British Politics

The Corporation's current woes are being exploited for political gain by the government

Residents next to a large Brexit lorry park in Ashford say it is as bright as Wembley Stadium and has ruined the dark night sky for miles around. Located next to Junction 10a of the M20, the facility operates 24/7 and the government says floodlights are required to ensure the site runs safely. But frustrated neighbours […]

Health secretary Matt Hancock will face MPs and the media to respond to claims from Dominic Cummings that he lied to colleagues and should have been fired for his disastrous performance in the coronavirus pandemic. Hancock did not comment on former No 10 aide Cummings’ explosive claims ahead of his Commons appearance and Downing Street press […]

Plans are in place for US president Joe Biden to meet with the Queen when he visits the UK for the G7 summit next month, according to reports. It had been suggested, following the monarch’s private message to Biden following his inauguration in January, that a face-to-face meeting between the heads of state could be […]

Revelations about the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, as recalled by aide Dominic Cummings, feature on the front of many Thursday papers. His marathon seven-hour session of evidence to MPs gave the press plenty to write about, some calling it a “rain of fire”, others a “Domshell”. They included suggestions government failings lead to […]

Yvette Cooper is one of Labour’s most effective politicians, so could she one day replace Keir Starmer?

Health secretary Matt Hancock has rejected the allegations levelled at him by Dominic Cummings. Cummings accused the health secretary of performing “disastrously” below the standards expected and the cabinet secretary – the country’s top civil servant – had recommended he be sacked. “I think the secretary of state for health should’ve been fired for at least […]

Campaigners have won a Court of Appeal challenge over an “unlawful” exemption to data protection rules in immigration cases. The Open Rights Group and the3million said the “immigration exemption” introduced in the Data Protection Act (DPA), which came into force in May 2018, denies people access to their personal records in immigration cases. The exemption […]

Boris Johnson has been ‘rattled’ by the evidence given by Dominic Cummings into his handling of the Covid-19 outbreak, Sir Keir Starmer has told MPs. Speaking at Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir pointed out that Johnson denied the cabinet secretary told him to fire the health secretary for lying but had not denied the other claims put forward […]

Dominic Cummings has described chaos in Downing Street in the days leading up to the first Covid lockdown, with a “scene from Independence Day” and the prime minister’s fiancee Carrie Symonds going “completely crackers” over press coverage of her dog Dilyn. Boris Johnson’s former chief adviser told MPs the country should have locked down the […]

Transport minister Grant Shapps has suggested the government is considering whether to build a 50-mile tunnel to connect Ireland and Wales. In an interview with the Financial Times, Shapps said the tunnel would be an alternative to the prime minister’s plan to link Scotland with Northern Ireland. When questioned on the idea of linking Northern […]

Whitehall’s top official recommended to Boris Johnson that health secretary Matt Hancock should be fired over coronavirus failings, Dominic Cummings has claimed. The prime minister’s former adviser said there were around 20 reasons why Hancock should have been given the sack – including, he claimed, lying both in Cabinet room meetings and publicly. He said […]

A loophole which prevents constituents of disgraced MP Rob Roberts from forcing a by-election should be closed, the government has said. The Delyn MP faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks after breaching sexual misconduct rules by making repeated unwanted advances to a member of staff. He has been stripped of the Tory […]

Boris Johnson thought the European Super League was a “great idea” and promised No. 10 would not intervene to stop English clubs joining, a Downing Street insider has claimed. In a Mirror exclusive, those sources claimed the prime minister’s chief of staff, Dan Rosenfield, told him about the proposal after a No 10 meeting with Manchester United’s […]

Transport secretary Grant Shapps, who defended Dominic Cummings after his trip to Barnard Castle during lockdown last year, has admitted the former aide had undermined the government’s public health message. “I thought he was right at the time to stand by his family, to go into effective quarantine, and that’s what he did,” Shapps told […]

Downing Street is braced for more explosive revelations from the prime minister’s former chief advisor Dominic Cummings as he makes a much-anticipated appearance before MPs. Cummings has been vocal in his condemnation of Boris Johnson, health secretary Matt Hancock, and others since leaving government after a behind-the-scenes power struggle in November. Ahead of giving evidence […]

Former Tory chairwoman Baroness Warsi has repeated her claim that the party is “institutionally racist” and warned it would take years to undo the damage done by allegations of Islamophobia. An independent report concluded anti-Muslim sentiment remained a problem in the party but the allegation of institutional racism was not borne out by the evidence […]

A pest control company has said it did not know it had been put into a so-called “VIP lane” for government contracts for personal protective equipment (PPE). The Good Law Project and EveryDoctor are bringing High Court action against the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), claiming contracts worth more than £700 million were […]

First minister Arlene Foster has accused the EU of having a “tin ear” to concerns about the Northern Ireland Protocol. Foster was speaking after European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen said the protocol needs to be implemented. A new raft of checks on goods at the ports of Belfast and Larne under the terms […]

Tory MP Rob Roberts faces being suspended from the Commons for six weeks after a complaints panel found he broke parliament’s sexual misconduct policy. The Independent Expert Panel (IEP) found that Roberts, MP for Delyn in North Wales, made repeated and unwanted sexual advances towards a man. The suspension can only be imposed if agreed […]

Legal action is being brought forward to stop Boris Johnson and his ministers from deleting WhatsApp messages and other communications that would show how they took decisions during the pandemic. A letter drawn up by lawyers, and seen by The Independent, warns of “concern that ministers and officials are conducting government business via communication services such […]

Boris Johnson’s comments about women wearing the burka have given an impression that the Tories are “insensitive to Muslim communities”, an independent review into alleged Islamophobia and discrimination in the Conservative Party has said. The inquiry found anti-Muslim sentiment was seen at local association and individual levels but claims of “institutional racism” were not borne […]

Sir Keir Starmer should avoid turning Labour into a “Blairite tribute band”, former shadow chancellor John McDonnell has warned. He told BBC Two’s Newsnight the party should become more radical following setbacks in recent elections. McDonnell, who stood down from the shadow cabinet in 2019, claimed there was “disillusionment” with Labour, “particularly among younger people”. A […]

Former North Norfolk MP and senior Liberal Democrat Norman Lamb has admitted he has let his membership lapse over the party’s Brexit positioning. Lamb, who was the runner-up in the leadership contest in 2015, has told the Politico news website that he holds no grudges with his former colleagues but was heavily critical of the […]

The sister of murdered MP Jo Cox began her campaign to retain the Batley and Spen seat for Labour saying: “I’m going into politics to change politics, not to change who I am.” Kim Leadbeater was selected as Labour candidate for by-election in the West Yorkshire constituency on Sunday evening and was knocking on doors […]

Downing Street has confirmed plans to charge EU citizens and other foreign nationals to visit the UK. Home secretary Priti Patel said Monday that her department would legislation to introduce a new Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA), which she argued would help the government keep track of people entering and leaving the UK. ETAs will apply […]

Readers praise the former House of Commons speaker's column for The New European.

Boris Johnson did not miss emergency meetings on the response to the emerging coronavirus pandemic because he was working on a book, Downing Street has insisted. The prime minister’s official spokesman said he was “not aware” of Johnson doing any work on a biography of William Shakespeare while in office. Johnson did not chair the […]