British Politics

Sky News presenter Kay Burley has returned to work after being suspended for six months for breaking Covid-19 rules. The journalist said it was “great to be back” as she introduced Monday morning’s show, featuring interviews with former prime minister Gordon Brown, Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees and shadow foreign secretary Lisa Nandy. Burley was suspended […]

Ulster Unionist leader Doug Beattie has defended his attendance at an illegal protest against the Northern Ireland Protocol in Co Armagh. The Upper Bann MLA said he turned up at the event on Saturday to observe and listen, and said he was standing well back from the parade. Loyalists gathered in Portadown town centre on […]

The public is happy to stand by as the nation burns to the ground Alastair Campbell has hit the nail on the head. It seems most people do not care about a prime minister who routinely breaks the law with impunity and who is able to lie and cheat without any consequence. What example does […]

US president Joe Biden is set to issue a fresh Brexit warning to prime minister Boris Johnson during their first face-to-face meeting at the G7 summit this week. The Times reports Biden will use a bilateral meeting with the PM to explicitly express US support for the Northern Ireland Protocol. The pair will meet ahead of […]

The leader of a group of Conservative rebels has warned Boris Johnson the UK will be found “wanting” at this week’s G7 summit if he does not reverse cuts to the aid budget. The prime minister is in a face-off with 30 Tory MPs who have backed a technical amendment, which could be voted upon […]

Ed Miliband has opened up about losing the 2015 general election, admitting he listened too much to advice and said he should have been bolder. Miliband, who is now shadow business secretary, added he was too “risk averse” during the election six years ago and was worried about saying the wrong thing. “That’s the lesson I […]

Leaders of the main Westminster parties are failing to call out this catastrophic error Alastair Campbell is absolutely right – a majority of the UK population appears not to give a toss about Johnson’s failings, lies, false claims and dodgy dealings, but he should be assured that a lot of people are angry about the damage […]

Reform UK has announced it will not stand a candidate in the Batley and Spen by-election in a bid to boost the Conservative Party’s chances of taking the Labour-held seat. Leader Richard Tice said he hoped a blue victory would bring about a snap general election and “hopefully the final nail in Labour’s coffin”. With […]

The decision to make travellers from Portugal quarantine may be “politically motivated”, an infection expert has said. Portugal will be moved from the green to amber travel list, requiring visitors and returning holidaymakers to quarantine in the UK from 4am on Tuesday. The UK’s transport secretary Grant Shapps blamed a rising infection rate and the […]

Cabinet Office minister Michael Gove had to abandon a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon and other leaders of the devolved nations on Thursday after a coronavirus alert. The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was notified he may have come into contact with someone who had coronavirus on a trip to Portugal through the NHS app. The […]

Parliament’s sleaze watchdog must investigate prime minister Boris Johnson over the funding of the lavish refurbishments to his Downing Street flat, Labour has urged. Deputy leader Angela Rayner called for the Commissioner for Standards to probe whether he broke parliamentary rules by not declaring any donation in the MPs’ register of interests. The adviser on […]

Fleet Street reacts to Paul Dacre’s thwarted Ofcom ambitions Paul Dacre always kept a studiously low profile when he was editor of the Daily Mail, but his name appeared in the news pages of the Mail on Sunday over the weekend in a piece that savaged Sir Nick Clegg, the public face of Facebook, for allegedly trying to frustrate his […]

A Tory donor who was made a peer against the advice of the Lords’ appointment watchdog made a half-a-million-pound donation to Boris Johnson’s party only days after taking up his seat. Electoral Commission records show that Lord Cruddas donated £500,000 to the Conservative Party on February 5 – three days after being bestowed with the […]

Liz Truss is a great cabinet survivor and darling of the Tory members. But will her controversial trade deal with Australia curb her ascent? Perhaps it’s a measure of misogyny in the parliamentary lobby that Boris Johnson’s main acknowledged successors are Rishi Sunak, Dominic Raab and Michael Gove. The choice of who replaces him as prime […]

