British Politics

London mayoral hopeful Laurence Fox used the launch of his manifesto to defend his right to call people “paedophiles” on Twitter, citing free speech and claiming it is just a “meaningless and baseless” insult. The former actor, who founded the Reclaim Party, is being sued by Stonewall trustee Simon Blake, Coronation Street actress Nicola Thorp […]

Downing Street has been accused of “abusing BBC neutrality” by hosting daily coronavirus briefings which attack opponents during the election period. The BBC has held urgent talks over the briefings after opposition parties including the SNP accused the prime minister of going on a “political rant” at the latest event. During Monday’s briefing, the prime minister […]

The SNP is “constructively” looking at proposals for a Covid passport scheme amid reports it could support the measures in a House of Commons vote. Some 41 Tory MPs and Labour have hardened their positions against the “Covid Status Certification” programme, warning the checks would create a “two-tier” nation. But the government’s fortunes could be turning after Ian Blackford, the SNP’s […]

A Tory peer who sparked outrage by questioning the existence of Covid-19 will keep her post as a director at the Foreign Office. Helena Morrissey’s claim the crisis caused by the pandemic was “exaggerated” and had been started by “fake videos” from the Chinese Communist Party sparked calls for her to be disciplined. Boris Johnson’s official […]

Labour has written to the International Trade Secretary with more than 230 questions about the implications of the UK joining a mammoth free trade pact that includes Australia, Canada and Japan. Shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry urged Liz Truss to reopen the public consultation on the UK joining the Comprehensive and Progressive Trans-Pacific Partnership […]

The London Labour party is considering making a formal complaint to the BBC and the head of the civil service about Boris Johnson’s verbal attack on Sadiq Khan during a government press conference on coronavirus. Johnson accused Khan of “blowing” Transport for London’s (TfL) finances through an “irresponsible fares policy” after he had left them […]

Millions of voters head to the polls one month from today in the first major set of elections since the coronavirus pandemic. A huge number of contests are taking place across Great Britain on “Super Thursday” – May 6 – including some that were postponed from 2020 because of Covid-19. Voters in Scotland and Wales […]

Boris Johnson has claimed there is “no reason” to deviate from a timetable to unlock Britain, despite warnings from a Sage scientific advisory panel about a third wave of coronavirus cases. Speaking to reporters about the easing of lockdown restrictions earmarked for England in May and June, Johnson said there was no reason to deviate from his […]

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey are calling on Boris Johnson to cut taxes for small firms as he kicks off the party’s local elections campaign. Sir Ed wants the government to slash national insurance contributions for small firms to help aid the country’s recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and spark a recruitment boom. In […]

Facebook has removed a video of Donald Trump from his daughter-in-law’s page. Trump was banned from the social media platform in the wake of the riots at the US Capitol in January. An interview with the former president by Lara Trump, a new Fox News contributor, had been posted to her Facebook page, but later […]

Legal campaigners are taking the government to court contending the £4.8billion Levelling Up Fund is unlawful as 40 out of 45 scheme to be approved had at least one Tory MP. The Good Law Project claim Rishi Sunak and Robert Jenrick’s constituencies are among the areas to have benefitted from that a funding formula that […]

A group of Scottish Tories who want Scotland to have access to the EU single market are urging voters at the Holyrood election to cast their second vote for Alex Salmond’s Alba Party. Scottish Yes Tories say around 15% of their members voted Yes in 2014 – a number they say has been steadily growing since the […]

Boris Johnson’s former deputy at the Foreign Office has claimed the prime minister is an “embarrassing buffoon” in a new book. Sir Alan Duncan, who was MP for Rutland and Melton from 1992 until the last election and who served on the Conservative front bench over a period of 18 years, also criticises former PMs […]

Public health budgets are effectively being cut or frozen in a host of areas where Covid-19 case rates are higher than the national average, according to Labour. The party said new pressure on public health spending, which has impacted 2021/22 budgets, will hit efforts to tackle the pandemic, especially in “red wall” areas of traditional […]

Boris Johnson faces a substantial Commons revolt over plans to use a vaccine passport scheme in pubs and restaurants. Cabinet minister Michael Gove is said to have promised MPs a vote on the use of “Covid status certificates”, raising the prospect of defeat in the Commons. The idea would allow people to provide proof of […]

Labour has accused Boris Johnson of using the latest coronavirus press briefing to make “another unprompted political attack” on London mayor Sadiq Khan. Boris Johnson accused his successor at City Hall of “blowing” Transport for London’s (TfL) finances through an “irresponsible fares policy” after declaring that he had left them in “robust good order”. But […]

Labour must be ready to fight a general election in as little as two years, Sir Keir Starmer has warned as he promised bold action to “get Britain working again”. Sir Keir, who marks the first anniversary of his election as party leader, said Labour’s ambition “must match the moment” with a plan to build […]

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Tony Blair has said he did not enjoy being the UK prime minister due to the huge responsibility it entailed. Blair, who was prime minister between 1997 and 2007, also said it was “crazy” that the experience required for the role is so “nugatory”. The comments were made during an interview with BBC Radio 4 […]

Test your political knowledge with The New European’s Easter politics quiz. How many will you get out of 10?

The chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities has defended it against accusations of putting a “positive spin on slavery and empire”, saying that to suggest it was “trying to downplay the evil of the slave trade” is “absurd”. The commission’s report into racial disparities in Britain, published on Wednesday, was hit by […]

Dominic Raab has been accused of breaking the law over his decision not to offer MPs a vote on shrinking the UK’s aid budget. A group of 28 MPs from seven different political parties wrote to Raab claiming his plans to abandon the 0.7% of GDP spend on aid would break a law instituted by David Cameron, […]

Covid-19 has overshadowed the splits over Brexit that dominated the last general election Boris Johnson was only three months on from his December 2019 election win when a pandemic was declared. The world has changed entirely since then, and the UK has suffered enormously. More than 125,000 people have died of COVID-19. Per capita, this […]

Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser has resigned as ministers face a backlash after a government-backed review concluded there is no evidence of institutional racism in the UK. Samuel Kasumu has quit his role as a special adviser to the prime minister on civil society but will stay in post until May to continue work […]

Keir Starmer has claimed that there is a ‘British sense’ that would reject using vaccine passports if the coronavirus is brought properly under control. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Labour leader indicated that there could be opposition to the idea amongst the public if death rates are near zero and hospital admissions […]

A class action has been launched against the government’s post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements, with a DUP MP named as one of those behind the fight. The claim form lodged with the High Court this week names Ballymena haulage company Blair International and North Antrim politician Ian Paisley as the initial claimants. The action, which […]

Rishi Sunak has admitted he was opposed to having a circuit break lockdown in September, insisting there “wasn’t a clear-cut case” for doing so. Ministers last year were accused of ignoring scientific advice after Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) recommended at a meeting on September 21 that a lockdown should be implemented to slow […]

Voters in Wales will “extinguish the Corbyn flame” by ending Welsh Labour’s 22-year reign in government, the Welsh Conservatives’ leader in the Senedd has said. Andrew RT Davies said putting his party in government in Wales after May 6 would “finish the job” started with Boris Johnson’s landslide 2019 UK election victory, which led to […]