News and Opinion

Boris Johnson is intent on turning the UK into the 51st state of the US, a newly-elected SNP MP has claimed. Kenny MacAskill, the former Scottish justice secretary, launched an outspoken attack on the British prime minister, who he claimed was “undermining” the UK welfare state and attacking the country’s “social and civic infrastructure”. With […]

Voters want a decisive move away from Jeremy Corbyn’s agenda on many key issues, while only half of Labour’s supporters are still keen on his taxation and nationalisation plans, according to a new poll. Leadership hopefuls are beginning to signal their ambitions to take over from Corbyn after his disastrous election, with varying positions on […]

Labour leadership hopeful Rebecca Long-Bailey is risking censure from party moderates by taking on the founder of Momentum as a campaign adviser, according to reports. Jon Lansman, a founder of the hard-left populist campaign group, was reported by the Sunday Times to be helping Long-Bailey’s campaign to take Jeremy Corbyn’s place as Labour leader. The […]

The BBC is considering new restrictions on how its journalists use Twitter, after several rows about alleged bias in the use of social media throughout the general election campaign. Fran Unsworth, director of news and current affairs, is understood to be looking at ensuring the corporation’s reporters adhere more stringently to its impartiality guidelines – […]

Boris Johnson’s chief aide in Downing Street, Dominic Cummings, is paid three times the average UK salary. Despite claiming to be an anti-establishment figurehead, a new report has revealed that Cummings is paid between £95,000 and £99,999 for his role as chief special adviser. The average UK salary is £29,500, according to the Office for […]

A minister has raised eyebrows after claiming that Boris Johnson is actually a ‘left-wing Tory’. Despite installing some of the most right-wing members of the Conservative Party into his cabinet, and fuelling fears that people from Turkey could become EU citizens and move to the UK, defence secretary Ben Wallace claimed the prime minister is […]

A judge who ruled that Boris Johnson should not face trial over lying during the EU referendum failed to declare a possible conflict of interest. The prime minister received a summons earlier this year urging him to attend court to explain his false claims made during the EU referendum after a private prosecutor raised the […]

Boris Johnson appeared to set himself on a collision course with the European Union in trade talks after ruling out adhering to Brussels rules after Brexit. Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar warned that Johnson looked to be embarked on a “harder Brexit than we anticipated” and said he feared the UK wanted to “undercut” Europe […]

The government has ordered a new commemorative Brexit 50p coin after the delay to the UK’s exit from the EU forced the Royal Mint to destroy the previous batches. Ex-chancellor Philip Hammond originally announced plan for a commemorative coin for March 29th, but had to scrap the plans when Theresa May’s Brexit deal failed. Chancellor […]

A woman who lost a wedding ring in a ballot box after it slipped off her finger while she was voting has been reunited with the precious gold band. The 22-year-old who went by the name of Charlotte realised that the ring, given to her by her mother Janice as a keepsake, was missing after […]

A cabinet office investigation into Tory MP Alun Cairns, who quit the Cabinet during the election campaign, has not upheld allegations of a breach of the ministerial code. The former Welsh secretary announced he was standing down from the Cabinet last month over his links to a Conservative candidate accused of sabotaging a rape trial. […]

Six Labour MPs have defied the party leadership to rebel in support of Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. Leader Jeremy Corbyn had outlined his party’s opposition to Boris Johnson’s “terrible” Brexit deal, despite claiming they had recognised the “clear message” from voters at the election. But Sarah Champion, Rosie Cooper, Jon Cruddas, Emma Lewell-Buck, Grahame Morris, […]

The Withdrawal Agreement Bill has cleared its first Commons hurdle after MPs approved giving it a second reading by 358 votes to 234, majority 124. Here’s how the new MPs voted in the House of Commons. These MPs voted with the government – 353 Conservative MPs and 6 Labour MPs Nigel Adams (Conservative – Selby […]

Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans is a step closer to being approved by the House of Commons after the Withdrawal Agreement Bill passed the second reading. It came as the prime minister faced accusations he had “binned” his withdrawal deal compromises in favour of a hard Brexit as MPs prepare to vote on his exit terms. […]

