British Politics

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 […]

George Eustice has claimed that the European Union has unexpectedly changed its position on live UK exports of shellfish. The environment secretary has called on Brussels to abide by existing regulations as producers expressed frustration at the lack of government action. The introduction of new checks and paperwork since the end of the Brexit transition […]

A government-funded body has launched an internal investigation after one of its employees spent thousands of pounds on high-end chocolates a few days before Christmas. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) launched a probe into a potential breach of its finance policies after Business Insider made it aware that £6,248.40 had been spent on a corporate […]

Michael Gove has called for a ‘reset’ and ‘refinement’ of the Brexit deal which only came into force at the start of the year. The Cabinet Office minister has expressed frustration at the lack of progress in talks with Brussels aimed at resolving difficulties in Northern Ireland’s Brexit arrangements ahead of a meeting with the […]

Former Labour MP Glenda Jackson has said former prime minister Theresa May was treated badly by the country because she was a woman. The actress and former MP, 84, told the Radio Times the previous Conservative leader was poorly treated by her own party, as well as others. She made the comments while discussing her […]

We now live in the age of belief, says MITCH BENN, where conviction trumps everything. I’m under very few illusions as to how much influence I bring to bear on events. I can trot out wry observations and snarky comments (sometimes with a tune), so as to (hopefully) amuse the readers of this esteemed publication, […]

A Tory MP has been accused of spreading “dangerous misconceptions” about Covid-19 after he called for an end to England’s lockdown. Sir Christopher Chope made a number of claims about the coronavirus which a government adviser described as “outright falsehoods”. Stephen Reicher, an adviser to the government’s Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), took aim at […]

A DUP MP has denied “race-baiting” and has refused to apologise after suggesting the number of black people on an edition of Songs Of Praise was “the BBC at its BLM (Black Lives Matter) worst”. Gregory Campbell said no-one raised any issue with the remarks he made on his Facebook page for days after he posted them […]

Revenue officials processed 1.8 million customs declarations in January 2021 – more than they did in the whole of last year. But customs IT systems have struggled to cope with the increased volume of declarations, resulting from post-Brexit red-tape, with officials admitting it has caused “major difficulties” for businesses. Tom Talbot, head of Revenue operations […]

The Green Party has become Westminster’s third biggest party in a new Ipsos Mori poll. The party – led by Jonathan Bartley and Sian Berry – has overtaken the Liberal Democrats in the latest polling. It now enjoys 8% of support, one point ahead of Ed Davey’s organisation. The polling finds the Tories have opened […]

Just four per cent of the public think Labour has got worse under Sir Keir Starmer, fresh polling has shown. According to an Ipsos MORI poll commissioned by the Evening Standard, 48% of participants think Labour has changed for the better under Sir Keir while 36% believed he “has what it takes” to become prime […]

Boris Johnson is seeking to avert a Tory revolt over his post-Brexit trade bill as it returns to the House of Commons. The government has been involved in a parliamentary battle over proposals to outlaw trade deals with countries that are committing genocide – a dispute taking place at a time when the Chinese authorities’ […]

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, […]

A Labour government would “clean up cronyism” and deliver the “biggest wave of insourcing of public services for a generation”, a shadow minister has pledged. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves accused the Conservative Party of being “rife with conflicts of interest” as she urged firms awarded contracts during the pandemic with Tory links to […]

Boris Johnson has shown little to no interest in a report on the abuse of low-paid workers, says the man who led it. Matthew Taylor, who recently stood down as director of Labour Market Enforcement – a workers’ rights watchdog -, said the government was “indifferent or complacent” to the body’s work.  The report warned that unemployment rises caused by […]

Ministers have sought to reassure the public over the effectiveness of the Oxford/AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine as experts warned it was “very possible” the South African variant is already quite widespread in the UK. A study of around 2,000 people has shown the jab only offers minimal protection against mild disease of the South Africa variant […]

Elton John has called on the government to renegotiate a better settlement for musicians after they were largely ignored during Brexit negotiations. The British pop icon accused Boris Johnson of having “screwed up” by failing to reach an agreement with the EU for visa-free tours by British musicians. John said Britain’s Brexit negotiators either “didn’t care about […]

A DUP MP has been referred to the Westminster Standards Commissioner following a Facebook post in which he criticised the “BBC at its BLM worst” (Black Lives Matter) over the ethnic make-up of a Songs of Praise gospel show. East Londonderry MP Gregory Campbell made the comment in a January 31 post. It stated: “Just watched […]

The government “doesn’t have a plan” to bring home a British mother due to finish a five-year sentence in Iran next month, her local MP fears. British-Iranian dual national Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe has been detained in Iran since 2016, when she was sentenced to five years in prison over allegations, which she denies, of plotting to […]

Cronyism concerns have led to Labour urging companies with Conservative Party links to disclose their pandemic profits. Research by the Opposition suggests the value of contracts awarded to firms with connections to the Tories amounts to almost £2 billion. Shadow Cabinet Office minister Rachel Reeves is expected to reveal she has written to the top […]

A survey of international hauliers has found the volume of exports travelling from British ports to the EU fell 68% last month compared with the same period last year. The research by the Road Haulage Association (RHA) prompted it to write to Cabinet minister Michael Gove to call for assistance, particularly with increasing the number […]

The government’s top scientific advisers warned last month that a “complete, pre-emptive closure of borders” was needed to fully prevent new coronavirus strains being imported into the UK – despite Number 10 claiming otherwise. Minutes from a meeting of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) held on January 21 revealed that the experts said the […]

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 […]

Tory former health minister Jeremy Hunt has urged caution about reports of Covid restriction being mostly gone by May. Speaking with the Guardian, Hunt said cases should drop to 1,000 per day before re-opening the economy. Hunt’s remarks come as lockdown-sceptic Tory MPs are calling for measures to be lifted entirely by June. On Thursday, […]

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 […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has dismissed a call from Labour for a select committee on Brexit and the European Union to be reinstated as problems continue after the UK’s departure from the bloc. For Labour, Valerie Vaz challenged Rees-Mogg over Boris Johnson’s claims about trade in Northern Ireland after Brexit. Calling for the committee to be reinstated, […]

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 […]