British Politics

James O’Brien has schooled a Brexiteer refusing to accept new trade rules between the EU and the UK. Simon from Sevenoaks said taking back control of British waters was a major reason for his decision to vote Brexit but that he now feels disappointed it has resulted in the end of frictionless trade with the EU. Simons’ comments […]

The transport secretary has been criticised after claiming he was “not aware” the Brazilian strain of coronavirus was in the UK – despite scientists going public about two cases hours later. Shapps described a ban on travel from South America, which includes an exemption for British and Irish nationals, as a “precautionary” measure to ensure […]

Downing Street has insisted it “as quickly as possible” to prevent a Brazilian strain entering the UK, despite evidence it has already arrived. Shadow home secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds accused the Conservatives of being “far too slow to protect our borders against Covid”. He said: “It is terrible news that evidence of the highly infectious Covid variant […]

The Scottish Tories have suspended a Holyrood candidate after he said people who were reliant on food banks were fat. Craig Ross also attacked anti-poverty campaigner and English footballer Marcus Rashford and said people filmed at food banks were “far from starving”, the Daily Record has revealed. Ross was a contender for the seat of Glasgow Pollok […]

Fishermen in Scotland have left UK waters and headed to Denmark to sell their fish in a bid to bypass new Brexit regulations agreed to by Boris Johnson. According to Danish newspaper Altinget, the fishing auction in Hanstholm has reported unusually high levels of interest from Scottish fishermen since January 1. “We are in dialogue with 10-15 new […]

Boris Johnson has been told by a senior Tory backbencher that his leadership will be “on the table” if the government does not ease Covid restrictions. Steve Baker of the lockdown-sceptic Covid Recovery Group has written to members urging them to put pressure on the Tory chief whip over the issue. Baker, who played a […]

Amber Rudd has said Boris Johnson has a “sort of language which he’s quite rightly nervous using in front of women” as the ex-home secretary hit out at the “boys’ club” atmosphere in the Commons. Rudd also accused the prime minister of going “backwards” on promoting women. The former cabinet minister said she quit Johnson’s […]

There are fears that the 48-hour working week could be scrapped under government plans for a post-Brexit overhaul of labour laws. The Financial Times reports that the government is planning to tear up key protections enshrined in EU law which could see workers lose paid holiday and force them to work longer. Business secretary Kwasi […]

Trump’s refusal to accept the end of his presidency was predicted by Mitch Benn in 2017… because he had seen it foretold in Game of Thrones.  Here’s the thing: I’m not an expert. On anything. I know a fair bit about a fair few things, but the capacity to store and retrieve biggish reserves of […]

New Brexit red tape causing friction at Britain’s borders are an “obvious and inevitable” part of leaving the EU and are here to stay, former chief negotiator Michel Barnier has said. Barnier said businesses could expect to overcome “glitches, problems, and breakdowns” caused by new paperwork in the weeks and months ahead but warned that other […]

Less than four months before Scots go to the polls for Holyrood elections, Scottish Labour leader Richard Leonard has announced his resignation.  In a statement to the Daily Herald on Thursday afternoon, Leonard said: “I have come to the conclusion it is in the best interests of the party that I step aside as leader […]

A Labour MP has claimed Afghanistan was quicker and more effective at implementing restrictions at its borders to contain the coronavirus than Britain. Siobhain McDonagh said No 10’s border policy during the pandemic had been “a mess”. Panellists on BBC 2’s Politics Live were discussing a ban on flights to and from Brazil in light of a new variant originating […]

A former Ofsted chair has called for education secretary Gavin Williamson’s resignation, amid the continuing lack of certainty over what will replace cancelled GCSEs and A-Levels. In a letter to exams regulator Ofqual yesterday, Williamson said he would like “to explore the possibility of providing externally set tasks or papers, in order that teachers can […]

