British Politics

A BBC factchecker has debunked Boris Johnson’s claims that coronavirus infection rates were falling across England. Politics Live‘s Joel Massey said government data showed the majority of local authority areas reported an increase in cases over the past week. Johnson had declared that a “huge amount of progress” had been made to bringing down infection rates. His comments comes as […]

The gender pay gap has significantly widened at the Department for International Trade (DIT) run by women and equalities minister Liz Truss, new figures reveal. Labour said the growing divide “raises serious questions” about the government’s commitment to close the gender pay gap when Truss’s department is “clearly going backwards”. The gap in the DIT, […]

Downing Street has defended Dominic Cummings being handed a pay rise of around £45,000 as taking the senior aide to the “correct level of salary” for his role. The prime minister’s press secretary Allegra Stratton said: “This was a matter for the Cabinet Office special adviser pay committee, that’s where the decisions are taken. “It’s […]

Today’s PMQs was  – definitely? maybe? – the last of 2020. That makes the session technically the Christmas special, and while, unlike most TV spectaculars, this gratifyingly wasn’t twice the usual length, at least it provided all the catchphrases you’ve come to know and love since Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer came to occupy the […]

Sir Keir Starmer has chided Boris Johnson during Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) after he granted Dominic Cummings a £40,000 pay raise while at the same time enforcing a pay freeze on public sector workers.  In his return to the chamber since self-isolating, Sir Keir said: “Another major mistake of the past 12 months is losing public trust. “We all know what […]

The SNP’s Ian Blackford has demanded an economic analysis of Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans. The party’s Westminster leader a “detailed economic assessment of the cost to the UK of his extreme Tory Brexit plans” before MPs are asked to vote on any possible deal. The Scottish politician claimed at Prime Minister’s Questions that the Tory […]

Subscribers of a Tory Party newsletter in Northamptonshire have been advised to campaign like Donald Trump by “weaponising fake news”. Activists were told they could “learn lessons” from Trump, adding: “A lie can go round the world before the truth can get its boots on.” It calls on members to “fight woke-ism” and attacks Labour’s landmark […]

England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland will press ahead with a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas. Boris Johnson urged people to “exercise extreme caution” as they celebrate Christmas amid fears about the spread of coronavirus but up to three households will still be allowed to mix between December 23 and 27. Talks involving the UK government […]

The government is to press ahead with the easing of coronavirus restrictions over Christmas even though it will lead to an increase in the infection rate, a senior minister has said. Communities secretary Robert Jenrick said that it would be up to people to make a “personal judgment” whether they wanted to meet up with […]

The TV broadcasting watchdog is looking into the comments Emily Maitlis made about Dominic Cummings after he broke lockdown earlier this year. The Newsnight coverage centred on the former senior adviser to Boris Johnson’s trip from London to Durham during the first lockdown. The BBC previously ruled that the presenter’s comments about Dominic Cummings, breached impartiality rules.  […]

A former prime minister of the Republic of Ireland said a Brexit deal was inevitable “as long as” Boris Johnson does not get involved. Bertie Ahern, who helped broker the Good Friday Agreement, said striking a deal was only a matter of time and trade-offs. Ahern told POLITICO the EU could give into Britain’s demands on fishing […]

A minister in Boris Johnson’s government has claimed he will “miss” Donald Trump, claiming he was “quite a good friend”.  Ben Wallace, the defence secretary, has insisted that the president has always fought Britain’s corner on the world stage. He told The Sun: “I’ll miss Donald Trump, because he was quite a good friend to Britain.” Speaking during a […]

Boris Johnson has told Eurosceptic members of the Tory party’s European Research Group that they should ignore the messages coming from the European Union about a Brexit deal. According to the Express, Conservative backbenchers were told by the prime minister to ignore the “propaganda” and “fake news” from Brussels which has left Brexiteers unhappy. It […]

No 10 has spent £2.7 million of taxpayer’s cash in one year to pay out sacked advisers, a government report has revealed. The sum includes severance pay-outs to advisers who left between April 2019 and March 2020, the Cabinet Office has confirmed. An annual report on Special Advisers shows staff turnover in 2019 was unusually high due to […]