British pubs are facing an “acute” shortage of staff, leading some to reduce capacity or close entirely, the sector has warned. Labour-intensive social distancing restrictions such as table service only are requiring more staff, while employees are finding the work physically demanding with some walking up to 15 miles a day on the job, the […]

The boss of pub chain JD Wetherspoon has denied reports that his pubs have been hit by staff shortages due to Brexit. Tim Martin, who was a vocal supporter of the UK leaving the European Union, told investors that a Daily Telegraph story “misrepresented Wetherspoon’s position”. He said it “clearly isn’t true” that the pub group […]

Former prime minister Theresa May has backed a growing bid by Conservative rebels to force Boris Johnson to reverse his widely-criticised cuts to foreign aid. His Conservative predecessor heaped pressure on the prime minister to avert a Commons revolt as the number of Tory MPs to back a rebel amendment doubled to 30. May’s former […]

The Conservative Party has been fined £10,000 for sending 51 emails in Boris Johnson’s name to people who did not want to receive them. In a breach of data laws the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) called “serious”, the emails, which addressed the recipients by name, were sent out over eight days in July 2019 after […]

The education recovery commissioner has resigned in a row over the government’s £1.4 billion catch-up fund on what school leaders deemed a “deeply disappointing” and “truly awful day”. Sir Kevan Collins has quit after just four months in the role as catch-up tsar as he warned the government’s package “falls far short of what is […]

Boris Johnson is facing a major Commons rebellion over his policy to slash foreign aid. Conservative former chief whip Andrew Mitchell is leading a parliamentary push to ensure new legislation makes up the shortfall left by the cut to the UK’s official development assistance. A further 14 Tory backbenchers, including former foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson made an honest – or at least an honestly mistaken – woman of the nation’s erstwhile first side-chick Ms. Carrie Symonds ACT OF WEAPONS-GRADE OPTIMISM OF THE WEEK In perhaps the most startling, last minute of stoppage-time victory ever scored by hope over experience, our beloved leader Boris Johnson finally made […]

A rugby league international who has been selected to fight the Batley and Spen by-election for the Green Party says he feels “in tune with the attitudes, needs and wants” of the community. Ross Peltier, 29, is a prop forward with Doncaster Dons and has represented the Jamaica international team nine times as well as […]

Labour has called on the political party spending watchdog to investigate claims that the Tories accepted donations from companies that were defunct. Anneliese Dodds, chairwoman of the Labour Party, has written to the Electoral Commission asking it to “urgently investigate” two donations made to the Conservatives that “do not appear to comply” with the law. […]

Boris Johnson “paid entirely” for his wedding, Number 10 has insisted, following scrutiny of his finances. Johnson and Carrie Symonds married in a private ceremony at Westminster Cathedral on Saturday and plan to have a larger celebration next year when Covid restrictions are likely to be relaxed. His spokesperson also confirmed the couple spent two days […]

The job of the Covid-19 vaccination programme is not yet “done”, an immunisation expert has said as scientists are split on whether the Government should press ahead with the final stages of easing social restrictions later this month. Professor Adam Finn, of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI), said there are still many […]

An NHS worker who has spent the pandemic helping save lives on a Covid-19 ward says Priti Patel’s immigration plans will see refugees like her turned away from the UK. Mariam, from Eritrea, is determined to help people and has been working exhausting 12-hour shifts in a Leeds hospital assisting coronavirus patients, sometimes four days […]

Carrie Johnson rented three “decoy” dresses to ensure extra secrecy surrounding her wedding to the prime minister on the weekend, it has been reported. Along with the white dress the former Carrie Symonds wore for the ceremony, she hired three other outfits from a favourite eco-fashion business, My Wardrobe HQ, without saying she would be […]

A new national flagship, the successor to the Royal Yacht Britannia, will promote British trade and industry around the world, Boris Johnson has said. The vessel will be used to host trade fairs, ministerial summits and diplomatic talks as the UK seeks to build links and boost exports following Brexit. It will be the first […]