News and Opinion

A new report highlights just how damaging Brexit has already been to the economy as the government operates with ‘no effective fiscal rules’. The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has released the Green Budget, a damning report which shows how hard the UK has been hit since the referendum – and how much harder it […]

Heidi Allen has become the latest MP to join a resurgent Lib Dem party. Allen, who was most recently an independent MP but had led the Change UK party after leaving the Tories, holds the traditionally safe Conservative seat with a majority of almost 16,000 votes. But figures put the local area as backing Remain […]

Opposition parties were pointing the finger at each other as they failed to agree the next steps at a cross-party meeting to scrutinise the government’s Brexit plans. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn was meeting the SNP’s Ian Blackford, Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson and the Greens’ Caroline Lucas – as well as Anna Soubry of the […]

Just 34% of voters would back a no-deal Brexit – with more than half of the public encouraging Boris Johnson to take a different course of action. According to the BMG poll for The Independent voters are turning against an no-deal Brexit as the October 31st deadline nears. Boris Johnson has vowed to take the […]

A French MP within president Emmanuel Macron’s party En Marche! have said Boris Johnson’s Brexit proposals are ‘almost like a joke’ and believed we were now headed for a no-deal Brexit. https://twitter.com/bbc5live/status/1181146451818139649 Bruno Bonnell was answering questions on Emma Barnett’s BBC Radio 5 Live programme when he made the claim about the UK’s latest proposals […]

Scotland’s Court of Session has ruled against forcing Boris Johnson to sign a Brexit extension letter to delay Article 50 – because it believes the prime minister will request one in compliance with the law. Judge Lord Pentland announced his decision after considering arguments previously made at the Court of Session in Edinburgh. He cited […]

An academic has stood down from an independent advisory panel to the government after claiming that members were being politically vetted for their views on matters such as Brexit and Windrush. Professor Alex Stevens has resigned his position on the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD), saying that the government’s vetting process compromised […]

Lord Helsetine has claimed that Boris Johnson has crossed ‘the threshold of insanity’ by vowing to ‘squat’ in Downing Street even if he is unseated by MPs. According to the Sunday Times, Johnson will dare the Queen to sack him rather than resign as prime minister in an attempt to ensure Brexit happens on October […]

A former Conservative cabinet minister and health secretary has joined the Liberal Democrats. Stephen Dorrell, who previously joined Change UK, claimed “both major parties” have retreated “into mean-spirited factionalism” as he announced his decision in The Times. Dorrell, who was health secretary under John Major and an MP between 1979 and 2015, used an opinion […]

Emily Maitlis has said that few politicians now appear on screen to speak what they really think – instead failing to answer journalists’ questions and using three-word slogans. The Newsnight presenter said she now “appreciates” those politicians who are able to answer a question. Reflecting on what changes she has seen during her career, Maitlis […]

Jennifer Arcuri has said she ‘never, ever’ received favouritism from friend Boris Johnson and has refused to say whether they had an affair. US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri said she and Johnson, who she saved on her phone as “Alex the Great”, bonded over their “mutual love of classic literature”. The technology entrepreneur and former model […]

As they face inquiries, ZOE WILLIAMS looks at the twin-track approach being adopted by leaders on both sides of the Atlantic. Donald Trump speaks to police officers in Brentwood, New York. Picture: Spencer Platt/Getty Images – Credit: Getty Images “I have always been a big champion of women,” Boris Johnson told the BBC this week. […]

The Liberal Democrats could stand aside for Tory rebel MP Dominic Grieve in a snap general election. While the anti-Brexit party has denied to comment on the reports, “senior sources” have told the Sunday Times that a deal has been struck to help the former Conservative minister in his seat in Beaconsfield. Grieve, who has […]

Boris Johnson’s claims that the UK is ‘on the verge of creating commercially viable miniature fusion reactors for sale around the world’ has left scientists and industry experts baffled – as it is still decades off. During his big conference speech Johnson trumpeted the technological achievements of British science, telling the audience: “I know they […]

A decision is expected to be made on whether the prime minister can be forced by the courts to send a letter requesting an Article 50 extension. Documents submitted to the Court of Session on behalf of Boris Johnson were read out on Friday, in which he makes it clear he will not attempt to […]