A man has got a tattoo of Boris Johnson’s face on his stomach in order to raise money for a woman to receive life-saving cancer treatment. Kenny Wilding, 41, from Kidderminster, said he got the tattoo to raise money for a family friend who was diagnosed with stage four rectal cancer in January 2019. Megan Smith […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed fish captured after the Brexit deal came into effect were “British and happier for it”. Rees-Mogg suggested Scottish fishermen should be happy that Britain “got our fish back”, even though many faced financial difficulties caused by stock rotting at British ports due to Brexit-related hold-ups. Responding to the SNP’s Tommy Sheppard’s question on compensating those […]

Katie Hopkins has joined UKIP, the party has confirmed. The right-wing media figure was welcomed by the Eurosceptic party in an announcement on Twitter earlier today. In a video posted on the party’s Facebook page, the 45-year-old said she was joining the group in order to “stand with ordinary Brits”. Hopkins claimed that she “maybe […]

The government has dismissed calls from Labour to publish the economic impact assessment of Boris Johnson’s Brexit trade deal with the EU. Speaking in the Commons, shadow international trade secretary Emily Thornberry said: “Over the last two years the government has placed, as the Secretary of State tells us frequently, more than 30 new trade agreements […]

Two of Britain’s most popular cars will cost £1,700 more this year thanks to new post-Brexit tariffs. Ford has increased the price of sport versions of its Fiesta and Puma ranges, which were both made in the EU and exported for sale in the UK. The motoring giant said it was passing on the costs to customers and […]

Liz Truss has been told to “do better” with her answers in the House of Commons as the speaker asked trade ministers to end the “political games” in the chamber. Sir Lindsay Hoyle claimed Truss’ team were giving better answers to Conservative MPs than to opposition MPs over similar questions. At one point the speaker […]

Northern Ireland’s agriculture minister Edwin Poots has claimed the region’s hospitals and schools risk running out of food when post-Brexit Irish Sea trade arrangements are fully implemented. A grace period that limits the level of red tape required to move retail food products from Great Britain to Northern Ireland runs out at the end of […]

Miriam Margolyes’ blunt assessment of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson has won her a heap of praise online. The British actor said the US president was an “a*****e” and the British prime minister a “clown”. Asked for her reaction to recent events in the US during an appearance on Good Morning Britain, Margolyes said: “Like anybody […]

A government minister has defended Boris Johnson’s record on dealing with the emergence of coronavirus variants around the world – as fears rise over a new Brazilian mutation. Under-secretary of state for safeguarding Victoria Atkins was asked by Sky News’ Niall Paterson why the air corridor between the UK and South America remains open. Atkins […]

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 […]

Despite vowing to make the case against Scottish independence, Nigel Farage’s new party could make it tougher for Unionist parties in the Holyrood elections, a pollster has warned. Professor Sir John Curtice has said the new Reform UK party in Scotland will be targeting Tory voters who backed Brexit in Scotland, making it harder for […]

A fisheries minister has admitted not reading the post-Brexit trade deal with Brussels when it was agreed because she was busy organising a Nativity trail. Victoria Prentis faced calls for her to quit after the comments, but the prime minister is standing by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) minister. Asked if her […]

Boris Johnson has suggested he wants more international collaboration on coping with future pandemics after the coronavirus crisis showed they were “totally unprepared”. The prime minister will chair this year’s summit of the G7 group of major economies and wants it to focus on “building back better, together”. He wants to help shape the meeting […]

Boris Johnson defended having a close relationship with Donald Trump, as the US president was on the verge of being impeached for a second time. During an appearance before the Commons liaison committee of senior backbench MPs, Johnson was questioned over his previous praise of the Republican president. Petitions Committee chair Catherine McKinnell asked the […]

The Commons speaker has had to interrupt Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind him to “answer the question” put forward by Sir Keir Starmer. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly end this week’s session of PMQs after Boris Johnson gave a long-winded response to the controversy over free school meals parcels. “Mr prime minister,” Sir Lindsay patiently […]