News and Opinion

A Tory MP has apologised after he was filmed flashing his genitals in a pub. James Grundy dropped his trousers at a private event in the bar, with onlookers encouraging him to expose himself. The incident took place more than a decade before Grundy was elected as MP for Leigh, Greater Manchester, in 2019. He […]

Environment secretary George Eustice has been rolled out to defend Priti Patel’s immigration proposals over the weekend, but a year ago he took a very different view on the points-based system. Back in 2019, the newly-promoted minister was a fierce critic of the Home Office proposals when he claimed that it does not think about […]

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is insisting that countries that want to trade with the UK must do so ‘on our terms’, following concerns it will ‘undermine’ food standards in Brexit talks. At the NFU’s annual conference in Birmingham NFU president Minette Batters will reiterate a warning that imported food should not be allowed to […]

The EU is reportedly planning to demand that the UK keeps its ban on chlorinated chicken as part of trade talks with Brussels. In a move that will protect European meat exports and create problems for a US trade deal, the Guardian reports France is insisting that a clause is inserted into the negotiating mandate […]

A major German carnival has mocked Boris Johnson and Brexit in a float which shows Scotland running away from the rest of the UK. The annual Rose Monday parade attracts thousands every year as they flock to see the topical floats designed by Jacques Tilly, one of the country’s leading float designers. The event marks […]

The founder of the Brexit Party has launched a new group – alongside former EDL frontman Tommy Robinson and ‘rape joke’ UKIP candidate Carl Benjamin. Catherine Blaiklock, who was booted from her post leading the Brexit Party once it was founded for racist tweets, hopes her new organisation will challenge “woke, progressive and Anglophobic worldview” […]

Number 10 has defended Boris Johnson’s decision to stay away from flooded areas – and denied his different approach during the general election was to win votes. The prime minister’s spokesperson said environment scretary George Eustice was “rightly” leading the government’s response to the flooding which has hit parts of the UK – despite only […]

Brexit has been cited as one of the biggest problems for the Labour at the general election, so what approach should its next leader take to the big issue of the day? One of the most striking failures of the Labour campaign last December was any attempt to rebut or counter Johnson’s “Get Brexit done” […]

A Tory minister side-stepped a question on whether he would support chlorinated chicken appearing on UK supermarket shelves following a post-Brexit trade deal with America, but suggested he might eat the product if it did. James Brokenshire was questioned by LBC presenter Nick Ferrari after the environment secretary George Eustice appeared to leave the door […]

The Cabinet Office is seeking a new civil servant to oversee human resources policy for ministerial special advisers. A job advert placed on the government’s website calls for an “HR policy lead” who will play a “key role in establishing the cross-government special adviser HR function”. The “high-profile and stretching role” – with a salary […]

France has warned the UK it will not be ‘blackmailed’ into accepting a ‘bad’ Brexit deal because of Boris Johnson’s deadline for the transition period. In a sign that the EU is prepared to take a tough line ahead of post-Brexit talks beginning, French Europe minister Amelie de Montchalin insisted that her country’s farmers, fishermen […]

After dismissing them for the last four years, Iain Duncan Smith says that Brexit now needs to hear from the experts to make it a success. In the latest strategy from the Leavers, civil servants appear to be getting the blame for Brexit’s potential to go terribly wrong. Iain Duncan Smith is one of the […]

Boris Johnson has reportedly ordered his Brexit team to find ways to ‘get around’ checks on goods passing from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. The Withdrawal Agreement between the UK and EU leaves Northern Ireland within the UK customs area but all EU procedures will apply to goods arriving there. It enables the UK to […]

The government has been forced to move to strongly deny claims that MI5 chiefs do not trust home secretary Priti Patel and were limiting intelligence sharing with her. The security services were dragged into the row when the Sunday Times reported officials alleging intelligence chiefs do “not trust” her and have decided to share less […]

