British Politics

The PMQs before a major fiscal statement is always a case of before the Lord Mayor’s Show, the equivalent of turning on Match of the Day to find they’ve inexplicably chosen to lead with West Brom v Burnley. The only MPs who have booked their seats not to be in the chamber for the main […]

Sir Keir Starmer accused Boris Johnson’s government of a “clean sweep” of ministerial code breaches, as he urged the prime minister to stop “wasting” taxpayers’ cash. The Labour leader highlighted Johnson’s foreword to the code last year in which he insisted there must be no bullying, no harassment, no leaking, no misuse of taxpayer money and […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle has interrupted Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) to remind Boris Johnson of his duty to answer queries. Sir Lindsay was forced to abruptly pause PMQs this week after to remind the prime minister that it was his responsibility to answer questions, and not pose them. The rebuke came as Johnson pressed Sir Keir Starmer […]

Liam Fox has backtracked on comments he made about a Brexit deal being “the easiest in human history” by picking on semantics. The staunch Eurosceptic and former international trade secretary has attempted to weasel out of prior remarks he made about EU trade deal negotiations by focusing on his use of language. Appearing on Sky News’ […]

Lorry drivers were left queuing for five miles along the M20 in Kent as a trial of Brexit border controls were carried out at the Channel Tunnel. Lorries on their way across the English channel were forced to wait in queues stretching back to Junction 11 on the M20 as they approached the Eurotunnel entrance outside […]

A public spending watchdog has found that the government spent £10 billion extra in inflated prices for pandemic-battling personal protective equipment (PPE) due to an “inadequate” stockpile and a surge in global demand. Procurement chiefs at the Department for Health and Social Care (DHSC) faced inflated prices for safety kit, paying 1,300% more for some items […]

LBC radio host James O’Brien has confronted the perception that Remainers want Brexit to fail in a passionate monologue arguing the contrary. O’Brien has explained why he thinks it is incorrect to presume Remainers want Brexit to be an economic failure. Speaking on his LBC show, O’Brien said: “Let me tell you something about being a […]

Labour has elected Margaret Beckett as its next National Executive Committee (NEC) chair amid controversy over how the vote was conducted. Members on the left of Labour’s ruling NEC have staged a walk-out in protest at the election of veteran MP Dame Beckett as chair. The members believe Dame Margaret’s election to the role does not […]

Tory MP Ben Bradley has been schooled by Martin Luther King Jr’s daughter following a tweet he posted quoting the civil rights preacher. Bradley has been called a “global embarrassment” after incorrectly adapting a speech by Martin Luther King Jr on Twitter to support his opinions on race relations. MORE: Tory MP complaining about ‘snowflake’ National Trust […]

Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey has warned that a no-deal Brexit would cause more economic harm to the UK than the effects of Covid-19. Bailey said a failure to agree to a Brexit deal before the end of the transition period would wreak havoc on cross-border trade and damage the chances of a future economic partnership […]

A US official who once compared Brexit to a dog being run over by a car is expected to be appointed Joe Biden’s secretary of state. Antony Blinken once described Brexit as a “total mess” and said the process resembled a dog being run over by a car. Blinken, an Obama-era White House deputy, is expected […]

The “Festival of Brexit” is set to receive £29 million in funding amid backlash the money could have been spent on free school lunches. Britain’s “Festival of Brexit” – known formally as Festival UK 2022 –  is on track to receive a lump sum of funding in this Wednesday’s spending review. Festival officials have said £120 million – […]

Labour’s chief whip has asked Jeremy Corbyn to “unequivocally, unambiguously and without reservation” apologise for claiming that the scale of anti-Semitism in the party was “dramatically overstated for political reasons”. In a letter obtained by the PA news agency, Nick Brown said the former Labour leader’s response to a damning Equality and Human Rights Commission […]

