News and Opinion

Boris Johnson may have weakened his Brexit negotiating abilities by securing a majority government, a Brexit expert has claimed. Professor Anand Menon, director of The UK in a Changing Europe, an initiative for research on UK-EU relations, told a briefing that the EU is less likely to be flexible in the negotiations due to Johnson’s […]

Sir Keir Starmer has warned Labour must not ‘oversteer’ away from the left wing politics of Jeremy Corbyn in the wake of the party’s crushing general election defeat. Sir Keir, who confirmed he was “seriously considering” a run for the leadership, said Corbyn had been right to make Labour an “anti-austerity” party. In a clear […]

US president Donald Trump is on the cusp of being impeached by the house of representatives. A Baby Trump Balloon floats outside City Hall in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes) – Credit: AP A historic debate is due to begin at 9am (2pm GMT) on charges that he abused his power and obstructed US congress. […]

Tory peer Baroness Warsi has claimed that the plans for a review into Islamophobia in the party ‘does not bode well’. The former co-chairwoman of the Conservative Party also said the review does not look at how badly the problem has been dealt with. The Tories said Prof Singh would look at how it could […]

The Tories have appointed a former commissioner of the Equality and Human Rights Commission to head the party’s promised review into its handling of complaints of discrimination and prejudice, including Islamophobia. The party said Professor Swaran Singh would look at how it could improve its procedures and ensure “any instances are isolated and that there […]

The BBC has aired its latest instalment of ‘Brexitstorm’, but it wasn’t the political drama on-screen that got people talking, but the weird moments involve some notable politicians. 1. Matt Hancock playing chess The health secretary’s chess skills did not impress viewers. In a clip, Matt Hancock is seen playing chess with his special adviser […]

Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has said he is considering a run at succeeding Jeremy Corbyn as Labour leader as he pleaded for the party to return to a ‘broad church’. The Remain-backing former director of public prosecutions has been widely tipped to throw his hat into the ring to lead the party after […]

Tony Blair has warned that Labour faces an existential crisis after the general election result. Tony Blair, who is the only Labour leader to have won a general election in the last 45 years, is to use a speech on Wednesday to urge against a “whitewash” of the party’s worst general election result since 1935. […]

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry has confirmed she will enter the Labour leadership race. In an article for the Guardian, she said: “Say what you like about New Labour after 1994, and it’s known that I disagree with much of what it did, but credit where credit’s due: that team had deep political insight and […]

More than 20,000 people have joined Labour in less than a week after the party prepared for a leadership contest. According to Jim Pickard of the Financial Times membership has grown by 24,000 in the last week. It follows calls from Labour figures for those previously members to rejoin to reshape the party and to […]

Boris Johnson is reportedly planning to hand Zac Goldsmith a peerage to keep him in cabinet – despite losing his seat a week ago in the election. Boris Johnson has been planing for months to place more Brexiteer allies in the House of Lords and now he has the opportunity to do so. Accoding to […]

A number of Brexit Party senior staff have been made redundant days after the election, according to reports. Mail+ journalist Michael Crick said that numerous high-ranking staffers have been laid off after a dismal set of results for the party. “It’s brutal,” a source within the organisation told Crick. “Really decent people losing their jobs […]

The SNP MPs have taken Dennis Skinner’s tradition heckle by calling for black rod to ‘lock Boris out’ as the Houses of Parliament reopened. There had been calls for Harriet Harman, as mother of the house, to take Dennis Skinner’s traditional heckle when the Houses of Parliament reopened. She is now sat in the former […]

Age remains a key dividing line across British politics as older people once again swayed the election in favour of the Tories. A YouGov survey of 40,000 adults following the election on Thursday found that while the majority of younger voters backed Labour, the Conservatives were overwhelmingly ahead among their older compatriots. However the tipping […]