Literature has been slow to reflect the awful onslaught of Alzheimer’s. But a new book does just that, and prompts a very personal response from CHARLIE CONNELLY. Charlie Connelly’s father, George. Picture: Charlie Connelly – Credit: Archant For a condition responsible for almost one in eight deaths in England and Wales each year Alzheimer’s remains […]

Defra will come under ‘significant pressure’ to relax the UK’s food, animal health and environmental standards in order to get a post-Brexit trade deal with the USA, leaked documents reveal. The lowering of standards could in turn limit the UK’s ability to strike a deal with the EU – as well as causing “irreparable damage” […]

The chairman of the Tory party has been mocked for defending the government’s Brexit strategy using a piece of paper and biro pen. https://twitter.com/JamesCleverly/status/1181158343571918849 Posting to Twitter, Cleverly attached a graph with the axis “decisiveness” and “time”. Using the hashtag #GetBrexitDone he wrote: “Why ‘more time’ doesn’t actually help ‘get a deal’. “We want a […]

From bossa nova to baile, the Brazilian city has always danced to its own beat. Sophie Deboick reports. For Rio de Janeiro, music is always the answer. Whether in tragedy or triumph, a musical response can always be counted on, and in a city that suffers some of the most obscene inequality and grinding poverty […]

The much-touted special edition 50p coin to commemorate Brexit was still not in production with just 29 days before the UK is scheduled to leave the EU. A Freedom of Information (FOI) request to the Royal Mint has revealed that despite Boris Johnson’s constant insistence that we will leave the EU “do or die” on […]

Suggestions that Commons speaker John Bercow could become caretaker-prime minister in a government of national unity have been dismissed as ‘fantasy football’ by the shadow attorney general. Shami Chakrabarti, asked by Andrew Marr on the BBC about Andrew Adonis’ latest newspaper column suggesting Bercow could become a caretaker-leader, she said: “If I may say so, […]

Labour MP Lisa Nandy says she won’t back Boris Johnson’s ‘final’ offer to the EU and that the only route to leaving the bloc is by bringing back Theresa May’s deal. Speaking on Sky’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday, she said that the current prime minister’s deal was unacceptable because of the risk she said it […]

A shadow minister has questioned Boris Johnson’s integrity over new revelations that the prime minister backed friend Jennifer Arcuri for a job she did not ‘remotely’ have the qualifications for. Johnson reportedly wrote a letter recommending Arcuri for the post of CEO at a tech quango when he was mayor of London. After Johnson claimed […]

This year, JAMES BROWN decided to plan his summer holiday around his favourite dish. However many millions of anchovies there normally are in the Mediterranean there were significantly fewer after my visit to Monterosso. There are many things I like, some things I love but there aren’t too many things I will blurt out that […]

A woman from Boris Johnson’s constituency gave a classic answer to TV cameras during a feature on whether or not the prime minister will keep his parliamentary seat. Sky’s Sophy Ridge went to Uxbridge and South Ruislip to talk to members of the public on Johnson’s chances in an upcoming election. The vox pop segment […]

Amsterdam’s golden age has been overshadowed by the legacy of Rembrandt, but a new exhibition shines a light on other artists who captured the city at its most dynamic. Adam Pynacker’s ‘Landscape with Sportsmen and Game’ (1665). Picture: Dulwich Picture Gallery – Credit: Archant A city in the right place at the right time, mid-17th-century […]

TANYARADZWA NYENWA on the story behind the firm bucking gloomy retail trends in spectacular style – and the awkward questions it raises. Love Islander Maura Higgins at a Boohoo Party in Dublin. Picture: Getty Images – Credit: Archant Funke Tijani is 21 years old and has more than 28,000 followers on Instagram. Five months ago, […]

Thirty years after the Berlin Wall came down, MICK O’HARE talks to some of those caught up in the momentous events and pieces together the story of its demise. An East German border guard looks down on West Berliners just before the fall of the Berlin Wall. Picture: Getty Images – Credit: Gamma-Rapho via Getty […]