News and Opinion

Tony Blair is calling for a ‘radical’ overhaul of the Labour Party on its 120th anniversary to avoid it being out of power for three-quarters of its existence. Blair, due to give a speech on Thursday, will push for the left-wing outfit to find a new mandate if it is to win power again within […]

All Labour leadership contenders are a ‘significant improvement on Jeremy Corbyn – but refused to say who he backs. During an event at King’s College London, Blair said the party had “too often been a failure” as a competitor at elections, following its streak of four election losses in a row. Asked about the leadership […]

Priti Patel has been defended by allies of the Conservative minister after allegations claimed she had bullied officials in the Home Office. Newspaper reports claim the home secretary clashed with the senior mandarin in her department and has been accused of belittling officials, making unreasonable demands and creating an “atmosphere of fear”. According to The […]

ANDREW ADONIS did what Dominic Cummings urged political pundits to do – to read the work of Philip Tetlock. Here is what he learned… Maybe like you, dear reader, I had never heard of ‘superforecasting’ until Andrew Sabisky, a practitioner of it, appeared in 10 Downing Street this week, disappearing a few days later once […]

Who is on Question Time tonight? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from Weymouth, where the bouncing bomb was first tested in the Fleet lagoon during WWII. But whose performance tonight will be full of bounce – and who will simply bomb? Here’s your complete guide to the panel… George […]

Jeremy Corbyn is to visit victims of the flooding caused by Storm Dennis as he criticises Boris Johnson’s inaction and refusal to visit the communities affected. The Labour leader is set to visit south Wales on Thursday to meet those affected by last weekend’s flood and speak with residents and volunteers helping with recovery efforts. […]

A watchmaking firm has moved from England to Scotland in anticipation that the country votes for independence and rejoins the EU. Bosses at the Marloe Watch Company said the move was part of a planned expansion strategy but was also influenced by Scottish politics – which could lead to it rejoining the EU. Co-founder Oliver […]

Brexiteer home secretary Priti Patel has admitted that her parents might not have been allowed in the UK under the post-Brexit immigration rules she has proposed. Radio presenter Nick Ferrari was interviewing the home secretary on LBC when he suggested that her parents would have been prevented from arriving in the UK under the new […]

A new campaign which is calling for Remainers to be able to opt in for associate EU citizenship and ‘stay European’ has reached more than 100,000 signatures. A total of 121,000 people had signed up to the online campaign, which is aiming to allow British people to continue to declare themselves European when they opt […]

Nigel Farage has dismissed concerns about who will care for the elderly under the new immigration system because it is personally ’30 years away’ for him. Home secretary Priti Patel meets students and staff at Imperial College London in South Kensington. Photograph: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire. – Credit: PA The Brexit Party leader was responding to […]

The Lib Dems have written to the three Labour leadership contenders urging them to form a progressive alliance which tackles electoral reform. The party claims that the issue of reforming the broken political system has been “dangerously absent” from the Labour contest. The letter, from the Liberal Democrats’ spokesperson for constitutional affairs Wendy Chamberlain, claimed […]

Veteran politician Ken Clarke has called on Boris Johnson to rein in his chief adviser Dominic Cummings following his plan to recruit ‘misfits and weirdos’ into Number 10. The former Tory chancellor said the brains behind the Vote Leave campaign would only last in the job if his “personal appearances stop” and he goes back […]

Labour has written to the prime minister asking him fresh questions over hiring of an aide with controversial views on black people and forcing contraception on the working classes. Sabisky, who once suggested enforcing the uptake of contraception to stop unplanned pregnancies from creating a “permanent underclass”, announced he was standing down at the start […]

Changes to the immigration rules will ‘severely impact the farming sector’ if visas for lower-skilled workers are limited, the National Farmer’s Union (NFU) has claimed. According to the NFU president Minette Batters, the government is showing “failure to recognise” the needs of the British and farming industry. Mrs Batters said: “As the UK’s largest manufacturing […]