New Liberal Democrat MP Wera Hobhouse has said she ‘feels different about the country’ as a result of Brexit – describing the UK as ‘a lost soul’. The German-born MP for Bath, who became a British citizen after moving to the UK, added that the “relentless rhetoric and hostile environment” over freedom of movement has […]

A Labour MP has said she does not want to ‘just oppose for opposition’s sake’ as she declared she will vote for Boris Johnson’s Brexit deal. South Shields MP Emma Lewell-Buck previously voted for the second reading of the Withdrawal Agreement bill in October, but rejected the Government’s bid to push it through Parliament in […]

Jeremy Corbyn has attacked the government’s decision to remove protections for refugee orphans from its Brexit bill just days after winning the election. The Prime Minister might have a mandate to deliver Brexit, but he has no mandate to launch an attack on some of the most vulnerable people. He must take the measures on […]

Boris Johnson has returned to the House of Commons after his election victory with a Brexit bill that looks markedly different to the one he promised the electorate when campaigning. As MPs prepare to vote on the second reading of his Brexit terms, the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill or WAB has abandoned or weakened […]

A week after his election victory, Boris Johnson has the highest favourability ratings amongst top party leaders – yet the majority of Britons still can’t bring themselves to be proud of him. New polling taken by Ipsos MORI in the aftermath of the general election shows the prime minister scoring poorly for honesty, his connection […]

Clive Lewis has announced he will stand in the upcoming race to replace Jeremy Corbyn as Labour Party leader. The shadow Treasury minister, in an article for the Guardian, said he wanted to “unleash” the Labour movement to win its first general election since 2005. The Norwich South MP said the party had suffered “its […]

The Independent Group for Change, a political party founded by MPs who defected from Labour and the Conservatives, will be disbanded after failing to hold any seats in the general election. The group tweeted: “We came together & took a stand when others wouldn’t. It was right to shine a spotlight on Britain’s broken politics. […]

Downing Street has confirmed ousted Tory MP Zac Goldsmith will continue as a minister after being made a life peer. The environment minister lost his Richmond Park seat to the Liberal Democrats’ Sarah Olney last week – with his support for Brexit likely playing a role in his defeat. Downing Street said: “The Rt Hon […]

Far-right activists in Britain First have been urged to join the Conservatives to ensure Boris Johnson is ‘secure’ as leader. The party’s eadr Paul Golding – who has received a welcome email from the Tories following his application – said he liked the “cut of the cloth” of the prime minister after he described Muslim […]

Boris Johnson’s ‘unmatched flexibility with the truth’ will cause him issues in trade talks, the acting co-leader of the Liberal Democrats has claimed. Sir Ed Davey warned that Boris Johnson’s “willingness to jump over every red line he had previously been willing to die in the ditch for will have been noted in Brussels”. The […]

The SNP have criticised Boris Johnson for ‘playing with his phone’ rather than listening to their response to the debate on the Queen’s speech. The prime minister could be seen studying his mobile as Ian Blackford reacted to the government’s proposals for the coming year. The SNP Westminster leader chastised Johnson, warning: “Can I say […]

The number of people flagged up to authorities for concerns over right-wing extremism has almost doubled in the last three years, while referrals over Islamist radicalisation plummeted, figures show. There were 5,738 referrals overall to the government’s prevent programme between April 2018 and March 2019. Of these, 1,389 referrals were for concerns over right-wing extremism […]

WILL SELF goes in search of some Christmas cheer. Charles Dickens is credited with pretty much inventing Christmas as it’s celebrated in contemporary Britain. In the 1850s, using his journal of nascent gemütlichkeit, Household Words, Dickens pushed good cheer, holly and mistletoe, plum puddings with silver sixpences in them, jolly japes, wrap culture – and […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY profiles the great Dane Victor Borge. During the last year of the 20th century Victor Borge played 60 concerts. He was 90 years old. His material, a mixture of deft musical sketches and parodies interspersed with drily humorous quips and monologues, hadn’t changed much since he first began performing it in his native […]