News and Opinion

Matt Hancock has claimed that the numbers are ‘broadly where they are expected to be’ as the government looks set to miss its 100,000-a-day testing target. The government has come under increasing pressure in recent days to reach the target by the end of April, with just 37,024 tests carried out on Sunday. It came […]

Good Morning Britain presenter Piers Morgan has hit out at Brexiteers who have reported to Ofcom his interviews of government ministers during the coronavirus outbreak. Morgan, who is sympathetic to the Brexit cause and has called for people to accept the ‘will of the people’, has been accused of ‘betraying the cause’ with his criticisms […]

MPs have been told that a mobile app designed to help with the easing of the coronavirus lockdown is ‘two to three weeks away’ from being rolled out. Matthew Gould, chief executive of NHSX, the health service’s digital innovation arm, told the Science and Technology Committee the voluntary tool would be trialled in a ‘small […]

The leader of the SNP in Westminster has called on Boris Johnson to ‘demonstrate some political courage’ and extend Brexit talks by two years. Ian Blackford wrote to the prime minister arguing that a hard exit from the EU during the coronavirus crisis was ‘unforgivable.’ Calling on the PM to put the UK economy ahead […]

The founder of the Brexit Party has revealed she almost called the organisation ‘The Nigel Farage Party’. Catherine Blaiklock, who was forced to step down as leader of the Brexit Party when a series of racist comments came to light, appeared on right-wing YouTube channel Hearts of Oak to explain the thinking behind the formation […]

Plaid Cymru has joined calls for the government to block companies with offshore tax havens from accessing coronavirus bailout funds. Westminster Plaid MP Jonathan Edwards has written to chancellor Rishi Sunak saying vital services like the NHS could miss out on essential funds if the government bailed out tax-dodging companies. It follows EU countres including […]

Michael Gove has revealed that almost 100 civil servants have been redeployed from the Brexit taskforces dealing with the UK’s future relationship with the EU to help with the government response to coronavirus. Appearing before the Future Relationship with the European Committee the chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster was questioned by Labour MP Stephen […]

Downing Street is insisting a Brexit deal can be achieved during the coronavirus crisis if there political leaders on the EU side intervene. The European Union’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier last week described progress in the trade talks as ‘disappointing’ and accused the UK side of a failure to engage with Brussels on key issues. […]

A Trump supporter told a prominent radio station that injecting oneself with disinfectant to treat the coronavirus was ‘as a concept… not a bad idea’. The caller, named Nick, told LBC’s Nick Ferrari:’What Donald Trump suggested was if chemicals in cleaners kill the virus, if those chemicals themselves could be made human-friendly, could those human-friendly […]

Former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson is being encouraged to return to frontline politics in a move that would take her to Holyrood. Last month The Press and Journal claimed that Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie was planning to step down to allow the former East Dunbartonshire MP to take the job. But Rennie […]

Michael Heseltine has called for Michael Gove to be put in charge of the UK’s economic recovery after the coronavirus. The ex-Conservative cabinet minister said Gove should be responsible for co-ordinating the job of reigniting the British economy once weeks – or possibly months – of social distancing measures are brought to a close. Gove […]

The government is to start taking questions from the public instead of journalists at daily coronavirus briefings. Under the plan, one question from a member of public will be put forward to ministers during Downing Street press conferences, and the questions will be chosen by an independent polling organisation, not Downing Street. Participants will need […]

Piers Morgan has slammed Boris Johnson on his first day back at work, calling his government’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak a failure. Criticising the prime minister’s claims that he had done a good job at containing the coronavirus during his first public appearance since becoming ill, Morgan said the response had been anything but […]

Some of the names of the scientists who have been advising the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) will be published ‘shortly’, the government’s chief scientific adviser has said. Sir Patrick said only the experts who are ‘happy to have their names published’ would be made public, as the prime minister returned to Downing Street […]

