News and Opinion

Several Labour sources have claimed that the opposition party could vote against a general election to avoid it falling into the ‘elephant trap’ posed by Boris Johnson. Critics of Johnson have raised fears that an election mooted for October 14 if opponents win this week’s parliamentary showdown could be a move to force a no-deal […]

Without a hint of irony Jacob Rees-Mogg has been mocked for claiming a bill that would allow rebel MPs to seize control of the order paper ‘constitutionally irregular’. An angered leader of the House of Commons told MPs they “risk subverting parliament’s proper role in scrutinising the executive”, while telling Oliver Letwin, who tabled the […]

Stripping the whip from senior Tories who rebel to prevent a no-deal Brexit would be a ‘policy of insanity’, former minister Alistair Burt said as he announced his decision to stand down at the next election. The veteran Tory, who first entered parliament in 1983, hit out at the influence of Boris Johnson’s most senior […]

Boris Johnson committed to his controversial prorogation of parliament two weeks before announcing it to the public, court documents have shown. Johnson agreed to a query he was sent on August 15 advising that the House of Commons should be prorogued from September 9. The next day, reports the Guardian, he sent a handwritten note […]

Boris Johnson may have to boot out the grandson of his hero Winston Churchill from the parliamentary Conservative party after the MP indicated he would vote against the government. Earlier in the day Sir Nicholas Soames had appealed for assurances from Boris Johnson that a Brexit deal would be done, but the prime minister had […]

The pound started the day at a three-year low against the dollar but reached its peak of the day just after Boris Johnson lost his parliamentary majority. Amid Brexit tumult and speculation about a snap election in October, the pound had tumbled to below $1.20, its lowest level in three years, this morning. But it […]

Clacton’s ruthlessly pro-Brexit Boomers are an inspiration. Brexit is expected to cause a long-term loss of some 10% of GDP, or around £200bn per year. Government revenues are around 35% of GDP, so a 10% drop means £70bn less for public spending. But state pensions cost £90bn a year, and 65% of voters over 65 […]

Sheffield Hallam MP Jared O’Mara has ‘postponed’ his resignation as MPs prepare to fight the government in crucial votes over Brexit. O’Mara had submitted resignation papers at the start of August, which were postdated to the date that MPs were due to return to parliament. But now the Treasury have said that the former Labour […]

Former Tory MP Dr Phillip Lee’s arrival in the Liberal Democrats has not been welcomed by everyone within the party. Dr Lee’s voting record showed he had abstained on a vote to legalise same-sex marriage and that marriage should be a matter for the church to reconcile. He also voted for a “wrecking amendment” that […]

Boris Johnson has claimed that it is the Irish backstop that is risking peace in Northern Ireland rather than his plans for a no-deal Brexit. Boris Johnson has claimed that it is the Irish backstop that is risking peace in Northern Ireland rather than his plans for a no-deal Brexit. Answering a question from independent […]

It was a moment of high drama in the House of Commons when the MP who represented the Conservatives’ vanishing majority in parliament crossed the floor to join the Liberal Democrats. Boris Johnson was addressing the House of Commons about “taking back control of our trade policy” just as he noticed he was losing control […]

Increasing trade with Brazil – rather than calling for sanctions – will help solve the Amazon fires crisis, a government minister has claimed. Labour MP Daniel Zeichner said more than 120,000 people have signed an e-petition calling for sanctions to be placed on Brazil because of “escalating deforestation”, and asked what pressure has been placed […]

A medic who contributed to the Yellowhammer report has made the alarming claim that the government is stockpiling body bags in case of an increased mortality rate after a no-deal Brexit. Neurologist Dr David Nicholl volunteered earlier this year to contribute to Operation Yellowhammer, the government’s secret no-deal Brexit planning documents that were leaked in […]

A Conservative MP has launched a blistering attack on the ‘unprincipled’ approach to Brexit in Boris Johnson’s government as he leaves the party to join the Liberal Democrats. Phillip Lee, the MP for Bracknell, said he had given the issue a “great deal of thought” but had concluded the government is “undermining our country’s economy, […]