The ballot in the Labour leadership contest is to open as party members decide who will be Jeremy Corbyn’s successor. Members and party supporters who have signed up for a fee will begin receiving their ballots on Monday, with batches being sent out by email and post throughout the week. They will decide between Keir […]

A radio presenter has powerfully taken down the bigoted Question Time audience member who claimed the country is ‘sinking’ because of immigration. An audience member on Question Time calls for government to close all the borders. Photograph: BBC. – Credit: Archant LBC radio presenter Shelagh Fogarty played out a clip of the woman who tried […]

Welsh minister David Davies has defended Boris Johnson after the prime minister was criticised for not visiting flood-hit areas of the country. Johnson has not visited flooded areas, including Monmouth in Wales, where rescue operations have been carried out to help those affected. Speaking on Channel 4 News, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for […]

The environment secretary has refused to rule out chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef being imported from the US in a post-Brexit trade deal three times during a television interview. George Eustice’s predecessor before the recent reshuffle had insisted the controversial products from the States would not be imported amid animal welfare and environmental fears. But […]

ALASTAIR CAMPBELL on Albania’s bid to join the European Union at a time when the UK rushes to leave. British-Kosovan singer Dua Lipa performs on stage during her first concert held in her hometown Pristina, at the Germia National Park. Picture: ARMEND NIMANI/AFP via Getty Images – Credit: AFP via Getty Images On Monday, the […]

MAURICE SMITH assesses what Brexit and the latest political developments mean for the future of the United Kingdom. Number 10 Downing Street. Picture: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire – Credit: PA Imagine the United Kingdom as a soap opera – one of those dramas where the main characters are in a permanent state of dismay, and always […]

STEVE ANGLESEY on how Rebecca Long-Bailey wants to change Labour’s Brexit stance – but not a lot else. Labour leadership candidate Rebecca Long-Bailey speaks to supporters at a campaign event in Hackney, London. Picture: PA Wire/PA Images – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images “I’ve been on a journey, to be honest, in relation to a public […]

Veteran BBC broadcaster David Dimbleby has told German media that Boris Johnson is a liar that nobody trusts, who has become ‘arrogant with power’ following the general election result. The Daily Mail reported that Dimbleby told Germany’s ARD state TV channel that the prime minister might be forced to start listening more if Brexit starts […]

For the first time in three decades blue passports will be issued to mark Britain’s departure from the European Union. The New European’s remainer passport cover. Picture: The New European – Credit: Archant The new-look documents, that were championed by Brexiteers, will replace the burgundy passports which were rolled out in 1988. The contract to […]

A talented man who has been living in the UK for years has said he feels targeted due to the government’s new immigration ‘skill’ system. Anxo has a biology degree, a teaching qualification, can speak four languages and yet because he earns below the £25,000 salary threshold he would be considered “low-skilled” in the government’s […]

Rapper Dave has taken to Twitter to defend his accusations that prime minister Boris Johnson is a ‘real racist’. A row has broken out after rapper Dave’s BRIT awards performance. Photographs: PA/TNE. – Credit: Archant The 21-year-old rapper from London released a video showing comments from the prime minister, that he considers racist. The video […]

A Brexiteer on Question Time has tried to blame the European Union for recent flooding in the UK. In a point that went mostly unchallenged, an audience member responded to a debate about the government’s response to the floods by blaming the European Union. She asked: “Why have the EU stopped dredging the rivers? And […]

An audience member on Question Time has been praised on social media after making a point about the tabloid press after Caroline Flack’s death. On this week’s Question Time, one American woman spoke of her feelings surrounding the tabloid press and the stories they write. The question ‘have we forgotten how to be kind?’ was […]

A reader says the only person taking control after Brexit is Boris Johnson. Having purged his party of moderate Tories and his cabinet of potential dissenters, thereby turning it into a politburo of parrots, Boris Johnson has now taken over the Treasury, and crowned himself, if not world king as was his childhood dream, effectively […]