British Politics

Susanna Reid has taken on the home secretary over the government’s attempts to blame the public for a rise in cases of coronavirus over Christmas. The Good Morning Britain host saw red after hearing Priti Patel claimed the government had discouraged mixing over the festive period. Co-presenter Piers Morgan kicked off the debate by telling […]

Boris Johnson has narrowly avoided feat over a vote on a bid to outlaw post-Brexit trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. The prime minister’s working majority of 87 dwindled to just 11 as MPs voted to reverse an amendment to the Trade Bill made by the House of Lords by 319 votes to […]

Tory MPs have voted down a House of Lords amendment aimed at protecting the NHS from post-Brexit trade deals. The amendment, proposed by peers, would have blocked trade deals that “undermines or restricts” the ability to provide “a comprehensive publicly funded health service free at the point of delivery”. But Tory MPs voted down the […]

Theresa May has launched a fresh onslaught on Boris Johnson and Donald Trump, in an article for the Daily Mail newspaper. The former prime minister warned Johnson’s threat to override Britain’s treaty obligations in the Brexit divorce settlement risked signalling a “retreat” from the UK’s global commitments. In the article that marks the inauguration of Joe […]

Scotland’s cities fared better than others in the UK during the coronavirus pandemic, a new study suggests. According to the Good Growth for Cities report, compiled by PwC and think tank Demos, the economic decline felt in the Scottish city worst-affected by Covid-19 would still not exceed the UK-wide average. Following an analysis of gross […]

A Tory minister has admitted the UK rejected a proposal by the EU to extend the music visa scheme in favour of more stringent border policies. Culture minister Caroline Dinenage said No 10 declined the offer because it would have meant allowing “visa-free short-stays for all EU citizens”. Speaking in the House of Commons, Dinenage […]

A right-wing commentator has been accused of using unconventional polling methods to whip up support to end lockdown. Martin Daubney, a former Brexit Party MEP turned right-wing commentator, claimed some 80% of respondents of a Twitter poll he ran among his followers would vote in favour of ending lockdown if a referendum were called today. In a […]

GB News is reportedly attempting to hire pro-Brexit commentators Nick Ferrari and Julia Hartley-Brewer to present parts of its 24-hour news channel. The news channel will serve a conservative audience with presenters with strong opinions and attitude and aims to give a voice to viewers angered by feeling abandoned by the BBC. It has been compared […]

New business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has confirmed that the government is set to review workers’ rights after Brexit, but claims that they will not be watered down. Kwarteng told the business, energy and industrial strategy committee that his department was carrying out a consultation with business leaders on the working time directive and other EU rules […]

Stormont’s agriculture minister has described the Northern Ireland secretary in Westminster as the “emperor with no clothes” after he said trade disruptions across the Irish Sea were due to Covid-19, and not Brexit. Edwin Poots said Brandon Lewis was “the emperor with no clothes – but instead of a small boy pointing out he’s naked, the […]

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 […]

Iain Duncan Smith (IDS) has defended calling Donald Trump “a decent man”, arguing it is the duty of any British MP to maintain good relations with a US president. IDS said he “did not resile” from his efforts to befriend the US president. In 2016, IDS agreed with former Republican Speaker of the House Paul Ryan who said the US president was […]

Boris Johnson is under pressure to control a potential rebellion as senior Tory MPs plan to support a move to outlaw trade deals with countries that are committing genocide. The government is seeking to reverse key amendments to the Trade Bill passed by the House of Lords when the legislation returns to the Commons on […]

NHS Test and Trace boss Dido Harding has defended paying consultants £1,000 a day. Harding, a Tory peer, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee that she felt it was “appropriate” to seek help from the private sector in “extreme emergency circumstances” such as the Covid-19 pandemic. David Williams, the Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of […]

A Brexiteer MP has been criticised after suggesting Downing Street should break the Northern Ireland Protocol agreed to by Boris Johnson. Tory backbencher John Redwood was told to retire by a Twitter user after using the social media platform to call for the dumping of the Northern Ireland Protocol. “The government needs to give urgent attention to […]

Piers Morgan has criticised a minister who said it was ‘too early’ for international comparisons of the UK’s Covid death rate – but not over its vaccination drive – as he demanded answers for why the numbers were so high. Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis said it was “just too early” to compare the UK’s […]

Matt Hancock is self-isolating and will be “staying at home and not leaving home at all until Sunday”. The health secretary was alerted to possible contact with someone with Covid-19 by the NHS Test and Trace mobile app. in a video on social media, he explained: “Last night I was pinged by the NHS coronavirus app, so […]

The secretary of state for Northern Ireland Brandon Lews has denied empty shop shelves in the country are because of Brexit. There have been calls from action from the government to resolve the trade chaos in the country following the end of the transition period which severed links between the EU and UK. But Lewis […]

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 […]

These are the 356 Tory MPs who failed to vote against a £20-a-week cut in the Universal Credit for families during the coronavirus pandemic. Aaron BellAdam AfriyieAdam HollowayAlan MakAlberto CostaAlec ShelbrookeAlex BurghartAlex ChalkAlexander StaffordAlicia KearnsAlister JackAlok SharmaAlun CairnsAmanda MillingAmanda SollowayAndrea JenkynsAndrea LeadsomAndrew BowieAndrew BridgenAndrew GriffithAndrew JonesAndrew LewerAndrew MitchellAndrew MurrisonAndrew PercyAndrew RosindellAndrew SelousAndrew StephensonAndy CarterAngela RichardsonAnne-Marie […]

Toilet and shower facilities are being provided for lorry drivers experiencing lengthy delays at Dublin Port due to Brexit red tape. New customs rules introduced as a result of the UK’s departure from the EU have created backlogs, as businesses and freight companies grapple with the added documentation. Some drivers have experienced delays of up […]

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 […]

Labour has criticised Priti Patel for failing to attend the House of Commons to answer questions on the loss of hundreds of thousands of records from a police database. A significant number of fingerprint, DNA and arrest history records were lost due to human error and defective code. Initially, some 150,000 records were believed to have […]

Boris Johnson has demanded politicians be more “civil and kind” to each after debates surround the provision of free school meals sparked public reprisals against MPs. The prime minister’s press secretary, Allegra Stratton, said the debate around free school meals had made life “very unpleasant” for Conservative MPs. This comes as the prime minister accused Labour supporters of using a […]

The UK’s Covid-19 death rate is now the highest in the world. New data revealed that the UK is averaging 935 daily deaths – the equivalent of more than 16 people in every million dying each day. The figures have been produced by the University of Oxford’s research platform Our World in Data, which shows that […]

Greens MP Caroline Lucas has accused the Tories of being the “nasty party” after it told backbenchers to abstain from a vote to keep a £20 top-up to Universal Credit. Lucas accused the government of being “perfectly happy” for the price of the pandemic to be paid for by “some of the poorest people who are least able to […]

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 […]