News and Opinion

MPs have voted against giving the Conservatives time off from parliament to hold their party conference – Boris Johnson’s seventh defeat in the House of Commons. The Tories had hoped for a three-day Commons recess starting on Monday to enable the four-day event to take place from Sunday. Instead MPs will sit between Monday and […]

Who is on Question Time tonight and where do they stand on Brexit? Here’s your guide… The BBC’s flagship current affairs programme tonight comes from the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff Bay, the famed home of Shirley Bassey. But who will prove the man with the Midas touch – and who will beckon you […]

The Brexit Party’s MEPs are some of the highest earners to sit in the European parliament – earning between £1.7 million and £4 million a year from outside activities. The 28 Brexiteers, elected after the European elections earlier this year, regularly claim to be taking on the “elite” and the “establishment”. But in a report […]

The government’s £140million ‘Get Ready for Brexit’ campaign is to be reported to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), MPs heard. Independent Group for Change MP Chris Leslie branded the campaign, including billboards nationwide, is “inaccurate” and “misleading” as it does not acknowledge the legal reality that the UK may not leave on October 31. Critics […]

Dominic Grieve has branded Boris Johnson a ‘pathological liar’ as the Tory rebel doubled down on his criticisms of the prime minister. Appearing on ITV’s Peston programme alongside Labour MP Jess Phillips the former attorney general said he found Boris Johnson’s comments about murdered MP Jo Cox “terrifying”. “I find it terrifying. This is somebody […]

A Tory party chairman has suggested that Boris Johnson could break the law by refusing to be questioned by the London Assembly over his association as mayor with American businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri. A report in the Sunday Times found that Arcuri, Johnson’s close friend, had been given access to business trips with him and public […]

In a sign of a further poisoning of the atmosphere surrounding Brexit, one Labour MP has been told she would be found ‘dead in a ditch’ if she does not support it. Jess Phillips tweeted the anonymous letter she received at her constituency office shortly after Boris Johnson stood up to dismiss claims about the […]

Winston Churchill’s grandson has said that he is ‘appalled’ by the language used by Boris Johnson in the House of Commons, and has warned it will make it more difficult to get support for Brexit. Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme, Soames fell short of calling for Johnson to resign, but condemned his behaviour. “It […]

The BBC has been accused of ‘gagging’ breakfast presenter Naga Munchetty after they rebuked her for ‘breaking guidelines’ when she criticised racist comments from Donald Trump. https://twitter.com/AndyGibsonTV/status/1176917823584710656 The BBC Breakfast host condemned the comments made by the US president about his political rivals, after he told female Democrats to “go back” to their own counties. […]

MP Jess Phillips has accused Boris Johnson’s government of having a ‘tested and workshopped’ political strategy designed to ‘inflame hatred’. In an urgent question the MP for Birmingham Yardley was responding to previous tempestuous scenes in the House of Commons. Boris Johnson had caused a furore by dismissing MPs’ fears of far-right violence following the […]

Boris Johnson’s sister has called the language used by the prime minister about Brexit ‘tasteless’ and ‘highly reprehensible’. Speaking on Sky News’ The Pledge, Rachel Johnson said that it was “particularly tasteless” to claim that the “best way” to “honour” Jo Cox was to deliver in Brexit. She said: “I think it was particularly tasteless […]

Emily Thornberry has apologised for likening the Liberal Democrats to the ‘Taliban’ for their stance on wanting to revoke Aritcle 50. The shadow foreign secretary was criticised by a number of Lib Dems including Jo Swinson after making the remark following their party conference. Thornberry had previously told The House magazine: “The Lib Dems have […]

The Tories have warned that MPs will be voting to deliver an economic hit to Manchester if they vote to ‘scupper’ Conservative Party conference next week. MPs are expected to vote on a motion for a three-day Commons recess starting on Monday, which would enable Conservative ministers and MPs to attend as normal. However, with […]

