British Politics

BBC News anchor Simon McCoy has caused a reporter to break into laughter as the pair waited for Matt Hancock to appear the dispatch box in the House of Commons. McCoy and political reporter Chris Mason were waiting for the health secretary to provide an update to MPs on the latest coronavirus restrictions. BBC News anchor […]

A Tory MP has likened Boris Johnson to King Theoden from The Lord of the Rings and accused him of being “under the spell” of his special adviser, Dominic Cummings. Former European Research Group chair Steve Baker said Johnson needed to be “woken up” from his “slumber” as he suggested his advisers like Cummings were in control […]

No 10 has rejected calls to ban the sale of alcohol in pubs, restaurants and supermarkets after 9pm. Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said the government’s 10pm curfew was “doing more harm than good” because people were holding house parties once pubs shut and risking a further spread of the virus. Speaking on BBC Radio […]

Commons speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle could stop Tory rebels voting on an amendment that would curb the government’s emergency powers. Sir Lindsay is refusing to allow MPs a vote on the amendment out of fear it would be breaking house procedures. Around 50 MPs have signed an amendment by Sir Graham Brady, chair of the influential […]

Parliament has clarified its position on whether its drinking establishments are following the government’s 10pm curfew,  after it was reported the establishments on the premises had exploited a loophole that classed them as “canteens” for workers. The regulations announced by the prime minister last week include exemptions that “workplace canteens may remain open where there is […]

A Labour MP has said that Tory MPs are guilty of following tactics of Donald Trump after she claimed to have never seen any of the politicians wearing face masks during votes in the House of Commons. Emily Thornberry, the shadow international trade secretary, said that “so many rules don’t seem to apply in parliament” […]

A British fashion label will stop selling its polo shirts in North America after they were being associated with a far-right group. Fred Perry, founded by and named after the triple Wimbledon champion, said it was “incredibly frustrated” Proud Boys had adopted its black and yellow shirt and announced it would stop selling the item in North America and Canada. In […]

Social media users have expressed concerns for education secretary Gavin Williamson, who appears to have gone “missing” during a row over the government’s handling of universities. Williamson, who was criticised for his approach to A-Level and GCSE results, has not given a single interview since university students were forced to self-isolate in their halls at […]

A leading Tory Brexiteer has been branded a hypocrite after accusing the government of trying to remove people’s liberties. Steve Baker, a former chair of the hard-line Eurosceptic Westminster group the European Research Group (ERG), said it was “only fair” MPs got a vote on coronavirus laws that would take away people’s liberties before they came into effect. Brexiteer […]

The Conservatives have hit out at those trying to score “political points” by claiming that students could have to remain at university over Christmas – despite their own MPs refusing to rule it out. Reports appeared to surface after health secretary Matt Hancock himself did not deny the possibility.It followed the release of Scientific Advisory […]

I have tended to avoid Dominic Cummings in my columns here. Mainly, because often the best way to deal with attention-seekers is to ignore them. Also, even at the subconscious level, perhaps I turn away from situations in which a right-hand man to a prime minister is getting too much media coverage for his own […]

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey has not ruled out voting down a possible Brexit deal between the UK and EU “if it harms our economy”. Appearing on LBC, Davey was asked if he would vote for a future trade deal, despite criticisms that Johnson had failed to secure the deal he had promised at the last […]

Boris Johnson’s restrictions for pubs will not apply to bars in parliament. Despite requiring pubs to close at 10pm, and encouraging drinking establishments to collect data for the track and trace system, the Times reports the same rules will not apply where politicians frequent. That is because parliament is using a loophole which claims “workplace canteens […]

Liberal Democrat members have ruled out an amendment to a motion at conference which would have seen the party campaigning to rejoin the EU immediately after the transition period ends. But the party did vote in favour of an amendment which backs supporting a “longer term objective” of the UK being a member of the European Union. In a […]

A senior Tory MP has claimed that Boris Johnson ruled out a second national lockdown to prevent chancellor Rishi Sunak from quitting. Number 10 has denied a rift between the prime minister and his chancellor, but there are fears the pair are at odds about how best to deal with a second wave of the […]

Former Commons speaker John Bercow has warned Boris Johnson against sidelining parliament by pushing through coronavirus laws without a vote or debate before they are enacted. Bercow told BBC Radio 4’s World This Weekend: “Parliament has been unavoidably constrained by Covid-19 but it should not now avoidably constrain or hamper itself. Debate, scrutiny and votes […]

The mayor of Liverpool has said that the 10pm closure of pubs was “making things worse not better” in the bid to tackle coronavirus. A video clip of a crowd singing and dancing in the street on Saturday was widely shared on social media and brought condemnation, including from Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson. Shut […]

Culture secretary Oliver Dowden has insisted there was “definitely science” behind the 10pm curfew for hospitality venues. Dowden was questioned on reports from a Sage scientist (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies), who claimed that the group had never talked about the impact of the policy of closing hospitality services earlier. Professor Graham Medley said: “I never […]

Results of approximately 60,000 coronavirus tests carried out in an NHS hospital or Public Health England lab cannot be linked with England’s newly-launched NHS Covid-19 app. The app, which has been available for download across England and Wales since Thursday, has been hailed by health secretary Matt Hancock as an “important step forward” in the […]

Boris Johnson has called for an ‘early warning system’ to alert countries about the possibility of a pandemic – like the one the EU has in place that the UK is set to leave from the end of the year. Johnson is to make a speech on video link via the United Nations General Assembly […]

Thousands of UK citizens living in the EU are being warned their bank accounts could close due to Brexit. Lloyds Bank, Barclays and Barclaycard and Coutts – which is owned by NatWest Group – are all warning UK customers their accounts will close by December 31. Lloyds, alone, has written to 13,000 customers saying it will not be […]

The UK’s richest Brexiteer has officially moved to tax-free Monaco, saving himself nearly £4 billion in tax payments. Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who had an estimated fortune of £17.5 billion, has left Britain for the sunny principality in the south of France. He changed his tax domicile from Hampshire to Monaco, the sovereign city-state that has a laxed […]

Labour has indicated it could join more than 40 Tory MPs to support a rebel plan to force a vote on new coronavirus powers. Labour sources said it was likely the party will back a proposed amendment to the Coronavirus Act tabled by influential Tory Sir Graham Brady who is trying to force greater parliamentary […]

Campaigners have staged a protest outside Matt Hancock’s health department urging the government to put the coronavirus test and trace system into public hands. The We Own It campaign group said its research showed that the public did not agree with the use of private firms, pointing out they have so far failed to get […]

Public health experts have warned Boris Johnson against pursing herd immunity or mimicking Sweden coronavirus response. Independent SAGE – an independent group of scientists who provide advice to the government – has warned Britain is in a “dangerous place”. The committee released a report in which it advised against the strategy of herd immunity or […]

Downing Street has denied that there is a rift between prime minister Boris Johnson and his chancellor Rishi Sunak, after Johnson stayed away for his big economic speech in the Commons. A spokesperson said Johnson fully supported the package and denied he treated the police visit as being more important than the chancellor’s announcement. “Obviously […]

Home secretary Priti Patel has been mocked for continuing to claim “tests are available” rather than acknowledge that the public are struggling to get them. Patel appeared on BBC Breakfast to answer questions about the fact people in some of the worst areas for coronavirus have been unable to get the kits to decipher whether […]

The latest Conservative attack lines over Brexit have backfired, after it tried to accuse Labour of taking the side of “the EU” in parliament by voting against Boris Johnson’s bill. Moments after the Internal Market Bill passed its second reading – designed to override the Withdrawal Agreement bill and international law – the Tories claimed […]