British Politics

US president Joe Biden urged Boris Johnson to ensure the Northern Ireland peace process is protected in his bitter row with Brussels over post-Brexit trading arrangements, the White House has disclosed. US national security adviser Jake Sullivan said Biden – who has spoken of his pride in his Irish roots – had held a “candid discussion” […]

Few people have seen their reputations enhanced by Brexit. But one who has is the artist Cold War Steve, who has chronicled the UK’s exit from the EU in all its misery. Here, New European cover artist CHRIS BARKER gives his own appreciation

MPs are calling on home secretary Priti Patel to urgently publish an independent assessment of the impact of ending free movement. The government had committed to publishing documentation around the post-Brexit measures to end the freedom for EU citizens to travel freely to and from the UK at the end of last year. Home Office […]

Brexit has caused a “massive hole” in the numbers of people coming to the UK to pick fruit in the summer months putting growers “on the brink”, it is claimed. Numbers of seasonal workers applying to work at one Kent-based company are down 90% in the last two years and there are fears for the […]

Comedian Mitch Benn looks at Donald Trump’s seemingly backwards trousers, Tim Martin’s demand for more EU migrants and Michael Gove’s trip to Portugal “LEOPARDS EATING PEOPLE’S FACES” MOMENT OF THE WEEKTim Martin, arch-Brexiteer, boss of the Wetherspoons McPub empire and Worzel Gummidge’s Angry Head, has been bemoaning the fact that the staff he told to […]

Boris Johnson has insisted he does not disagree with Joe Biden on anything as the pair began a potentially tricky meeting in Cornwall. The US president will use the meeting to warn the prime minister not to let the row over Northern Ireland’s Brexit arrangements put the Good Friday Agreement at risk. The issue has […]

The government will “stand up for the British sausage and no-one will ever be able to destroy it”, a minister has insisted, amid the latest Brexit spat between the UK and EU. Conservative frontbencher Ranil Jayawardena made the pledge amid a row between the EU and the UK over the meat product. Brussels has threatened to […]

A list of the chancellor's latest meetings show he has been busier than the rest of the cabinet, and is not necessarily sticking to his own brief

The Cornish weather has scuppered a trip by US president Joe Biden and prime minister Boris Johnson to a coastal beauty spot. The two leaders were due to meet at Saint Michael’s Mount, a castle on a tidal island off the coast of Cornwall, for their talks ahead of the G7 summit. Reports suggested their […]

Matt Hancock has denied lying to Boris Johnson at any point during the pandemic, telling MPs he has always been driven by an approach of “honesty and integrity”. The health secretary was questioned over allegations made by the prime minister’s former aide Dominic Cummings to the Health and Social Care Committee and Science and Technology […]

Joe Biden will warn Boris Johnson and the European Union not to “imperil” the Northern Ireland peace process, the US president’s national security adviser said, as they struggle to resolve a trade row. Jake Sullivan warned that Biden harbours “very deep” concerns on the issue provoked by Brexit, before he on Wednesday left for the […]

Boris Johnson has claimed “lefty propaganda” is behind attacks on his foreign aid plans – despite senior Conservative MPs leading the opposition to his £4 billion spending cut. The prime minister was accused by the SNP of being “on the run” from not only his “moral and legal responsibilities” but also his own backbench MPs. […]

Talks between Britain and the EU on the implementation of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in Northern Ireland have broken up without agreement. Brexit minister Lord Frost and European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic ended their discussions in London with no sign of a breakthrough. Ahead of the talks Lord Frost warned that time was running out […]

The High Court has ruled Michael Gove’s awarding of a coronavirus contract to a market research company whose owners were friends of Dominic Cummings was unlawful. Campaigners had taken legal action against the Cabinet Office minister over the decision to pay more than £500,000 of taxpayers’ money to market research firm Public First, following the […]

Britain has threatened a “sausage war” as Brexit minister David Frost called for “flexibility” from the EU” ahead of a ban on the export of chilled meat products from the British mainland. Reports suggest that the UK government is ready to unilaterally extend the “grace period” for products like sausages, mince and chicken nuggets at […]

Joe Biden will begin his first overseas trip as US president when he touches down in Britain ahead of a G7 Summit with an emphasis on coronavirus vaccines. The Democrat and wife Jill are expected to land on Air Force One at RAF Mildenhall in Suffolk on Wednesday to kick off an eight-day trip to […]

A former government chief commercial officer who became an adviser to Greensill Capital while still working as a civil servant has insisted there was no conflict of interest, amid questions over the firm’s lobbying. Bill Crothers told MPs on the Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs Committee (PACAC) that his intention was to follow the rules […]

A key British cultural organisation is not being abandoned by the UK government, a minister has insisted, amid concerns over possible outpost closures. Conservative MP John Baron used a Commons urgent question to warn a £10 million shortfall has left the British Council facing the prospect of shutting some of its international network. The Basildon […]

The government has no plans to give MPs a vote on its decision to cut the overseas aid budget by £4 billion, Downing Street has said. Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has said MPs should be given an “effective” say over the move to suspend the commitment to spend 0.7% of national income on aid […]

Northern England and the West Midlands will lose MPs under a planned shake-up of Westminster constituencies, with cabinet ministers set to be hit by the changes. The proposals, aimed at ensuring seats with broadly similar numbers of voters, will see England gain 10 additional seats overall, but the bulk of those will be in the […]

Plans are being drawn up to replace English with French as the main “working language” of the EU during France’s presidency, with meetings and documents to become “French-first” next year.  The French are set to take over the Council of the European Union presidency in 2022, with France planning to use its first presidency since Brexit […]

The EU has been “slow to engage” with discussions over how to solve issues with the Northern Ireland Protocol, environment secretary George Eustice has complained. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “There are lots of ways to give the European Union the assurance that they say they want for their single market, and what […]

A new £800 million research agency – which was originally described as Dominic Cummings’ ‘pet project’ – risks being a “side door to sleaze in science”, the opposition has warned. Ministers want the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) to focus on “high-risk, high-reward” research to explore new ideas while having “strategic and cultural” independence and […]

The European Union’s patience with Britain over Brexit is “wearing thin” and the bloc is considering its options if Number 10 continues on a “confrontational path”, an official has claimed. The European Commission and British government are set to enter talks over the Brexit agreement and the Northern Ireland protocol on Wednesday. The EU has […]

Boris Johnson is reportedly unlikely to highlight the strength of the “special relationship” with American president Joe Biden because the prime minister does not like the expression. Downing Street said Johnson “prefers not to use the phrase” but is instead intent on fostering a “close relationship” with Washington. A profile of the prime minister in […]

The Green Party will no longer fight the Batley and Spen by-election after it dropped support for its candidate who made a series of “highly offensive” homophobic tweets as a teenager. Ross Peltier, 29, a prop forward with Doncaster Dons and a Jamaica international, apologised for the “terrible” language used in the tweets and said […]

Boris Johnson has been spared an immediate Tory revolt over cuts to Britain’s overseas aid budget after a Commons move to reverse the decision was ruled out of order by the speaker. Lindsay Hoyle ruled the proposed change to the Bill setting up the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (Aria) – which would have forced […]

A cross-party group of MPs have written to Boris Johnson urging him to give “simply exhausted” unpaid carers a weekly break following the pressures of the coronavirus pandemic. The group, led by the Liberal Democrat leader, Sir Ed Davey, is calling on the prime minister to provide emergency funding to local authorities in order to […]