David Davis has been made the centre of an online joke on Brexit talks after sharing his frustrations about Vodafone coverage. The former Brexit minister has been roundly mocked after venting his anger over the level of coverage he receives as a Vodafone UK customer in a message on Twitter. Davis’ comment comes a matter of hours after prime minister […]

MITCH BENN on the delights and the dangers of indulging in nostalgia. One of the few industries to derive any sort of benefit from this flaming bin fire of a year has been podcasting: with swathes of the global population being confined indoors for much of the last few months (and with leisure options having […]

A Brexiteer MP has been ridiculed over tweets he made about Project Fear and the fall in car sales across Britain. John Redwood has become the centre of a Twitter trend after suggesting that plummeting car sales in the UK had nothing to do with Brexit. Redwood’s comment comes amid speculation that Nissan’s Sunderland car plant […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has warned that returning to a three-tiered system without fixing England’s test and trace system is “risky”. Responding to Boris Johnson’s statement on the loosening of lockdown restriction to come into effect on December 2, Sir Keir said: “The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel, the question today is […]

An MP has sent a series of damning tweets condemning a Daily Mail coronavirus graph which questioned official death figures in the UK. Neil O’Brien, the Conservative Party MP for Harborough, has delivered a scathing attack on the Daily Mail, accusing it of using questionable data sources. In a long Twitter thread, O’Brien accused the paper of using a graph […]

A Brexiteer has sparked outrage after claiming Boris Johnson’s lockdown measures were an infringement of European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) laws. Steve Baker has raised eyebrows after claiming the prime minister’s lockdown measures breached ECHR regulations – the very laws he voted to repeal in 2016. Baker, a fervent Brexiteer and former chair of parliamentary anti-EU group the […]

Boris Johnson has written to ministers and heads of government departments telling them there is “no place for bullying” after an investigation into the home secretary found she had shouted and sworn at staff. There was further Downing Street fall-out on Friday when Sir Alex Allan, the prime minister’s adviser on ministerial standards, walked out […]

Boris Johnson is set to intervene in Brexit talks this week in a final push to clinch a trade deal with the EU. The prime minister is said to be preparing for a call with Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, in a last-minute attempt to secure a Brexit deal. Brussels […]

Matt Hancock has refused to rule out receiving a pay rise after being asked 10 times during an interview on Good Morning Britain (GMB). The health secretary said it was “tempting” to rule out a wage rise but said he would wait for the findings of an independent body on MPs’ pay before making any commitment. Hancock’s […]

A Tory MP has come under fire after calling for an economic assessment of lockdown measures despite previously dismissing similar analysis on Brexit. Steve Baker has urged the government to carry out a cost-benefit analysis of new Covid restrictions despite having previously called analysis by civil servants as “always wrong”. The government has signalled that England will return […]

Campaigners have launched legal proceedings against the government claiming it handed out top jobs in the coronavirus pandemic to “cronies” without proper competition. The Good Law Project and race equality think tank the Runnymede Trust said they had filed for judicial review at the High Court claiming that prime minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary […]

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has said he is confident about the British economy “in all circumstances” – whether there is a Brexit deal or not. Sunak was appearing on Sunday shows when he said that the government should not agree on a deal “at any price”. With the transition period due to end on December 31, […]

Boris Johnson is facing a fresh revolt from his own backbenches after the government was expected to detail a new tougher three-tier system for England when its national lockdown ends on December 2. Johnson will detail the strengthened tiered system in a statement to the House of Commons, where he will appear virtually from Downing Street […]

A former Brexit Party MEP claimed she is a “proud European” as she rejected the need for a trade deal with the EU. Claire Fox, who was promoted to the House of Lords by Boris Johnson earlier this year, said she was “an enthusiast about the European continent” as she fobbed off the importance of clinching […]

Boris Johnson has been swiftly condemned after failing to dismiss Priti Patel over allegations of bullying staff were proven to be true. Politicians and public figures have come out to criticise the prime minister over failing to dismiss Patel after it was proven she had broken the ministerial code of conduct in her treatment of staff. […]