News and Opinion

Boris Johnson’s most senior black adviser has resigned as ministers face a backlash after a government-backed review concluded there is no evidence of institutional racism in the UK. Samuel Kasumu has quit his role as a special adviser to the prime minister on civil society but will stay in post until May to continue work […]

Keir Starmer has claimed that there is a ‘British sense’ that would reject using vaccine passports if the coronavirus is brought properly under control. In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, the Labour leader indicated that there could be opposition to the idea amongst the public if death rates are near zero and hospital admissions […]

RICHARD LUCK looks at some classic April Fool’s Day gags from the past. As befits a day given over to confusion and subterfuge, very little is known about the origins of April Fools’ Day. Is it in some way related to religion? Does it mark a waypoint on the advent of spring? Was it first popularised […]

A class action has been launched against the government’s post-Brexit Irish Sea trading arrangements, with a DUP MP named as one of those behind the fight. The claim form lodged with the High Court this week names Ballymena haulage company Blair International and North Antrim politician Ian Paisley as the initial claimants. The action, which […]

Rishi Sunak has admitted he was opposed to having a circuit break lockdown in September, insisting there “wasn’t a clear-cut case” for doing so. Ministers last year were accused of ignoring scientific advice after Sage (Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies) recommended at a meeting on September 21 that a lockdown should be implemented to slow […]

Voters in Wales will “extinguish the Corbyn flame” by ending Welsh Labour’s 22-year reign in government, the Welsh Conservatives’ leader in the Senedd has said. Andrew RT Davies said putting his party in government in Wales after May 6 would “finish the job” started with Boris Johnson’s landslide 2019 UK election victory, which led to […]

Labour has ratcheted up pressure on Boris Johnson over the £200,000 renovation of his Downing Street flat by calling on the Electoral Commission to launch an investigation into the funding. Cat Smith, a shadow cabinet office minister, instructed solicitors at Edwards Duthie Shamash to write to the Electoral Commission. In a letter sent by the […]

A former senior Labour staffer is one of 21 people suing the party for libel over a leaked internal report into the handling of allegations of anti-Semitism. An 860-page report on Labour’s governance and legal unit, which found “no evidence” of anti-Semitism being handled differently from other complaints, was leaked in April last year. The […]

A race equality think tank has questioned the suitability of Tony Sewell as chairman of the racial disparity commission after the academic previously claimed that evidence of the existence of institutional racism was “flimsy”. Dr Sewell, chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, said there was evidence of overt racism in Britain but […]

An SNP councillor and a senior party official have become the latest figures to defect to Alex Salmond’s new pro-independence party. Shahid Farooq, who represents a ward in North Lanarkshire, and veteran independence supporters Dot Jessiman have switched to the Alba Party. Salmond launched the Alba Party as a rival to the SNP following a […]

Former ministers like David Cameron need to be “very careful” how they conduct themselves, the communities secretary has said, amid growing controversy over the ex-premier’s lobbying activities. Robert Jenrick said it was important that those who had had the “privilege” of serving in Government did not act in a way which “does harm” to the […]

The Labour Party has lost a last-minute bid to have Anas Sarwar’s name included on ballot papers for the Scottish election. The party took legal action against the Electoral Commission over what it said was the refusal to allow the slogan “Anas Sarwar – Labour’s National Recovery Plan” to be on regional list ballots for […]

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has said he was “disappointed” by the findings of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities’ report published so far. Tony Sewell, who is chairman of the Commission, said while there was anecdotal evidence of racism, denied there was any proof that it was structural. But the leader of the […]

There is no evidence of “institutional racism” in Britain, although there is evidence that “overt” prejudice exists, the man behind a landmark study set up in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement has said. Tony Sewell, who is chairman of the Commission on Race and Ethnic disparities, said while there was anecdotal evidence […]

Dominic Cummings was apparently “scouting out the complex” for the production of the new Novavax vaccine in the UK, Boris Johnson joked with business leaders during a meeting. Johnson decided against a Barnard Castle gag at his press conference on Monday where he announced Britain would produce the Novavax jab in the North East, saving it […]

Forcing England’s indoor visitor attractions to remain closed when non-essential shops reopen is “extraordinary”, a tourism industry leader has said. Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), made the comment as he revealed major UK tourist sites suffered a 70% decline in visitor numbers last year compared with 2019. Under Boris […]

Sir Keir Starmer said a senior Labour MP has apologised after describing business as “the enemy”. The Labour leader said Alex Sobel, a member of his shadow ministerial team, “knows what he said was wrong”. Starmer stressed that under his leadership, Labour was “very clearly pro-business”. Sobel’s comments, made to a podcast, were reported by […]

The UK is poised for a “decade of unprecedented economic change” after Covid-19 and Brexit, a report has claimed. It comes ahead of the launch of a three-year-long inquiry, with economic and policy experts seeking to examine the nature of economic change and what it means for people. The Economy Inquiry 2030 is part of […]

CHARLIE CONNELLY on a humble Greek hero who fulfilled his nation’s ancient yearning. Spyridon Louis slept fitfully on the night of April 9, 1896. It wasn’t so much down to pre-race nerves as the bed bugs that riddled the mattress on which he’d been billeted at Marathon for the night. He was sure Pheidippides had […]

David Cameron “did absolutely nothing wrong” in his dealings with Greensill Capital, according to a senior government minister. Business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng indicated his belief that “everything was above board” with the former prime minister’s connection to the financial services company which collapsed earlier this month. Speaking on Sky News, Kwarteng said that, with Cameron […]

Applications for the right to stay in the UK through the EU Settlement scheme have not yet been made for the majority of EU children in care and care leavers, research has found. Applications for just 39% of known children in care or care leavers eligible for the scheme have been submitted, according to the […]

David Lammy has received praise for his handling of a caller to his radio show who said he could not describe himself as English. The Tottenham MP, 48, was discussing the term BAME on his LBC show when he faced a member of the public who said he “will never be English”. The caller, named […]

Sir Keir Starmer will campaign in Hartlepool on Tuesday ahead of a by-election battle which will be a key test of his Labour leadership. The May 6 contest will give an indication of whether the Labour leader can shore up support in the party’s former industrial heartlands after large sections of the so-called “red wall” […]

Ten EU member states have said they will no longer extradite their nationals to the UK following Brexit, the Home Office has said. Countries including France, Germany and Poland have informed the UK of their refusal to allow the extradition of their nationals. Two more – Austria and the Czech Republic – will only hand […]

In both Scotland and Catalonia, the sense of inevitability that independence would soon become reality has receded as quickly as it appeared. What changed?  As Nicola Sturgeon fights for her political life in the wake of the scandal tearing her party apart, her former counterpart at the head of the Catalan independence movement, Carles Puigdemont, has his own […]

Nicola Sturgeon has said the pandemic has led to her having “much less patience for those who treat politics like a game” in a speech to SNP activists. In an online speech, she also attacked Brexit and accused the Conservatives of “muscling in” on the Scottish Parliament’s responsibilities. Her speech did not directly refer to Alba, […]

Downing Street has defended Boris Johnson over accusations he had an affair with Jennifer Arcuri, with his spokesperson claiming he acts with ‘honesty and integrity’. Allegra Stratton, the prime minister’s press secretary, did not deny Arcuri’s claims in The Mirror that they had a four-year relationship while the PM was mayor of London, choosing not to […]

An inquiry must be held to “get to the bottom” of David Cameron’s dealings with a scandal-hit banker, Keir Starmer has claimed. The Labour leader made the call as he said the sooner such an inquiry starts “the better”. It comes after Labour raised concerns that Cameron, during his time as prime minister, had ordered […]