A minister has defended the £40,000 pay rise given to Dominic Cummings – which was part of the £10 million pay for Boris Johnson’s advisers in the last year. Former chief adviser Cummings, who is in the process of leaving his government post, was paid the equivalent of £140,000-£144,999 – up from £95,000-£99,999 last year. […]

Boris Johnson’s father has been spotted breaching coronavirus rules for the fourth time after he took the London underground without wearing a face covering. The Independent reports that Johnson boarded a tube train in Victoria on Monday afternoon without wearing a mask – only putting on one after the individual filmed the former MEP. Stanley Johnson […]

New polling has found that 28% of Britons Boris Johnson has handled Brexit well – despite talks faltering and the prime minister failing to so far deliver his “oven-ready” deal he promised at the last election. A total of two-thirds of the country (63%) think the UK’s departure from the EU has been handled badly, according […]

Jacob Rees-Mogg has claimed that the United Kingdom stronger as a result of Brexit- and that support for the European Union would fall after leaving the bloc in January. Speaking in The House magazine the pro-Brexit leader of the House of Commons claimed that the Westminster government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic – which resulted in the largest […]

MPs might not be able to vote on any Brexit deal agreed until after the transition period has ended, the leader of the House of Commons has admitted. Jacob Rees-Mogg said that MPs may be asked to “retrospectively correct” the law to recognise the agreement that Boris Johnson could sign before December 31. He admits it […]

Scottish Conservative Party leader Douglas Ross has said he has no intention of “bringing up” Boris Johnson on the campaign trail during next year’s Holyrood elections. Consecutive polling has shown Ross’ party faces an up-hill to beat the SNP in next year’s vote, which is tipped to win by a landslide. The SNP has repeatedly described the 2021 election as […]

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has described the prospects of a speedy trade agreement between India and the UK as “the biggest bucket of b*****ks” he has ever heard. Rudd said Australia’s own trade talks with India, which he launched in 2009, were still on going and that chances of Britain getting one sooner […]

Dominic Cummings has been heavily criticised for “quietly receiving” a 40% pay rise while he was Boris Johnson’s adviser in Downing Street. Government special advisers were paid almost £10 million last year, new figures have revealed, with former chief adviser Cummings paid the equivalent of £140,000-£144,999 – up from £95,000-£99,999 last year. Dominic Cummings quietly received […]

Urgent talks are taking place between the leaders of the devolved administrations and Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove as calls mount to scrap plans for an easing of Covid-19 restrictions over Christmas. The move comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer demanded an urgent review into the easing of rules after leading medical journals warned […]

A Labour MP has apologised for an “altercation” during Prime Minister’s Questions in which he was accused by speaker Lindsay Hoyle of “disgraceful” behaviour after an apparent heckling of Boris Johnson. During an answer from Boris Johnson on Brexit at last week’s PMQs Hoyle took exception to the MP for Rhondda’s behaviour before he left the chamber. […]

A list of “opportunities” awaiting Britons once they leave the EU, shared by the chair of the Brexit Party, has been ridiculed on social media. Richard Tice, a former Brexit Party MEP and now its chairman, said the country had “loads of opportunities” in store once it left the trading bloc. Appearing on LBC radio, […]

As London enters tier three of the coronavirus restrictions STEPHANIE WATSON analyses the impact on psychological thinking. Following an increase in COVID-19 cases, London will be put into tier 3 on Wednesday. While restrictions are slightly looser than the first and second lockdowns, social interaction is being cut, triggering feelings of loneliness and isolation across […]

Boris Johnson has told MPs he is still searching for the “chatty rat” who leaked details of proposals for a second lockdown in England. The search for the culprit – continues and the prime minister promised to update the Commons “if” the source is identified. The announcement of the lockdown was made at a hastily-convened […]

A Tory minister has come under fire after publicly stating Rishi Sunak’s Eat Out to Help Out (EOTHO) programme was a “success”, despite claims linking the scheme with increased coronavirus rates. Chief secretary to the Treasury, Stephen Barclay, dismissed the accusation that EOTHO had been a public health disaster which helped the spread of Covid-19. Under the […]