British Politics

Labour leader Keir Starmer is to hold his first televised press conference in response to Monday’s Downing Street press briefing. Whilst Johnson fronted this week’s event alongside chief medical officer Chris Whitty and chancellor Rishi Sunak, he is not expected to front the new ‘White House’ style press briefings starting soon. Johnson has hired former journalist […]

Downing Street has given a lengthy defence against allegations it ignored advice from the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) on a “circuit-breaker” national lockdown. Boris Johnson’s official spokesperson said the prime minister had taken a “considered analysis” of the economic impacts and the public health threat of the virus when he decided not to impose a second […]

The president of the European council has shared an illustration on Twitter which portrayed Boris Johnson as a ‘joker’ in Brexit negotiations. Charles Michel shared the cartoon by Andy Davey of the politician being joined by EU negotiator Michel Barnier and president Ursula von der Leyen, whilst Boris Johnson is holding a series of cards […]

Wales’ first minister has threatened to close the Welsh border if Boris Johnson does not impose a travel ban on virus hotspots in England. Mark Drakeford told the prime minister he had “one final opportunity” to stop people crossing the border from England. Drakeford has pledged to write to the prime minister urging him to impose […]

A Tory minister has claimed that businesses have their “head in the sands” over the impact that Brexit will have on their companies. Cabinet Office minister Lord Agnet said “it’s their businesses at stake” if they fail to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31. Agnew said that businesses had […]

A new poll has found that a significant majority of Britons think that leaving the Brexit transition period without a trade deal would be a bad outcome for the country. Last month, Boris Johnson said ending Brexit talks without a deal was a “good outcome” for Britain, even though it would lead to new tariffs on businesses, […]

A new contract to provide post-Brexit freight capacity has been handed to four ferry firms at a cost of £77.6 million. The Department for Transport (DfT) announced that it has signed agreements with Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O Ferries and Stena Line. This will ensure that vital medical supplies and other critical goods “continue to be […]

A majority of Britons do not believe Boris Johnson has a clear plan for tackling the latest coronavirus outbreak, new polling has shown. A survey by YouGov asked just under 3,000 British adults if they felt assured the prime minister had a plan to contain the virus following his statement on new coronavirus measures on […]

The government’s environment secretary has insisted that protections for food and farming standards are not necessary – because it was in the Conservative Party manifesto. On Monday, MPs voted to overturn measures aimed at protecting UK food standards in future trade deals. But defending the decision of government to vote against such protections, George Eustice […]

Boris Johnson’s plan for tackling coronavirus will be voted on by MPs, despite warnings from his scientific advisers that it does not go far enough. Official papers showed the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) suggested introducing a national lockdown in September lasting between two and three weeks to halt the rapid spread of the […]

The UK’s professional services industry is at risk of losing £225 billion in value because of Brexit, a parliamentary committee has warned. A report by the House of Lords’ EU services subcommittee, published on Tuesday, said Britain’s professional firms – including accountants, lawyers, and recruiters – have largely been ignored in negotiations with the EU. MORE: More than […]

MPs voted 332 to 279 to overturn a House of Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill which would have required agricultural and food imports to meet domestic standards. The Lords had made the change to block the import of foodstuffs produced abroad with lower animal welfare standards, amid warnings over chlorinated chicken or hormone-treated beef […]

Tory MPs have overturned measures aimed at protecting UK food standards after Brexit – despite signs of some rebels in Boris Johnson’s party. The House of Commons voted 332 votes to 279, majority 53, to disagree with a Lords amendment to the Agriculture Bill which would have required agricultural and food imports to meet domestic […]

Microsoft said UK firms risk losing their competitiveness because of the impacts of the coronavirus and Brexit. The tech giant was “ringing the alarm bell” after it said almost half of companies are struggling to remain competitive. New research by Microsoft, alongside academics at Goldsmiths, University of London, showed that 46% of UK companies have seen […]