The home secretary has scrambled to Boris Johnson’s defence after rapper Dave accused the prime minister of being a ‘real racist’ during a politically charged performance at the BRITs. Dave with his Mastercard Album of the Year award on stage at the Brit Awards 2020 at the O2 Arena, London. Photograph: Isabel Infantes/PA Wire. – […]

The EU could demand the return of the Parthenon marbles to Greece as part of upcoming Brexit talks. According to a document shared on social media, the EU’s latest negotiating position called for the UK and Brussels to “address issues relating to the return or restitution of unlawfully removed cultural objects to their countries of […]

Labour deputy leader candidate Ian Murray has claimed that ‘nobody understands Scotland’ in the race. Murray claimed that discussing the importance of Scotland had only been raised by candidates for the position after he entered the contest. The Edinburgh South MP, the only remaining Scottish Labour MP, also said that Rebecca Long-Bailey – running to […]

Priti Patel has said those seeking to come to the country if they can speak English, as she outlined plans for a post-Brexit immigration system. The home secretary claimed the new system would ensure that immigration policy is back under the control of the government for the “first time in decades”. “On January 1 2021, […]

An independent Scotland could return to the European Union within five years, a new report has claimed. The EU Blueprint: Pathway for Scotland’s Accession to the European Union under Independence, written by Brussels expert Anthony Salamone, claimed that Scotland meets the required “Copenhagen criteria” to rejoin the EU. It points out that Scotland has been […]

Labour leadership contender Lisa Nandy has said she would vote to scrap the monarchy in any future referendum on the royal family. The backbench MPs’ rivals to replace Jeremy Corbyn, Sir Keir Starmer and Rebecca Long-Bailey, said they would support the monarchy in such a poll. All three contenders said that the issue was not […]

Just three remain in the Labour leadership contest to replace Jeremy Corbyn at the top of the opposition party. But who do you think should get the job as leader? After Emily Thornberry was eliminated in the latest round of the competition three go through to the online and postal ballot of party members and […]

Whether it’s his hard Brexit agenda, the barring of journalists or the reforms of the justice system, the latest rows in Downing Street show the prime minister is neither a liberal politician or a Tory. Number 10’s spin machine, controlled by the prime minister’s Svengali, Vote Leave campaigner Dominic Cummings, took a leaf out of […]

Prime minister Boris Johnson and estranged wife Marina Wheeler have reached an agreement relating to money following their separation two years ago. The PA news agency reports that a family court judge in London had been notified that the pair have reached agreement on their divorce after a ten-minute hearing. The pair had been involved […]

Dominic Cummings has told people to listen to superforecasters, like former adviser Andrew Sabisky, rather than political pundits. Answering questions on his doorstep Cummings refused to answer whether he regretted the appointment of Sabisky, who resigned on Monday from the role of Downing Street adviser. He told reporters: “Read Philip Tetlock’s ‘Superforecasting’ instead of political […]

A government minister has called on Downing Street to review its hiring process after Andrew Sabisky was employed as an adviser. Andrew Sabisky, who is claims to be a “super-forecaster”, was hired following Dominic Cummings’ call for “weirdos and misfits” to be at the heart of Downing Street. But his “reprehensible” and “racist” remarks has […]

The government has been criticised by a Tory MP for the ‘silence’ over its appointment of controversial adviser Andrew Sabisky. Former immigration minister and Tory MP Caroline Nokes told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she was “relieved” Sabisky had resigned, but said the response from Downing Street had disappointed her. “I was disappointed that yesterday […]

Music industry boss and talent show judge Simon Cowell has claimed that Brexit will be good for UK business – because it reflects the work he has been doing. Speaking on talkRADIO, Cowell said he normally avoided politics, but now wanted to speak his views on Brexit now that January 31st has passed. He said […]

Ahead of a visit to Brussels, the mayor of London is calling for British nationals to have ‘associate citizenship’ of the EU. This would allow British citizens to keep many of the rights they held before Brexit, including the right to move freely between EU member states. Khan said: “Like so many Londoners, I am […]