JD Wetherspoon has reported that it has been unable to serve pigs in blankets on its Christmas menu due to a problem with its meat supplier. Boris Johnson during a visit to Wetherspoons Metropolitan Bar in London with Tim Martin, chair of JD Wetherspoon. Picture: Henry Nicholls/PA Wire/PA Images – Credit: PA Wire/PA Images The […]

Opponents of the government have warned it is ‘sleepwalking into another Windrush scandal’ after the number of EU citizens applying to live and work in the UK after Brexit fell. The Home Office said it received 142,300 applications for the scheme in November, compared to more than half a million submitted in the previous month. […]

Former Liberal Democrats leader Sir Vince Cable has said that the party needs to drop its ‘zealous Europeanism’ to make gains in future election battles. Despite the party adopting the ‘Bollocks to Brexit’ slogan under his leadership in the European elections, Cable said his party needed to unite support from Remainers and Brexiteers to win […]

The pound saw all gains made following Boris Johnson’s election victory wiped out after he planned to prevent any future extensions to the Brexit transition period. The city had previously been concerned that a no-deal Brexit would have catastrophic effects on the UK economy, with sterling falling against the dollar every time crashing out of […]

Two former Conservative MPs who were facing allegations of sexual misconduct have been replaced by their wives in the election. Last week’s election saw Natalie Elphicke elected in Dover with 56.9% of the vote – replacing her husband Charlie Elphicke. Mr Elphicke had lost the Tory whip over sexual misconduct allegations, with the Crown Prosecution […]

Tory Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg appears to have kept his job in Boris Johnson’s small reshuffle of the cabinet after a big election win. Jacob Rees-Mogg became the leader of the House of Commons when Boris Johnson took the post of prime minister in July. But there were questions over his future after he continually appeared […]

A Brexiteer who repeatedly harassed Anna Soubry before standing against her in the general election has been jailed for 28 days. Amy Dalla Mura, 56, targeted Soubry between January and March this year, turning up at events and calling her a “traitor” on live television, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard. Former Change UK MP Soubry, a […]

The Labour Party will be ‘finished’ if Rebecca Long-Bailey takes charge, a former party adviser has warned. Lance Price was asked about the possibility that a joint ticket of Long-Bailey and Richard Burgon could become the Momentum faction’s choice in the leadership election. “I saw a possible ticket from the Corbynite wing of the party […]

Boris Johnson has been accused of showing ‘two fingers to democracy’ after announcing Nicky Morgan will carry on as culture secretary, despite her quitting the Commons at the general election. No 10 said the former MP for Loughborough would be made a life peer and would answer questions in the House of Lords. There were […]

Shadow education secretary Angela Rayner is not expected to run for Labour leader so that her friend Rebecca Long-Bailey can take the post, according to reports. Instead Rayner is expected to run as deputy leader in a bid that would allow her flatmate, shadow business secretary Long-Bailey, to take the party’s top job. It comes […]

Boris Johnson is to legislate to prevent MPs extending the Brexit transition period beyond the end of 2020. Ministers are understood to have re-worked the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) – due to come before the Commons this week – to “legally prohibit” any further extension. The move comes as MPs gather at Westminster for the […]

The Simpsons turns 30 this December. To mark the anniversary, RICHARD LUCK recounts the family’s greatest European excursions. The Simpsons on one of their many visits to Europe. Photograph: Fox. – Credit: CR: FOX It was on December 17, 1989, that the world was introduced to Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie Simpson – well, […]

A Liberal Democrat MP elected last Thursday could become the party’s new leader. Daisy Cooper became St Alban’s first ever Liberal Democrat MP, winning the seat off former Tory MP Anne Main. Despite being newly-elected, the MP has further ambitions, refusing the rule out that she could become the party’s next leader when the leadership […]

Downing Street has refused to confirm pledges made by Boris Johnson to MPs in October will be included in his amended Brexit bill this week. The promises – which focused on safeguarding workers’ rights and environmental standards – could be ditched after Brexit after the government appeared to backtrack on a promise to guarantee them […]