his first year as prime minister. This Sceptred Isle is a five-part series focusing on Johnson’s appointment as prime minister, the Covid-19 cases in the UK, through to him falling ill with the virus, and the arrival of his […]

Downing Street has said there are “no plans” to go ahead with a proposal to pay £500 to everyone who tests positive for coronavirus in order to increase the number of people abiding by quarantine rules. Ministers have considered a proposal to extend payments to anyone who tests positive for Covid-19 in England amid concerns […]

Bob Geldof has claimed “lying is second nature” to Boris Johnson’s government as he accused it of betraying British businesses to deliver Brexit. Geldof said Downing Street were “a hapless lot” who put politics ahead of the economic wellbeing of the nation. The Irish singer-songwriter turned political activist claimed No 10 was never serious about clenching a […]

Downing Street has declined to criticise Joe Biden for removing a bust of Sir Winston Churchill from the Oval Office, despite Boris Johnson’s previous attack on Barack Obama for the same move. The prime minister said in much-criticised comments in 2016 that Obama removing the sculpture “was a symbol of the part-Kenyan president’s ancestral dislike […]

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 […]

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 […]

Downing Street has rejected a suggestion Boris Johnson clears time in his diary for a nap. It comes after a Downing Street insider told The Times “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 — a power executive […]

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 […]

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 […]

Scottish seafood lorries have parked on the roads near Downing Street in protest against being “tied in knots with paperwork” by the Brexit fishing deal. Footage showed a number of HGVs descending on roads near 10 Downing Street in response to the issues they have faced in exporting seafood to the EU. A number of […]

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 […]

TIM WALKER reports on the latest on a scheme to modernise Downing Street, the long wait for Paul Dacre’s TV show, and those mystery Michael Gove press briefings… Having  blown tens of thousands of pounds on new offices for his former henchman Dominic Cummings, Boris Johnson is now focusing on making Downing Street a sufficiently opulent place for […]

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 group of Scottish fishermen furious over Brexit red tape has vowed to dump rotting seafood outside Downing Street. Jamie McMillan, boss of the world-renowned Loch Fyne Seafarms, said he would not hesitate to dump rotting stock outside the prime minister’s house if Scottish seafood exports continue to rot at British ports. In a furious video message yesterday, he […]

Labour has accused Boris Johnson of deliberately trying to delay the local elections beyond May for his own advantage. Downing Street is considering plans to delay the elections until June, arguing it would be too dangerous to proceed. The elections had been set for May 6 and will take place alongside the mayoral elections – […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has said that “outdoor recreation” is permitted in a “restricted and limited way” – despite it being prohibited during the lockdown. Moments after insisting the coronavirus rules are “actually very simple and clear”,  Patel apparently misspoke during a Downing Street press conference when trying to explain that exercise is permitted. She […]

Downing Street is seeking to hire someone to help improve its image through engagements with social media influencers. The Cabinet Office is currently advertising for a Relationship Manager – Influencers and Civil Society to sell Britain’s “climate action” efforts and role in the COP26 – the UN’s annual climate change summit meeting – to “high profile influencers […]

James O’Brien has accused companies distributing free school meals of ‘profiteering’ after pictures emerged of parents receiving meagre packages surfaced online. Downing Street has pushed for an investigation after parents began sharing pictures online of what they have been given to feed their children for ten days. Children’s Minister Vicky Ford said she would “urgently” look into the matter after one […]

Number 10 has sidestepped a key question about Boris Johnson’s bike ride in east London during coronavirus lockdown. The prime minister’s official spokesperson insisted the prime minister’s exercise was permitted under coronavirus guidance.  He added: “The prime minister acted in accordance with the Covid guidance while he was exercising. “We have always trusted the public to […]