An MP has warned the prime minister to keep his Brexit ‘propaganda’ away from schools. Labour MP Stella Creasy said that parents in her constituency have raised concerns about the content of a presentation broadcast on digital noticeboards across the country. She urged prime minister Boris Johnson to pledge to prevent this from happening, and […]

Boris Johnson has provoked gasps in the House of Commons after telling MPs the ‘best way to honour’ murdered anti-Brexit MP Jo Cox is to ‘get Brexit done’. The prime minister’s remark came after several MPs drew upon the memory of Cox when urging him to curb his “violent” and “dangerous” language. Labour’s Paula Sherriff […]

A Brexit minister has refused to say that the government won’t follow up a letter requesting an extension to Article 50 with another one asking the EU to disregard it. The House of Lords sought reassurance that the prime minister would truly honour the act passed by parliament compelling him to request an Article 50 […]

Experts have warned the Supreme Court ruling means the Queen will be unable to trust the prime minister again. “Her Majesty is entirely protected and untouched in any negative sense. The real issue is, next time she sits down with the PM, why would she believe a word he says?” Philippe Sands QC, a professor […]

The Northern Irish police chief is planning to restrict officers’ holiday in the weeks following the UK’s exit from the EU over fears of potential ‘violence activities’. The move will mean all but 10% of the force will not be able to take holiday in that period, when usually, the leave restriction is 20%. Police […]

In a sign of changing times, a French publishing company has already started producing EU maps without the UK shown in the union. A poster map produced by French educational publisher Éditions Aedis is titled ‘L’Union europeenne – 27 pays’ (‘The European Union – 27 countries’). The 28th country, the UK, is shaded white, just […]

Attorney general Geoffrey Cox has been made to apologise after referencing a ‘joke’ about domestic violence while answering questions about the Supreme Court ruling. Responding to an urgent question in the Commons on the legal advice he gave the government in the run-up to the prorogation of parliament, Geoffrey Cox compared being asked when he […]

Lib Dem MEP ANTONY HOOK argues that the Supreme Court ruling has opened the floodgates of major constitutional reform and, as a former barrister, believes it is the way to restore trust again. Britain has always been a bastion or the rule of law, internationally respected as an exemplar of fairness, decency and parliamentary democracy. […]

Sebastian Reichel, who has grown up, studied and worked in the North East of England could not vote in the EU referendum. His encounter with the Brexit Party left him even more uncertain about the UK leaving the EU. I have lived in the North East of England for most of my life. I grew […]

Alan Sugar has branded Boris Johnson a ‘criminal’ and joked he will visit him in prison after the Supreme Court ruling over the prorogation of parliament. Speaking at the launch of the 15th series of The Apprentice he asked reporters “is Boris going to Brixton, then?” as the ruling came in, before joking “I’ll visit […]

A Labour MP has said the government is a ‘disgrace’ for ‘obfuscating the truth’ about the prorogation of parliament, after Geoffrey Cox told MPs they had ‘no moral right’ to sit in parliament. Angered opposition MPs lined up to say that Geoffrey Cox had “no shame” and that the government was a “disgrace”. One was […]

The company that manufactures the London buses that Boris Johnson commissioned in his time as London mayor is poised for collapse, with the loss of around 1,400 jobs. Wrightbus, one of Northern Ireland’s biggest employers, is on the brink of going into administration as talks failed with several potential buyers. The company was famously awarded […]

Michael Gove has said he doesn’t think the government should apologise for what it has done, even after the Supreme Court ruled its actions unlawful in the strongest possible terms. The chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster told the BBC: “I don’t think that the government should apologise for having a strong domestic agenda, I […]

Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage has hinted that he could leave the UK for America in the future. He complained that it was “not easy” to live a “normal life” in the UK but that it would be possible for him to do so in the United States. It suggests he could abandon the country […]

Forty-three per cent of the country believes Boris Johnson should resign after the Supreme Court ruled that he acted unlawfully by proroguing parliament. A YouGov poll has found that 43% of people think Boris Johnson should resign. Picture: YouGov – Credit: YouGov A YouGov poll of more than 4,000 people also found that nearly half […]