Ministers are said to be close to ditching the ‘Stay at Home’ government messaging, despite Boris Johnson insisting that the lockdown measures must to continue to avoid more coronavirus deaths. The Daily Mail reports that ditching the successful message will be discussed at the government’s coronavirus strategy group on Monday. ‘We are moving on from […]

Readers are sceptical that there will be any change from the Tory government after the coronavirus outbreak. For the past few years, politics has been dominated by matters of principle and personality: the principles of Brexit (pure sovereignty versus shared sovereignty); the personalities of Johnson, Corbyn and Farage. Now, all governments, will be judged on […]

Boris Johnson has returned to work after his coronavirus recovery and delivered a speech warning the UK it needs to continue with the lockdown to avoid ‘a new wave of deaths’. Prime minister Boris Johnson told reporters outside 10 Downing Street that now was not the time ‘to throw away all the effort and sacrifice […]

Downing Street has reportedly barred the newspaper behind the most prominent criticisms of the government’s approach to coronavirus from asking questions during daily press briefings. Sunday Times reporters were reportedly prevented from asking questions at the latest briefing after the newspaper claimed 10 Downing Street ‘sleepwalked’ into the coronavirus epidemic, and revealing how Boris Johnson […]

A newspaper has been accused of mis-reporting a poll on the public attitudes towards the coronavirus lockdown in a bid to support the government agenda. The latest edition of the Telegraph reports on polling by Opinium, just as Boris Johnson returns to Downing Street, to claim that the public are becoming ‘increasingly supportive’ of a […]

Radio presenter James O’Brien has torn apart Boris Johnson’s claims that the UK response to the coronavirus has been a ‘success’. Johnson used a speech outside Downing Street as he returned to work to praise the success of his government’s response to coronavirus. He said: ‘There will be many people looking now at our apparent […]

A pro-Brexit Tory MP has claimed the UK does not need a fisheries agreement with the EU after Brexit, telling the bloc to ‘get real’. The MP for Banff and Buchan, David Duguid, thinks that because other global free trade agreements (FTAs) are not dependent on fishing rights that Boris Johnson’s governent should not bother […]

WILL SELF fears lifting the lockdown will only lead to further waves of the coronavirus. Afterlife comedy The Good Place. Picture: Contributed – Credit: Archant Some years ago I was commissioned to write an introduction for a new edition of Russell Hoban’s masterpiece Riddley Walker, which depicts a post-apocalyptic England in which culture has mutated […]

The environment secretary George Eustice is encouraging furloughed workers to consider picking fruit and vegetables during the coronavirus outbreak due to a shortage of migrant workers. Although the international food chain is continuing to ‘work well’, the environment secretary said he expects there to be a need to recruit staff in the UK to harvest […]

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has called on the UK government to replicate schemes in EU countries including France, Poland and Denmark by preventing the bailing out of companies based in tax havens. Ed Davey, acting leader of the party, appearing on Sophy Ridge on Sunday said that ‘the government support that they are […]

More than a third of doctors in areas at high-risk from coronavirus are still unable to access personal protection equipment (PPE), a survey has found. This has prompted doctors to admit they may have to choose between saving their own lives or those of their patients. According to the Royal College of Physicians (RCP), medical […]

A German foreign minister has revealed how his country has done better than other western countries in tackling the coronavirus crisis. Speaking to Andrew Marr, Andreas Michaelis said ‘widespread testing’ and ‘early lockdown’ were among the reasons why Germany has 66 deaths per million people, while the UK has 282 per million. He told the […]

A senior shadow cabinet minister has urged the government to ramp up testing ahead of lifting lockdown restrictions. Rachel Reeves, shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, has called for mass testing for coronavirus to be made ‘widely available’ to meet the ‘huge demand’ noticed across the country. Speaking during The Andrew Marr Show on […]

Boris Johnson is set to return to Downing Street on Monday after recovering from coronairus. The prime minister was said to be ‘raring to go’ after spending the past two weeks recuperating at his official country residence Chequers. It followed a week in St Thomas’ Hospital – including three nights in intensive care after his […]