News that the pub chain Wetherspoons could be exempt from new lockdown restrictions in Merseyside has caused outrage online. Pubs that serve food will be allowed to remain open in Merseyside while so called “wet pubs” have been forced to close under new coronavirus restrictions, the Guardian‘s Josh Halliday has reported. Under Boris Johnson’s new three-tiered […]

Great British Bake Off judge Prue Leith has tweeted her fears over the post-Brexit risk to food standards, despite her support for the UK departing the European Union. Leith, who is the mother of Tory MP Danny Kruger, turned to Twitter over the weekend to warn about the “problems that could be coming our way”. Oh […]

A government minister has admitted local councils are “bound to be better” at contact tracing than Westminster. Robert Jenrick has admitted that after outsourcing the test and trace system to the private sector, and running it centrally, it would have been better to let local authorities run their own scheme. The communities secretary said councils […]

Rob Davidson of Trade Deal Watch looks at Boris Johnson’s Internal Market Bill and says the result of it will determine how history remembers the era of “Johnsonism”. The people of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland are about to pass a terrifying deadline set by our Prime Minister. Boris Johnson proclaimed that we should […]

Wales’ first minister Mark Drakeford has described Boris Johnson’s proposals for travel restrictions for coronavirus hotspots in England as “inadequate”. It came as Wales’s health minister said there is now evidence that travel to and from areas of England with high rates of Covid-19 has contributed to the spread of the virus to other areas of […]

Boris Johnson’s administration is said to be wooing Joe Biden ahead of the US election, after reportedly becoming increasingly convinced that Donald Trump will not win. Downing Street are said to have been reviewing private polling which showed that Biden is on track to win by a landslide, leading to Johnson to increase communication with the […]

A group of MPs are launching legal action against the government after it failed to account for £3 billion in private coronavirus contracts since the start of the lockdown in April. Three cross-party MPs and the Good Law Project – a non-for-profit organisation – have filed a judicial review against the government for breaching the law and […]

Boris Johnson is to announce a new three-tier system of local lockdown measures for England in an effort to curb rising Covid-19 rates. – What is happening? Different parts of the country will be split up into “medium”, “high” or “very high” local coronavirus alert areas under the new system. It comes after the prime […]

Farmers are to hold a protest outside parliament to make their voices heard over the threat of Brexit deals to their livelihoods as MPs prepare to vote on the government’s Agriculture Bill. In a warning to the risk of Brexit to food standards, farmers will assemble at New Covent Garden from 1pm on Monday as […]

Matt Hancock has dismissed claims he broke the drinking curfew after he was allegedly spotted consuming wine at a Common’s bar after 10pm. A senior Tory MP told the Mail on Sunday that Hancock had remained in the Smoking Room bar until at least 10.25pm last Monday despite the Commons speaker insisting all of parliament’s venues […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has criticised proposals for MPs to receive an inflation-busting pay rise next April. The independent body which sets MPs’ salaries has proposed continuing to link their pay packets to wage growth in the public sector. That could result in a pay rise of more than £3,300, taking their salaries to […]

A government minister has been grilled over the chancellor’s new furlough scheme which will see workers have to survive on £5.84 an hour. Culture secretary Oliver Dowden refused to say if he could live off the government’s new minimum wage for furloughed workers. During an interview on Sky News, Dowden discussed the impact new coronavirus restrictions are having […]

Margaret Ferrier has claimed she was “hung out to dry” by the SNP after posting a scripted statement in which she admitted breaching coronavirus rules. The Rutherglen and Hamilton West MP had the party whip withdrawn after travelling while awaiting the results of a Covid-19 test. In an interview with The Scottish Sun, she said […]

An advertisement – which includes government branding – has angered supporters of the arts after appearing to suggest that those working in the arts should consider retraining in digital skills. The promotions for a government-backed Cyber First scheme uses a series of case studies to demonstrate that people could “reskill” themselves in a new sector to […]