The major members of the modern West Slavic language family are Czech, Slovak and Polish. Of the other family members, Sorbian is spoken by about 50,000 people in eastern Germany; and Kashubian, a descendant of Pomeranian, has about 100,000 speakers in northern Poland. Polabian died out in the 18th century as its speakers gradually shifted […]

Claudia Pritchard looks at the Guildhall Art Gallery’s Architecture of London exhibition Fire and water, riots and war, need and fashion, demolition and construction. The forces at work on the architecture of London come from all sides, never letting up, as an exhibition featuring 400 years of the capital’s depiction in art shows. And it […]

The fourth national poll in less than five years is peaking over the horizon, with Boris Johnson poised to call for a general election if he is defeated in the parliamentary showdown over Brexit. Will his “do or die” commitment to leaving the EU by the Halloween deadline and lavish policy pledges be enough to […]

First Dates maitre’d Fred Sirieix said he was made to feel like a ‘second-class citizen’ as he applied for settled status in the UK. The Channel 4 star, who grew up in Limoges, France, complained that he was asked for proof of residence in the country for five years – despite the fact the UK […]

To win back Remainers from other anti-Brexit parties Labour must now commit to urgently revoking Article 50 regardless of a People’s Vote. Let me be clear: the best way out of the current Brexit impasse is to go back to the people in a final say referendum with an option to remain. I am one […]

Tory rebel MP Phillip Hammond has said he believes there is enough support from MPs to pass a bill that would force Boris Johnson to extend Article 50 if he cannot secure a deal with the EU. Around 22 Conservatives including the former chancellor are estimated to be set to vote against the government on […]

ALEX NETTLE argues the best way to stop a no-deal Brexit is urgent reform to our constitution to give everyone a voice in parliament – and that means looking at proportional representation. Those of us opposing no deal are facing the fight of our lives this week. The unprecedented power grab of proroguing parliament at […]

Boris Johnson’s chief advisor Dominic Cummings has openly described the government’s EU negotiations as a ‘sham’ in private meetings, according to leaks. While Number 10 has been briefing the public about meetings to explore amendments to the Withdrawal Agreement with the EU, two “highly-placed” Telegraph sources claimed that Cummings has rubbished the negotiations in private. […]

Former minister Justine Greening has lambasted Boris Johnson as she announced she can no longer stand as a Conservative MP in the next election. The former education and international development secretary said that she does not believe the Tories will offer a “sensible choice” at the next election and that her fears that the party […]

An arch-Brexiteer MP has deleted a tweet in which she claimed Remain ‘fanatics’ were hounding a Leave voter – only to find that she had been standing up for a well-known far-right figure. Nadine Dorries was retweeted hundreds of times when she posted a video of Remain protesters shouting down a counter-protester and used it […]

As the government goes to any length to achieve their goal of Brexit – even trashing the economy – ELIZABETH ROJAS fears the consequences on human rights. For many years, we believed that the UK was moving closer and closer to equality, acceptance and respect. We believed that the UK was a progressive, modern parliamentary […]

As Remain MPs table a bill aimed at blocking a no-deal Brexit, Boris Johnson has said there are ‘no circumstances’ in which he would delay leaving the EU beyond October 31. In an announcement outside Number 10, the prime minister also said he does not want to call a general election. Johnson, who inherited his […]

After reports that the Number 10 plans to present legal arguments to the EU for dropping the backstop, it has been claimed that the draft is simply the same text ‘with the relevant articles on the backstop crossed out’. NEWCabinet ministers to be told draft legal text on Northern Ireland plan has been drawn up […]

Charlie Connelly looks at the life of make-up mogul Max Factor On 5 February 1904 30-year-old Maksymilian Faktorowicz stepped off the gangplank of the SS Moltke onto the New York quayside and entered the vast immigration shed at Ellis Island ahead of his wife Esther, known as Lizzie, and their three young children. The new […]